Cooking and Recipes | Crazy for Fiber

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Archive for the ‘Cooking and Recipes’ Category

This and That

Monday, December 23rd, 2013

Multi-tasking is my middle name. I gave up on discharging this fabric. Instead, I used a Stencil Girl stencil with irregular lines to print. I experimented with some different paints and ended up with Jacquard’s Lumiere Halo Blue Gold. It was the effect that I was going for. This photo is not that good. It is hard to photograph metallic paints, I think. Anyway, I am happy with it.

Mr C has been busy. He spackled the nail holes from the wall where I had hung my crosses. Then, it got a fresh coat of paint. It looks pretty bare. We will put the mirror back up and maybe some generic art.

That bench is a church pew that was gifted to us by our church in Wilmington, NC. We help to fund the redoing of the altar and a new organ. They had too many pews for the new space. It is one of those things we may have to give up.

Today, I wrapped gifts, which I do not enjoy doing. This one was pretty easy. I had a black box and I used Washi Tape to decorate it. Perfect for the architect in the family.

After a quick trip to Trader Joe’s this afternoon, I set about baking some goodies for the Christmas Eve meal — the traditional chocolate mint brownies and two gluten free recipes for me — pecan tassies and Girl Scout Samoa cookies. I still have to do the chocolate dipping and caramel/coconut top for the cookies.

Tonight, we went to the local Paleo restaurant near us. They brought me this tumbler of wine, which I enjoyed. A little boy came over to our table and asked if he could have the dinosaurs. I told him I was finished playing with them. He looked at me quizzically and then grinned.

And so tomorrow is Christmas eve. I am doing dinner here and Steph is doing Christmas Day dinner. I think she is making tamales.

Then, the crunch begins. More decluttering and organizing and cleaning. I move into my new little studio space the first week of January. It is both exhilarating and exhausting just to think about it.

Posted in Cooking and Recipes, FAFC, House and home stuff, painting fabric, The Printed Fabric Bee, This and that | 1 Comment »

Summertime in Portland

Monday, July 15th, 2013

We are in the midst of beautiful long, sunny days. My favorite time of year! This past week-end, we had a dinner party on the deck. It was the wrap-up celebration for the Artists Among Us team. I made buttermilk rolls and grilled pork tenderloin with corn confetti to make sandwiches. None of which, I could eat (except for the pork), but every one else enjoyed them.

On Sunday afternoon, I hosted an SDA meeting. Everyone brings some food to share. I used the table runner I got in Jerusalem and picked some flowers from the yard.

The Rhodie Garden doesn’t have blooming Rhodies, now, but there are plenty of other summer flowers to enjoy.

This quilt came home from its travels around the US and to the Netherlands. I was so happy to see it. Still love it

I am also happy that Kelp Dance was juried into the Sur(face) Forward exhibit at the Corvallis Art Center. It just arrived home from North Carolina.

I have my simply red quilts ready to turn in for jurying. Here is our new hanging system.

Hanging wire is stapled to the center of the rod. I covered the stapled area with clear duct tape.

Here it is inserted in the rod pocket. You can see that this makes it much easier to hand in those galleries that have a hook for hanging from the center of the art.

I made a muslin bag with French seams for each quilt. A plastic sleeve is sewn to the outside of the bag and has a photo and name of the quilt and my contact info. I blocked out my phone #!

So that is what I have been up to. Busy and enjoying life.

Posted in Cooking and Recipes, High Fiber Diet, My neighborhood, Surface Design Association, This and that | 3 Comments »

A Good Day

Thursday, May 9th, 2013

The cruciform piece is finished except for the edges. I am thinking of framing it so I am holding off on the final edge finish until I see if that is feasible.

I started adding some beads to the Undulations piece. I found some very organic beads that would integrate well with the piece and not really stand out. However, now that I look at the charcoal beads, I don’t like them so they are coming off and I am going to stick with the dusty pink ones.

Today was a good day because I finally got to hang out with my STASH friends (Second Thursday at Someone’s House). I have missed at least 3 meetings because of my crazy life. I made 3 delicious salads for lunch and some almond bread. It is a non-gluten bread with almond flour, eggs and a bit of honey. It is very dense and moist, but was enjoyed by all. For dessert, I made parfaits in wine glasses, layering fresh berries with Balsamic syrup and culture coconut milk. It was an experiment and very good.

I received this thank you post card in the mail today.

