Soft Quilt For A Hard Time top is finished! yeah
It has 644 strips or strings of fabric. I like the back too to be honest.
Lots of strip sorting from various scrap bins.
This was a real favorite on instagram. So cute. It was part of a cute striped fabric that I had only a little piece of.
This was very meditative sewing.
You can see over my shoulder that I decided to add extra length. A little unsewing and adding did the trick.
I love the clean vertical line here.
Wee! there have been 2 quarantini quilts on Instagram. This one by @srquilts (beautiful crocks here!)
and this one by @susanlorettasquirrel
My pets are finding comfort where they can
Coco
Nutmeg (in a box of photos?)
I've been cooking comfort food that makes good leftovers.
Lasagna
Remember recipes cards? This one is handwritten by my mother probably in the 60s or 70s. Can you tell it was used?
I also made these two salads:
Classic Three Bean Salad
A recipe from my childhood friend. I fudged it on some of the vinegars because I was out of some of them. It is a very forgiving recipe.
Lemony Orzo Salad
This one was really well received! Recipe is at the end of the post.
I have started another string quilt. Still enjoying this zen kind of sewing.
Blue and Cheddar - better together.
I'm trying a new comment form, please be sure you click "google profile" otherwise it will come in as non-reply. It is so hard to get blogger to get this right.
Stay Well Friends!
xo
Lemon Orzo Salad
12 oz orzo pasta
2 large hand-fulls of spinach, torn
1 15oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 English cucumber chopped (I like chunks myself)
1/2 red onion diced
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (or goat or feta)
Dressing: Whisk ingredients in a small bowl
1-2 lemons, zested and juiced
1/4 olive oil
sea salt and fresh-cracked pepper to taste
Cook pasta al dente with lots of salted water. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop cooking process.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and combine. Add dressing and chill. Lasts for 3 days in the refrigerator.
47 comments:
Looks like your new format is working! Love, love, LOVE your string top(s). On my agenda very soon if we're not allowed to do anything else for much longer. The orzo and spinach salad looks wonderful. Orzo and spinach pretty much make any recipe shine, imho.
Love your string quilt. I especially love the mess in your sewing room. I love getting scraps out and having a blast.
Your home is beautiful even the pets. There not spoiled are they? Lol
Hugs
Love those stings!! I agree no real attention needed on a simple yet very striking quilt!
I need some more salads in my life right now! I think I will give your a try tonight and add some chicken and make it a meal!
FYI My comment came to a different page than what I usually get. If it gets to you great!
A perfect quilt to use up strings. Love both, but that cheddar and blue ..... yep, that is one for me!
Delicious blog post! Every photo is so beautiful!
The photos make me want to pop open my scrap boxes and make a string quilt.
But really I just want to jump up on that gorgeous bed with Coco and have a little nap until this pandemic is over!
I love the name and the use of all those strings. Perfect! We do need that kind of sewing every now and again; no rules, no HSTs, no seams to match, just sewing. Love, love, love the next project too. Whooooot blue and cheddar together. Yum! So cool to see others making your Quarantini quilt. Thanks for the recipes. (Yes, I remember recipes on cards, lol) Take care. ;^)
Recipes on cards are much easier to handle than having a computer on the counter (or a cook book for that matter). Especially if you don't have much counter space (like me). It has been literally ages since I have made lasagne. I have been lazy about cooking lately, with a few exceptions. At this point, I have to push myself to cook, but maybe you have inspired me. Love the string quilts! Great idea! Easy sewing is needed sometimes.
Your Comfort quilt is so lovely! Did you use any paper foundation or just sew the strings together? The new cheddar and blue is absolutely wonderful! Enjoy that process. Your fur creatures look comfy :-)
I love your quilt ! And all the fabrics you used in it !
Cheddar and blue is a great combo too !! I can't wait to see it finished.
I laughed a lot seeing Coco and Nutmeg !! Rhôoo... give them a hug for me please !!
We need some softness actually and your post is just softness !
Thank you for that !!
xo
I'm a BIG fan of scrappy quilts, Barb. LOVE these String quilts you are making! I just may have to try a bit of zen sewing, too.
My mother used the same recipe cards! Love the string quilt, too.
