the weekend's work

I mostly worked on quilts this weekend. I did a bunch of hand-quilting on the one currently in the frame. It's a little hard to see but here it is:



I'm using green thread that coordinates with the sort-of yellow-green color in the top. I'm just doing a simple grid but that means I didn't have to mark the quilt first. Marking quilt tops is tedious.

I also sewed a few more blocks for the long-ongoing quilt top. I'm about half finished with sewing the blocks, then will have to lay them all out and sew them together, and someday think about quilting it. I'm actually considering hand-quilting it, maybe using the old so-called Baptist Fan design (which you can make with a string and a pencil; it's not that complicated. I've marked it like that before). I think for such a linear block pattern the curved quilting pattern will be an interesting contrast:





Every block (there will be 30) is a different floral fabric, mostly as photo-realistic as I could find. There's a mix of dark and light fabrics so I'll have to be careful laying it out to mix them well. Not sure what the backing will be; I may be able to find something that suits in my stash, which would be good, given my plans to Do More With Less (a phrase I hate, but whatever). 

Not sure at this point that this will be the "next" top I attack with hand quilting - I am thinking towards first doing one I've had a long time, the "Turning Twenty" top that will have a "Zen Clouds" (a Kaffe Fasset fabric, IIRC) for the backing, and I plan to quilt it from the WRONG side - using the outline of the clouds as my quilting design.

I also started the body of Sylvie Culture but that's not very photogenic so no picture. I do have to decide, seeing as I originally envisioned her as wearing field boots, whether I make a little set out of felt (If I even have enough brown felt on hand, though if I do go to Sherman for grocery shopping I could PROBABLY afford a couple squares of felt from the JoAnn's.....just no more buying huge cuts of fabric "on spec" for future backings  "because I like it and it's kind of on sale")

Oh, hey. I used General Zoi's Pony Creator (here) to draw myself up a version of her, so here it is:

The colors are slightly off (she should be more yellow) and her flank insignia is slightly messed up (it shouldn't be on a white background), but you get the idea. Yes, she is going to have the intense blue eyes and a braided mane and tail.

And while I was playing around, I drew a Folio - a pony that already exists in crocheted form:

She's just a tiny bit fatter (one of the fun things about Pony Creator is that you can make your ponies tall or short, fat or skinny). I headcanon it (does headcanon work for characters you made up?) because being essentially a library-pony, she is more sedentary: she doesn't fly much even if she is a Pegasus.

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I also made a batch of cauliflower soup. Cauliflower isn't my favoritest food ever, but I know it's good for you and I don't find it actively repulsive (like I do broccoli) so I try to eat it from time to time. This is better than some recipes I've made and is not difficult. It is from the Mennonite cookbook I have (Called, yes, the More-with-Less cookbook, though their concept was you did more good things with less money because then you could donate the money you saved to Good Works.... which seems more fulfilling to me than doing more with less because you're worried about your own personal future)

Anyway. What you do is take a medium sized head of cauliflower and break it to bits, and boil it. I boiled it a very long time because I didn't break it down THAT small. I put vinegar in the water because that helps keep the cauliflower from darkening. You can also add salt to the water.

Then, I drained the cauliflower and let it cool, while I cut up 1/4 cup of onion and heated 4 tablespoons of butter in a heavy pan. I put the onion in to let it cook slowly (medium heat) while I put the cauliflower and 1 cup of chicken stock into the blender and whirled it up. (The original recipe doesn't call for this but I really prefer smooth soups to chunky ones).

Then, to the butter and onion, you add 1/4 cup of flour and mix well (making a roux), add 2 more cups of chicken broth, 2 cups of milk (I used canned milk, I usually do in soups because it tastes more like cream). To flavor it, I put in a bit more than the 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce and I also added maybe 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika. Then I dumped in the pureed cauliflower.

The last step is to add about a cup of shredded cheese (I used cheddar but I suspect a good nutty Swiss would also be good) and kept it warm over low (don't boil it after adding the milk or it will curdle) until the cheese melted.

I didn't add any salt to this but you could. I did put in a bit of hot sauce at the table because it needed something. Also, I will say - this is better the day after you make it, like so many of these things. The cookbook says it makes 6-8 servings but it's pretty filling, so I might find I get more than that.