Kentucky Log Cabin Quilt

 

I love Judy Martin’s quilt designs.  Even on fairly easy patterns, there’s a little something extra and interesting.  Last summer her web site featured glimpses of her newest book, Judy Martin’s Log Cabin Quilt Book.  On her web site her readers were given the opportunity to vote for their favorite patterns in the book and I immediately fell in love with the Kentucky Log Cabin.  I had decorated one bedroom in a lodge/cabin theme and had yet to make a quilt for the full sized bed.  I requested the book for my birthday in September, but didn’t have time to start the quilt until after the Christmas holidays.

I changed the layout to give me the look and size I wanted – big enough to cover the entire mattress plus an overhang on sides and bottom to come to a certain point on the bedskirt. 

 

Although the pattern wasn’t difficult, a degree of precision cutting and piecing was required and I wore out three rotary blades making this quilt.  I felt it was worth it.

I was in the middle of making pillow covers to match the spread when I saw a forum discussion of an old-fashioned method of covering pillows by making a large flat topper that would cover the pillows, tuck under top and bottom and have an overhang to match the quilt.  This is basically a long, narrow flat piece that I designed using four applique cabin blocks and some of the coordinating maroon fabric.  This was my answer and I know in the future I’ll always make a matching or coordinating topper rather than covers that have to be removed every time the bed is used.

I machine quilted using stippling for the body of the quilt and decorative stitching on the borders.  I like the quilt very much with the pieced log cabins and secondary star design. 

St. Patrick’s Day Decorations

With the help of my daughter, I have a good display of St. Patrick’s Day/Irish items.  She is good at so many things like decorative painting……

She painted a wooden plate with a scene inspired by a photograph taken when we were in Ireland and she added our favorite border collie.

I smile to myself every time I see the plate and remember the farmhouse and those wonderful dogs herding the sheep.

She is also skilled at collages and made this one up using some unusual items.  There is some very nice fine hand quilting on this piece.

I have a quilted wall hanging that I made, also remembering our trip to Ireland.  At a country farmhouse, women were making a huge apple tart.  In this case, I scanned a photograph and printed it on fabric.  The block is Wonderful World from Judy Martin’s Stars & Sets CD.

Many years ago, when my daughter and I had a booth at a craft mall, I designed a scene with an Irish piper, dancers and a small brown dog.  I used the design many times on decorative painting items and tried my hand at using the design in a fusible applique picture. 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Rye Bread and Reubens

My daughters say they have never found a restaurant version of the Reuben Sandwich that is as good as the one I make, mainly because of my insistence on very lean, good quality corned beef, and because of my homemade rye bread.  They like this rye bread, called “Modest” probably because it is a light rye with no caraway or other strong flavor.

MODEST RYE BREAD

• 5 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 cup rye flour
• 1 package fast-rising yeast
• 3/4 cup non-fat dry milk
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tblsp. molasses
• 3 Tblsp canola oil
• 2-1/4 cups water heated to 130 degrees F

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, place 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1 cup of rye flour, yeast, dry milk, and salt.  Mix to blend and add molasses, oil and 130 degree F water.  Beat on medium speed with regular beater for 3 minutes.  Insert dough hook and beat another 6:30 minutes, adding flour as needed to make dough elastic and not sticky. 

Place dough in oiled bowl, cover and let rise in warm place for 30 minutes.

Punch down dough and form into loaves.  I like to divide the dough in thirds and place a third in each of two loaf pans which measure 7-1/2 x 3-3/4 x 2-1/4 inches.  This size makes a nice size slice for making the Reubens.  The remaining third is usually made into large hearty rolls to eat with dinner.

Cover the bread/rolls and let rise 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake this size loaf for approximately 25 minutes and the rolls for approximately 12 minutes.  Let cool on a wire rack. 

 

 

REUBEN SANDWICHES

• 1 lb. good quality corned beef, sliced thin
• 1/2 lb. sliced Swiss cheese
• 1 cup sauerkraut, drained
• Rye bread  

To make the sandwiches, I prefer to bake the bread a day ahead of time so it’s more manageable to divide into thin slices (cut off the heels and cut about 12 slices).  Butter a slice of bread and place butter-side-down in a skillet, add a layer of corned beef, a slice of Swiss cheese and a spoonful of sauerkraut, add second slice of buttered bread.  Grill, browning on each side, at a medium high heat to give the beef and cheese a chance to warm before the bread gets too brown. 

Serve immediately.  My daughters like to add Thousand Island Dressing to their sandwiches.  The two loaves of bread are about right for the quantity of corned beef, Swiss and sauerkraut, depending on how thick you make your sandwiches.

Gift Bags from Orphan Blocks

Most quilters seem to have a big stash of “orphan” blocks – blocks they made that turned out too big, too small, too difficult, too simple, the wrong color, pieced wrong – you get the picture.  I’ve made a few quilts and throws from blocks like these but don’t really enjoy putting together a lot of misfits.  My youngest daughter who has been a recycler, “go green” person since she was a child, had come up with a plan to make all of her gift bags which could be recycled rather than using throwaway paper.  She doesn’t like to sew and came up with an easy bag that is basically a piece of fabric folded in half, sewn along two sides, edge-stitched along the top and with a tie of some sort sewn to the back of the bag so it’s readily available for the next gift opporunity.  In our family, it’s understood that the bag can be kept by the recipient or given along with a gift on the next holiday.

I thought this might be a way to use up some of the unwanted and unappreciated quilt blocks.  The first step is to wrap a tape measure loosely around the largest part of the item to be wrapped and add 1/2″ (two 1/4″ seams) plus another 1″ for a little leeway in the bag. 

Example:  A typical American CD measures 12-1/2″ in width.  Using a 9-1/2″ unfinished block, cut a coordinating strip of fabric 4-1/2″ x 9-1/2″ (3″ plus 1/2″ for two 1/4″ seams plus 1″ for some extra leeway).  

Stitch a 1/4″ seam joining the strip to one side of the block.  Press.

Cut a 20″ piece of ribbon, rickrack, seam tape, cording – anything you might have in your sewing basket.  Place the center of the ribbon on the center of the 4-1/2 x 9-1/2″ strip, about 3-1/2″ down from the top and sew a few stitches to secure it for the tie.

Stitch the other side of the strip to the other side of the block, using a 1/4″ seam.  Press.

Keeping the pieces right-sides together, fold the strip in half lengthwise, centering the strip in the back so there is a nice view of the block on the front, and stitch along the bottom edge, using a 1/4″ seam.

Press the top edge down 1/4″ and zigzag a close stitch along the raw edge (.90 x 3.1 stitch).

Turn the bag and press.  Bag is ready to pack with the CD and tie with the ribbon.

Of course, any block can be used with strips  added to make the correct size.  Also, blocks can be sewn together to make the size you need.

Example:  Two 12-1/2″ unfinished blocks can be used to make a bag big enough for a book, a small toy or small pieces of clothing.  In this case no extra strip is needed. 

Cut a 20-22″ piece of trim for the tie, and stitch it to the center of the block that is to be the back of the bag, about 3-1/2″ down from the top. 

Place the two blocks right sides together, being careful to keep the tie out of the way and stitch along the sides and the bottom edge with a 1/4″ seam. 

Press the top edge under 1/4″ and zigzag along the raw edge (.90 x 3.1 stitch). 

Turn bag and press and another bag is ready to pack with a gift…..two less blocks in the stash and no big piece of wrapping paper in the trash.