Springtime on Easy Street - A Sneak Peek!

I went ahead and put a couple of the rows together tonight.  I just couldn't figure out what it was going to look like!  Even though I've seen pictures of lots of other people's completed Easy Street quilts, I've just been so curious to see how my color choices would "play" together, and how the on-point assembly would go together.  I've never done a quilt on-point before, it's not nearly as difficult as I was afraid it would be.  As long as I double check everything...  I'm very happy with this so far!  Hopefully tomorrow I will have time to finish putting it all together.


Yes, that's my husband laying there, playing his video games!  His recovery is - finally - going well.  The orange flannel quilt he's laying under is one I made him for his birthday.

Springtime on Easy Street - Part 8, Block A

Whoohooo!!!  I finished all 16 blocks!  They're not perfect - seams don't always match up, and points sometimes got cut off, but every component of this quilt is DONE!  And once it's finished, it will be beautiful!  I can't wait to get it all assembled!!  (Too many exclamation points? Never!!)

First off, the central 9-patch blocks:

Next, with the left and right wings:

And last, but not least, top and bottom rows added to make the completed block:

On to assembly!

Springtime on Easy Street - Part 8, Block B

I finally decided what I wanted to do with bordering this top (when it's finished...), so Saturday morning I double-checked the fabric I had remaining, and went to Hancock Fabrics.  I'm going with a purple 1" finished inner border, and a 3" finished outer border and the binding in grey.  I didn't have enough of a purple for the inner border, and was a little short of the grey as well.  Once I got to the store, I discovered that they were having a sale - 50% off notions!  Most of the cotton fabrics were marked down as well, so I ended up spending more than I had planned, but got more needles for my machine, more pins, lots of thread, a circle template, both border fabrics, and backing for the quilt.  I found a steel grey fabric with white, cream, and lighter grey swirls running through it, a nice medium-sized print with plenty of movement that coordinates with the binding and won't show my quilting too obviously.

After I got home, I cut and sewed and pressed the border strips and the binding, so they'll be all ready to go when I finish the top.  Then I started in on the block B units.  I decided that, since I only needed to make 9 of them, I would get them finished first, and save the block A units for last (since there are 16 of those).  I started with the center 9-patch:

Then I moved on and added the right and left "wings":

At that point, it was after midnight, so I went to bed.  The next day, however, I was able to sit down for an hour or so and add the top and bottom rows, finishing out the B blocks:

I don't think I've ever made blocks this large!  Mine usually finish at 9.5" or 12.5".  I'm not entirely sure how to best square them up...  I think I've gotten spoiled by my 12.5" square.


 I'm really, really excited about the progress I've made this past week, and I'm really looking forward to finishing the piecing on this top.  I've got the quilting pattern all picked out, and I'm ready to be snuggled up under this quit in the very near future!

Springtime on Easy Street - Part 7!

Today I worked on Part 7, and was so excited to get to begin putting all of the pieces together and see how my quilt would turn out.  I've seen lots of completed tops made by other people, but I haven't come across one with my color choices, so I've had trouble visualizing exactly how it will look.

Before I could start working on the corner and setting triangles, though, I added the remaining bricks to the leftover cream/purple flying geese.

 Then, it was on to the really fun stuff!  First, the four corner triangles.

Then, the 12 setting triangles!

It feels like an awful lot of green right now, so I'm really looking forward to making the center blocks and assembling the top.  I'm also considering my options for a border.  First, do I want one?  I think that I do.  For one thing, it will make the quilting easier.  For another, I'm not sure I want it to be so green around the edges...  I'm thinking of a narrow inner border (maybe finished at 1"?) with a purple batik, and a larger (~3") outer border of the grey, if I have enough of it to do that, and still bind the quilt...  At least I have plenty of time to decide.  For now, though, I'm just excited that the end is in sight!

Springtime on Easy Street - Parts 4-6

I've finally begun working on my quilt again!  My husband is recovering from surgery, and is pretty much confined to the bed or the recliner for several days.  In order to keep him from going crazy, he's playing video games or sleeping through MythBusters on Netflix.  So not only is the tv tied up, but he's crashed in my favorite chair!  And with my favorite quilt...  I decided that I needed a "me" project.  I've made some great progress on gift projects and don't feel guilty about taking some time out to work on a UFO of my own.

