An Abundant Day

Yesterday was amazing ... I'm still dragging my butt out of bed in the mornings and getting what I need to get done, but yesterday I felt like Superwoman!
By 11 am I had :

• bread rising (but it flopped and weighs a brick)
• eggs were boiling to go into sandwich filling for dinner and Axel's lunch today
• beets from our local CSA were simmering away
• zucchini bread was in the oven - you can get my new recipe here - yummmeeee!
  
• and I finally refined my recipe for mock apple pie - it turned out really good this time.

1. my A-7, 2. hand-pieced HAL, 3. Zucchini Bread, 4. Blogged A-7 5. Cooked beets 6. "Scandinavian" sandwich filling

Oh, and in the midst of all this, I was WORKING! I wrote this really long, picture-packed blog post about how to piece A-7 block for Contemporary Jane.

But I have to give most the credit to Superman, who came home after his own busy day and cleaned up the kitchen after I had packed up my basket with zucchini bread and pie and ran out the door to cooking club with our local CSA. What fun! I think there were 8 to 10 of us and we used red beet in 6 different recipes.

• pureed soup - with carrots and onion garnished with cream, chive and a nasturtium
• baked - with garlic and herbs
• as a carpaccio with capers
• pan-fried with peaches
• raw salad with apples and raisins
• as a coulee with ginger and raspberries served over ice cream

I think that nearly all the vegetables and herbs came from our field. Fresh dill, anise, thyme, oregano, chives and more! It was fun, our first meeting. I think it's fair to say they were all a tad surprised but intrigued with my baked "vegetable" goodies. I am loving the CSA experience and am hoping to get more involved and cooking up some new recipes for us all. Pin It Now!

What is "Reverse" Applique?

I've had a couple of questions about what "reverse" applique means? I thought I'd see if I could come up with a simple explanation for you all.

WHAT is reverse Applique?

The term reverse applique applies when  the desired shape is cut out of the upper layer of fabric and appliqued along the inner edge of this "hole" to reveal the fabric below.


HOW IS IT DIFFERENT from "normal" Applique?

The easiest way for me to paraphrase this is ...

• "normal" applique is stitched 
• counter-clockwise around the 
• outside of the shape which sits 
• on top of the background.
• reverse applique is stitched
• clock-wise around the 
• inside of the shape which sits 
• beneath the background.

... of course this is if you are right hand-handed.

If you are left-handed ... "normal" applique is stitched clock-wise and reverse applique is stitched counter-clockwise.

Here's a quick photo-cap:

Down-load a printer friendly version of this picture tutorial here.

WHY do reverse Applique?

One reason for doing reverse applique instead of "normal" is that the background fabric would show through ... for example if you were appliquing a white snowman or ghost onto a darker background. You would get what is called "shadowing" or "ghosting" around the inside edge of the applique shape. So you could applique the lighter object behind (in reverse) your background.

Before I decided that my black fabric should be on top, I checked if there would be a problem.  See that black showing through in the top picture? Well that means that if I had appliqued a green melon shape on top of the black, you'd not only see a green ghost (in the seam allowance) but also the black showing through the middle.  I could have avoided the black in the middle if I cut my background out from my applique but I *almost* never do that.

Of course there are other practical, dimensional and even fun reasons for doing reverse applique.

For example when you want to add detail without adding another layer on top.  In both cases here the detail in the rose, leaves and star are created using reverse applique.

For my "boy" version of Bunnyhill Designs basket BOM, I am appliqueing a star first and then adding the elements of each month's theme on top.  The outside edge of the star is of course "normal" applique, the inside is done using reverse applique.



So, I'm sure you have more questions, so feel free to ask away and I'll do my best to answer them whether it's more about applique or anything else you're curious about.

Happy stitching!  Jovita Pin It Now!

It's a Wrap

Officially our vacation / staycation is over and Axel went back to work this morning. It was tough, but I crawled myself out of bed, drug my bod downstairs and had breakfast with him. It was nearly noon and two iced coffees later before I woke up enough to climb back upstairs and shower.

What a vacation! I can't remember when I had a better time .. and I know when the last time I was this tired .. but geeez, shouldn't I be rested and raring to go after two weeks of bliss. Not likely! I think this might be the most action packed vacation on record!

Just a bit of as much as I can remember :

• went exploring 2 days
• made two bracelet / cuffs 
• enjoyed a few meals in the garden
• watched a few movies
• made buckets of iced coffee
• finished 3/4 of our bathroom renovation 
• knit a new shawl
• got ready for a big garden party
• built a picket fence

And laughed our silly heads off about the amount of pouring rain we got and were grateful we hadn't tried to go away ... who wants to be stuck in an over-priced hotel room with a bed that's too short for your 6'8" (203cm) husband when it's raining? Not me!!

But best of all during the entire Staycation I enjoyed every minute of watching my husband relax, smile and laugh.



There is more ... lots more ... photos, projects and ideas to share .. but this is as far as I could get it together. Off to grab another mug of iced coffee and hang out in our warm, sunny, tidy garden.

Summer decided to return ... today! Pin It Now!