Recipe Time: Not Panang Chicken Curry

One of my favorite restaurant dishes is the Panang Chicken Curry from Big Bowl. Conveniently, Big Bowl makes the recipe available to all it's fans, but inconveniently it's a very complicated multi-step type of thing to make. I set out to recreate an easier version. One caveat: I'm aware this is not authentic Indian cuisine in any way, shape or form - it's merely delicious and easy.





Ingredients: 

• Olive oil
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced thin
• 1 T. fresh minced ginger
• 1 t. minced garlic
• 1 bag Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Peppers and Onions
• 1-2 c. whatever vegetables you like...snow peas are good
• 1 spoonful peanut butter (about 2 T.)
• 2-4 T. red curry paste...depending on your personal tastes, you can add more or less
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 handful salted peanuts, chopped
• 1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
• Fresh cooked rice
• Maybe some chicken broth...see Notes section below

Directions:

This is the kind of curry paste I use

1. Heat a few glugs of olive oil in a large saute pan
2. Add the chicken, garlic, and ginger. Saute until chicken is cooked.
3. Add vegetables and saute a few more minutes until they're cooked but still a little crunchy.
4. Add the can of coconut milk, peanut butter and the curry paste...start conservatively with the curry paste. You can always add more!
5. Simmer mixture for 5 minutes over low heat. 
6. Serve over rice, sprinkle with the peanuts and cilantro

Notes:

• This is a flexible recipe - if you want more peanut butter or vegetables or something crazy...add it!
• If the mixture gets a little too thick during the simmering process, add a little chicken broth

Moxie Top Finish

Well, that came together FAST. I sewed this quilt top in about 6 hours, which was very gratifying. The templates in this pattern are large, and the curves are gentle, so the whole thing was really easy and stress free. And fun - look at the colors!

I went rogue with my background. I was all set to do a white and grey background per the instructions, but that didn't seem quite right somehow. So I slapped a couple other choices up on the design wall and decided on different shade of blue fabrics. I think it adds a lot of depth and richness to this pattern and just looks so striking. I already love this quilt. This is another one I'm keeping!

Picking Fabric for "Moxie"

Well, I completed my requisite quilting on 4 unfinished tops, so that means I can start a new project, thank goodness. Piecing a quilt top is my most absolute favorite thing, and second to that is picking the fabric for a new project. I'm not great at doing this - but I think color theory is all about practice, trial and error, and I am getting better. Sometimes I'm more successful than others, but the bottom line is that I'm not afraid to try stuff, and I don't get too upset if it doesn't work.

I'm going to make a Tula Pink pattern called "Moxie" and so these are for the big color wheel in the middle. I'm adding different colors than the pattern says, but that's how I roll.

Friday Finish: Hopscotch

This was such a fun fast quilt to sew together - I finished the top way back in early spring, and I don't know why it took me so long to finally get it quilted, but I'm glad I finally did because I really love how it turned out.

I quilted it in a wandering geometric pattern which I thought would go well with the more modern design and solid fabrics. The backing is a Tina Givens print that looks like little seaweeds or plants of some sort - it's kind of random, but you know I like my random backings! The binding is a red solid, and I did it by machine.

I swear, I don't pose Lucy on purpose. She just comes running whenever she see's a quilt. 

This is the first quilt I've added a hanging sleeve to since I think this will make a really stunning wall-hanging. I added a two-inch sleeve to the top of the quilt as I sewed on the binding, and then sewed the bottom portion by hand. I think I might hang this on one of my office walls at work - it'll certainly brighten up the space!

It's a Small World After All

Jen Kingwell is an Australian quilt and fabric designer. Her quilts are fabulously intricate and colorful, and she's known for eclectic use of scraps, and hand piecing. I've never made one of her designs, but QuiltMania, a French magazine, published a pattern of hers called "My Small World"...and now I'm obsessed. There are quilt-alongs happening all over the internet and pictures popping up with the coolest versions people are sewing of this thing. But the glitch? The magazine was published in the spring, it's now September, there are no patterns available, the magazine is sold out unless I want to pay $40 and order a copy from France. In French...which I seriously considered doing this morning.

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Here's the thing about quilting trends: Just because I'm usually about 6 months behind the times doesn't mean that I still don't desperately want to be one of the cool kids. Farmers Wife Sampler quilt? Yep, have one of those going. Swoon Quilt? Check. Chevrons? Yes. English Paper Piecing? As we speak, Darling.

You can bet that long after after everyone else's Small Worlds are complete or abandoned or whatever...I'll be stalking e-bay just waiting for the Spring 2015 issue of QuiltMania to pop up. I'm comforted by the fact that everything old becomes new again at some point. My first "real" quilt I made when I started quilting again about 4 years ago was a Dresden quilt. Guess what's really trendy right now? Yes, you guessed it - Dresdens! For once, I'm way ahead of the times on that one.

Friday Finish: Flying Geese Circles

Since most of the geese are flying in circles, I decided it would be fun to quilt this in a large spiral. I used my walking foot and really love how it all turned out. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but I think it looks like a clean modern finish, and all the quilting lines give this a really nice texture too.

The backing is a leftover floral, and the binding is also leftover yardage, keeping with the whole scrappy theme of this quilt. I'm proud of myself for improvising this project - I used a pattern for the paper-pieced flying geese squares, but the adding of additional geese blocks, sashing and layout are all me.

This is a smaller quilt, and will be perfect for a wall-hanging. I'm keeping this one!

Unexpected backing...per usual!

Friday Finish: Cathedral Stars

Doggy photo-bomb! Anytime there's a quilt around, she tries to snuggle on it.

I'm not gonna lie - I'm so happy this one is over and done with!