So yesterday I pulled out the box with my Springtime on Easy Street quilt in it, and organized everything.  I had put all of the steps - completed and in progress - into individual ziplock bags, but I hadn't labelled anything.  After a half hour or so of counting units, reading back through the clues, labeling the bags, I realized that I had a lot more done than I remembered!  And after a power-sewing marathon yesterday, I had completely finished steps 4 through 6!

For Part 4, I had finished about 1/3 of the pink and purple flying geese, and had already cut the green squares.  I completed the geese and sewed them to the cream/purple geese and was done with this step.

Part 5 was even easier - all of my "Sitting Turkey" blocks were done!

I hadn't begun any of Part 6, so I made the green half square triangles...

...and assembled the brick blocks. I couldn't believe how much progress I made in just one day!  I'm so glad that I pulled this out again.

Oh, and here's a look at my box with all of the parts in individual (labelled!) bags -

A Surprise for Mom!

 Over a year ago, I absconded with scraps left over from a quilt top Mom had pieced.  I didn't exactly sneak them out of the house - she gave them to me, but I didn't tell her what they were for.  I had found a stunning pattern for a throw pillow that I though would be perfect for her, to accent the quilt.  It was a paper-piecing pattern - the Star Flower Pillow from Moda's Bake Shop - and I started in on it right away.

I hadn't done any paper piecing for a long time, but convinced myself that, since everyone was doing it, it couldn't be too difficult...  After fighting with it and struggling over it for about four days (it literally had blood, sweat and tears in it!) and completing less than half of the 20" pillow top, I dubbed it the "pillow from hell" and relegated it to a UFO bin.  I almost threw it out, it was so frustrating.

I have felt guilty, off and on, about that pillow.  It's called to me, mocked me, and insulted me over the past year.  I would see it, every now and then, while getting fabric for other things, or digging for scraps.  I kept telling myself that I'm an intelligent, adult woman who should not be defeated by a pile of fabric and paper!  And yet, I just couldn't bring myself to try it again.

Then, while working on my Craftsy 2012 block of the month sampler quilt (yes, I'm way behind!), I watched Amy Butler's video for her paper pieced blocks.  A light bulb came on.  After using her techniques to make the sampler quilt blocks, I couldn't believe how simple and error-proof the paper piecing was.  I finally felt like I would be able to master the pillow for Mom.  I pulled the pillow out of my UFO bin, and in one afternoon had completed the entire thing.  No kidding.  One calm, relaxed, no-stress afternoon.  No blood, no sweat, no tears.

I actually enjoyed it.  I did have to take apart a little bit of what I had already done, but not much.  The next day I quilted it and finished the pillow, using this tutorial from Sew4Home to make an envelope-style back, so the cover is removable and washable.  This ended up being such a fun, successful project.  I have finally conquered paper-piecing, and completed a project that I thought would never be right.  The finished product is gorgeous.  I almost didn't want to give it away...  But I already have plans to make another one!

Shire Study Shawl Finished!

 I completed this asymmetrical knitted shawl a few weeks ago, and have just been waiting for an opportunity to get some decent pictures of it.  I absolutely love it!  The pattern is "Stripe Study Shawl" that I found on Ravelry.  I used KnitPicks Palette yarn in Shire Heather and Black.  It was my first project using Palette, and I loved it.  It wasn't at all scratchy and I didn't have any major issued with splitting, either.  It washed and blocked beautifully, and I'm so thrilled with the finished project!

I've never blocked anything this large before, it didn't quite fit on the kitchen table, and I didn't have enough blocking boards.  I had to get creative with it, so the end result is not as "perfect" as I would have liked - the center line is wonky, but not nearly as badly as it looks.  Next time, I'll make sure I plan ahead a little better and borrow Mom's blocking boards to make sure I have enough!  It was also my first time using lace blocking wires.  Honestly, they were a pain to use, but totally worth it.  They weren't long enough to go the whole length of any of the sides, so I had to overlap them, but they kept slipping out and moving around... kind of frustrating!  But, there is no way I could have gotten such straight edges without them, even with such a simple shawl shape, so I'm going to keep using them and assume they'll get easier with practice. 

