A Finished Quilt Top

Good morning, my friends. It's a new week. We're moving dangerously close to that season we often refer to as "the holidays." Are you ready? Halloween is the last domino to fall. After that, it'll be a Christmas music free-for-all. We haven't heard anything of Christmas so far, but I expect the mania will start up any day now. 

It was an easy-going day yesterday. I gave myself a day off from anything other than sewing...and cooking, of course. Laziness is no excuse for starvation, and so we ate our usual meals. Aside from that, I was slug-like. And, believe me. We do slugs right here in the Pacific Northwest. We have the biggest slugs. Possibly the biggest slugs the world has ever seen. Certainly the biggest slugs in history. Sometimes big strong men come to Oregon with tears in their eyes, asking "Sirs, sirs...how do you grow your slugs so big?" But I digress.

Of course, being a slug includes a slow-stitching session. This is Tiny Treasure #5. This one is done with straight stitch, stem stitch, French knots, and a new-to-me stitch called "fan leaf."

Today's Tiny Treasure will be pretty quick. I might have time for two this morning.

When I made my way to the sewing room, I went to work sewing borders to the Fabulous Felines. Speaking of fabulous felines, Sadie was there to help out. She loves how this cat fabric shows off her beautiful furs.

 Starting with the middle portion of the quilt...

My plan was to add three borders. The first was sewn on, and I was in the process of pinning the first side of the second border when our power went out. Bummer. It was out for about an hour before it came back on. Yay! We were glad for that. 

So, I lost some time there, but I still had time to finish off all three borders. And that, my friends, is a finished quilt top. For all the gnashing of teeth involved, it turned out okay. It ends up at 60 x 60 inches.

When I laid it out on the floor for its picture, Sadie claimed it immediately. In fairness, I did tell her she could have this one when it's finished.

You might remember that I had three leftover blocks from the panels I used in this project. I had an idea how to use them on the back. It meant using more of that orange fabric, and I wanted to be sure I had enough left for the binding. So, I cut the binding strips first.

And then I went to work making the back. I ran out of time, but I should be able to finish it off pretty quickly today.

Last night's dinner wasn't fancy or difficult, but there was a lot of waiting for things in the oven. First, I baked these Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins. This recipe was from Cooking Light originally. The oatmeal is ground up to make a sort of oat flour. It also uses whole-wheat flour and all-purpose flour. There is very little fat in these, and the sugar is all from brown sugar. They're yummy, and easy to make. 

When those were finished, I went to work on this Cauliflower and Red Onion Quiche With Basil And Rosemary. This was another recipe I found on Facebook. It was easy to do, but there were a lot of steps involved. I first needed to blind bake the pie crust. (I used a Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust.) When that was finished, I needed to roast the cauliflower and the red onion. When that was finished, I added it to the pie shell, and then poured the quiche filling over. Then it needed to bake for 35 minutes before dinner was ready. I gave myself two hours for all of that, but we still had dinner a little later than usual.

I made the quiche in order to use up a hunk of gruyere cheese that's been hanging out in the refrigerator. It also used up the last of a carton of half and half, a red onion I'd already cut into, and some partly-used fresh basil. It always makes me feel pretty smug when I can lay waste to so many leftovers. And this was very tasty. We liked it. I'll definitely make it again, especially when I have leftover gruyere. (I hate wasting expensive cheese.)

I can't find the recipe online, but I'll give it to you here.

Cauliflower and Red Onion Quiche With Basil And Rosemary

as seen on Facebook

4-6 servings

Ingredients:

Veggies:

1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets

1 large red onion, thinly sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt & black pepper, to taste

Quiche Base:

4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk (or half-and-half for richer texture)

¾ cup shredded cheese (Gruyère, cheddar, or feta)

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp dried)

1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary (or ½ tsp dried)

Pinch of nutmeg (optional)

Optional Crust:

1 9-inch pie crust (store-bought or homemade) — blind baked for 10 minutes at 375°F

Directions:

Roast the Veggies:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).

2. Toss cauliflower and red onion with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

3. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for 20–25 minutes, turning once, until tender and slightly browned.

Prepare the Filling:

1. In a bowl, whisk eggs and milk.

2. Stir in cheese, basil, rosemary, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Assemble the Quiche:

1. If using a crust, place it in a 9-inch pie dish and blind-bake it for 10 minutes.

2. Spread the roasted cauliflower and onions evenly in the dish.

3. Pour the egg mixture over the veggies.

Bake:

1. Reduce oven to 375°F (190°C).

2. Bake the quiche for 35–40 minutes, or until the center is just set and the top is golden.

3. Let cool for 10–15 minutes before slicing.

* * * * *

So that was a full day, even if it was an easy day. Today I'll finish off the back for the Fabulous Felines. That shouldn't take long. I think maybe two long seams to finish it off. I realized with horror this morning that we are nearly out of dry cat food. I'll consult with Mike, who is generally in charge of cat food disbursement, to see if he thinks we can make it through tomorrow. I have a dental appointment in the morning, and I can get some on the way home. I have a feeling not, though. Probably I'll make a drive into town. If there's time left in the day, I'll get to work sewing together the Grandpa's Bridges quilt top. So far, I just have the embroidered blocks and several different fabrics. I'll have to figure something out for it.

But nothing can happen on anything until I've done my morning slow-stitching. Maybe I'll be a wild woman this morning and stitch two Tiny Treasures. Don't be too concerned about the wildness, though. At my age, "wild" is a relative term. Let's just say I'll be handling sharp objects. Everybody stand back.