Spicing it Up

Good morning, my friends. I hope everyone slept well. My morning started too early, as often happens, but there will be time for a nap this afternoon. It's going to be a run-around day. I'm getting my monthly pedicure. And then I'll go on the hunt for some pink embroidery floss. And then I have one other errand to run before I'll make my way home. (Just now it occurs to me that I probably need to get some gasoline, or the rest might end up being a short trip.)

There was a lot on my to-do list yesterday morning, and so I didn't make it into the sewing room until later in the afternoon. Sadie was my helper cat yesterday. She loves reds, and those red fabrics looked yummy to her.

My first task was to finish the applique on the second Merry, Merry Snowmen block. It's all fused down now, but still needs top-stitching and hand embroidery. The buttons are just lying there for now, but I'll want to sew those on. A wiser person might wait until the quilting is done to add the buttons and other embellishments, but not me. Full steam ahead. That's my motto. 

So I decided to set the Snowmen aside. I'm really itching to finish up the Spices quilt. The hold-up has been this Peltex stabilizer. Someone on a Facebook art quilt page mentioned that she liked this stabilizer for thread painting. I've always used batting when I'm doing thread-painting, but she claimed this was a superior product. I wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately, the first piece I ordered from Amazon was too small. (My math was right, but my thinking was wrong.) And so I needed to order more and hope it came in a wider width. ("Wider width." Is that redundant?) In any case, that was my first question: Is it wide enough? 

And...ta-da! A perfect fit...but just. And this came off the bolt, so that's as wide as it gets. There is a strip with instructions rolled up with it, and so I read them. A wiser person might actually follow the instructions, but not me.  Pressing cloth? Who needs that?

I sliced off about an inch-wide piece and then ironed it directly to a strip of scrap fabric. Turns out that worked just fine. 

Flimsier fabrics that are less heat tolerant might do better with a pressing cloth, but I decided to forego that step. And you can see this stuff is thick...maybe as much as an eighth of an inch. It's also very stiff. It's often used to make fabric bowls, although I've never made one. Maybe I will.

So then I wanted to test out how it stitched. I'm using a microtex 80/12 needle, and this is one of the threads I'll use on my quilt. And it stitched just fine. I worried the microtex needle might not do well with that level of thickness, but my worries were unfounded.

Checking the back, it looks fine there too.

Okay so I cut a piece, sucked in my breath, and then ironed it to the back of my quilt. I ironed it from the top, but I'm only showing you the back here...no peeking. So far, so good. It irons on like any other stabilizer.

Starting with one of the lighter colors, I began my thread painting journey. I'll be using a lot of different colors of purple thread. Possibly, I'll add in some metallics, and I might bling this up with some crystals. I'm deciding as I go.

After spending about 20 minutes at this, I realized my head and heart weren't fully committed to the effort yet. Sometimes I have to sneak up on a project when it has me a little nervous. If I can catch it unawares, things go more smoothly. My focus has been on the stabilizer up until now. With the stabilizer in place, I need to focus on the stitching. Probably I'll have some time later today. If not, then I'll have most of the day tomorrow.

Okay, so one of the things on yesterday's to-do list was to start this new recipe for Kentucky Slow-Cooker Burgoo in my slow cooker. It was a bit of a production getting it all into the slow cooker. I had to brown the sausage. Then brown the meat. Then brown the vegetables. Then throw in everything else. All told, it took me about 45 minutes before I could turn on the slow cooker and walk away. It made the house smell good, and it made enough to feed three small countries for a week. It looks and tastes good, but it wasn't the burgoo of my dreams. Here's how mine looked:

This is the burgoo we had at a restaurant in Kentucky. 

Mine was more like a vegetable and pork soup. Theirs was more stew-like with a darker and thicker broth. I believe theirs also has peas and pearl onions. Mine had green bell pepper, cannellini beans, and chopped onion. Also, I used shredded carrots, russet potatoes, shredded cabbage, and frozen corn.

So my verdict on this is that it's a good vegetable soup, but not the burgoo I was hoping for. Mine used pork sausage and pork stew meat. It could really be done with any meat...chicken or beef would be fine. Traditional burgoo is made with lamb...mutton, to be more precise. Mutton isn't generally available in grocery stores, and so some recipes substitute lamb shoulder chops. America's Test Kitchens has a recipe for Kentucky Burgoo that suggests beef as a substitute for the lamb, and I'd like to try that sometime. 

For now, I'll keep the recipe as a hearty soup for a cold winter day. I'll continue on my quest to make a really good burgoo.

Okay, so I need to get on with my morning. It's time for breakfast, and I'd like to spend a little time with my slow-stitching before I need to get ready to go. Have a good day, Everybody. And those of you in the path of the hurricane...please stay safe. You're in my thoughts.