Tuesday To Do #10; Sláinte!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!


Let's see if I had any luck getting
last week's to-do's completed!

Snowflakes
Work on quilting.
I had a whole day set aside for this but with
the lightning that day, I preferred to keep the
the longarm unplugged.  Priorities.
I did get one pass done over the weekend.
One. (Lame. I know.)

Charity Baby quilts
Finish first and start on second top.
Done.


This quilt was finishing up at 36 X 36 but
I needed it to meet the minimal requirement
of 36 X 40.  I wasn't comfortable with the
low amount of the theme fabric anyway
(also a requirement) so I thought this was an
opportunity to bring it home, so to speak.
Putting the top and bottom on first allowed
me to take a step back and decide if it should
go all around or not.  Easy decision.
Way too busy with it all around.


I wish you could see this one in person
because it really is so much more cheery
 and fun than it shows in the picture.


I moved right on into my second charity quilt.
As usual, I need just that *one* more little bit
of fabric.  One more teensy pop of color.
Like not even a fat quarter.  Like if you lived
close to me, I'd probably come raid your scraps...

HSTs
Any progress.
Yeeeeah....no.

Gardening
Depending on the weather, get onions and
shallots planted and cut up seed potatoes.
Done.

I'm very impatient when it comes to these first
crops.  It is not unusual for KS to have a very wet
spring so if the garden is even close to being ready,
I push it.  In sunny and/or windy conditions, I'll turn
turn over the top lightly with the tiller in an effort to
dry out and warm what is beneath. In doing so, I'm
working (and walking on) the slightly damp soil so
I know you full-on gardeners are cringing at this.  
No it's not recommended...but I do it anyway.


I just counter my poor method with lots of compost.
With chickens and three acres, compost is aplenty!
But anyway, last week was no exception to my
unorthodox gardening shenanigans but it has been 
raining ever since--a lot--so I'm patting myself on
the back once again and kind of wondering why
I didn't toss in some lettuces for good measure.

Here's the part where I digress....
Last week I linked up a few Irish recipes, including 
the Steak and Ale Pie from Global Bakes.  I refer to
her as Tanya-Who-Made-It-To-The-Tent because
she baked in THE tent on the British Baking Show.
To me, this is like the end-all/be-all of foodie things.
And I know that I could never in a million years
do it so I respect anyone that has. 
We have put on a lot of dinners for large groups
which have given me such a respect for chefs.
The research, planning, timing...
just literally having so many plates spinning at once!
I think I would get used to it after a time and maybe
even grow to like it but, as it is, performance cooking
is not my strong point.


Now, after all that digression, I just want to share that
I finally made rough puff pastry.  Pastries seem to
scare me and I'm not sure why--well, aside from the
bajillion calories I take in while just looking at them.
But anyway, hubs made the steak and ale and,
because his baking experience is next-to-nil, I took
on the pastry.  There was plenty of dough left-over
so I cut it up into pieces and tossed them on a baking
sheet with a bit of egg wash.  In retrospect, if I'd
realized they were were going to be the most flakey,
crispy pastry items I've ever made, I would have done
something more creative but, in truth, my confidence
in my pastry skills is about...oh...50%.
Oh me of little faith.
After years of avoiding something I thought was
beyond my patience level, I write to you now feeling
pretty darned accomplished and I'm telling you all
that this one is doable!  My mind is already
reeling with all the appetizer possibilities
(I always need good ones for dinner parties)
among other things but I'll stop there.
I just wanted to follow-up on that one and
share that pastry recipe again.

And now, because this is also a
quilting/gardening/occasional-chicken blog,
I'm going to move back to the matters at hand.

It's not so bad with all of the rain keeping me
out of the garden now because I have plenty
to keep me busy inside.  The week ahead:

Snowflakes
Finish quilting.
This is a must because the baby quilts
have to be quilted asap.

Charity Baby Quilts
Finish top #2.
Even better if I can get a start on their quilting.

HST's
Who knows here?
It's not a priority so we'll see.

Gardening
Likely nothing here.  Too wet.
Even for this gardener.

Happy quilting and happy St. Patrick's Day!

Linking up to:

Comments

Your pastry looks fantastic and so do your baby tops! Have a safe and happy week!
Linda said…
Gosh that baby quilt is just gorgeous! I love the border. I love the British Baking show too! I watched it the first time when Candice Brown won, and I fell in love with Paul Hollywood. ;) I decided to keep my garden small this year because the soil is completely different here than where we lived last year, so it will be an experiment. Wish I had some of your chicken compost!
grammajudyb said…
Fun post! Loving that pinwheel quilt! So happy!
Your baby quilt top is so happy and fun! Great idea to add those strips of the feature fabric at the top and bottom. I'm impressed with your pastry making - looks yummy!
Bonnie said…
Your baby quilt is very cute. Both mom and baby are going to love it. Congrats on getting a wonderful pastry result. I used to bake by not that involved usually. Hopefully you'll get some good time with the long arm and finish some tops.
Joyful Quilter said…
Your finished baby quilt is adorable! Can't wait to see the second one finished. Do you have a pattern or are you winging it? I don't know why I don't think of star centers, they are always easy to work around.
Needled Mom said…
I always love how varied your posts are. It’s so much fun jumping from quilting to gardening to baking....a real life post!
chrisknits said…
Oh my, now my mouth is watering!!!! Good luck with your weekly list! Thanks for linking up today!
piecefulwendy said…
Impreesive - a steak and ale pie! What little scrap/pop of color do you need? I could send you some!
Kat Scribner said…
Your baby quilt is so lovely. Nice border designs and colors. Perfect.
Home Sewn By Us said…
Hi Cheree! Your HST project has inspired me to sew some triangle scraps that I normally would have tossed. Soon, I'll have my own hoard of HSTs to use up somehow. I love how your charity baby quilt turned out. It looks very cheerful and happy to me. Those pinwheels just set the tone! Wow - someone who made it to The Tent! I never thought to look up one of them to see if they had a website. I'm gonna check that out! Thanks for sharing the link and congrats to you for giving the puff pastry a try. ~smile~ Roseanne
The baby quilt is cute! I'm useless when it comes to gardening, so, do your thing as long as it works.
Happy St. Patrick's Day to you! I hope you had fun. I made Steak and Ale pie too, thanks to you sharing the recipe. My husband and daughter loved it and so did I! I did not try the rough pastry but perhaps I will now that I know it's doable. Can't believe she made it into the tent. Good for her! Love that show.

Love your baby quilts. So very bright and cheery. Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.