http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/25/opinion/a-prayer-at-christmas.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
Ann Hood prays. It's a trend.
Merry Christmas!
Dec 25, 2012
Dec 22, 2012
More reckless praying
AMBATALIA: From My sister Mikaela ( had to share because I think it is so beautiful and true.
Not my sister -- This is bold praying from another art blog. It's a reassuring message from the divine.
OK, OK ... just read it!
Not my sister -- This is bold praying from another art blog. It's a reassuring message from the divine.
OK, OK ... just read it!
Dec 21, 2012
Fabric Art Postcards: how-to
Fabric art postcards seem so easy. Simple, yes, but making them took me a lot of thinking and working out details. I took notes on each step, so that I can make them again -- maybe for Valentine's Day. You can use any design you like.
I took the finished cards to the post office to make sure the cards are acceptable size and weight.
1. Cut heavy watercolor paper (Arches 140#) into 4" x 6" pieces.
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| Getting ready to cut watercolor paper |
2. Cut background fabric into 6" x 4" pieces. I used beautiful, heavy unbleached linen.
3. Make stencil for Christmas tree and heart out of cardboard.
4. Cut tree from off-white silk or an old lace curtain.
5. Cut heart from red cotton. Silk in this small and curved shape would be pretty, but would probably fray.
6. Glue background fabric to card. PVA glue applied in a very thin coat is best.
7. Glue tree and heart where you want them. Just a dot or two of glue in corners is enough because you're going to sew it in place.
8. Using an old needle because you're sewing through heavy paper, sew around edges of the tree, using zigzag stitch Width 3 on the Bernina machine, and Length 1 1/2. I used matching color thread.
9. Sew down the heart, using zigzag stitch Width 2 and Length .5.
10. Sew around the edges with a close stitch for linen, to prevent raveling. Zigzag stitch Width 5.5 and Length .5.
These stitches worked for me, but you can play around with other sizes. You can also use a running stitch or some other decorative stitch.
Then turn the card over, address it on the right-hand half, and write your message on the left-hand half, just like any other postcard. Don't forget the stamp1
Dec 19, 2012
Take Joy! Praying without a license
My ever-more-ambiguous relationship with the Pope makes me feel I've lost my license to pray. But I love to pray, so now I'm doing it recklessly and without a license. Here's one of my favorites -- a Christmas wish, really. I discovered it in Tasha Tudor's children's Christmas book Take Joy.
I salute you! There is nothing I can give you which you have not; but there is much that, while I cannot give, you can take.
No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take Heaven.
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in the present moment. Take Peace.
The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach is joy. Take Joy!
And so, at this Christmas time, I greet you, with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.
Fra Giovanni
1513
I salute you! There is nothing I can give you which you have not; but there is much that, while I cannot give, you can take.
No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take Heaven.
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in the present moment. Take Peace.
The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach is joy. Take Joy!
And so, at this Christmas time, I greet you, with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.
Dec 18, 2012
Chili and Cornbread
Dear Teresa,
Yes, after 40 years your chili recipe is still the best! I wonder if you still make it. I remember it came from a book of recipes for diabetics. You were interested in good nutrition way before the rest of us. I made it Sunday and shared some with a neighbor whose husband always did the cooking. When he died she was reduced to take-out every day. She really appreciated your chili. So did we!
Teresa's Chili
2 pounds lean round steak (I often use less -- Sunday it was a pound of London broil. I've used hamburger too, and then it's very quick.
4 C. sliced onions
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 T. bacon bits (I use about 1/8 pound real bacon.)
4 T. chili powder
1 T. flour
1 can tomato juice (I use tomato sauce and water usually.)
1 large can tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 t. salt
1 T. dried oregano
1 T. wine vinegar
2 t. light corn syrup (I use honey.)
2 C. red kidney beans (I usually use dried beans and cook them ahead of time, but this time I used organic canned beans, and they are good.)
Cut the meat into cubes, removing fat. Brown meat in an iron skillet. Remove and set aside. Fry the bacon, if using it. Remove when crisp and then sauté the onions until slightly brown and clear. Mix the chili powder with flour in a small bowl, and add enough tomato juice to make a paste. (If using tomato paste, add a little and then some water.) Add it to the onions. Put this in a large pan with a lid. Add meat and the can of tomatoes and remaining juice or tomato sauce. If using sauce, add some water. I added somewhere between one and two cups. Simmer 1/2 hour.
