Sunday 22 April 2012

Well it;s been a while .... a lot of sewing . A lot of runingaround and not a lot of time to blog.


This is the friendship braid that has taken a while. Today this was quilted in a trailing vine design and then stipple in the border .It looks great despite a ripple in the backsheet that is going to wreakl havoc on the top piece if I frog it . So in it stays .

 This is the new wall hanging for our redecorated bedroom and was done as a one day project to bust my scrap buster. OK it might not be perfect but it fits in realyl wel lwith our colour scherme and my love of the tree shape.

 This is the start of a tropical friendship braid that went into a lovely bright Friendship quilt that is going to Mauritius  with a friend;s mum. You can see more of this quilt fruther down .

No sooner write than there it is ... this is the first border ... and then it got really lively .
 then final binding border was brillaitn orange and it looked fanstastic. A week from selection of fabric to completion.

Ahh a little pressie from my friend in Germany . So THANK YOU MRS CHICKA !

a Linus quilt to go to the hospital . All quilted in simple stipple in guterrman variated sulky threa It looks realy great despite a slightly wobbly start ( I wasn;lt convinced with it and found it a bit "BIG" pattern wise but it now looks realy good.

Ahh the JAPANESE style ... this took some work

Ah the wild log cabin. A baby mat that is awating a friend ( quilt friend) not baby friend  this new addition is underthe machine ( and the cat )

AND NOW ,....................... Japanese  X and +  .

Now I ;ve also been nagged to include a couple of fav recipes.

So here you go .

Rachels Ginger and nutmeg chicken

1 chicken breast per person orportion .
3 celery sticks
1 onion
6 large white mushrooms all finely chopped.
1 clove garlic lightly chopped.
light checken stock
2 pieces of stem ginger in syrup washed of syrup and finely chopped.
single cream
whole nutmeg

Soften all yr finely chopped veg in some oil and then seal yr chicken .
add the stock and the finely chopped ginger in syrup
Allow the chicken to cook through and reduce the sauce on a medium heat. if this is taking a long time then thicken the sauce with some slaked cornflower in water and allow to cook through.

Add a little single cream at the end and a good grating of finely grated nutmeg.
brilliant served with steamed fresh veg and tagliatelle ( noodles)

yum yum ...

You can make this without chicken to make a great soup. I know you can get stem ginger in syrup fromSainsburys .


Root veg bake with chilli cream

So simple and lazy .

large chunks of yr fav root veg  and lotso f them .
I use potato
carrots
onions
celeriac
sweet potato

I have used butternut squash but it does go a bit soggy .

so pack yr veg into a deep roasting dish and then mix up
1/4 pt simple stock
about 1/2 pint cream ( double or heavy ) 
salt
chilli sauce .. I like sweet tomato
pepper

mix it up and pour over the veg . Stick the roasting dish into a good hot oven and roast turning every 20 mins for approx 2 hours  or until veg tender. This is gob scorching hot .... heat not spice but gets even better as it sits and develops some new depth of flavour . I love ot eat this the next morning  ( piglet)~~

Thai turkey meatballs with noodles and doodles

1 pack of turkey breast mince       ( ground )
1 /2 teaspoon  thai 7 spice
salt
finey chopped fresh coriander and parsley
1 tablespoon thick sweet soy sauce .
mirin  1 tablespoon

mix all togehter vigorously and then form small ( teaspoon sized) balls .
Poach in a light stock for 10 mins till cooked through .

Add to a great stir fry with loads of noodles  and a good sauce and enjoy a steaming bowl of lovely comfort food ( realyl low fat too )

Lebanese chicken

ok you need to find some Lebanese 5 spice which you cn get from ASDA  and pomegraite syrup

ok onions and lots of them
chicken btreast
can of good quality tomatoes chopped
small amount ( 200 ml ) stock

chicken breast sealed in a pan and add onions the lebanse 5 spice ( contains cinnamon )
this tends to go quite thick so immeadiately add yr tomatoes and stock and slap on the lidf of yr pan and allow to simmer slowly for 15 mins ... check it doesn't catch or burn so giver a stir every few mins but don;t keep pestering it .

add 2 tablespoons of pomegranate syrup and possibly a spoon of sugar to stop it getting too acidic .

taste and season .... fabulous served with cous cous and fresh herbs  and salad .


Saffrom pilaf with cinnamon chicken

yoghurt with 2 tablespoons cinnamon stir in .
Marinate small cubes of chicken breast or boned chicken thighs  for a couple of hours
you can fry them off gently or baked in the oven

saffron pilaff ....

few strands of saffron soaked in stock .
large quantity of freshly chopped flat leaf parsley, corriander , mint
rice  .... ( you do double liquid to rice volume and use the same measure )

a micxture of lightly toasted and chopped or whole nuts . I like pistachios, pine nuts and cashews but you can use Pecans, flaked almonds and hazel nuts.

cooked yr rice  gently .... I use 1 cup rice to 2 cups of liquid and let it simmer in a lidded pan turning the heat off half way through and letting it steam to completion. FLUFF ONLY WITH A FORK !

