Cathedral window mini quilt

This week I finished my mini cathedral window quilt; I have put many hours into it!  For some reason, I decided to make this project even more time consuming by hand stitching the entire thing!
My great grandmother stitched a large and beautiful cathedral window quilt, and it hung in our dining room my entire childhood.  I have always wanted to try the pattern out, but after doing a mini version I do not see how she did a large one! 
The whole piece measures about 7 inches.  I'm not sure what I'll do with it yet..




I used linen for the background,
and home decor fabric for the
"windows"



This quilt pattern is not technically
quilted, so the back looks untouched.

Kitties

Here is Yoko and Frida! 
Yoko (in the foreground) is a siamese tabby and has been with us since a kitten.  Frida (in the background) is an old barn cat of mysterious origin. 

They have lived together for about 6 years, and have grown to love each other!

Apple Strudel

Apples, golden raisins, walnuts, a squeeze of lemon, and a touch of cinnamon.. Fantastic!

I fixed this apple strudel tonight in the spare moments I had while cooking dinner. 
Apple desserts are my favorite, and I love a good strudel (though this was my first attempt at making one). 
Instead of the time consuming and laborious method of mixing and stretching the dough thin enough to see through, this recipe uses phyllo dough. 
Sure, it's not completely authentic, but I didn't get many complaints!


You can get the recipe here. (though you must sign up for a free trial, I highly recommend America's test kitchen as their recipes are the best out there!) 

**You can read more about my love of America's Test Kitchen in this post.

Pizza Pan Paintings

I love to paint!  Sometimes, after finishing a canvas, I'll use the leftover paint on my palette and turn out a quick piece. 
These two paintings of my husband and I were born of such an instance.  They are painted on two old pizza pans that had been put out to pasture.  I did both in probably half an hour. (I can't get my husband to sit longer than that!)
I think I look like some kind of monster hah!

Golden Women Pt. 2



So, in my previous post I shared some photos of a print my husband did on linen.  He gave me one to use as I wished.  I knew I wanted it on a purse, not only for the visual pop, but also to show off his work!

I think this turned out well!  It's made of black duck cloth so it's real sturdy.  It's also very roomy.  I like to use it mostly as a project bag because I hate carrying large purses otherwise.  

The only problem?  He used a water soluble ink, so I'd hate to see this thing wet!  Good thing we live in Las Vegas , where it never rains!

Close up

The interior is fun!

Golden Women Pt. 1

My husband sometimes dabbles in printmaking, though not as often as I think he should, considering these great results!  Here are some pictures of a print he did in 2010, entitled Golden Women. 
It is a four color print using only one block.  After each color was transferred, he carved away more of the block for the next color.  So these really are a limited edition (16 in total).

Here are the prints drying.  Most have two colors, while the two at the bottom left
have three.

Here he is pulling the blue (third) layer.  They are printed on natural linen.

Here is the final color (black) being pulled. 





My husband was kind enough to give me one to use as I wished,
and in part two I will show you what I did with it!