lavender from the garden

harvest!

Seth and I  have a garden this year!

block party! chili cook-off winner!

It is once again block party! Our block's 58th anniversary party--one of the first and longest running block parties in Chicago. It is Andy and my 29th.
The theme this year was County Fair. As usual, I hang several of my quilts on our porch railings.

 We collected ketchup and toilet paper for the neighborhood food pantry.

  I won the chili making contest! We also had a pie baking contest.

 Dunk tank, bouncy house, pony rides.

Just a day enjoying our neighbors. The band and dancing in the streets starts at dusk.

Lynn's Award winning Chili!

(all amounts are estimates)

3-4 lbs ground beef--browned and drained (collect, discard fat, return liquids to meat)

To the pot of browned meat, add the spices and stir until the meat is evenly mixed with the spices.

Spices: (vary amounts by your taste  preferences)

1 tablespoon cumin

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground red pepper

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Rinse and drain three-four 15 oz cans of beans.

I use a variety, including black Beans, light red kidney, and dark red kidney

In a large crock pot, place

1-2 chopped onions

2/3rd of the meat

the beans

the rest of the meat

Pour over top:

One 29 oz can petite dice tomatoes

One 8 oz can of  tomato sauce

1-2 small cans of diced mild green peppers

I rinse out these cans, adding the water to the crock pot to bring liquid level to 1 inch from top.

Put above ingredients into large crock pot. Cover and cook for 4-5 hours on low.

About 1/2 hour before serving, add:

1 cup of frozen corn

about 1/2 cup of dried polenta mixed with about 1 cup of water (if no polenta, use corn meal)

Cover and cook for 1/2 hour, stirring twice

Serve sprinkled with grated cheddar or jack cheese

ten years!

August marks 10 years of blogging for me here at klein meisje quilts. Above is a picture of me at about age 8 with my Grandpa Scholten, who called each of his 12 granddaughters klein meisje because it was easier than remembering our names.

I enjoy having this record of my quilting life, with a bit of our family life and family history and a little cooking and my work life.

Thank you for reading!

churn dash, top completed

It is set 8 by 10 blocks, measuring 72 by 90 inches.
80 blocks, 9 inches finished.
It was so much fun again using the wild prints from my stash and many from my neighbor.
The solids were also in my stash including quite a few from my mother's fabrics.

Early in my nursing career I cared for a man with Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease. The first neurologic indication of his disease was his uncharacteristic repainting his garage a different bright color for every board. He bewilderingly asked me what was so wrong about doing that and I explained it wasn't the act of painting it that way, it was that this was a sudden change in how he was expressing himself.
I told Andy that with my recent change of making very bright quilts, he may want to keep an eye on me for a prion disease.

new (to me) fabric

I am making solid churn dashes on wild backgrounds--the same theme that I used for the Ships quilt.

My neighbor Sharon called me over to share some quilting weight fabric scraps given to her by a home decorator friend. The fabrics were nothing I would have chosen to buy and were just what I wanted to help my own wild fabrics look even better!

Thinking of no sashings, no borders, just blocks. I have about 22 completed blocks and solids cut for another 50. Thinking of setting them 8 by 9 right now, but that may change.


Blocks finish 9 inches.
I use the Easy Angle ruler for the triangles, so all pieces are cut from 3 1/2 inch strips. The rectangles are cut 2 by 3 1/2 and the center square is 3 1/2 inches.

Thank you, Sharon! I may come over for more!

seeing stars sew-a-long

I am participating in Turning Twenty's block of the month "Seeing Stars".
Sign ups are now closed, but you can purchase the block instructions on their website.
http://www.turningtwenty.com/store.php?cat=80

The blocks are made at 6 inches and 12 inches. I am using 30's repros and repeating the fabrics within the block It is interesting how the scale of the fabric plays out in the different sizes.

I was going to use different yellows for the backgrounds, but am falling in love with this very soft yellow--now to try to figure out what it is so I can get more as I have only a bit left.

calico rose--top completed

Here is my completed top from Deanna's Calico Rose sew-a-long on her Wedding Dress Blue blog.
Thanks Deanna!

https://weddingdressblue.wordpress.com/calico-rose-quiltalong/

It was so much fun to make! Having my pre-cut squares shoe box(es) ready to go made quick work of her delightful pattern. I still had some 3 1/2 inch short lengths out from my Ships quilt that I hadn't gotten around to cut down (sometimes my procrastination pays off) that went towards the star points.
I used flying geese for the star points. For the background I used the same Moda blue that I had used for the rail fence streak of lightning.

Deanna offered three size options. I decided to make it as long as the large and as wide as the medium, so set it 5 by 7 blocks. I love her lacy border, but chose to do a postage stamp one pieced with 16 patch blocks mimicking the size of the centers of the stars and celebrating more of my precut squares.

Still a box and a third of 2 inch squares remaining. How wonderful to be ready for the next 2 inch square adventure that comes my way!

My less than cooperative quilt holders and my neighbors' decision to plant a tree interfering with my prime quilt photography spot (me standing on their lawn) are causing issues with my pictures. I will try to do better once it is quilted.