Quilting and cooking

Here's what I cooked yesterday, to welcome back the wanderer! 

Moroccan chicken from the Good Food pressure cooker cook book. (You can just see it in the background)  I did it in my electric pressure cooker, which I love and is one of the most used kitchen gadgets. 

I also made this in my food processor, another much used kitchen gadget!

A blackberry and clotted cream shortcake! I spotted the recipe on Facebook and shared it with Adrian who said 'yes please!' It's a BBC Good Food recipe and you can find it here. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2857/blackberry-and-clotted-cream-shortcake-

Both were delicious! 

And here's some better photos of Simon's I spy quilt. The idea is to have lots of fun print and then play I spy with all the pictures. I made mine a snap and I spy quilt so I had two squares of every fabric, so we can play matching and spotting! I used a disappearing 9 patch pattern. I backed it with fleece.

Here's the finished quilt draped over the sofa.

Here's some close ups.

I quilted either side of the seams.

Here's the back.

I even put one of my labels on it!

I'm really thrilled with how it turned out. And of course I have two more quilts in the planning stage!

Finding affirmation

Oh my goodness, what a day Monday turned out to be! I had my second puncture in a week and had to be 'recovered' with the little guy, by a big lorry! Simon got to ride in his car seat up front and enjoyed it, making 'brmmm, brmmm' noises as we went. 

We also had swimming lessons and a picnic with an old friend. Chatting with her helped banish some more crappy mummy myths, as did a lovely email from my daughter in law. The tribe of mummy and the tribe of artist are filled with self doubters, and we need to be kind, extend a hand, share an encouragement and help each other.

And what about creativity?

Well, I did do four more lines of quilting while Simon had a pre-swimming nap, and I made barbecue sauce for the left over pulled pork. I used ketchup, American mustard, brown sugar, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. I mixed in the pork and microwaved it. Yummy!

Now, I still have some creativity left over from the weekend to tell you about. I've been reading a book called Messy Canvas by Mandy Steward. You can find her website here http://www.mandysteward.com/ 

Her book 'Thrashing around with God' has sparked some thought and conversations over the past few weeks in our house, and actually led to me looking for the creativity in my own life. She was told, as a young mum of four, that art would have to take a back burner for a season. And she wasn't willing to accept that!

Anyway, after reading 'Thrashing about with God',  I read Messy Canvas and a couple of quotes really struck me as they are EXACTLY what I've been thinking. So I copied them into a notebook. (I was going to say my notebook, but I always have several notebooks which I am writing stuff in or drawing in)

Here's the first...about artists.

And here's the other one, which is about claiming the title of artist.

It's harder to read so here's what it says.

'They'll be expecting me to draw or paint or take pictures of their family and possibly dance...they won't understand it's my very life. My tools are all around me. Sometimes I paint with food. Sometimes I make music with laughter. Sometimes I write with hugs and touches and trips into nature. Sometimes I dance with sunsets and fireflies, sipping a glass of wine with the husband of my youth. My art is my life and I am always creating it.'

That's it! That is jolly well it! What I am trying to do and be and feel! I am an artist here and now, with what I have and what I can do, with my levels of time, energy, skill, finances and imagination. Would I like to be like Tracey Emin and have a studio and just do artist stuff all the time? Maybe, but there's already one of her and the world also needs one of me, with my creativity, influenced by my life, my faith, my circumstances, my experiences, my emotions. 

If you want to read Messy Canvas for yourself it's available for free in Mandy's shop here http://www.mandysteward.com/shop/?category=eBooks

Whatever you are doing today, enjoy it and revel in your creativity!

Quilted Piece finished at last.

I made several images recently using heat transfer printing and have been working on adding to some of them. I used leaves as a masque on this print, and combined 2 colours, a sage green and a dull brown. I then quilted round using 1 strand of stranded cotton. I added beads and a border and backing of curtain fabric. I also added 2 leaves that I made using water soluble fabric and machine embroidery.
It reminds me a little of a 1950's bedspread because of the quilting and fabric. I really like the colours too .