Add the rest of the ingredients, except beans. Cover and simmer 2 hours. Add the kidney beans 15 minutes before serving.
We warm the beans and serve them on the side.
This is great with cornbread, and this is the easiest recipe I know.
Cornbread
Melt 3 T. butter in a 10" skillet in a 500° oven (yes, that hot!).
Mix together
1 C. cornmeal
1/2 C. flour
1/2 teaspoon each: salt, soda, baking powder
1/2 T. sugar
Add
one egg
1 C. buttermilk
Pour into hot iron skillet. (I tried my expensive other skillet, and it turned out badly.) Swirl it around so the butter gets mixed in, but not completely. Bake until firm, about 10 minutes.
This makes a kind of dry cornbread, so we like to add a small can of corn to the batter.
Yes, after 40 years your chili recipe is still the best! I wonder if you still make it. I remember it came from a book of recipes for diabetics. You were interested in good nutrition way before the rest of us. I made it Sunday and shared some with a neighbor whose husband always did the cooking. When he died she was reduced to take-out every day. She really appreciated your chili. So did we!
Teresa's Chili
2 pounds lean round steak (I often use less -- Sunday it was a pound of London broil. I've used hamburger too, and then it's very quick.
4 C. sliced onions
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 T. bacon bits (I use about 1/8 pound real bacon.)
4 T. chili powder
1 T. flour
1 can tomato juice (I use tomato sauce and water usually.)
1 large can tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 t. salt
1 T. dried oregano
1 T. wine vinegar
2 t. light corn syrup (I use honey.)
2 C. red kidney beans (I usually use dried beans and cook them ahead of time, but this time I used organic canned beans, and they are good.)
Cut the meat into cubes, removing fat. Brown meat in an iron skillet. Remove and set aside. Fry the bacon, if using it. Remove when crisp and then sauté the onions until slightly brown and clear. Mix the chili powder with flour in a small bowl, and add enough tomato juice to make a paste. (If using tomato paste, add a little and then some water.) Add it to the onions. Put this in a large pan with a lid. Add meat and the can of tomatoes and remaining juice or tomato sauce. If using sauce, add some water. I added somewhere between one and two cups. Simmer 1/2 hour.
Add the rest of the ingredients, except beans. Cover and simmer 2 hours. Add the kidney beans 15 minutes before serving.
We warm the beans and serve them on the side.
This is great with cornbread, and this is the easiest recipe I know.
Cornbread
Melt 3 T. butter in a 10" skillet in a 500° oven (yes, that hot!).
Mix together
1 C. cornmeal
1/2 C. flour
1/2 teaspoon each: salt, soda, baking powder
1/2 T. sugar
Add
one egg
1 C. buttermilk
Pour into hot iron skillet. (I tried my expensive other skillet, and it turned out badly.) Swirl it around so the butter gets mixed in, but not completely. Bake until firm, about 10 minutes.
This makes a kind of dry cornbread, so we like to add a small can of corn to the batter.
Dec 17, 2012
Simple tree
I love to make art postcards because they seem fragile and insignificant, yet travel far with their beauty exposed for anyone to touch. I'd been planning to make glittery green and red cards for Christmas, but suddenly they are wrong. Instead, I love this simple design -- especially because it's a silk tree on rough linen. This one's unfinished.
Dec 16, 2012
Little Christmas Tree
This spray-painted twig and string of lights is my idea of a Christmas tree that could stay all year. That cardinal on top reminds me of Ohio (state bird), feeding my seasonal nostalgia. Poet Linda Pastan echoes the mood in this morning's Writer's Almanac.
Noel
Like a single
ornament,
the red cardinal
on a pine
outside
the window
is our only
decoration,
until
the snow.
ornament,
the red cardinal
on a pine
outside
the window
is our only
decoration,
until
the snow.
Dec 10, 2012
Pie crust recipe
Dear Mary,
You asked if I have a good pie crust recipe using all butter. You said you tried the one in Smitten Kitchen and found it lacking. Just OK.
