Michael Miller Fabric Challenge

Finally finished with this project! I finished the top weeks ago, quilted in time to demo thread-burying at the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild last month, and did the binding yesterday.

This was a "fabric challenge," meaning participants all received a small amount of the same fabrics and could make anything quilted. We could only add more of the same fabric (on our own dime), more prints from the same company, or solids. I added the blue solid piece to the front, and the green and white swirls on the back (who knew that my meager stash has some decent pieces of ~8-year old Michael Miller fabrics?) It's been so fun to look through the other projects inspired by this fabric, I wish the forum was public so I could link it up. A couple other projects turned out veeeerry similar to mine. As in, I hope they don't think I copied them because I honestly hadn't looked at the forum since people started posting their projects! Oh well, it wouldn't even really matter, inspiration is a good thing(!), except this is a *contest!* And the prize is fabric! Haha, I don't really expect to win, it was just a fun project.

I used the opportunity to teach myself improv piecing. In hindsight, you can waste a lot of fabric learning improv piecing, especially curves. Probably not the best choice for a fabric challenge when I have a 9"x22" piece of each fabric to work with. Well, it turned out! And I had a blast with the medallion style free-motion quilting.

One Year

Well, one year (and 11 quilts) later, here we are. This winter was one of the hardest periods of my life. There was snow on the ground for five months, it was about the coldest, snowiest, longest winter that Chicago has ever seen. What a welcome! But since I don't have many nice things to say about winter, I'm not going to say much at all about it.

As much as I love my job and am so excited about the work that we are doing, I'm not going to talk much about that either. It is extremely rewarding, and I have learned more than I thought possible in one year. If you want to know more, check out our (new!) website at paulcarlson.org

I started this blog to write about quilting, cooking, and life adventures. Little did I know I'd be moving across the country and starting a full-time job. It's been a shock to the system, but I'm determined to get some of my old life rhythms back. Staying in touch with friends and family, trying new recipes, and blogging! Quilting is the one thing that I have kept up, so that's what I have to write about now.

Late June was a huge milestone for me. Not only did I attend my first big quilt show, but I had a quilt there on display!





This quilt, "Where the Heart Is," was made for my guild's Modern in the City challenge. It features the four cities I have lived in/just outside of: Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago. I loved playing with the colors to find a pallet that felt suited to each city. I also enjoyed the little bits of free-motion quilting.



Chicago close up.

Belonging to the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild has been one of the highlights of my year! It is indescribable joy, belonging to this lovely, supporting community. We learn together, laugh a lot, make charity projects, and just generally have an awesome time. They even got me to join Instagram!

Now, I'm going to spend my 4-day weekend gardening, sewing, and just generally relaxing.

A bit o' update

If you have requested to see pictures of our new place, know you are not alone! Also know you can thank our landlord for the delay. He said those magic words... "by the way, it's cool if you want to paint." If you know me and how much I love color, you can imagine the can of worms this opened. But, believe it or not, we have decided to paint only the kitchen, dining room, and bathroom. 

It may be awhile before even those rooms are done though. Somehow between playing tourist on Saturday and filling a Zipvan at IKEA (in under two hours), I managed to strain a muscle in my foot. My last few evenings have consisted of sitting on the floor, "reading" directions, and directing the assembly of our furniture. Now that we have done all the furniture for the rooms not receiving paint, we can empty out those that are and get started! Once I can walk again, that is. And once my trip for work next week is over... But that's another post!

We had a great time walking around the city on Saturday. It would be so fun to live downtown, but I am thankful for my tiny commute (which is a long walk). I think I will be even more thankful in the winter...but I'm afraid we won't go out much in the winter because it will take so long in the cold to get anywhere. But, each problem to its own month. Right now we are just figuring out how not to go mad with the sound of cicadas... And I am determined to find some fireflies for Ryan to see. 

My job is going so well. I still have a ton to learn, but things are settled enough that I have been able to work from home a lot this week to avoid walking to work on my foot. What a blessing! 

This isn't much of an update, but I have to start somewhere. There is so much to share! 

yes I did just move across the country...

I think I've teared up at least once every day at work so far. My new job is just that awesome! Every day, a picture, a number, a sentence, a story... something brings it home to me - again - what I'm doing and who I'm serving, and I realize that I'm just so overwhelmedly blessed. 

"What ARE you doing?" you ask? That is a good question, considering I up and left for Chicago very abruptly two weeks ago and didn't bother to explain!

Well, I got a new job. And it's pretty awesome. Awesome enough to move to Chicago for. Awesome enough to ask Ryan to move across the country (again!) for. I am the Communications and Resource Development Manager for Paul Carlson Partnership - which means I run marketing/communications and general office management for this really cool organization you've maybe never heard but will hear about constantly from now on.

