Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Amani

Lately several of my sentences begin with "After we get vaccinated..."

Of course this time in our lives has been unlike any other with few guidelines and little direction.  We have had to improvise as we went along. 


A New Finish


But life does not stop for a vaccine. It happens while we wait for other things.

Such is this quilt.

"After I complete the RSC2020 quilts, I will start the Carnavale quilt", I thought. But then life happened. Literally. Nancy's baby boy is due any minute. Therefore the RSC projects were set aside and a rapid baby boy quilt was made.


Starter Dough?


The leftovers from Kinda Brave became the starters for this quilt.  Reminds me of this comment from Astrid on the Rainy Day Tulips Quilt.


"Quilting is like starter dough; ya gotta keep some inspiration and leavening from the last batch in order to start the next one.


Blocks in the works


All block centers done


The blocks finish at about 10" making this a rapid quilt. Although 16 blocks would have been plenty, after all was said and done there were 20 blocks.  So I made a slightly larger quilt.


On the Design Wall


Sparkle Background



Binding



A Robot!!!



Walking Foot Quilting



Butterflies & Owl



The backing is pieced and all fabric was very "locally sourced" from my stash :-D

Pieced Backing


Labelled



Soothing Blues


Tall Giraffe, Stout Elephant


Completed & Gifted


A few more pictures.


Animal theme


Happy Sharks


Go on now - keep the baby warm


Make the Baby Smile


Amani finished at about 40" by 49" and was gifted to a very pregnant mom-to-be. Amani means peace in Swahili (Nancy's mother tongue). 

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Eventually, I did count the number of Framed Jewel Blocks.  I thought I had made (somewhat) equal number of light and dark blocks (for a checkered layout). But I was mistaken. I had way more light blocks than dark blocks.

Framed Jewel Blocks


A checkered layout idea was abandoned. I was trying to wrap up this party not invite three rowdy friends. I decided to go with the dark border layout more conducive to the blocks on hand. 


Preferred Layout and Piecing Approach


Since my desires exceed the dimensions of the design wall, the flimsy will be pieced in four sections.


Quadrant A


A closer look

These blocks were quick and easy to make but the flimsy will take that much longer to piece.  Slowly but surely this will come together.  Of course I will keep you posted and will share with Angela's RSC Linky Party.

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In non-quilty adventures, I tried making focaccia bread and succeeded. I made bread and breadcrumbs AT THE SAME TIME!!!


Attempt


Yes, this is exactly what happens when you do not oil the pan before placing the dough.  The second batch of focaccia bread (topped with balsamic onions and mushrooms) was glorious in both appearance and taste :-)


Success

What yumminess have you experienced lately?  Was it in the kitchen, the studio or outdoors?  I'd love to hear from you. I will be sharing with Angela's RSC Linky and all my favorite linky parties. See full list on the sidebar.



37 comments:

  1. That is a fun, quick idea for a quilt! Oh, that focaccia looks delicious. My latest yummy has been homemade granola, which is a favorite here.

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  2. Oh, little baby boy is going to sleep well under that beautiful quilt!

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  3. I love the simple way you quilted that with zigzags. The second quilt too - so easy to put together - hope you are doing well and yes - I talk of waiting for the vaccine and "after" the vaccine all we can do again

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  4. Such a lovely quilt for a little bub. As quilters, it's so wonderful when friends or relatives are pregnant as we have an excuse to make more quilts.
    It's coming into summer here now, so yumminess around here comes in the shape of mangoes, cherries and peaches. I bought a box of mangoes the other day and I think I've eaten half of them all by myself!

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  5. There's no better excuse to make a quilt than a baby, especially when it's chilly. I'm sure this will be loved! I love the Framed Jewels, too. After the vaccine, let's plan a trip to Mook's, okay? :)

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  6. Amani is beautiful. Such a fresh and bright and cozy quilt for a new baby boy. Love that backing fabric. Also love the jewel blocks. After the vaccine, I'm making a trip to D.C to visit you :-)

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  7. Beautiful baby boy quilt. Larger baby quilts can be used longer! I am absolutely loving your framed jewel blocks quilt, Preeti! So scrappy! Makes my heart sing 🎵! Last week, I made New England Whoopi Pies! I think I ate most of them, too. And yesterday, applesauce oatmeal muffins.

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  8. The zoo animal fabric for the backing is fabulous! I love both quilts. I love how you mix in such fun prints in all your scrappiness. They're scrappy happy. :)

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  9. I really love your blog posts. What a quick and lovely boy quilt. You are hilarious as well as talented. I am still reveling in the gluten-free stuffing that I made for Thanksgiving. I didn't think it would be that good and it's probably the best I've ever made. This week I'm itching to make my pumpkin Chocolate chip cake that is a family favorite. Ahhh...to start a diet is so difficult!!! Hope you and your family are well and that you have a lovely December celebrating whatever holiday you choose.

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  10. Paul was quiet this week. What's up with that?! It looks like you have a good plan in place for your RSC quilt, Preeti. Lucky, Baby! His quilt turned out SEW cute!!

