quilting, part 2

i started a quilt for a baby a while back and, just today, i finished it.

after i had sewn the sandwich of fabric and batting, i coaxed sarah into stitching the edge binding for me (using this as a guide), as hand sewing tends to make me angry. to avoid getting super angry about the hand stitching, i decided to finish the quilt with knots.

 

this is the back, with knots laid out on a 5" grid, before i trimmed all the strings. after a run through the wash and a tumble dry, the now extra fluffy quilt is done.

despite not really having a plan, i'm pleased with the results. to me the design reads as a beach sunset, and the nautical colors just work to reinforce that. the next project in this vein will probably be a duvet cover as i will get all the fun of piecing without the binding and quilting parts. and it will hide my gross comforter. (and jessa, if you read this blog, i'm sorry i totally ruined the surprise by posting pictures before you got it.)

tinctoria and banana bread

the blog's been pretty quite of late, stemming from a pretty sweet family vacation followed by preparations for a couple of upcoming art installations (more info later on!) but that's not to say things haven't been happening. it's more that things haven't really been coming to completion.

to build and keep momentum, i've been doing a little more cooking lately. today i made some banana bread from my mama's recipe:

for one loaf:

1/2 cup butter

1 c sugar (brown or white) [preferably brown]

2 large eggs

2 c flour

1/2 t salt

1/2 t baking soda

1 1/2 c mashed bananas

1/2 c chopped nuts

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Combine dry ingredients. Stir into creamed mixture alternately with banana. Fold in nuts.

Pour into greased pan. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Bake at 350º for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

some tips: use frozen over ripe bananas. they smell sickly sweet as you mash them but the texture is perfect. if you use glass bakeware, plan on the cook time being a solid hour or more. serve for breakfast toasted with butter.

also, i got this in the mail today :

it looks kinda like a jar of powdered midnight but it is, in fact, indigofera tinctoria. more on that later.

a button card

ah the power of the internet! a recent commission. (you too can tell me to make specific things in exchange for money- drop me a line via an etsy conversation, the comment box, the facebook or either of my email addresses).

putting up

i've been wanting to preserve things for a while now- ever since that fateful day in seattle when we made some spicy carrot quick pickles (the kind that live in the fridge for a few weeks or, um, days, as you eat them all ravenously)- but a new blog discovery (thanks to liz) put me over the edge. here is the recipe sarah and i mostly followed from food in jars.

all we did different was use organic local nectarines instead of peaches and replace the cinnamon and what have you with vanilla and bulliet bourbon.

we yielded almost 6 pints of jam from 3 or so pounds of fruit. sarah took 3 small jars i kept these 5 to put downstairs with the garlic in an attempt to not eat it till at least the early fall and we each ended up with a bit to munch on right now. (don't worry, that black thing in the larger jar is vanilla bean)

hopefully there will be follow up sessions for pickles of some sort, maybe some berry jam and maybe some tomatoes. for now i'm just going to have some freaking awesome toast.

renegade

so i went to renegade craft fair at fort mason center on sunday. there were some cool things but in the end i was pretty underwhelmed. it seemed that there were two major product catagories: 1. puns and jokes in different forms- written on a page from an old book or printed on a shirt, for example, and 2. the exact same antique brass necklaces and pendants- apparently all purchased from a single manufacturer of cheap hipster jewelry.

but maybe my expectations were a bit too high. i guess what i was secretly hoping this craft fair would be was an artisan fair. a place where the usable and useful works of highly skilled individuals would be available for my perusal. i wanted there to be people who owned looms and chisels and dye vats putting my little projects to shame...

i dunno, maybe i'm just thinking of one of those olde tyme faires. in the end, i'll be going back next year with an adjusted perspective and things should work out ok.

the photo above is the one piece i bought. a beautiful tea bowl made by eri sugimoto. (here is her etsy which seems to be empty at the moment.)

the other stunning work was by sara paloma. you really should look at her work. really.

garlic's up

some sizable heads among a lot of pretty little ones, twisted into utilitarian braids. now they are off to dry.

new orleans iced

the new orleans style iced coffee is perfect for these ridiculously hot summer days. blue bottle will sell you one, but you can also find the recipe here.  now go forth and be caffeinated.

first you:

 

then you:

 

(pro tip: scrape off as much of the coffee crust as you can to speed up the decanting)

 then you:

(a second pro tip: make the simple syrup with a bit of the coffee concentrate to keep from watering it down)