piecedgoods

Make Do

Posted on February 24, 2011 by piecedgoods

‘Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.’

I love this quote. I believe it was said by Theodore Roosevelt – others have said similar things. I feel like I’m at my most creative when I settle down and deal with life, work, challenges, creative projects with this in mind.

Sew Mama Sew is holding the Great Pillow Contest. It’s pillow month evidently. (Did you know that it’s also Bird Feeder Month, and Pet Dental Health Month as well? Who comes up with these things?)

I decided try quilting in script for the “Words to Live By” pillow contest. I didn’t take many process pictures because I got into the flow of making. But if you’re interested, here are some things I learned making this:

Quilting in script freeform takes practice.
Don’t bother doing the script in anything but cursive….Yes, the kind learned in 2nd or 3rd grade. Block letters don’t look right.
There are decisions to be made about whether or not to break stride and thread between words and crossing T’s and dotting I’s. After a trial or two with and without spaces between the words, I decided I like the continuity of not breaking thread. It makes the writing slightly harder to read but I’m willing to live with that for the art of it.
I like script quilting better when it’s quilted over with another color. I started with navy thread. The lettering looked too stark and the areas where thread crossed looked way too dark. Stitching the letters a second time mellowed the look out more.
Get a zipper that fits the pillow insert better than I did. I was making do, but squeezing a 16″x26″ pillow form through a 9″ opening is a struggle. Luckily feather and down inserts are squishable and recover nicely, and the pillow form was inserted, but I wouldn’t recommend a zipper that much too small for future pillows.

I like script quilting. Now that I’ve gotten a little experience, I’ll try stitching something longer in script as a quilting pattern. A sonnet, a limerick, a haiku, or a song?

Posted in Quilts, Sewing, Uncategorized | Tagged Pillow, Quilting | 5 Comments

Kaleidoscope Ambiguity

Posted on February 23, 2011 by piecedgoods

We had a commitment to create, so we got started today on the Kaleidoscope quilt. Step one is to create “strata” – strips of fabric. These are sewn together to be cut apart into shards that then get sewn together in triangles which then get sewn together into a kaleidoscope kind of way.

‘What?!’, you say? Yes, that’s right. That’s quilting these days with rotary cutters and plastic rulers. Take perfectly good fabric and cut it into little bits and sew the whole deal together again. It’s wildly addictive for those of you that haven’t tried it.

So…We jumped to the task and stripped, sewed, pressed, sewed some more, and growled. I’m now realizing I’m not going to know what this quilt is going to look like until it’s largely sewn together. I can ‘audition’ blocks with quilts with repeating blocks. I make a few and then decide if I want to abandon the project or go on making a million blocks. This here is the focal point of the quilt, it all comes together at the end. I’ve got layers of strips of fabric sewn together today that I will cut into pieces tomorrow. Schnap and I hope we like it.

Posted in Quilts, Schnap | Tagged kaleidoscope, Quilting, Ricky Tims, Schnap | 1 Comment

Not Chicken

Posted on February 22, 2011 by piecedgoods

Vegetarian Chinese restaurants do this weird thing where the menu is in categories of ‘meat’, just like omnivorous restaurants. It’s confusing…And alarming for vegetarians. In the vegetarian or tofu section of the Chinese/Asian Market you’ll find things like ‘chicken’, ‘goose’, ‘beef’ and such.

What’s going on? Well, if you’re at a place that serves no meat, they’re not sneaking meat into the food though I can’t speak for what’s happening at restaurants that do serve meat plus do vegetarian dishes. Vegetarianism has long been an important part of the Chinese food repetoire. Over the centuries, with soy being an important part of the diet, tofu and other soy products have taken many forms. In the west, I suppose the parallel is how many ways milk is consumed (e.g. milk, cheeses, yogurts, custards, puddings, ice cream) Other vegetarian ‘meats’ are made with wheat gluten (seitan) and shaped and flavored with soy sauce and other spices to taste and resemble meat. I’m told that Buddhist monks took it upon themselves to find new and interesting ways to make mock meat to serve to passing travelers stopping at temples.

I’m not a vegetarian but I find myself getting closer and closer on the scale with each passing year and article about animal cruelty, e coli contamination, prions, and the like.I’ve long been a fan of vegetarian Chinese fare regardless, and this dish is one of my favorites.

I personally don’t think this tastes a lot like chicken, but if you were to want something like this in a Chinese restaurant, this is what they call it. And truly, the name for this dish in Chinese is ‘Vegetarian Chicken’. Su Gi in Pin Yin.

Vegetarian (Mock) Chicken

Ingredients:

Tofu Sheets – 2 packages (from the Chinese market frozen section, not from the dried goods section. I found mine at Ranch 99, next to the frozen vegetables)
Dried Shitake Mushrooms – 16 to 20 pieces soaked in hot water to cover (I used about 4 cups of water. Save the soaking water) Soak them until they are at least soft enough to slice.
1 Julienned Carrot
1/3 C soy sauce
1/3 C sugar
¼ Teaspoon Chinese 5 spice powder

What to do:

Cut off the woody stem of the mushrooms and discard that part. Cut the soaked mushroom caps into about 8 to 10 slices each. Simmer mushroom slices, carrot, soy sauce, sugar, and five spiced powder in the mushroom soaking water. Stir and simmer for about 7-8 minutes until the mushroom slices are translucent. Set aside.

Defrost the tofu sheets. (Figure it takes 1/2 hour out of the frig on the counter, or defrost in the refrigerator overnight) The sheets come in a 7”x13” size package (or thereabouts). When opened, you’ll find a stack of 4 round sheets folded into the package.

Separate the gigantic round things into 4 sheets and then fold back into 7”x13”packets. For 2 packages you’ll get a total of 8 7”x13”packs.
Have a jelly roll pan on the kitchen counter next to the sink. Pick up one layer of the 7”x13” pack and rinse the sheet with water to wet (I run the packet under running lukewarm water briefly – rinse gently!) Keep those packets in the 7”x13” shape.

Lay one of the tofu sheet packets on the jelly roll pan and spoon some of the cooked mushroom slices ( you will be dividing this into 8 parts) and sauce onto the tofu in a line along the narrower end (the 7” end) of the tofu. Roll the tofu up over the mushroom mixture encasing it in the roll. This should result in a roll about 1-1/2”x7”. Secure with a toothpick on at each end of the rolls to prevent unrolling.

Have 2 12″x14” non stick frying pans ready. Brush on a little oil using a paper towel or brush.

Continue to make 8 rolls. 4 rolls fit in each frying pan. Do not discard the remaining mushroom cooking liquid. Slightly brown the rolls on exteriors over low heat. Add about 1/2 C water to the remaining mushroom liquid and mix and divide between the two pans. Cover the pans and simmer the rolls gently until the liquid is absorbed. Turn the rolls over once during the process so that the liquid gets absorbed by all sides.