Baby I's Quilt

During this quarantine time, I have been keeping myself distracted with quilts. I have been trying to post them on here to keep a record of all my work, but I’m struggling to keep up with all of the projects I’ve completed. It’s a good thing to clean out all of the plans I’ve had over the last several years, but I discovered I have several fabric bundles for babies.

I have scraps from previous baby quilts, and baby fabric packs, and of course fat quarter bundles, and random pieces I just couldn’t live without. I started to think about who I could make a quilt for, but most of my friends are past baby stage… except one.

 

A friend just had baby #4 right when we went into quarantine. Before stay home orders, I hadn’t thought of making a quilt for her. Hadn’t even crossed my mind. Once we were stuck home and I was faced with all of the fabric and projects I’ve collected over the years, I realized this was an easy answer. She really has all of the basic baby needs, so a gift was tricky anyway.

 

I decided to use a popular half-square triangle pattern and laid it out to create an off-set diamond pattern. I used fabrics left over from my sisters Baby boy quilt (5 years ago!) called Bartholomeow’s Reef.

 

While I had enough for the front, I didn’t have enough large cut for the back. I pushed my luck and actually found some on etsy so I ordered enough for this quilt and a little extra as I still have enough fabric left to make at least one more, maybe even two more baby quilts with this.

 

I finished it with a simple ¼ inch straight stitch following the diamond pattern, and of course added a date tag so I remember when I made it.

 

I also used the stripe fabric for the binding. It creates such a wonderful border for the quilt with movement and interest. I’m not usually a fan of stripes, but something about that fabric calls to me.

It took a few weeks to get it to my friend and her baby, but I finally did and hopefully they will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. This was a fun, and relatively quick finish.

Beef Satay with Peanut Sauce of the Side

A recipe I’ve always wanted to try, and now that I’ve tried it, I don’t know why I waited so long. I have had this one tucked away in a binder full of recipes. Over the years, long before pinterest, I have been clipping recipes from various magazines, catalogs, brochures and flyers. This one came from a Lifestyle magazine that included recipes that are simple, fast, and healthy. My hubby loves peanut butter, and steak. What a better way to combine the two than this.

The best thing about this recipe is that it’s quick and easy and perfect for busy nights. It’s also a “clean” meal that doesn’t weigh you down. Easy proteins for digestion and a soft, sweet flavor of peanut butter to add interest.

This meal also reheats really well if you end up with leftovers. I’ve used leftovers of this to make salads and Chinese wraps. It’s amazing! I’m sure there’s more applications, too that I’m not even thinking of right now. Definitely worth a try.

 

Beef Satay with Peanut Sauce on the Side

 

1 ½ lbs flank steak (thinly sliced across the grain)

2 Tbs canola oil

1 ½ tsp coriander

½ tsp salt and pepper

6-8 wooden skewers, moistened

 

¼ c peanut butter

1 ½ Tbs light brown sugar

2 Tbs lite soy sauce

1 Tbs lime juice

3 Tbs water (more if needed)

 

Heat the broiler on high with the top rack 4 inches from the heat source. Slice the meat and place it in a bowl. Add the oil, coriander, salt and pepper. Mix them together making sure the meat is well coated with the oil and seasonings. Thread the meat onto the wooden skewers and place them on a rimmed baking sheet. You can line it with foil to make clean up easier. Place in the broiler, and allow to cook for 4-5 minutes for a medium cook.

 

Meanwhile, whisk together the peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, lime juice, and water. You can add more water to thin the sauce if you prefer. Serve the sauce on the side or brush it on the meat when it comes out of the broiler. Serve with broccoli and rice for a fast and delicious meal.

Quarantine UFO Series #5, Vintage Modern Quilt

Vintage Modern Quilt

 

This quilt… so beautiful… so frustrating… so glad it’s finished.

 

The short story for this is that I love doing my own quilting but I don’t really have the right machine for it. I love following stencil patterns and creating flowing meanders across individual blocks and borders. Don’t get me wrong, my machine is pretty good. But over the years, it has given me trouble and its age has shown. That’s how this quilt got hung up on the UFO shelf for so long.

 

It started in May of 2014 when I found a beautiful jellyroll of Vintage Modern fabrics from Moda. I first blogged about it here, and explained my ideas and inspiration. I was so excited! You know those moments when you have a brainstorm idea and you can’t wait to get to it and see it to completion? I got to work and was doing great, but hit a wall when I ran out of grey fabric for the base of half my blocks. It took me some time but I found more grey and finished the stars! Yeah! I blogged about completing them and preparing to complete theproject here. That’s when I hit a new wall.

 

This quilt is a twin size, which for my little machine and cramped quarters, is quite a beast. I quilted a few blocks and was so disappointed and frustrated with the quality that I decided I’d rather put it away and wait for the right machine to complete it than to continue ruining the top with the quilting. Into the closet it went. Since then, it has been shuffled around and moved about and pulled out of the way of other items that we’ve needed over the years. But there it continued to wait for the “right time”.

 

After completing a couple of UFOs and feeling more confident about finishing projects, I decided it was time to finish that quilt. Nothing has changed. I still have the same machine in the same cramped quarters. I still find it awkward and difficult to accomplish what I envisioned it being. At the end of the day though, I really love this quilt and I wanted it finished so I can enjoy it.

 

I got back to work with the same stencils, the same efforts, and with each block, I felt more and more confident with the process. By the time it was all done, I was actually pretty happy with how it turned out. I am glad I pushed myself to make it happen and get it done.

 

I finished the binding by hand and added a 2020 label. I may have started in 2014, but I finished it in 2020. I washed the quilt in the gentle cycle to get the last of the stencil markings off, and to my surprise, they didn’t come off. What’s going on? I pulled it out of the washer and got a soft toothbrush to try and rub the stencil off.  Nope, still not working. I tried ironing it off, nope. I washed it again and hoped that it would be good enough. I’m a little bummed that I finally finished this project, and I couldn’t get the chalk out. The blocks that had marker on them came out no problem. Such a disappointment. Oh well, fortunately it matched the rest of the quilt well enough that it’s hard to notice. Maybe it will fade in time or wash out next time. Either way, I have finished this project... finally! I love it and am so happy with the design.