Canning Day! Four Berry Jam

I spent a very productive morning making fourteen pints of this - delicious Four Berry Jam!  I've made many different types of jams and jellies over the years, but this one is still by far my favorite.  I use a recipe that I found years ago here, and have modified.  One of the things that I like the most is that it's not overly sweet.  The berry flavor really shines through, resulting in a delicious taste of summer all year.  It takes less than an hour to make one batch of jam, and the results will last all year long (unless you give it all away - that's why I made two batches today!).

As you will see from the recipe, I use frozen berries for this.  You certainly can use fresh berries, but our berry bushes don't produce enough yet for that, and it's less expensive for me to buy frozen than fresh.  Make sure that if you buy frozen berries they are the "no sugar added" type.  I usually pull all of the bags of berries out of the freezer at night, let them sit in the sink to thaw, then rinse and drain in the morning.  

It cost me about $55 for the ingredients to make two batches of jam, coming to approximately $4 per pint.  Since this will last us all year, and be used for gifts, it's well worth it!  You could probably spend less, but I buy good quality frozen berries that I know from experience are not 3/4 ice...  If I were to use fresh berries, the current cost would be about $70, given the current prices in my area at the local grocery stores and farmer's markets.  Plus, there's a very small window in which the four varieties of berries are all ripe at the same time, so quality can be a concern here when buying fresh.  If you want to use fresh, please do!  And if you want to use frozen, don't feel guilty - the jam turns out beautifully, and no one will be able to tell!

Four Berry Jam 

2 c frozen blackberries - thawed, rinsed, drained

2 c frozen blueberries - thawed, rinsed, drained

3 c frozen raspberries - thawed, rinsed, drained

3 c frozen strawberries - thawed, rinsed, drained

2 boxes regular pectin

10 c sugar (a 10 lb bag will be just enough for two batches of jam)

7 pint jars, with rings and fresh lids

1. Combine all the berries in a very large stainless steel pot.  If you don't have quite enough of one type of berry, use extra of another.  If you're short on blackberries, use extra blueberries.  Low on raspberries, increase the strawberries.  The important thing is to use 10 cups.  Slightly more is okay, too.

2. Mash them up really well.  If the blueberries don't all mash, that's okay.  They'll burst as they cook.

 3. Add the pectin to the berries and, over med-high to high heat, bring the berries to a full, rolling boil.  Stir frequently.  You know you're there when it keeps boiling despite being stirred.

4. Add the sugar and stir really, really, really well.  Return to a full, rolling boil.  Keep stirring often!  Once a full boil has been reached, boil for one minute.  Then put the jam in prepared pint jars, leaving 1/4" of headspace, and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

5. Let cool completely.  If any of the jars don't seal properly, you can try processing them again, or you can just stick the jar in the fridge and eat it first.

Additional Note:  Sometimes, there's some extra jam.  If I'm making more than one batch, I usually sterilize an extra half-pint jar.  Whatever is left after I fill the pint jars goes into the half-pint one, then when I'm all finished it goes in the fridge and is used first.  If I'm only making one batch, the extra goes in a small ramekin.  It's really good mixed in with some Greek yogurt...

My New Favorite Summer Salad - Vietnamese Beef Salad

I stumbled across this recipe while going through a cooking slump - desperately needing some new ideas and inspiration.  The first time I made it, I was blown away by the flavors!  Now, with only slight modifications, it has become a regular for dinner.  It is so quick and simple to make that it doesn't seem right for it to taste this good!

I think that it would be a fantastic recipe for one person, or as leftovers - although there are never any leftovers from it around here...  If you're cooking for one, I would go ahead and make the whole thing, but keep the individual ingredients separate until ready to fix it.  So far we have always eaten it with the beef hot, but I'm thinking that it would be just as phenomenal cold.

