Guild presentation

Nice presentation today ladies. I have spoken with Carol A. as she took many photo's and I hope I will get a copy of them and create a dvd or at least post some here

And, Finished Piecing

This one (which I said was #13, but is actually #12) is called 'Nara,' the old imperial city of Japan.  Here, it's all pieced but not quilted.  Next!

In this, there is an orange gate, a rural tori gate, some wrapped fish, a bamboo forest, some cherry blossoms, and some ikebana flowers.  plus a lot of vintage kimono fabrics, as well as the usual melange of special fabrics.

Lasagne Recipe

Mushroom Vegetarian Lasagna

1 pkg (10 oz/284 g) fresh spinach (I use one 10 oz bag)

3 tbsp. olive oil

3 shitake mushrooms, finely chopped

1 portobello mushroom (4 oz/125 g), finely chopped (I use 3) (and I use some regular mushrooms thrown in – everything finely chopped)

1 large shallot or small onion, finely chopped

1 jar (700 ml) spaghetti or pasta sauce (Bertolli Five Bros. Pasta, summer Tomato Basil) I use Classico)

1 jar (6oz/179g) marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (I use 1 tin regular artichoke hearts)

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

8 oz (250g) spinach lasagna noodles (I use fresh plain ones)

8 oz bocconcini or mozzarella cheese, sliced or grated (I use one Bari package)

8 oz mascarpone or ricotta cheese

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Rinse and trim spinach, shaking off excess water. In saucepan, cook spinach, covered with just the water clinging to the leaves, over med-high heat for about 5 min. or until wilted. Drain in sieve, reserving cooking water. Press out excess moisture from spinach, chop coarsely and set aside. Penny didn't do this: she simply chopped the spinach and added it to the saucepan at Step #3.

2. In a large saucepan, heat oil over med-high heat. Cook shitake and portobello mushrooms and shallot, stirring often, for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in sauce, artichoke hearts, spinach and pepper. Add enough water to reserved cooking water to make 2/3 cup. Penny added artichoke water from the can. Stir water into sauce mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles for about 8 minutes or until tender but firm. Drain. Penny bought fresh pasta--no pre-cooking. Penny's getting impatient and lazy in her old age.

5. Spread about 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish. Cover with one-quarter of the noodles, then one-quarter of the sauce. Top with one-third of the mozzarella cheese, then one-third of the ricotta, then 1/4 cup of the parmesan. Repeat the layers twice.

6. Arrange remaining noodles over the top, spread with remaining sauce and sprinkle with remaining parmesan.

7. Bake at 350 F oven for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Makes 8 servings.

If using uncooked noodles, add more sauce liquid.

Brenda used 2 portobello mushrooms and regular mushrooms.

A Great Piece/Peace Falls

I have just finished the hand-quilting of #12 ('Aerial Views') in this long series of free-pieced quilts that still lack some comforting/comfortable name.  And, after I folded it up and put it on the couch till morning when I will do the binding, I felt a great peace come to the fingers of both my hands.  They felt as free and easy and flexible and graceful as the hands of a 10-year-old, which they don't usually feel and which they definitely are not.  So it is some kind of sign.

The piecing of number 13 is near done, but maybe 4-5 days before it is ready to be quilted, so there will be some resting for the fingers.  What a nice feeling.

Here is number 13, whose name will be 'Nara'.  It has a final outside 'surround,' which one might call a border, but i don't.  it will be mostly dark with some blue in the upper left and lower right edges.

Judy, I love the quote about everything getting out of the way when we create. That's how I feel when I am working in the studio. Gradually the outside world and its problems disappears, and if I am really lucky it is just me and Spirit.  ann

Taking My Own Advice

I was working this morning on the center panel of the next 'free pieced' quilt (this would be #13 and it seemed like it might be a bad luck number).  My former husband was in Japan recently on an extended trip and brought back a couple of packets of vintage kimono quilt pieces and i wanted to use these as the basis for the quilt (in the same general manner that I had used the maiwa squares), but it didn't seem to be working out.  this center panel is about 30 inches by 45 inches and has two additional 'borders'.

this afternoon, after a very unsatisfactory morning, i returned with the hope that i might be able to figure out what the problem seemed to be.  i figured it might help if i had a little more blue in it, to echo one of the 6 'focal' pieces.  but otherwise, nada.  and then i remembered the quotation and just let my idea go and trusted that whatever i had done would work, and i just started sewing it together.  by dinner time, i had pretty much finished the upper half and it did look like what i wanted.  may just look like chaos to anyone else, of course, but i was pretty pleased.  maybe tomorrow it will look all different. who knows?


judy

Getting Everyone Out...

I came upon this today in a book review:

"When you start working, everybody is in your studio--your friends, enemies, the art world and, above all, your own ideas--all are there.  But as you continue painting, they start leaving, one by one, and you are left completely alone.  Then, if you're lucky, even you leave."

As good a description as any I've ever read what it is like to be in a creative mode.

Judy