Sewing Fix

The fix was for me...not my sewing. After more than a week with no sewing (shiver), I finally got a chance yesterday. I managed to get another block finished for the Live, Love, Teach quilt for my friend Lisa. This is the block submitted by Clifford. The signatures for these blocks are often submitted separately. I resize them to fit and then tape them to the "beta" version of the block pattern I've created.

Then, I render it into fabric, floss, crayon, or whatever seems appropriate. While it was tempting to first applique the red apple heart and then applique the laces over the top, I used a reverse applique on this one so that the laces are simply the white fabric showing through from the background.

It was a bit of a bugger stitching around those laces, but Big Bertha helped me get 'er done. Clifford was a former student of Lisa's who broke his leg and required in-home tutoring. Here's a picture of Lisa with her student:

The stories associated with these blocks make this project so much fun.

But before I made my way to the sewing room, I went to the Beaverton Farmer's Market with Erik and Mae yesterday. With CSA shares coming each week, I didn't need any vegetables. I did pick up two kinds of cherries, however. Cherries are my favorite fruit. Heck, I might even eat a cherry before I'd eat chocolate! That's how much I love 'em. And chocolate covered cherries? Don't even get me started. I'll eat the whole box.

Mae, on the other hand, makes her way to the plants. Yesterday, she hit the jackpot with three heliotropes, two huge petunia baskets and something else I've forgotten. The young men at the loading tent helped load all of that into the car.

It isn't a large car and those petunia baskets were seriously immense. Here, Erik and Mae are strategizing about how to get it all in and still have room for the people. Erik's foot tells me he is skeptical.

We got it all in. 

Now...is there room for the people? And a better question...is it safe to ride in such close proximity to potted plants? Are any of them meat eaters, for example? Annnnnnd...success!

Fortunately, they live very close to the market, and so we drove home with the hatch open and the hatch-open warning beeping all the way. They already had hooks on their front porch for the petunia baskets. The rest will be Mae's weekend project.

I'll admit to being suckered by the yard art yesterday. I got this rather large metal cat. It's posted at the split in our loop driveway to warn speeding UPS and FedEx and USPS drivers that there be cats about. Slow down, please.

And then this one to mark the wild strawberries growing in my culinary herb bed. I actually dug these out of the field with the heel of my shoe and planted them there on purpose. They're kind of fun and they do make a small edible strawberry (about the size of a blueberry). Nevertheless, they are technically weeds. It's a constant battle to keep the runners from taking over the whole bed.

So I wanted to update you on my veggie burgers. Here's what the patties look like before they're cooked. You heat a cast iron skillet to very hot along with some extra virgin olive oil. Then you flip the burgers onto the hot surface for two minutes, flip them to the other side for another two minutes, then turn down the heat and cover them for four more minutes. They can also be frozen, either cooked or uncooked, to be eaten later.

They were tasty enough...edible for sure, despite their scary red color. I sauteed some sliced mushrooms and put them on top along with a slice of provolone cheese to hold everything in place.

(image source)

This is the discussion Mike and I had about them:

If we were vegetarians (and especially if we were vegans), we'd think these were fantastic! But we're not vegetarians, and we happen to like our burgers made with ground beef. Besides, these took a whole afternoon to make all the component parts, and I can make a hamburger from ground beef in about one minute. So, that's point number one. Point number two is this: we both happen to like fresh beets. They are delicious. And frankly, neither of us understand what's not to like about fresh beets. I know I'll hear from you beet haters out there. All I can say is: you just haven't had them fresh and roasted. They are delicious. So to get on with point number two: We have no need to disguise beets. We would eat them anyway. Gladly. 

It's not like the chard in the meatloaf. And I'll just say right here and now that chard is sort of a sketchy vegetable. Chard...sounds like "charred". And I wouldn't eat something that was charred, would you? Oh yes, and what's with those thick stems anyway? What are they hiding up in those long tubes? And why am I advised to cut them off? So, I'm just saying that while chard definitely gets its way in meatloaf, naked beets can have their way with me any time. 

And with all of that, if you're a vegetarian (or not) and you still want to try the beet burgers, here's a link to the recipe. My fellow CSA members like them really well. I liked them fine. Would I make them again? Probably not. I will say this about my CSA, however: We are eating our veggies. Oh my word...are we ever eating our veggies! Tonight I'm roasting some chicken thighs with the turnips, the carrots, and some sliced pears. I've made the dish before, which usually uses parsnips in place of the carrots. But what is a parsnip really? Isn't it just an anemic carrot? Enough said, I think. 

And that will be the last of my CSA share for the week. Hold your applause, but I'll take the bow anyway.

Today I need to water the annuals and try like crazy to finish up the rest of my housework. I think I'll get in some more sewing time today. Next week is going to be busy with us getting ready to leave on Thursday, and so I'm sewing while I can. I've decided to take Big Bertha into the shop for her annual maintenance while we're gone. That way, I won't have to deal with sewing machine withdrawals, although they aren't as bad now that I have my new friend Pfelicity to keep me company while Big Bertha is in the shop.

And that's it from me today. Have a super Sunday at your end!