Well, they say pastry is magic and they say it's easy. I go with magic, because there are so many recipes out there, and they are almost identical. But sometimes the pie crust is better than others. I think I'm getting better at it -- finally! I chill the butter in the freezer whenever I think about it ahead of time. I stopped over-working it in the first whir of the blender. I have a baggie labeled Pie Crust; it's full of white beans that I use for weights. I watch the pie carefully and when the edges are brown enough, but I think the pie itself needs more oven time, I wrap strips of foil over the edges. Even with all that, sometimes the crust turns out better than others. Good luck!
Here's how I make pie crust:
I use this from Real Simple. Or this from Martha Stewart.
You asked if I have a good pie crust recipe using all butter. You said you tried the one in Smitten Kitchen and found it lacking. Just OK.
Well, they say pastry is magic and they say it's easy. I go with magic, because there are so many recipes out there, and they are almost identical. But sometimes the pie crust is better than others. I think I'm getting better at it -- finally! I chill the butter in the freezer whenever I think about it ahead of time. I stopped over-working it in the first whir of the blender. I have a baggie labeled Pie Crust; it's full of white beans that I use for weights. I watch the pie carefully and when the edges are brown enough, but I think the pie itself needs more oven time, I wrap strips of foil over the edges. Even with all that, sometimes the crust turns out better than others. Good luck!
Here's how I make pie crust:
I use this from Real Simple. Or this from Martha Stewart.
or this from Patricia Wells. (my standby. It works.)
1 to 1 1/4 C. flour/ She says all-purpose, but not unbleached.
7 T. butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/8 t. salt
3 T. ice water.
Put 1 C. flour, butter, and salt in food processor and process to resemble coarse crumbs. Add ice water and pulse only until it begins to hold together. Don't let it form a ball. (I used to do this too long, and I think that was a mistake. I just didn't believe it would hold together until it completely held together.)Transfer to waxed paper. flatten into disk. If dough seems too sticky, sprinkle it with additional flour, incorporating 1 T. at a time. Refrigerate at least 1 hr. Roll out to 12-inch circle. do the regular stuff. It says if you build the pastry a bit higher than the height of the pan you will have less problem with shrinkage. Prick the bottom with fork tines. Chill at least 20 minutes or wrap well and chill up to 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 375°.
Line shell loosely with heavy foil, pressing well into the edge so the pastry doesn't shrink while baking. Fill with rice , dried beans, or pie weights.
For partially baked shell, bake just until it begins to brown around the edges and seems firm enough to stand up on its own., about 20 minutes. Remove weights and foil and bake 10 more minutes.
For fully baked shell, continue to bake 20 minutes after removing the beans and foil. Cool at least 10 minutes before filling.
Dec 9, 2012
Hope
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| Hope 35" l x 35 1/4" w new and used cotton, silk, rayon machine appliquéed and quilted |
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| Hope detail |
Dec 5, 2012
Quilt Photography
It looks like I'm a serious photographer here. It's the tripod and the lights. No -- it's me! I am serious about taking good photos of my quilts. Shoot that quilt is my favorite how-to site. They convinced me to get the lights and tripod. (Well, I already had the tripod. The lights came from eBay.) Because of this site, I'm waiting until dark to take my photos, for true color reproduction. And I just finished a photo course via QuiltUniversity. I didn't take full advantage of the instructor, who was always available for feedback, but I did learn some basics, including how to resize and organize my images, and also the importance of reading the camera manual. (Duh, why didn't I think of that?)
Dec 3, 2012
Quilt sleeve tutorial
The final details, like sewing the label and the hanging sleeve onto the back of the quilt, are less interesting than creating the piece itself. This woman knows her sleeves. I always follow her directions. Before watching her, my quilt sleeves didn't have that extra "give." Made this way, the quilt will hang rather close to the wall. It's a little harder, but better, to cut the sleeve into three pieces
Dec 2, 2012
Angel quilt
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| Angel 35" h x 36 1/2" w new and used cottons, rayon, and silk paint, glitter, thread machine appliqué, collage, and quilting |
Here's my Angel. A news photo of an Iraqi woman in a cemetery inspired me. I was taken with her veil and the swirls of fabric billowing among the graves. As I worked, I called the piece Grief; I was thinking sad thoughts. But eventually her wing appeared and my thoughts lifted. Then I saw the painting The Snake Dancer by Indonesian artist Hendra Gunawan (1918-1983). His vibrant curves and colors also inspired me and brought my Angel to life.
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| Angel wing |
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