I'm deadline driven (read: Procrastinator), and this project was given to me without any clear perimeters - make a quilt, any quilt out of this stuff, and finish it when you can. You'd think such freedom would have been inspiring to me, but no - I really struggled with staying motivated and seeing this through to the end.

Backing

For the most part, I'm happy with the results. I wrote previously about the excess fabric issues and that was a struggle. There are places in this quilt with puckers and uneven furrows, but I think the overall effect is good, and I hope the customer is pleased!

Each setting triangle is quilted in a different pattern - good practice for me!

To recap:
Pattern: "Cathedral Stars" by Bonnie Hunter
Fabric: Assorted shirts, ties, and wedding dress from customer, plus scraps from my stash
Backing and Binding: "Cartouche" from Connecting Threads
Pieced and quilted by Yours Truly.

The Quilting Continues

Here's where things are at with the whole Finish Your Projects Initiative:

Quilts Almost Quilted:

Quilts Still Needing to Be Quilted:

After I finish my first four, technically that would be half of my unfinished tops which means I could start a new project! But I'm sort of on a roll with this whole finishing thing, and I might just be an over-achiever and try and get a few more done. 

Quilting the Cathedral Stars Quilt

The Cathedral Stars are proving challenging to quilt. Because of all the bias edges and weird stretchy fabrics that were used in this (dress shirts! wedding dresses! Neckties!), I'm dealing with lots of fullness and extra fabric that just doesn't have anyplace to go. I'm trying to create extra seams as I go to sort of pleat some of the fabric into, but it's slow going and not always effective.

I'm stippling the main part of the quilt, doing an individual design in each of the triangles, and then swirls on the border. I debated over thread choices and ended up going with a light grey. This is a little controversial since it doesn't always blend into the background, but I like the "thready" look of it, so I'm happy with it.

I'm about half-way done and hoping to finish by the end of the weekend...

Quilting the Hopscotch Quilt

Remember, I said I couldn't start any more new projects until I finished my old ones, so this is the only choice if I ever want to start cutting into some new fabric. The Hopscotch quilt has been basted and ready to go for awhile now, so last night I set up my machine and got down to business.

I'm doing this in a geometric meander, which I thought would pair well with the bright modern colors and pattern. This is kind of a boxy version of a stipple, and I'm enjoying it so far. It's a little slower than a stipple, but I'm getting faster as I go. I can do about one row an hour, so I predict about 6 more hours of sewing before I can wrap this one up.

Basting Cathedral Stars

First I didn't have the right backing, then I didn't have enough pins, then I forgot to pre-shrink my batting, then I just didn't want to do it. For lots of reasons, after completing the top two months ago, my Cathedral Stars quilt has once again stalled.

Finally, I got my act together and got this baby basted yesterday after work. It's time to quilt this thing and get it to it's owner, who has been patiently waiting for the last NINE MONTHS!

The One Where I Almost Bought a House

I've always been a dedicated and very happy renter. I've vocalized about how I'd never want the responsibility of home ownership, how I think it's silly to be a slave to some money-pit of a residence, and how I love the care-free option of being able to pack up and leave whenever I want. I've arranged my life in such a way as to allow me to enjoy maximum creature comforts for the least expense and responsibility, and it's been really fun.

But over the past year I've started thinking about getting older, and building equity, and having the freedom to roam around naked or throw elaborate parties. So within the span of five days I got myself pre-approved for a mortgage, and then I got myself an agent, and then I started looking at houses. I put an offer in on a cute little 50's bungalow and got rejected, and then the next day I put in an offer on a 80's rambler which got accepted, sort of to my surprise. I alternated between fear and excitement, stomach-ache to euphoria. But mostly fear and stomach-ache. I was told that was normal, that stomach aches are a common side-affect of  the looming possibility of home ownership, and I thought that fear was probably just a character flaw.

On Sunday a duo of very nice inspectors and a large group of family and friends gave the place a thorough going-over, and then shit got real. There were words like Grading and Drainage and Deterioration thrown around, and people saying things like "So, I guess you won't be able to travel much anymore, huh?" or "Wow, this is a lot of debt to take on", or "I guess you can't really see the highway, but you sure can hear it!'. And then there was more talk of replacing things and calling in specialists, and pictures of mice tunnels being shown to me. Mice tunnels!

So, I called the whole thing off.

Here's what I've learned about houses:

• Old construction is better than new construction. Unless it's too old and needs too many repairs
• Being on a hill is good, because of Drainage. It's also bad, because of lawn-mowing
• Tree's are bad, because of their roots wreaking havoc. But it's good to have some trees because of their shade
• Corner lots are bad for reasons nobody can explain. Unless you like corner lots, because some people do, then they're OK.
• New siding is good, unless it's old siding that's metal - that's the best
• Wood floors are good. Unless they're in bad condition, then they're bad
• Popcorn ceiling is bad, but it's also sound-dampening, and that's good
• Living by possible light-rail routes is bad. Unless you plan on taking the light-rail places, then it's good
• Houses should have gutters. But sometimes it's OK if they don't
• People really don't like it if you live by a busy road. 

As I was crying on the patio last night over the whole sorry business, my friend said "Ruthann, you've just been through a break-up. You thought you were getting into a nice long-term relationship with someone, and you found out that they were kind of an asshole". We laughed and I felt a little better, but secretly I'm afraid that I was the one who was an asshole in this relationship. I was the one who made empty promises, flip-flopped, kept things hanging, and ultimately disappeared without explanation. I did the whole "It's not you, it's me" thing and "I need to figure out what I want and be alone for awhile" thing.

I don't know if I was involved with the wrong house, or if I'm just not into houses period, but for now I'm back to the status quo of housemates, and shared spaces and communal meals, and somehow that seems like a sad defeat. But my stomachache is gone, and I feel free.