Here it is, then: my version of Skinnytaste.com's Vietnamese Shaking Beef.  I hope that you enjoy it as much as we have!

Vietnamese Beef Salad

1 - 1 1/2 lbs beef sirloin, trimmed of fat and cut into largish bite-sized chunks
5 cloves minced garlic (use fresh, its worth the effort!)
1 T sugar
1 T oyster sauce
1 T fish sauce
1 t sesame oil
1 t low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 c red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 c rice vinegar, divided (sushi vinegar works well, too)
1 1/2 T sugar, divided
1 1/2 t kosher salt, divided
1 T lime juice
1/2 t fresh ground pepper
8 oz assorted fresh greens (I used spinach and baby mixed greens)
1 tomato, thinly sliced (or a handful of grape tomatoes, halved)

1. In a bowl or bag that will hold all of your meat, combine the garlic, sugar, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil and soy sauce.  Stir well.  Add the meat, stir or shake to coat well.  Marinate at least several hours, or overnight.

2. An hour or so before eating, in a small bowl or bag combine the red onion, 1/4 c rice vinegar, 3/4 T sugar, and 3/4 t kosher salt.  Mix well.  Let this sit in the fridge until ready to assemble the salad.  Please, DON'T SKIP THIS STEP! If you think you don't like red onion, try this anyway.  Trust me.  Just do it.  (I didn't give my onions quite enough time to pickle when I made this for the picture.  Ideally, they will be almost translucent and the pickling liquid will be pinkish-purple.)

3.  In a small dish or cruet, combine the remaining 1/4 c of rice vinegar, 3/4 T sugar, 3/4 t kosher salt, plus the lime juice and fresh ground pepper.  Set aside.

4. Heat a heavy skillet on medium-high.  I use a cast-iron skillet, so I don't add any oil, but you might need to add a touch of extra-virgin olive oil, depending on your pan.  Add the meat and all of the marinade.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beef is browned and cooked to your desired "doneness".

5. Meanwhile, assemble the salad greens on plates.  Add the sliced tomatoes and pickled red onion.  Drizzle the dressing over the salad.  Top the salad with the beef, when it is finished. 

Springtime on Easy Street - Progress Update

Well, despite my best intentions, I'm still running "behind"...  I did get quite a bit done between Christmas and New Year's - I finished all of my flying geese, all of my shaded 4 patches, and all of my "square geese".  I have quite a stack of pieces now!  My husband thinks the colors are "wild", but I'm really enjoying seeing how everything is coming along, and how the various fabrics are playing with each other.

I have not been able to sew at all since just after New Years, as I have pulled a muscle or two in my back.  I have spent a lot of time sitting in the recliner knitting, but sitting over a sewing machine has not been an option.

Here, though, is a mock-up of the two types of blocks going into the quilt (I haven't made the neutral brick blocks yet, and my geese are not sewn into blocks):

I'm very pleased with them!  I think the whole quilt is going to be amazing, and it has been so much fun working with Mom on our quilts.  I'm going to miss the Friday morning phone calls of "have you seen the latest clue?"  and "so how many strips/units do you think we'll need"!

My goal is to finish piecing the top by my birthday in early February.  It's an optimistic goal, since I start back to school this week (Anatomy & Physiology 2 and Microbiology) but I think if I'm dedicated, I'll be able to do it.

A huge thank you to Bonnie, for this wonderful quilt, and a another huge thanks to Mom, for braving it out with me!

A Sophisticate on Easy Street - Part 6

Here we are already -- the final steps completed, the finished quilt revealed. Was anyone else surprised at how complex-looking Easy Street is? I was expecting a much simpler arrangement of the pieces. Instead we get an intricate and fascinating design. I'm pleased; I hope everyone else it, too. I'm so glad Betsy kept pushing me to do this with her.

I'll admit I made some mistakes, especially mis-cutting fabrics, along the way, and they caused me to run short of some colors. Then when I saw the final layout I realized I'd want to control the arrangement of my blue fabrics, since I had so few of them, rather than try to make them appear random, so I've done a little tweaking of fabric layout. But those choices that a quilter makes as they go along are part of the fun, aren't they?