Paul Carlson Partnership is named after Dr. Paul Carlson. He was a medical missionary to Congo and was kidnapped and killed by rebels in 1964. Not long after, the "Paul Carlson Program" began. In the beginning they had one hospital and a lot of passion for medical care in Congo. Now we support 5 hospitals and over 100 clinics, and some micro-financing/economic development. Our work is in the Equateur province, which is the poorest province of the poorest country in the world. We're talking about 8 cents a day for many of the families. 

Where do I come in? Well, this job uses my bachelors in media/communications, my masters in theology, and my years of administrative experience. I wasn't even looking for a job that would use all three, I couldn't even imagine what it would look like! Now I'm here - still not really sure what it is going to look like, but really excited and blessed to be figuring that out. If only I could figure out a way to add in quilting... ;) nah, I'll keep that for my down time. 

Not going to lie though, this month has been pretty stressful. I was offered the job and had two weeks to pack up and get to Chicago. I spent my first week here working 9-5 (with jetlag) and apartment searching. I'm about to sign a lease on a perfect little place by my office, and close to public transportation so we can explore the city! My dad is going to bless us by flying down to Pasadena and driving over with Ryan. They are bringing just a van - it's hard to imagine starting over in a household with just a few boxes! But, stuff is just stuff. Though it would have been great to have more than two weeks to decide what to keep. In all of this, lots of little things have been going wrong. Lots of details have gone awry, sicknesses have gone around, and I didn't even get to say goodbye to everybody. On the other hand, I've been blessed with a beautiful place to stay and car to drive for these few weeks of transition. Not to mention, everyone here is so nice! Kind, welcoming, thoughtful... just plain nice. 

Right now I'm mostly looking forward to living in the same house (and time zone!) as Ryan again. Once that happens, we'll be able to think about refurnishing a home and discovering our new city. I'm excited to share more with you in the future! 

Empty Nesters

Well, we've been empty nesters for about two weeks now! The little guys flew off on the 29th, about two seconds after I snapped a photo. That one didn't really turn out, but this one is from the 27th.

Aren't they sweet? They were 22 days old when they took off. It startled me so bad! I was standing there, a few inches away, taking photos. They didn't show any signs of distress or fear, and then they suddenly just flew right up and landed out of arm's reach. I only saw them fly that one time, but they looked like pros. They hung around our courtyard for a few hours - I could tell they were practicing because they'd be in a different spot every time I went out. I got a few blurry photos but mom was feeling especially protective that day, so I could only stay outside for a few seconds at a time.

We really miss them, they were such a treat to see every day. In watching their progress around the courtyard that day I discovered an old nest we'd never noticed before. Mostly likely the same mother's nest from last year. So we can only hope that she'll be back in the future!

Kale Feta Cannellini Burgers

Fries in the oven, pallet prepared for burgers for dinner, and... no black beans in the cupboard. Oops. Plan B? Invent something! We love these Sweet Potato Burgers, so, while I didn't have any sweet potatoes I knew that cannellini beans can made some great burgers. A quick look through the fridge and "Kale Feta Cannellini Burgers" were born. These are vegetarian but not vegan. You could probably use a flax egg and skip the cheese, but in that case I'd just recommend the burgers above, which are already vegan and spectacular.


Ingredients: 
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 leaf kale, chopped fine
2 oz feta cheese, chopped/crumbled fine
1 egg
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp salt
2-6 TBL whole wheat flour (or substitute for gluten free flour/breadcrumbs)
Generous Panko crumbs for coating (optional, or substitute)

4-6 TBL olive oil

Serve with avocado, sriracha, any regular burger fixin's.

Directions:
Combine beans, kale, feta, egg, garlic, and salt in a medium bowl and smash together. You could probably use a food processor for this, I like to use my handheld pastry blender (which is also the perfect tool for guacamole, by the way). If you don't have either of these tools, a fork and some elbow grease, will do the trick.

Slowly stir in the flour until you've reached a wet-but-stiff consistency. It should feel pretty gloopy, but still hold together.

Form the mixture into patties. I find 6 small sliders easier to handle, but you could go for 4 bigger burgers. Coat generously in Panko.

In a nonstick skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. You know it's hot enough when a piece of mixture put into the oil sizzles. (If you don't have/use a nonstick skillet, you'll need to use a lot more oil and basically fry them. Or try baking. Let me know how it works!)

Cook the patties for 4-8 minutes on each side, or until golden and crispy. I like to add the second half of the oil when I flip the patties.

Enjoy, and let me know how they are!

The verdict here? Two "clean" plates.

Hummingbirds day 14 and day 20!

I left town for a few days, and missed a lot of the birds' development. But now you get to see side-by-side pictures of them to see how much they have grown in one week! It's pretty amazing.

Here they are on day 14

And here they are today, day 20!

They look like they are just about ready to take off and fly, don't they?

They don't seem to be scared of us at all. As you can see from the picture, I was only a few inches away from them and they just blinked calmly at me during their photo shoot.