It is from one of the young fiber artists here in Portland who needed some help funding a residency. I contributed to her Indie request. The postcard is embedded with clover and poppy seeds so it can be planted. I have some room in the center of one of my raised beds behind he house so I am going to plant it there. I’ll let you know how it does. If you click on the photo, you can see the little seed bumps.

When I was shopping yesterday, I saw these lilacs in the flower shop. I brought them home and our home is filled with their aroma. It brings back such good memories of my childhood and the lilac bushes that always signified the coming of summer.

I have some busy days coming up as I finish my own work for the Artists Among Us exhibit. I got a good start on name badges tonight. Next, I have to print labels and bar code stickers for all the art. Monday is check in day. The producer of the Quilt Show.com called me today and wanted me to do a segment for the show on my stitching and shrinking project, but they are filming next week-end when Quilt Market is in town and I am too busy to fit into their schedule. They are going to keep me in mind for future shows. She was interested in my 3×3 project, too. Interesting fact, the producer lives here in the Portland area, and she is not a quilter.

Posted in Cooking and Recipes, My creations, Quilting Friends | 1 Comment »

Finding Balance

Saturday, January 7th, 2012

I am one week in to the new year and feeling good about the direction my life is taking. On the quiltart list, members usually pick a word for the year. Last year, I selected spunk. It really didn’t work for me. I had hopes of jumping into the new year and my art with gusto and doing incredible new stuff. Instead, I felt as if I had been punched in the stomach for most of the year.

I was not going to select a word this year, but as I thought about how I want to “be” this year, I realized that I was seeking balance in my life. And, so, I now have a word. To that end, I am taking some time each day for introspection and reading something spiritual. I fell more centered.

I have had a busy couple of days as I prepared for the opening of June’s exhibit at Trinity. Mr C got the tummy bug on Friday night so I lost my wing man. I called some friends to help. It was a lovely reception. Here is the food table.

I made these wraps which were so delicious and hit with the attendees.

You just need something for the wrap — lahvosh or tortillas. I used a whole wheat wrap. Spread it with pesto and then top with thinly sliced fresh mozzarella and arugula leaves a roll up and slice. Yummy.

My 3 x3 for yesterday is a bit of a mess. I had a terrible time with the free motion quilting.

I do like today’s 3 xv3 which is up at the top of the post. I love Judy Martin’s blog. She does lots of hand stitching and has a very meditative, zen approach to her fiber work. In her latest blog, she was traveling in the car and hand stitching strips of fabric to batting. I had to give it a try.

Now, back to watching a movie with Mr C.

Posted in 3 x 3, Cooking and Recipes | 2 Comments »

A Step Back to Reflect

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

I am spending some time cleaning and reorganizing my studio and office and reflecting on the past year. It was a year when I attempted to experiment with some new work, but also felt blocked from really doing the work I want to do. I am making some plans and setting some goals and just thinking.

That gorgeous and sunny apron up there was a belated birthday gift from my good friend, Judy, in Georgia. The pocket is printed with grapefruits. She made the apron and it is perfectly sewn. You can see some posts about the apron here and here. Judy is one of those fiber artists who does the work. She spends lots of time in her studio printing and dyeing and doing beautiful work.

Lisa arrived on Monday, with her dog, Wilfredo, who ran to greet me at the airport. I think she could leave him here with me, and he would never miss her!! He does find Scooter a bit daunting.

Clay, Lisa’s partner, arrived yesterday and we have been running around, shopping, eating out and baking.

Our neighborhood really goes all out with the holiday yard decor. I took these photos of a couple of trees.

I haven’t tried to photograph the lights at night, but there are some very exciting displays.

Lisa and Clay are vegan which means they do not consume any dairy or eggs. I found a vegan gingerbread recipe which has a really nice spicy flavor. I have so many cookie cutters, but stars are my favorite.

I will make the frosting using margarine and soy milk.

Last night when we were out for dinner with the whole family, Mia asked me what Christmas cookies I was making this year. I asked her which ones she most wanted me to make. She said, “All of them!” So, I mixed up a batch of peppermint brownies which will get frosting and crushed peppermint. I also will make some pressed sugar cookies.

I have finished my gift shopping, but I still have to wrap things — something I do not really enjoy doing. I am a fan of gift bags!!

I hope you are enjoying a lovely holiday season. Happy Solstice!!

Posted in Cooking and Recipes, Family, Holidays, weight loss/gain | 5 Comments »

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