Your mom had beautiful handwriting!
Just lovely brown and reds in that string piece--and that blue/cheddar is yummy...
Lasagna is such a good keeper recipe--even after being frozen it reheats so well...
i am making bread in my machine--the aroma is amazing...
~ ~ ~ waving under the clouds coming in Julierose
LOVE the creams/reds and now the blue cheddars. Everythings better with cheddar. I love making those string strips. Just zen stitching/pressing/stitching/choosing.
Love the Soft Quilt For A Hard Time quilt - the back is too cool. Also really liking the blue and cheddar quilt, that will be stunning.
LOL sorry gotta comment, I also love the pic of your sewing room. It looks like mine when I'm working on a scrap or string quilt, piles of fabric everywhere, oh heck, when I'm working on any quilt. Hehehehe.
I used to love making lasagna but can't eat the noodles (and rice based pasta is horrible). Tried the traditional recipe with zucchini noodles and loved it. It's just a lot of work and food for just one person.
Gosh, sure a. lot of us string quilt fans out here. And, the bar quilt is an absolute favorite of mine. I love mine from the beginning of sewing it and right up to today. I have a bar quilt in progress now. All the strip units are 4 wide and maybe 12" in length. I am setting these units together with wide sashing of Kona Snow. Then go wild with my machine quilting. I love the fabric choices you used in your version.
There's just something about strings.:) Great looking finish. Love the whimsical fabric additions.:) The cheddar and blue string project in the works is going to be fantastic too! Can't go wrong with those colors!
Gosh, sure a. lot of us string quilt fans out here. And, the bar quilt is an absolute favorite of mine. I love mine from the beginning of sewing it and right up to today. I have a bar quilt in progress now. All the strip units are 4 wide and maybe 12" in length. I am setting these units together with wide sashing of Kona Snow. Then go wild with my machine quilting. I love the fabric choices you used in your versions, so rich in color and warmth.
I truly enjoy your blog, love the string quilts, the quarantine topper and the recipes = Trifecta!
You have been so impressively productive with your strings!
I'd like to trade places with Coco--not so much Nutmeg.
I felt like you had taken cards from my own recipe box--I have recipes on both of those kinds of cards. :)
I'm trying many new recipes lately, too. Just made a Minestrone soup last night with incredible flavor--and I have two gluten free roll recipes I am gathering my courage to try (not much success on GF rolls so far). That lemon orzo salad sounds so good. I found some Gluten Free Orzo on Vitacost and it is in my cart for my next order. I will be giving that a try!
Love the blue and cheddar! I’m inspired every time you post! Thanks for the recipes too.
I can’t help but think....how fun would it have been for all of us to be quarantined together? Take turns cooking, sharing new recipes, playing in each other’s stashes and spaces. We need to plan ahead for the next pandemic!
Rondi
Isn't it wonderful how simple strips can create something so nice! I especially like the blue and cheddar. I thought that hand quilting would be my "go to" for comfort during this time, but machine piecing strips has taken over that role- who knew!!!!
Barb, I haven't been able to comment for a long time. Let's see if this works. Testing, 1, 2, 3...
Your Zen strings are really calming and so fun to look at. Just sewing and touching all those different fabrics can put you in a good place. We, maybe not in a box of photos for a cat nap! I pulled out a few recipes lately written on cards. Good memories and good eats.
Still inspiring us to be creative at this awful time. Always uplifting to read what you’re doing.
Norma
Your string quilts are growing on me. I think there's one or two (or three) in my future. The lemon orzo salad recipe will be printed and I'll try it once it gets warmer outside. Thanks for your inspiration!
You sure make "sheltering in place" look good my friend. Classic recipes, classic quilts, classic Barb! I bet it felt great running those strips through the machine after so much exacting work on other projects. Will these string quilts become a series?
String quilts like these are very high on my list of favorites. I like the one you've just finished but that blue and cheddar is a WOW project. Fun photos of your pets. (and I used recipe cards just like those back when the kids were toddlers).
How did you know? Blue and cheddar is my plan, somewhere down the road. Love what you’ve got going on with this.
I think more vegetarian meals are in my future. No worries, I love them. Thanks for the orzo recipe. I don't think I have enough of any particular color to recreate your stippy quilts, but I love them.
