Christmas Lights Quilt

 This top actually dates back to my covid lockdown series, not because it’s when I started it but because it is made of the scraps from a quilt made during that time.

 

 

Back in 2022 I made the Rainbow Cubic Quilt with this beautiful rainbow pack I’d gotten in a raffle.  I was also able to complete a table runner with some of the scraps… and yet I still had more. So what to do with those…

 

 

After sitting on the shelf for a while I finally decided something had to be done with them. Everything was sewn together, I just didn’t know what to do with them. It happened to be Christmas time and I thought they kind of remind me of Christmas lights. Inspiration hits.

 

 

I got to work creating the hexagons and then laid them out randomly so they’d be all spread out among the grey hexagons. I added the white to spread them out, but in hindsight I think I added a little too much white. 

 

 

I got all of the rows together and felt like it really didn’t need a border; it was already a pretty modern-style quilt. I needed a backing though, and found one on my annual trip to Rosies in San Diego. It was the oversized backing fabric, which meant less piecework to get it to the right size.

 

 

My goal with the quilting was to make sure everything had good texture on it, but I felt like there was no 

need for a particular pattern. So I went with a meander and kept it simple.

 

 

Once it was all done, I added my label and completed the binding with some of the backing fabric I still had left. All finished!

 

 

I took a step back and looked at my finished product and realized I accidentally switched the last row, so it’s not in step all of the other rows. Yikes! Oh well, I’ve heard the Amish believe nothing should be perfect so they purposely add flaws to the quilts. I’m sure that’s what this was. I purposeful mistake. It’s curious to see if others notice it.
 

Scrappy Pinwheel Quilt

What do you do with the scraps from a project? I always struggle with this when I use a technique that causes cut pieces that are already sewn together, making it a pre-sewn block. It’s like it’s meant to be in something. I just don’t always have the time or patience if the pieces get too small.

 

 

So, back in 2022 I made my Natural Beauty Garden LatticeQuilt. It turned out awesome, but had a lot of little half-square triangles that were already sewn together. I wasn’t sure if I should try to turn them into something or let them go. While I thought about it, I completed Natures LostFour-Patch quilt with the leftover 10” squares.

 

 

That project gave me time to think about how I wanted to deal with the small pieces. I was finally ready to get to work on this one. I decided it was worth it.  This one is the last of the trio with this set of fabric. I pulled out everything I had and started putting it all together.

 

 

I started with the small pieces that were the original leftovers and made them into pinwheels. Once they were made I had to figure out a plan for them. I had some black with a black floral pattern on it that I really wanted to use in a project, so I decided to use it here even though solid black was used in the pinwheels. It felt like a small enough difference that wasn’t too noticeable and added some character as well.

 

 

Once all the pinwheel blocks were completed, I used the leftover backing fabric to make the sashing. The large flowers are such a great pop of color. I used the black-on-black floral for the cornerstones as well.

 

 

For the backing, I had the blue version of the floral that was used in the sashing. The large print is excellent for a backing.

 

 

I used a basic meander quilting as this quilt was already busy enough, and then I put on my tag and the binding, which was more leftovers from previous projects. I was really working hard to finish up all the fabric.

 

 

I love how this one turned out. It would be a fun baby quilt with a more modern and vibrant feel, or a great sofa blanket that adds color to the room. The colors in the fabric are just so much fun! I’m really glad I decided to use up the small pieces I had left. I feel like I really used every part of the layer cake pack that started all this. And yes, I still have a bit of fabric left but it’s minimal enough that I can save it for a scrappy project. Phew! 

Classic Juicy Meatloaf

When my husband and I first moved in together, we started trying recipes that we were familiar with to figure out what our tastes and styles were. The classic Lipton meatloaf was something we both knew well from childhood.

 

 

As we got older and played with more flavors, I realized this was a recipe that really could use some jazzing up. I wanted to add more texture and moisture with zucchini and fresh onion. Also, I found that combining the bread crumbs with milk first allowed for a more moist loaf as well.

 

 

I’ve never been a fan of sauce on top of a meatloaf. I like the crispy meaty bits that happen when you make it without a topping. I also like to add my own amount of ketchup to my individual piece while I eat.

 

 

 

We always pair this with mashed potatoes. The combination of meat and potatoes is just too classic! It is absolutely comfort food that I’ve been perfecting for years now.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classic Juicy Meatloaf

 

2 lbs ground beef

1 medium zucchini, finely shredded and drained

¼ c onion, minced

½ c bread crumbs

¼ - ½ c milk

2 eggs

1/3 c ketchup

1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix

 

 

 

 

 

Pre-heat the oven to 350F. In a mixing bowl, combine the bread crumbs and the milk. Use the amount of milk that moistens the bread crumbs to a wet sandy feel, but not soggy. After a few minutes of soaking, add the rest of the ingredients. Mix everything together well.

 

Line a glass baking dish with aluminum foil and spray the bottom with cooking spray. Shape the meatloaf into a loaf shape; it should be long and even a little oval on the ends. You can also make it more rectangular, whatever you prefer.

