The Reveal!

Here is my new 12x12 piece. It's called "Obviously Chocolate."




You can read more about it here. But more importantly, you can see all the other 12x12 chocolate quilts.



I'm working on developing a workshop using the techniques for the quilt. I think it will be called "Layered Fabric Grid Collage."



I thought about adding some beads to this quilt... but it seemed just fine as is. I like that it's flat and simple -- even though it incorporates tons of layers and textures.

I bought myself a little gift.

I always enjoy browsing around Etsy -- a wonderful online marketplace for hand made goods. I found this wonderful assemblage and I couldn't resist.
It's a tiny house on legs with some real roots inside. It's by Courtney P. You can see other goodies in her Etsy shop here. She has a blog too.

Even the back is charming. I just love those new flower stamps. I should buy a book just to use for artwork. Very inspiring. It's got all my favorite elements: house, plants, text, map, leaves!
Of course it's the perfect companion to Kristin's piece that I bought through the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. It was titled Rooted. There is something about a house with roots that is so meaningful and interesting.

Dinner Time

I tried a new recipe last week! We don't always have the opportunity to actually sit at the table and eat a real meal all together. Maybe three times a week, if we're lucky... so it's nice to plan ahead and try to make something tasty.

I flipped through Rachel Ray's 365: No Repeats thirty minute meals cookbook and picked out three new recipes to try. I added the necessary ingredients to the shopping list and tried the first on Saturday evening.

Can it really be done in 30 minutes? Let's see.

I started at 5:39 p.m.
The recipe was "Fruited Chicken Curry in a Hurry." Here you see the rice is doing its thing. And I've chopped the chicken. Raw meat... not so photogenic, sorry.

Rachel doesn't really include the chopping time in the recipe. I guess she expects you do to that ahead of time. (???)

While the chicken was browning, I chopped the apple and onion. Here you see the chicken removed from the pan and the apple and onion cooking. Garlic, cardamon and ginger waiting to be added. No measuring... just estimation.

While the apples and onions were cooking, I prepared the toppings. Chopped green onions, mango chutney and toasted coconut. I had to keep a super close-eye on the browning coconut. Toasted almonds waiting to go in that fourth bowl.

Fruity sauce all mixed up -- with curry paste mixed in. Add the chicken back to the pot. Toss in some dates and raisins. (I kept a few pieces of chicken back for the kids. They are not very adventurous eaters, so if it's covered in sauce, it might not get eaten.)

Set the table while the curry is simmering.
I wish I had a mold to make the rice into one of those cool Thai rice pyramids. But, this will do.

Clearly I'm not a food stylist and I'm not sure this looks like any thing special. But, I thought it was super tasty! Some toasty naan or even a little salad would have been good, but the "thirty minutes" doesn't allow time for that.

The kids gobbled up the rice and ate the plain chicken dipped in toasted coconut. I gave them a little big of sauce for dipping, but that got a big "thumbs down." Jeff doesn't like coconut and passed on the chopped onions, so I was the only one who really used the toppings.

How long did it take?

Yep, 45 minutes. Not bad really. I was able to clean up the kitchen as I went along and we have a bit of left-overs that I will probably have for lunch today.

Yum!

As requested, here is my granola recipe. By the way, there are tons of granola recipes in blogdom... feel free to do a search. Apparently January is granola making season. This is my mom's recipe, but I'm not so much for measuring and I thought I might like more than the recipe actually makes, so I made lots of changes on the fly. Mostly I added a bit more of everything and it turned out fine.


Preheat oven to 325. Heat the following in a sauce pan or in the microwave:



3/4 c canola oil

1/2 c honey

1/4 c light brown sugar

1/4 c maple syrup (use 1/2 c brown sugar if you don't have syrup) Why would you not have syrup?

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

1 t vanilla



Mom says to combine the following in a large bowl, then pour it all into two 9x13 pans. I combined it all in my big non-stick roasting pan and put that straight in the oven. Anyway, use whatever large containers you have.



1 box old fashioned oats (about 4 1/2 cups) Not the quick cooking kind.

1 1/2 c coconut I used the whole bag.

1/2 c sesame seeds I had a hard time finding these, but I tracked down a huge bag in the Indian food aisle.



Pour the sticky heated mix over the oats, coconut and sesame seeds. Mix mix mix. Bake for 15 minutes taking it out once to mix it all up again.



Mix in 1 1/2 c sliced almonds (or slivered, or chopped, or even whole!) and 1 c pecans. I used way more pecans. I love pecans. Bake another 5 minutes.