DO NOT STIR RICE  when cooking it wrecks the grain and you end up with sludge .

when the rice is cooked stir in the herbs and nuts and pile onto a plate  and then scatter withthe cooked chciken and top with more fresh herbs and pomegranate seeds ..... it looks glorious and gets snarfed down at arate of knots .

Sunday 15 April 2012

well yes sorry been a tad busy .... more sewing, decorating/repainting our room and 2 lots of 260 miles round trips to drop off and collect DD.  but I have bene hard at it on the sewing machine and made...

friendship braid in ruby
friendship braid double in multi which is going to Mauritius.
baby boy HST super cute cot quilt
cut the Karate quilt
made my Stash bee blocks and sent them
sent 4 fabric care packs to people on the web from Sew What on FB
painted and completed my 2nd surgery
wall hanging for our bedroom
washed my 2 big quilts ( A HUGE JOB )
painted our bedroom
celebrated our 13 th wedding anniversary

so forgive me but there areo nly so many hours in hte day ...
oh yeah and I went to work as well
Pics ot follow when I can  find the little blighters !

I also purchased the 2 Newton Faulkner aLBUIMS  and am most taken . He is playing onthe 14th May in Norwich and I would dearly like to go .! subtle hints over.

Saturday 7 April 2012

Easter

HAPPY EASTER MY LITTLE SIMNELS ...  right now that is over with ....
Well it;s task a licious over here in Norfolk. We;ve completed my lovely new clinical room in Cromer  "oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"  I hear youi say .. well I hope I do .

We;ve nearly got our bedroom painted ... after having to take a 9 mile detour to get extra paint cos the DIY store was out of OUR COLOUR in OUR FINISH so  ohh bloody hell that means other people have got rooms the same colour as me .. MARK !! we;ve got to paint over it .

Also I have mananged to completed a ruby red quilt in trad style for a work collegues daughter. It has been on the back burner waiting for the right fabric to turn up .  It had to be in old rose tones and ruby reds pinks and some golden tones . ANyway it also had to be trad pattern because the grils room is trad style and my mod stuff would just not go .

So I took a recipe from the lintott book I have  ( Jelly roll quilts ) and made friendship braid . NOw they way they cut it they obviously get far more cuts per strip than me but I JUST DO NOT  have the patience to do lots of cutting. Ack I hate complicated cuts . I always need a new blade and I have to have the table to my self and everyone else is banned from breathing . They may bring me cups of peach tea and sustenance as I require but must NOT talk touch or even emit a CO2 molecule near me .
Cranky pants would be the right term when cutting material . SOme days I jsut love to slice up for a quilt if I am using a JR pattern .

Anyway I disgress ..... stop me if I am boring you ... so I didn't do the fussy cutting they require and just cut 6 inch strips ... sat down got sewing and made ... this ... dahhhdahh ( improvise yr own fanfare )


ANd then today I did the paino key border and the plain borders ... by gum it got close in the final stages and I only had 10 inches of the final red floral spare. it now has to be decided how to quilt this as it is a complicated pattern and over quilting would be a real sin .

I have completeled my blocks for STASH BEE  HIVE 3 ... but packaged them up before I took pics so.............. DOH !

I now have one big wedding quilt to complete and a quilt for ESKA karate club of Norfolk fortheir annual bun fight in AUgust ... joy joy joy ... how to represent karate in quilt form .

I am also in process of making up a block for the Modern Quilt GUild Quilt con .. ( bad choice of names I think )  to see if it makes it into the display ... I doubt it but if you don;t try you don;t win .

right time to tootle off and do something else for a while ... like laundry yeuch .

Don;t eat too many eggs

Love RAVEN

Tuesday 3 April 2012

Sometimes life gets in the way of doing stuff. I don;t have a chance to write blurb everyday and quite honestly don;t think you want to hear me whittle on about spaghetti hoops, jam jars, diesel prices, cleaning, decorating, work . now due to severe weather problems at my parents house on the top of the Durham Dales I can;t reach them and our 10yr old on the phone . a small sense of panic has set in and a couple of phone calls have been made to see if we can just make sure they are ok.

So In some ways I am glad I did my sewing earlier today .. I managed to make the central block for a friendship braid quilt top. Now I,m not really a fan of Trad quilting at all . blame it one my childhood horrors of english paper piecing and all that jazz .... this thank goodness is a simple 6 inch by 2 and 1.2 inch strips sewn in braid fashion and then trimmed. I am also not a great fan of old rose designs and old rose colours but that was the brief so all in all it has been one of those ... challenge tops.

I also made my blocks for block swap on Stash bee which identifierd a HUGE gap ( LNMAO ) in my stash of that I do not keep many fabrics with white backgrounds. I keep a lot of solid white but not many with white on white or a high white vis background ... oh dear what shall I do ?? yeah right .

Ideas for the Karate quilt.


SO the blocks are done , the quilt centre is done, I have a shed load of work to do on a wedding quilt before August and a Karate quilt. I am working through  my X &+ blocks .. maybe 2 or 3 a day so as not to get too bored too quickly .

The x & + block


Leo guarding my blocks

My blocks . Slowly slowly catchy monkey.

Friendship braid


Friendship braid central panel




a bit of light embroidery



X&+ blocks