 

 

Spray the top of the loaf with the cooking spray and then place it in the oven. Leave it in the oven for about 50-60 minutes, when it reaches 165F internal temperature. Pull it out and let it sit to cool for about 10 minutes. Serve with ketchup or barbecue sauce, which ever you prefer, or leave it undressed like me.

Meatball Minestrone

 

Sometimes it’s nice to have a light, savory, and scrumptious soup that comes together fast. It’s also nice to have a soup that can crossover into warmer seasons, or cool seasons that just won’t cool down.

 

 

We have been spending so much of our winter in the 70s and 80s so far, and it’s hard to get into my usual soups when it’s so warm. The rare day that we cool into the 60s I will definitely be pulling out my creamy butternut squash soup, or my warm pasta fagioli, but for now we are hitting the spring-style soups.

 

 

Usually I like to puree my soups to make them creamier without adding the extra fat of heavy cream. This recipe definitely tastes best when you keep it real. Diced veggies mixed with the yummy meatball morsels make the balance perfect. Add the pasta for a little more texture, and the spinach for one more kick of healthy-heartiness and you have a great balance.

 

 

The longer the soup simmers, the better. Sometimes I will make the broth and meatballs part of the soup ahead of time and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Then when it’s closer to dinner time, I heat it back up and add the noodles and spinach to finish it off. Makes for a fast meal, either prepped or not. Enjoyed with some focaccia or crusty sourdough is perfection!

 

 

Meatball Minestrone

 

Meatballs:

1 lb Italian sausage (or you can use ground duroc pork, chicken or turkey)

1/3 c panko crumbs

¼ c freshly grated parmesan

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp salt, more if needed

½ tsp pepper, more if needed

 

Broth:

2 Tbs EVOO

1 yellow onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 ribs celery, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 c chicken broth

2 c water

½ tsp dried oregano and dried thyme

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

1 c elbow pasta

1 c baby spinach, chopped

 

In a bowl, mix together all of the meatball ingredients. Roll the meatballs out into small balls, about ¾-1 inch size. Set these aside and continue to prep the rest of the ingredients. I like to have everything chopped, diced, and measured before I start to make things go more smoothly.

 

Heat your dutch oven over med-hi heat. Add your oil and begin browning your meatballs. Make sure to move them around to get all sides nicely browned, and don’t overcrowd the pot. Once they are browned, remove them to a paper towel lined plate and continue with the second batch. Once the second batch is done, remove them and set aside with the others.

 

Add a bit more oil and stir in the onions, carrots, and celery. Let those cook down a bit, until the onions become a bit translucent, and then add the garlic. After about a minute, add the chicken stock and water. Add the meatballs back to the pot, and also add the bay leaves and the dried oregano and thyme. Stir everything together and check for salt and pepper. Now add the pasta and let it cook for about 10 minutes, checking for al dente.

 

Once the pasta is ready, add the spinach and let it wilt for a minute. Your meatballs should be cooked through at this point, but it doesn’t hurt to check one. Pull the soup off the burner to let it cool a bit and then serve. This is amazing with some focaccia or sourdough.  

Grandmas Scraps Christmas Quilt

 

I know this post is a little late, but the holidays went so fast this year that I think I may have blinked, thus missing the whole experience. We had family come to town right before thanksgiving, and then we were able to have more family come to town for Christmas, which hardly ever happens.

 

 

There’s really lots of things that have delayed this quilt post. I can’t blame it all on visitors. I actually started this quilt a couple of years ago. I was trying to clean out old scraps and I came across a bag of Christmas pieces. Some had come from my moms stash during her clean out, and some were in mine.

 

 

I was going to get rid of them, they were even in the sale pile. But one of the fabrics looked familiar. I pulled out Christmas tree pictures and realized they were the scraps from our tree skirt, which was made by my grandmother many, many years ago!

 

 

Well, now I couldn’t get rid of the scraps. I pulled them out and thought about what I could do with them. It occurred to me that my fave block pattern, Granny’s Square, would be a perfect tribute to my grandmother.

 

 

Instead of 2 ½ inch squares, I went with 2 inch squares so I could get more out of the fabric and therefore have more variety in the overall pattern. I picked a simple kona snow white for the background and started sewing things together.

 

 

I didn’t have quite enough, but I wanted to use every scrap so I made a couple of the blocks slightly differently. My intent was to use the outcasts to make a table runner but I needed a couple more blocks to finish my top, so in they go!

 

 

To make the top a little bigger, I added another scrap of red that I had, which is such a nice and simple border. I set the blocks on point for dimension, but also to make the overall quilt size a little bigger. I was trying to think of what size works best for us.

 

 

Because this was a scrappy quilt, I didn’t really have a backing in mind. I had checked my favorite shops for possible sales with no luck. Then I went to our LQS and struck gold with this beautiful fabric of Christmas colors and Christmas trees, and deer; it was perfect! And even better, it was on clearance! Yay!

 

 

I used a basic meander for the quilting, and picked out a green binding that pulled from the green on the back. It worked out perfectly. So many different fabrics I thought I didn’t want that played a huge role in making this finish happen. 

 

 

I am so glad I was finally able to get this one done. It’s a great addition to our holiday décor, and it reminds me of my grandma every time I see it.