ALYOF July Goals

  This month begins the second half of the A Lovely Year Of Finishes.  I totally missed the link up for last month,but not this time.

First though,how about a little Sunflower Love?  :)

So on to my list...

Goals:

• make clutches for my nice's Bridesmaids 6,(waiting on fabric to arrive at the moment)
• triple zip pouch for swap (stalk secret partner,pick fabric,start pouch)
• crayon rolls,fabric covered journals for FM  
• try a new bag/purse pattern out 
• make soap (Laundry & bar)
• start on at least a couple Christmas projects

Projects:

• work on finishing my birdie quilt top (in progress)
• try something new (more details when it happens)
• make some bags from a few single quilt blocks
• pillow case sets,for my shop or the FM
• list a few items in shop

Now,to see how far I get on both lists...

My nephew and his wife had a baby boy yesterday!!  So I am a great aunt again :)

Row,row,row...

Well,2013 is now officially half over.  Crazy,I know,before we know it December will be knocking on the door!  Saturday I had planned on working on BOM blocks,since it rained,that did not happen,but this did...

Remember my row quilt top?  Well it is a top no more :)  The first rain drops started to fall just as I finished packing up my F M booth.  What timing!  Anyway after a late lunch,and the sewing tables back in place,this was calling my name.

The back is a Joann's fabric called scallops,with the star row a little off set from the center.  At the bottom are the extra geese,as somehow that row ended up with too many!  The binding is made up of scraps from the quilt front,and also the backing fabric.

I am so happy to have this one finished,as it is mine All Mine :@)

Yesterday,was spent in the kitchen and the garden.  Here are the fruits of my kitchen labor!  The four jars at the back are Rhubarb and blue-raspberry (blueberry/raspberry) jam,sounds out there but is really yummy.  The four shorter jars at the front are Strawberry Marmalade,a first for me.  Of course I had to add my own twist to it!

Instead of oranges and lemons,it has lemons and limes,in place of the water the reserved juice from cooking down the rhubarb was added,and to take it over the top fresh French Tarragon from the garden.  A party in your mouth!

On the left is my French Tarragon,on the right Mexican Tarragon.  There are also two sweet peppers in between,also harvested but not pictured...lettuce,swiss chard a bit of lavender,mint,kale,and a couple peas.  Which will probably be all we get as the deer wreaked havoc in the garden one day this last week :(  Thank goodness they were picky and left the majority for us!

Bom blocks

Well here it is Wednesday (actually almost Thursday)already!  Another week half over and what do I have to show for it?  Not much...

In my defense what I have accomplished has been pretty time consuming.  This first Pile O Fabric BOM is one of last months.  The block is called Switz and is a paper pieced block,which is slow going for me,as this is only the second time at paper piecing.

This is the pattern/foundation for the second block for may,which by the way took me an evening,and half of another this week.

This is what it looks like when all finished,the name  of this block is Geo Swirl.  It felt like I was never going to finish this one up while working on it.  All the time spent was well worth it,not only because of the learning experience,but also because I Love it!

There are still 4 blocks to go before I am caught up,and they are all going to take about the same if not more time...so they will not be finished by the end of the month like I had hoped.  That just means that I can add them to my July list.

50/50 Weekend

This weekend was a 50/50 weekend 50 % sewing & 50 % preserving.  First up the preserving...

Sorry for the not so great photo,this jar is full of Kale chips that I made this morning.  Doing this has been on my list for a while now,the first time was a flop,but this time was sweet savory success!  If anyone is interested in the recipe let me know :)

A tray of cilantro just picked from the garden,some of which went into this...

My version of fresh homemade salsa,and yes that is Avocado in there ;)  Other kitchen projects not pictured were,sweet potato chips (still in the dehydrator),Rhubarb all cooked down and ready for whatever I decide to make with it...

On to the sewing

This is a free bag pattern from allpeoplequilt.com and has been on one of my pinterest boards just waiting patiently for me to get to it :)

A little closer look for you!  This bag went together pretty easily and quickly,one note tho in case you decide to make up one for yourself.  If your fabric is not an allover or tossed print you will need more fabric than stated.  Ask me how I know that...

This evening I made a Nook cover for my precious ;)

This is the tutorial that I loosely followed,with a few minor changes.  Now my Nook will no longer be a dust collector!

As you may,or may not know,CO has quite a few fires burning presently :(  We are near a few of them so sadly,the usually beautiful Blue skies look like the above photo.

Asian Salmon with Vegetables

Since my sewing tables are packed up for the Farmers Market tomorrow...I decided to share a recipe with you...

It is a good thing that these little "papers"are for both outdoor & indoor cooking.  (since we are on fire here in CO and grills are banned)

On to the recipe...found inside of Fire & Flavor package
Asian Salmon with Vegetables:

2 tablespoons soy sauce; divided
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon grated ginger root
1 carrot,thinly sliced into 6-inch strips
2 scallions,thinly sliced into 6-inch strips
3/4 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
4  6 - 8 oz Salmon fillets
cotton string,for tying papers together
4 Fire & Flavor cedar papers,soaked for 10 minutes in a shallow pan/tray of water
salt & pepper; to taste

First:
Combine 1 tablespoon soy sauce,oil,and ginger in a zip top plastic bag.  Add salmon and toss to coat.  Marinate  for 10 minutes at room temperature .  In a small bowl,toss carrots,scallions and mushroom slices with remaining soy sauce.

Next:
Preheat grill or grill pan to medium heat (about 400 degrees).  Remove salmon from marinade and season each fillet with salt and pepper.  Place one fillet in center of each paper and top with equal amount of vegetables.  Fold edges of paper over the fillets and secure with cotton string.

Last:
Place packets on grill or in grill pan and cook for 4-5 minutes per side,depending on the thickness of the fish.  Remove from the grill/pan using tongs and serve.

Cooking tip:
Soak papers in wine,sake,or bourbon for extra flavor.

Changes I made to the above recipe:

• marinated everything together in the plastic bag
• used crystalized ginger chopped into small bits (because that is what I had)
• grated the carrot (because they were baby carrots & I didn't want to cut myself)
• used red onion (no scallions on hand)
• a handful of sugar snap peas sliced thinly (in place of mushrooms)

I also sliced my fillets into three or four thiner pieces so the vegetables were wrapped up inside of the fish.

If you like salmon I hope you give this recipe a try,we loved it!  Now I want to try the Mediterranean Salmon recipe too :)