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  11. Hi Preeti! Well, there's a quilt that going to bring a lot of love and happiness to a new mom-to-be and a sweet baby boy. That size is just the perfect size for tucking in around the crib mattress, I have on good authority. I love the quilting stitch you chose. I never think to do that and I ask myself why not. {{Hugs}} That bread looks delicious. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  12. What a great idea to increase the size of a quilt. Well done.

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  13. Beautiful quilt front and back Preeti and a beautiful gift.
    Your Framed Jewel blocks look wonderful too.
    As Anorina said, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, cherries, grapes are all coming into season here and are so good to eat, fresh or with ice cream or cream or both! It is also BBQ season, so steak and salad is very popular here, with the occasional change to scallops and prawns for hubby.

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  14. Love the baby quilt! And so great to see the sparkle in your detail shots. What a fun highlight. I also adore the animals on the backing fabric. So cute :)

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  15. Pattern coming for "Amani" or do we figure it out on our own and give you credit? I absolutely love it. Would be easy to enlarge for "adult" sizes :-) Love you

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  16. What a great baby quilt design! Quick and easy, yet so fun and interesting. I love your Framed Jewel blocks in this layout, too. :)

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  17. A beautiful quilt, simple and so lovely!

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  18. I love your baby quilt and your Christmas quilt inspired me to re-evaluate my Christmas stash! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  19. Love Amani! It shows what you can do with just a bunch of scraps and some background fabric. Very well done. Baby will be dragging this around for years. (I’m assuming you want it to be well used!.) and you’ve got a good start on your next quilt. I know bread baking was a thing this year but, um, I skipped it. Cookies occasionally yes....but no bread. What's up next? Always happy to see what you are working on.

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  20. That's a beautiful baby boy quilt and a lovely gift for your friend! I love that it came from the scraps from another quilt - the quote about some quilts being starter dough for the next one is so true. And these blocks are the perfect idea for using up scraps to make something beautiful!

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  21. Love the finished quilt, the quilt in progress and the focaccia. I just had some cookies that I made for tomorrow's hop (and now am catching up on all I missed getting ready for it!).

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  22. So much quilty goodness here! Amani turned out beautifully, and I’m sure Nancy will be saying “Asante sana” to you (thank you very much in Swahili) when you give it to her! And I love your scrappy Happy blocks layout! so versatile and striking! xo

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  23. A darling baby quilt and just in time. Perfect. I noticed your binder clips and keep intending to try them.
    Focaccia bread in an iron skillet? Sounds like I could do that and looks delicious.

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  24. I love both your quilts! I keep been sewing scraps into narrow strips like your baby boy quilt, and wondering what to do with them. Now I know!

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  25. I love your baby quilt! Simple and beautiful!

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  26. What a fun quilt for a baby boy! Love the layout for the framed jewel blocks. I'm such a fan of making a pattern work with local resources. Looking at all that focaccia has made me hungry. We are all working on Thanksgiving leftovers here, turkey pot pie and ham and beans. So tasty!

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  27. What a cute quilt for Nancy's baby!!! I love the "starter dough" thought applied to quilting!

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  28. Hooo, pretty blue and white quilt, and the backing is so cute! Lovely and sweet quilt! And I love love love your Framed Jewel!!
    I'm hosting a special link party this week, feel free to share all of your 2020 quilts!

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  29. Lovely Finish! and love where your RSC project is going...

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  30. What a beautiful baby quilt! I got a kick out of "Locally sourced" which is such a "buzz word" and funny when used in the stash context LOL

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  31. Sweet baby quilt! And I especially like how those happy little Framed Jewels.

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  32. I love Amani! A great size for a baby quilt! I like where you’re going with Framed Jewel Boxes! It will be amazing!

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  33. Locally sourced fabric! I love it! Great baby quilt, and framed jewel boxes, too!

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  34. gorgeous, as always, Preeti. You are such a neat, precise quilter which I really admire (since I am, uh, not that.) Also, you have such cool low-volumes for your jewel box. Such a lovely setting to make those jewels really glow! I have been feeling a little suspended by the present times - haven't been much inspired to quilt, too much waiting around for the other shoe to drop. Maybe the way to get started is just to start something.... hm.

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  35. Amani is such a sweet quilt. Love all the surprise animals that came to play! As for the block party that you threw? What a huge success! The "frame" was a brilliant idea and is going to look fantastic. I'd love a piece of your focaccia bread. I've wanted to try making it, maybe one day. My kitchen success was a delicious turkey soup from the leftover Thanksgiving turkey. I also made some delicious breakfast tacos using crispy taco shells. These shells are amazing and here's the recipe: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/baked-crispy-shrimp-tacos/ . The whole recipe is delicious too!

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  36. Well I read this post in my inbox, and forgot to comment! Love the sweet baby boy quilt! Love the name Amani, too. I enjoyed seeing the process of the RSC quilt coming into being too. Vaccines are in the air as I type. We have deals with no less than 7 companies, and this Pfizer one is the first. It will be at least 6+ months before the likes of me get the vaccine, but it is wise and right how they are rolling it out here. I know that wisdom and rightness will be in your country in the very near future! ;-)

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  37. Congrats on a very fun baby quilt and on making the deadline to gift it. The Framed Jewel blocks are going to make a fun quilt. Happy stitching this next week.

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