
Well we’re not exactly hitting a button, but a few weeks ago my little pod was fully vaccinated. We’re excited to be resetting and embracing whatever that means for each of us. For the studio that means swimming the slow lane towards reopening.
I’ve been working through students with credits, and my list of anyone that’s called or emailed. If I’ve missed you, I’m sorry and could you please contact me so we can get sewing! Privates are available if you prefer.
I’ve got Open Studios for kids and adults, the Foundations of Paper Piecing workshop, one spot left in Free Motion Quilting, and since I’m sharing a new quilt top sample today using Magic Numbers I added a workshop.
Now to save this from becoming a food and gardening blog I did some sewing.

Turns out teens virtual learning are not only helpful at unloading the dishwasher midday, but also for holding quilts when the weather is cooperating;)

I love this quilt on so many levels, but after not being so wowed by it for months it occurred to me to swapped out the stars’ centers. It was then that it took on some life.

After teaching my Magic Numbers workshop at Quiltcon there were so many design ideas I shared with students that I want to see as quilts, Snowballed Stars quilt was one of them and there are more in the works.

Snowballing the centers with improv triangles added the movement such a static traditional block design needed.

It’s hard to resist adding in some sort of texture with some ‘slight’ print here and there, and the background is a smorgasbord of dark Essex yard dyed linen.

Since it’s become a habit to be indecisive about nearly everything in my life, I couldn’t decide on a color way and made two. We”ll call this one Morning Star.

I don’t know why I’m more partial to the dark color way, nor why it’s so difficult to keep quilts small, but I do know as someone that travels with 100#s of them that it makes the most sense to make baby and lap quilts.

Since I’ve been craving an empty design wall to get a hatching idea up for my Strip Tease workshop, getting the two quilt tops above done was a total accomplishment. The ovals are cut and I’ve been playing with background colors from stash.
When I’ve offered Strip Tease as a two day workshop with groups, I’m always so impressed by the creativity of students, and imagine endless samples that spark ingenuity with shapes we don’t gravitate to as much in quilting. Ovals are where it’s at.

As you may have noticed, I’m not a linear start to finish quilter. I like to have quilts in ALL the stages of unfinished, so if the mood strikes me to sit on the couch and bind there’s one available.
Progress on binding for my Merry Gifts quilt happened. Quilted by my friend Sandie, I’m looking forward to throwing this one in the wash for Christmas in July perhaps? Oh wait… that’s almost here.

My studio has been Jefe’s office for a weird 16 months and once his computer world left I moved the table and mopped the floor. Boss thought I did it for him;)

So I moved a dog, made a margarita, and let my over basting disorder (OBD) take over. Some sort of progress can now happily happen on every quilting level.

My first Quiltcon entry that resides in the National Quilt Museum’s collection was featured as a favorite modern quilt by Mary Kerr in the latest American Quilt Study Group Quiltside Chats. Her words about it were extremely flattering and a good reminder that I love the process that happens on the design wall. There are a few episodes available if you want to check it out. I cracked up when I first saw the screen shot they used for the newsletter as it looks like she’s flipping us the bird;)

Though the garden and studio are calling to me more and Boss Dog always, my year plus glamping kitchen is still delivering. I’m going to start with dessert since it is way more delicious than talking about contractors.
(links are affiliate if you care to dive in.)

I think I love berries more than quilts. My family affectionately calls this berry pie with berry glue. This pie with some whip cream are best pals. It somewhat manifested itself from King Arthur’s baking book. If I was to have one baking book it might very well be this one. Boss loves it so much he shredded my copy into a million pieces and I had ti reorder, but this time in hardcover.

Since application of the fudge frosting made for a butterfly crime scene I’m showing you prior pics. The frosting suggested to pair with this cake is old fashionably delicious, but severely obscured the shapes of the cakelets. Well noted that there was not one complaint.

