Barbara Brackman Civil War BOWs 24 and 25

BOW 24 was Ladies Aid Album, the forerunner of the Red Cross (see the Red Cross peeking out from behind?). These were not standard MM template sizes, so I printed templates from EQ and trimmed the points with MM templates (just love how they match up when you trim them).

BOW 25 is Calico Puzzle. Again, not standard sizes for an 8" block (oh how I wish I had known when we started there would be this many nine patches, I would have modified the blocks to be 9"), so I printed templates from EQ7.
Almost half done!

Author's album progress

The SBS and other Elm Creek Yahoo group is having a swap of the Author album blocks. I have been making these along with other things, the bits being leader /enders (see Quiltville for an explanation, Bonnie Hunter's idea), and occasionally doing a bit more. These 6 are done, another 4 are almost done, then I need to make 14 more (they are cut and ready to go!). I still need to sign them.

Disappearing Nine Patch

Talk about quick! OK, I wasn't going to start anything new until I got a few things farther along. But I had an idea to make a few things for our living room, table toppers, runner to put under the TV, and a few pillows. And I thought I would use some of the Morris inspired, or Art Nouveau inspired fabric, or maybe both kinds. and I started looking around for some simple patterns so these could be done fairly quickly, and well... Then I took out some boxes of fabric, and found a Moda charm pack of Barbara Brackman's "The Morris Workshop" and the instructions for a Disappearing Nine Patch. So, the blocks are done, laid out on the design wall to see if any tweeking needs to be done. And I will get back to what I should be doing.

Dinner ideas needed!

I am trying to get back into, stay into, cooking from scratch. Better for me, just hard to do sometimes. When the garden is actually producing food, I will need to cook from it! Just what is in the garden? When in the height of its production, more than we can possibly eat, so I will also be learning to preserve the output. Specifically, 5 kinds of tomatoes (2 medium sized, 3 cherry/grape varieties), several kinds of summer squash, also several kinds of winter squash, pumpkin, cucumber, green beans (bush and pole), bell pepper, eggplant, kale, and lettuce. More to plant, and actually still have room to plant a bit. I want to start some fennel and maybe some carrots. Need to check the when it’s a good time to start various veggies, and pick a few more.
Meanwhile, what to cook now? When I get home, take care of the garden a bit, and then start to cook dinner, I need something quick. Last night was butternut squash (pricked, microwaved for 2 minutes, removed, cut in half, seeds removed, peeled, cut into chunks and steamed, then mashed, served with butter if desired), and Tilapia on a bed of greens with homemade lemon, honey, low sodium soy sauce, dash of sesame oil (and some other stuff) dressing. Squash cooked while I watered, then the fish was super simple and quick.
Night before was a summer squash frittata and toast.
Tonight? Who knows!

Meeting Jennifer Chiaverini

I had a chance to meet Jennifer Chiaverini on Sunday. Very sweet and talented lady. She got to see my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler (she designed the pattern), and a couple of other works in progress taken from her "more Elm Creek Quilts" book. I made up an Album block from an Anneke fabric (her latest fabric line) and she signed it for me! How special that quilt will be for me, what with all of the other friends from the Yahoo group making blocks for it (we are swapping).

Brackman Civil War BOM 19-23

#19 is Missouri Star, made with Marti Michell templates (Set B)

#20 is New England, rotary cut using regular ruler and paper templates from EQ7.

#21 is Underground Railroad (variation), made with Set B, Marti Michell templates

#22 is Blockade, again made with Set B

#23 is a very simple version of Illinois Roads. I like the more complicated version better (think nine patch with five of these made much smaller!), but opted to go with Barbara's version. Rotary cut, strip pieced, very easy!