At the Table :: 2024 Rainy Day Bites September to December

Today marks two years that I've been participating with Rainy Day Bites Cookbook Club hosted by Deborah Balint @rainydaybites, and I'm looking forward to another year as we head into 2025. Besides the great community, I've gotten to try SO many foods I might not have tried otherwise, and though sometimes challenging, it's (almost) always been fun. So here's a round-up of all the recipes made with the club over the last four months.

Note that I linked to each IG post, in case you wanted to read what I wrote about each recipe.


September

Featured book: Tasting History: Explore the Past Through 4,000 Years of Recipes by @tastinghistorywithmaxmiller

Topic: Food history and recipe origins.

onion soup with milk

Gajeyuk (pork loin with ginger, garlic, and scallion)

October

Featured book: Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook by @sohlae. 

Topic: Learning to cook and/or new methods for all levels of cooks.

turmeric potatoes with a whole lotta lemon

blistered carrots with carrot top salsa verde

November

Featured book: Comfort by @ottolenghi 

Topic: Food and emotions.

Dutch baby with oven-roasted tomatoes

crispy roasted potatoes with rosemary and za'atar

December

Featured book: Even More Basics to Brilliance by @donna.hay. 

Topic: creating multiple recipes from one basic recipe to reinvent leftovers and reduce waste.

caramelized onion pasta

butternut squash and sage ravioli with caramelized lemon butter

September and October baking: The Sweet Polish Kitchen by @renbehan

yeasted buns with sweet cheese and fruit

sour cream almond apple cake

PLACKI, or potato pancakes with cream and sugar

wild blueberry and almond babka loaf

November and December baking: Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas by Anja Dunk

cheese poppy seed rolls

hazelnut and lemon hearts and almonds and marzipan crescents

Flammkuchen

Onion plait

Our last day of the month global baking party selections (any recipe from any cookbook):

September | Austria: Linzer torte 

October | Mexico: Pan de Muerto from Treasures of the Mexican Table by Pat Jinich @patijinich

November | Sweden: Cardamom Buns from Scandinavian from Scratch: A Love Letter to the Baking of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden by Nichole Accettola

December | England: Trifle from Joy of Cooking by Rombauer, Becker, & Becker

Well that's it for now! I know I'm not really a food photographer, but anything look especially tasty?

2024 Fabric Usage

Guess what?! I didn't bring in an inch of new fabric into the studio this month save a scrap I picked off the free table at the guild holiday party. A very irregular shape, I figure it's about .19 of a yard. Does that even count? ;-)

In good faith, I say yes. 

Overall it was a very good fabric usage month, with the Merry Mix quilt (+ back and binding prepped), several small gifts, and some general recycling. I already have plans for some January intake, as I need to refresh some solids, check out some options for the new Pantone COTY + stash some new Kona Nocture, and get going on the Effervescence quilt along, for which I expect to purchase the majority of the fabric needed. So brace yourselves. Meanwhile, let's see how December looked.

December Fabric Usage

Used up: 16.96 yards [12.87 projects + 4.09 recycled/donated]
Brought in: .19 yards
Net: -16.77 yards


And I might as well glance at the year-end totals....

2024 Fabric Usage Totals
2024 Used up: 177.107 yards [vs. 178.22 yards in 2023]

2024 Brought in: 105.7 yards [vs. 92.275 in 2023]  

2024 Net: -71.407 yards [vs. -85.945 yards in 2023]


Again, I brought in more that I would have expected, as I was pretty thoughtful about purchases all year. But looking back, there were only three months when more than a few yards (or 0) came in, and they were 1-use of a generous gift card I received as a thank you for creating the liturgy tryptch (25 yards!), 2-a solids restock + necessary fabrics for BSC & BOM (17 yards), 3-fabric for Christmas (gift bags etc.) & the Merry Mix quilt along (19 yards). That all equals 61 yards, or nearly 60% of the year's total. Whatever, I'm grateful to be able to use and refresh my stash throughout the year, without a doubt. Here's to a new creative year in 2025.

Oh Christmas Tree Advent Finale

Just a couple of days late, I finished up my Oh Christmas Tree panel from Stitchdoodles! I managed all the trees pretty much on schedule, but once December 25 hit, I was just focused on other things. When I did get around to it, I almost took out the MERRY, as I wasn't 100% happy with it; but for now, I'm calling it done.

This sampler was a joy to stitch throughout Advent, and I'd consider doing another next year. I used a combo of threads - perle 8, embroidery floss, and Aurifil 12wt - mostly following the hostess, but sometimes doing my own thing too - like the addition of the aqua. Not quite sure what this piece will become quite yet, but for now, I'm moving on.

Best of 2024

Cheryl/Meadow Mist Designs hosts an annual 'Best of' blog linky party, and I'm curious enough about my own stats to join in once again. Choosing to base my 'best' solely on reader views of blog posts, I'll count up from #5 to the most viewed post of 2024.