Mix in 1 c raisins, 1 c dried cranberries and any other fruit or goodies you desire. Bake 5 more minutes.



After baking, let cool, stirring every few minutes to break up the sticky nuggets. Or maybe you want nuggets. Whatever. After it's totally cool transfer to zip loc bags or jars or -- again, whatever you have. It freezes well and tastes divine over yogurt. And it's filling -- after all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Visual Journal: Thirty Eight

Sunday was my thirty-eighth birthday. We had a great day.

I started the day with yogurt with home-made granola and fresh coffee in the beautiful mug that Sarah gave me for my birthday last year. I made the granola the night before using my mom's most excellent recipe. It's so quick and easy and it makes so much! Plus, it's delicious!

The kids (and Jeff) gave me presents before we left for church -- so I could put them on right away!

Beautiful swirly, silver pendant, earrings and bracelet! (Not a great picture... but you get the idea.)

It was cold yesterday -- and all week, in fact. Here is the fountain at church covered in ice. Quite lovely, actually.

We had a great Sunday School class. I "teach" the kindergartners and first graders. We are "studying" what Jesus' life might have been like when he was a child. We made scrolls this week.

After church, we went to Corner Bakery for lunch. Delish. I really love Corner Bakery. I used to be a big fan of Panera, but Corner Bakery is so much better. I had the Chicken Pomodori and the Creamy Zesty Corn Chowder. Jeff ate that pickle. Yuck. I don't like pickles.

The kids had a scrambler sandwich with bacon. Mmmmmm bacon.

Earlier in the week, I had been trying to think of a fun activity that we could all do together on my birthday. Something different. Something that would be fun for both the kids and the adults. Something inside -- it's cold, remember?

I came up with the idea of painting coffee mugs. I love the idea of having a set of coffee mugs that all "match" made by each of us.

Here is Benjamin at work. Gosh, he's so cute, isn't he?

And here are Jeff and Claire at work. Very serious, but also super cute!

It was fun... relaxed, creative, togetherness.

And the fun does not end there...

Then we went to a hibachi-style restaurant for dinner. Yum. And really, I never get tired of seeing a guy make a volcano out of an onion.

Gosh... those kids are getting too big to be sitting on our laps.

Claire loves sushi. Very serious with the chopsticks here.

And a little scoop of ice cream along with the traditional singing of "Happy Birthday!"

But that's not enough ice cream for this family!

We stopped by Marble Slab Creamery on the way home. We all took a few bites, but most of these delicious concoctions went into the freezer at home to enjoy later.

We all watched the finale of The Amazing Race and dreamed about taking a family vacation to Alaska.

And then I curled up at the end of the day with the book I'm reading and felt richly blessed by my family and our life together.

Thirty eight is all good.

Etsy Dallas Logo

Books!

Lots of major book awards were announced on Monday. We, here at the Boschert House, are thrilled that Brian Selznick was awarded the Caldecott Medal for his brilliant book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret!

The Caledecott is the award for best illustrations. We are especially excited because Brian is coming to the Dallas Museum of Art in June and we already have tickets! Yippee! I hope the event sells out, now that he is an award winner! This choice is considered quite unconventional since the book is 550 pages -- including more than 300 pages of stunning pencil drawings. Generally, the Caldecott is awarded to "picture books," the kind of wonderful publications that are generally read to young children (but adults also love!). I read Hugo Cabret to Claire and Benjamin and we all adored it. It's a brilliant combination of mystery, treasure hunt, cinema, comic book and adventure.

I just discovered that The Invention of Hugo Cabret has its own website! How cool is that?

Now that I've gushed about the book, get ready for some snark.

Brian Selznick was "interviewed" by Ann Curry on the Today Show yesterday. (Also being interviewed is Laura Amy Schlitz winner of the Newberry Medal for Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village.) You may watch the clip here. (First you'll have to watch an annoying commercial. I'm sorry.) Ok, did you watch the clip? Is it just me, or is Ann Curry simply awful?! She drives me bananas.

She said Ms. Schlitz's name wrong -- twice. She constantly interrupted the guests. She asked obvious, uninsightful questions. Her enthusiasm is too sickly sweet and unnatural. And worst... she said to Brian, "You actually DREW these pictures?!" Um... yes! It's an award for illustrations!

Ok.

We're also excited because Mo Willems was awarded a Caldecott Honor Medal for Knuffle Bunny Too.