I'm using one blue for all the Block B squares.

It's been too long since math in school; I don't remember how to calculate how many wrong ways there are to piece 25 squares into one block. But I assure you I almost found out the first time I tried to put Block A together! I had it all laid out next to my machine, carefully picked up and matched two squares, then stitched them one after another. Then I clipped them, put them back in their place, and began again, sewing the rows together. Should have been pretty fool proof, right? Well, I think the problem was I didn't have a firm picture in my head of how the block worked. I got the rows pieced without too much trouble, but then I tried to put the first row together. First I stitched the wrong ends of the row. After I took that long seam out, I joined the other seam, only to discover I'd turned one piece the wrong direction. All in all I sewed that seam four times before I had it right.

My first block.

The rest of the seams weren't a lot better. It took me 2 and 1/2 hours to sew one block! That was enough for that day, I took a break and did some knitting. Struggling so much with one block left me feeling a little stupid, but turning the heel on a sock always seems like magic and I felt quite clever again. :)


After the first block fiasco I rethought my strategy. It seemed to me I'd do better joining the inner nine squares first, then attaching the strips on the sides, finishing with the top and bottom rows. It's easier for me to visualize and I made fewer mistakes, so I've been doing it that way since. I'm now down to about 30 minutes of sewing per block, if I'm really focused and accurate. Some of them still take up to 2 hours, though. I've also been laying out several of one block ahead of time on anything big and sturdy enough to hold them, so I don't have to stop sewing to figure out the layout each time I'm ready for a new square.

Once I had my squares up on the design wall in my sewing room I realized there were some mistakes, so I spent part of one evening taking out and resewing seams.

 I may leave one of my incorrect blocks as is though, in honor of the tradition of deliberately including an error, to show you know you're not perfect, like God. To tell the truth I've never felt even close to perfect, and I'm pretty sure God's never worried that I'm approaching His record too closely, either. But I'll have to take out a lot of seams to fix that particular mistake, and I'm not sure it's worth it.

Proof that I'm not perfect.

I love the way my fabrics are looking together. Spreading them out on the sofa so I can admire them keeps me motivated to sew more. My goal is to make one a day. Some days I get on a roll and make more, but as long as I do one I'll be finished in less than a month - which I think is pretty good for such a big, complicated, top. This is by far the most complex large quilt I've ever made. It's one thing to know intellectually that any design can be broken into small pieces and finished step by step. It's another thing to actually do it that way. I feel somehow empowered to take on more complex projects, thanks to Bonnie and this mystery quilt.

Easy Street on my Design wall as of Jan. 13.
I can't seem to get the greens to show up in the photo, but they do in person.

I've learned some things about myself while making Easy Street. I've learned that I don't really enjoy some of the faster quilting methods that others use. I don't like cutting out dozens of strips of one fabric, making perhaps hundreds of one shape and then another, efficient though it may be. I seem to have trouble staying focused and after a while I make sloppy, silly mistakes. What I do enjoy is cutting a few pieces, assembling them and then checking their accuracy before cutting and sewing more. I make fewer mistakes and I like visualizing the process and knowing that every piece is correct.  Since I don't have the pressure of needing to finish a quilt quickly, I've decided that next time I won't let myself feel rushed by those early finishers, but will try to take the time I need to make sure I'm being more accurate and really having fun with it. I did, however, appreciate the freedom from "over planning" a quilt. Every fabric doesn't have to be perfect, carefully selected and visualized, to have lovely results. And sharing the process with Betsy, and so many others, made it very special. All in all it was a great experience.  I think it's too bad we have to wait an entire year to do it again, don't you?

I'll be machine quilting my finished top -- another first for me, as I've only machine quilted a few small things before. But I can't afford to pay someone to finish this, and Betsy has one of her own to do, so this will be an opportunity for me to learn something new. Feel free to come back to this blog for more looks at the final product. Just click on the Easy Street tab above.

Look at over 200 fascinating versions of this Mystery Quilt here : Easy Street's Final Link-Up