Pudding from the Loveless Cafe. Just as hot dogs and ham are THE vehicle for mustard, puddings need ripe bananas in my world. Give me chocolate, vanilla or butterscotch, but most importantly give me something to do with the leftover egg whites.

Enter what I call macaroons with nutty chocolate pants;) Cookie Love’s Mindy Segal and Kate Leahy rocked the recipe from it’s traditional roots by combining unsweetened shredded and flaked coconut with some cream of coconut as the sugar kick. Bonus is you should have enough cream left over for a round of Pina Coladas. I dipped them in chocolate followed with toasted almonds for that Almond Joy taste and it was so close, but better.

Theo Chocolate’s factory is in our old Seattle neighborhood Fremont. I would often run by and smell the deliciousness they were making. After sharing this memory with a friend he gifted me their cookbook and to thank him I baked the Dark Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake. It actually got an amazingly rich chocolate glaze but didn’t last long enough for photos.

Banana Cream Pie holds a similar status to triangle quilt blocks and boots in my world, I rarely meet one I don’t like. I’ve messed around using different recipes, but I’m feeling pretty solid that I’ve found my go to in Martha Stewart’s baking book.

I’ve always been a pie person, but all these fun bundt pan and cakelet shapes have me a bit obsessed. I’ve baked this Rootbeer Chocolate Cake from Baked New Frontiers in Baking on 3 occasions now and my MIL mentions it on every visit. I think it might become my signature cake. I’ve started dusting the pan with cocoa powder since flour left behind some residue, but if covered with frosting no matter. Everything from this book is amazing and I’ve referenced it in past posts with other recipes.
When we eat it we use a quote by writer and food critic H.L. Mencken, “How does it taste? It tastes like more.”

We do eat real food. I try to get to new recipes every week, but we have some standbys.

Sweet potato, poblano and black bean enchiladas by Cookie and Kate’s Love Real Food. If I know someone is interested in vegetarian fare some variation of these enchiladas rotate in.

Sometimes those fav recipes combine. The corn and feta salad topping here is one of many recipes from Kate’s blog that we make. I love it on a variety of tacos, but it combined especially well with the achiote chicken from The Essential Mexican Instant Pot Cookbook. Which also happens to have the best taco topping salad recipe.

If I were to have one cookbook it would be Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. It’s another I often gift. The Pad Thai and other Asian noodle dishes are where I’ve explored the most with lip smacking success, but somehow the chicken thighs with tomatoes and olives rides the edge between fresh and comfort food. I love added some feta on top and a baguette to soak up all the sauce. Generally the next night we’ll toss the leftover sauce with some pasta, so it’s a two for oner.

Back to vegetarian fare, this udon (or soba) with shiitakes and bok choy has been in my recipe arsenal since my Flagstaff days and the cookbook traveled with me. Sometimes I’ll add some pork or whatever veg we have around, but mostly I stick to the veg style since it’s so simple and good with what ever you have around.

We’re not only trying to eat more vegetarian, but vegan as well. A yakisoba and a hot pot type thing have been on my radar as an easy meal option, plus they’d provide another use for the miso I buy for miso-y grilled potatoes. When I picked up Vegan Japaneasy I noticed that it had recipes for both. I made the dashi broth, a first for me and the hot pot was super flavorful. It was easy and the leftover seaweed from the broth was then made into a salad to top some rice.
When Roan was a toddler we joked that we lived in a gated community. It was just easier to gate off the trouble than tell him no all the time and with Boss we’ve reentered that realm, especially with the yard.

The window box is safe and the one on the back shed is planted. It seems everything here is flowering earlier than it ever has.

The spring was good to us prior to the triple digit temps.


We added another planter box since our neighbor gifted us several tomato plants. It boxes in the corner of the lot well.



I was inspired recently by a NW Native American man who spoke on a talk show about his slow reentry into ‘normal’ life and how his social life was looking different now because he was, “tuning into the frequency of me.”
Whatever that means for you I hope you embrace it and remember we’re all still in this together.
Be well. xoxo Katie