5. AQT + alphabet was created solely for fun and to try out Carolyn Friedlander's new Alphabet pattern.

4. The Cozy quilt project was popular overall, and I think folks were curious about how the The Cozy | Hemming was done.

In case you missed it, here's the complete Cozy quilt.

3. The "Like, Totally" Quilt BOM was a hit from Day 1!

2. More about the Cozy - The Cozy | Stitching.

1. And the most viewed blogpost, not a quilt but the popular Hemingway Pouch designed by Kristina @centerstreetquilts. 

Sometimes it's the little things, right? Whatever, I'm grateful for all who visit my creative home here at A Quilter's Table. Thank you!

Meanwhile, just for fun, here's also my Top Nine 2024 over on Instagram:

Top, l-r: a mini mini quilt made and gifted to me by @pennylanequilts; Side Chairs, a 2024 finish; Pineapple Upset, made in 2017 and reshared

Middle, l-r: my first block for November's #blockstudiescollective log cabin focus; Mini Plaid-ish crinkle shot; ColorScape, a 2024 finish

Bottom, l-r: Matchy-Matchy, a 2024 finish; our son's ordination in April @revkjeske; a few mini mini quilts dropped off at @freelittleartgalleryedmonds several weeks ago

So that's a wrap on the Best of 2024! 

Linking up with Meadow Mist Designs' Best of 2024 Linky Party!

Merry Christmas!

 

Dear friends.... Wishing you moments of joy this Christmas, 

a pause for rest, and whatever makes the 

season special for you.

Merry Mix Mystery Revealed

Oh, I gotta say, I really have enjoyed the Merry Mix mystery quiltalong hosted by Melanie @mellmeyer this Advent season. I prioritized it among other projects in this month's sewing time, which meant I may not have progressed on other projects as much as I might have. But it was totally worth it, and I'm excited to get my Merry Mix quilt finished in the next few weeks.

All my blocks went up on the design wall in no particular order as I made them. Unknown to me when I took the photo below, there are also eight squares of solid fabric that will be added for the final layout, making a total of 99 blocks for the lap version.

Meanwhile, before the final layout was revealed, I couldn't resist moving blocks around for a quasi-layout, without putting too much thought (or effort) into it. Even that looked promising.

But finally, the official layout was revealed, and I really love it! Unfortunately, the blocks won't all fit on my design wall in the correct portrait orientation, but I was able to arrange them all as if the quilt was on its side, with the top to the right. SO, not 100% what the quilt will look like, but you get the idea. 

It'll be after Christmas before the blocks all get sewn together, but I'm looking forward to having that done, and the quilt in use (hopefully) before the season is totally over. We'll see!

Bee Sewcial Round-Up 2024

Bee Sewcial wrapped up it's 10th year together this week with a holiday Zoom call, as we are spread around the US and Canada. With no prompt scheduled for December, we're anxious to start in on a new year of improv making, just maybe with a new face or two. Meanwhile, several of you have asked for a little round-up of this year's prompts and the blocks I've made, so I'm glad to take a look back with you.

January: Ringette for M-R @quiltmatters

An ice sport invented in Canada, M-R's prompt was my intro to Ringette, but what a fun one. My blocks were inspired by 1 - the goal net; and 2 - the sticks the players use, along with a 'pile' of extra rings.

February: Grids for Jen @jenbroemel

These blocks for Jen were great fun! Creating improvisationally - yet with a tentative vision - in an engaging palette - was the most fun I'd had in the studio in ages.

 

March: Tumble for Stephanie @spontaneousthreads

One section in each block could be improv pieced, so I pieced the tumbler in one block, and one of the sides in the other. Also, Stephanie likes a mix of substrates, and I was able to include shot cotton, linen-cotton blends, and textured cotton, in addition to quilter's cotton.

May: Folk Art Cats for Felicity @felicityquilts

The cats were supposed to be primarily black or grey, with a scrappy background in bright, cheerful colors. For both blocks, I planned the kitties out first, then focused on the background. I found these a bit challenging.

June: Summer Lovin' for Marci @marci_girl
Continuing in her series of season-inspired prompts, I started off thinking about roasting marshmallows for s'mores...

and my second block was my improv take on a BBQ grill. Fun!

July: Minimal Shapes for me

Here are my sample blocks for my prompt, more minimal-leaning than some. As for a palette, I asked for something similar to a purple and orange collage by Liz Roache - ie. orange, purple, brown, and gray. 

September: whisper wind sky for Leanne @shecanquilt

Leanne asked for improv blocks using fabric “crumbs” - no piece larger than 2” on a side. That's not something I keep around, so I had to make some! Both blocks were created ruler-free, and evoke impressions for skies we often see where we live.

October: Kelp for Karen @capitolaquilter

Karen provided a link to Monterey Bay Aquarium as a source for ideas, and asked for a palette similar to her previous prompt of Jellyfish.

November: Spicy Glyphs for Irene @hixsonir

For our last prompt of the year, Irene gave us 8 unique figures to recreate in warm, spicy colors. I really, really enjoyed making these.

So that's it for this year! Looking forward to what next year holds!