We adore the original Knuffle Bunny and all of Mo's pigeon books. And guess what?! Mo is also coming to the Dallas Museum of Art and we have tickets for his event too. Seriously, I am so excited and thrilled. (I was excited and thrilled even before they were winners. ) I think I'm a bit of a book dork. And I intend to raise my kids to be book dorks too.

I just discovered that Mo has a blog. And please note that Mo was also awarded the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for his book There is a Bird on Your Head. The Geisel Award is for books written for beginning readers. Double Hooray for Mo! And since we have a "beginning reader" here at our house, we'll add this to our library list.

The other 2008 Caldecott Honor Books are also on my library list. We're going right after school today! Add them to your list too. Even if you don't have kids -- they are quite inspiring and fun! Who doesn't love fun and inspiration?

Now What?

I've had an amazingly productive week in the studio. (Leaving the laundry, vacuuming and general home and family maintenance in shambles.) I've been working on the green and purple piece. The one that I have posted glimpses of. It's almost done. I also finished my chocolate 12x12 piece. And I've pulled out a few small in-progress pieces that need completion.

What do you think? I am pleased with the charming little compositions. (They are just about 5 inches square.)
And the hand embroidery is delicte and fun. But now what? I want to add something more. Embellishments? What kind? Maybe I'd like to add some text. Or words? But I don't want to be predictable. The abstract piece just calls for something in those teal squares. I have tons of flat, rusty bottle caps... but that doesn't seem right. Or are they done just the way they are?

Next

Thanks for all your enthusiastic comments on my artwork being published. It is very exciting.

I am beginning to feel ready to explore lots of other exciting possibilities in the upcoming year. Jeez, could that be any less definitive or confident? "beginning to feel ready?" Everyone keeps telling me to just move forward, but I'm dragging my feet and I have a thousand excuses.

Move forward with what... doing more lectures, teaching some workshops, submitting queries for real magazine articles, self-publishing more books, entering more shows, etc.

It all takes time, of course.

I am working on a new quilt with plans to enter Tactile Architecture. You saw a glimpse in my last post. Here are a few more details.
Actually, it's almost done. I had a wonderful opportunity to meet with some other artists on Tuesday and I asked for advice on this piece. I really wanted it to be done. "Please tell me it doesn't really need more free motion quilting. It's all fused, so it's not too pouchy. Right?!" They said, "Ah, no. It needs more quilting." They were right and after lots of suggestions for motifs and placement, I was able to dive right in and enjoy every minute.

I think the quilting may still be a bit too subtle. I'll look at it on the design wall for a bit. And then decide. Next I'll do some more hand embroidery and then the binding. Probably a fused binding with some embroidery edge detail.

Long time blog readers are not surprised by the color palette. Behold the green and the purple!

Did you see me?!

I'm in a couple of magazines -- "on newstands now!" Well, not me, actually, but my artwork. Even better!

Here is my little quilt, Garden Letters, as the Exemplar in the January/February issue of Somerset Studio. I am so thrilled to be published in this inspiring magazine. What an honor.

And here is the lovely little write-up they did about the quilt and my process. The theme for this issue is "green," and I created the quilt specifically in the hopes that I might be chosen for this regular feature. (You can see another picture and read about how I made it here.)

In fact, it's the second time I've been featured as the Exemplar. You can read about the other time here.

When the editor notified me that I'd be in Somerset Studio, she suggested I submit some work for Altered Couture and Belle Armoire. Well, I'd be glad too!

I fused up a collection of casual springy clothes and sent them off. Here is my denim skirt and matching pouch in the January/February issue of Belle Armoire.

There are still some more pieces which will be published in the upcoming issue of Altered Couture. I'll keep you posted when it arrives!

And then there was this! Many of you recognized my smiling face in this ad in the new issue of Cloth Paper Scissors. Apparently, I was pretty excited about that white pen.
This was taken during a workshop led by Traci Bautista at Make It University in Houston. I really was having that much fun.

New

Our house is so quiet this morning. All the wonderful house guests have returned to their own homes. The kids went back to school. We had a fantastic holiday season -- full of fun, food, celebrations, laughter and relaxation. I'm feeling full of potential and excitement for the new year.

The first bit of art for 2008 is underway. Here is a peek.

The purple fabric was a Christmas gift from Sarah -- it's hand dyed right in her own basement! You can read more about the gifts she bestowed upon the Frayed Edges here. Really, everything was just lovely! Especially the charming hand-painted bottle -- mine is the purple one (of course).