Great way to use your scraps!
Beautiful vintage recipe cards, they are treasures full with memories.
You know I love the "Soft Quilt for Hard Times", but your new one with the cheddar - wowza! You are such an inspiration! Keep calm and quilt on! And thanks for the recipes. I've gained 7 pounds in 6 weeks. I'm going for the full 10!
Love, love the toaster fabric. Did you count the strips after you finished the top or as you sewed?
Wonderful string quilts! Nice and crisp and full of modulations.
Oh, I am loving your string quilts! With my sewing room awash with scraps, one of these might turn the tide! Coco goes so well with red and white quilts. She could be a Valentines Cover Girl. And thanks for the salad recipe. This is one my hubby might enjoy.
hello Barb
Always impressed by your sens of creativity...I love these kind of scrap quilt with few colors!!! and your sense of colors is always attractive
I would like to do these quilts like a QAL... I think ...
XOXO Véronique
I love the string quilts and I always look at the back of quilts or quilt tops. Always curious. Yummy recipes too, recipe cards were never a thing over here, but I know they were in the US. I even have one, given to me by the wife of an american expat working for the oil company I was then working for in the 80's. It is her recipe for carrot cake, at that time unknown over here and I loved it when she made it and her husband brought it into the office. When they left she gave me the recipe card. A lovely and personal reminder.
Your string quilts are looking awesome--and the fun fabric surprises add to the fun. I'm working on a navy/cheddar quilt right now and may be making a strip quilt of my own to use up my leftovers--great idea! I wish I could try some of your yummy recipes, but I don't have enough people here to eat it--lol!
The string design -- both red/neutral/brown and blue/cheddar -- is great! The variety of fabric adds little sparkles. Doesn't seeing your mother's handwriting make you wish you could pick up the phone and call her? (I've been going through my parents' scrapbooks with both their handwritten commentary.) Thanks for the recipe!
Love the blue and cheddar!! Don't you love hand written recipe cards? I cherish those from my grandma and special co-worker - both gone now. I'm sorry we've progressed to sharing recipes thru printed downloads or pins. A simple treasure lost.
Another post with so much to see and love. Coco in that beautiful cozy room! Nutmeg! Your mother's recipe cards - such treasures. On the off chance that I see my Mom's handwriting, tears spring up. Your meditative zen sewing is perfect. It's such a good idea! And your quarantini quilt is fun and has inspired others to have fun.
Lol - I have those same recipe cards with recipes written out by my mom! I treasure them!
Seeing Coco on the bed made me smile. Our lab loves to sleep on our bed. I may need to take a page from your book and make her a quilt of her own!
Thanks for the orzo salad recipe. We have discovered we love orzo and are always looking for new recipes.
Great post, Barb! Love your string quilts and all the fun fabrics you've used! Coco looks like a queen surrounded by red and white quilts and Nutmeg sure looks comfy :) Those were the same recipe cards that I used. Still have a few with some 'vintage' recipes, lol! Yesterday I made your Lemony Orzo Salad but substituted Farro for the Orzo. It was delish!
Love your string quilts and may have to make one using my mom's scraps. She loved blue, so I have a lot of blue scraps to do something with. This just might be the perfect project for me to do.
Our asparagus is almost ready to pick and I think it would go well in your salad.
Looks like you're staying good and busy -- YAY another quilt finish!!! I smiled when I saw the recipe cards -- my mom had those same little cards with the stove on them. Love the blue and cheddar!
Your mother's recipe cards look a lot like my mothers! Similar writing too! Love the blue and cheddar together.
Love your string quilts. It is a fantastic way to use up lots of bits and pieces. The brown and red is a fantastic combination. I do love the blue and cheddar too.
I did something similar a few years ago but pieced it on strips of batting. I joined them with 1 inch strips of fabric, when pressed towards the strip the seam allowances fill in the back of the strip with batting. They are nice for table runners,wall hangings, charity quilts as it's a quick finish, lay on a backing,quilt in the ditch down the side of the strips.
Thanks for the recipes. I have some spinach to use up so a batch of the orzo salad is on the menu for tomorrow.
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