spring quilts

I am keeping busy and managed to finished another quilt last night. Our weather is like a roller coaster, rain one day, sun another.  That gives me time to work on my crafts ;)

Dalsi dokoncena deka. Pocasi jak na houpacce, jeden den prsi, druhy den slunicko ale celkove zatim opravdu nic moc. Takze je stale cas na tvoreni :)

© Monika Opatril 2014

new quilt 2

Last night I finished my baby/toddler quilt. It was such a joy to work on it this past week and even though I was trill when it was done a was a bit sad too. Sometimes I  get attached to  the pieces I work on and it feels like finishing a good book. You just want to keep on reading ;)  Today, my head is full of ideas for the next one........

Vcera vnoci jsem dokoncila detskou deku. Byl to super projekt a kdyz jsem  byla hotova, bylo  mi to skoro lito. Neco jako kdyz doctete dobrou knizku a chteli byste cist dal a dal.....

 Choosing the pattern, practicing and making sure the tread tension is right is part of the process.

Vybirani vzorku, cvicne siti a sestelovani stroje, to je vse soucast tohoto procesu.

All done,  not perfect, but that is part of what makes handmade project "hand made". 

Prositi je dokoncene, ne uplne stoprocentni ale to je soucast "rucni vyroby"

I chose this fabric for the binding.  My daughter didn't like it, she advised me to use shade of pink, but I followed my feeling. She calls it "candy cane" and at the end she loves it too.

Na olemovani jsem zvolila tuto latku i kdyz dcera doporucovala nejaky odstin ruzove. Nasledovala jsem mou intuici a i ji se nakonec finalni "vyrobek" libil i kdyz rika ze to vypada jako "candy cane"




One side stitched on by the machine,
Jedna strana strojem....

the other one by hand.  The last few stitches, shortly after midnight and......
druha rucne. A tohle jsou uz posledni stehy.....

 tada!
a je hotovo!

 And because as usual I have more things going on at once, I also completed the crochet baby blanket for my daughter ❣

A protoze, jako vzdy, mam rozdelane ruzne projekty, dokoncila jsem pred par dny i tuto baby hackovanou deku pro dceru ❣

new quilt

Working on a new quilt last few days. A little preview.....
Poslednich par dnu pracuji na nove dece. Tady je mala "ochutnavka"..... 

not so Lazy Days :0)

More snow and rain kept us inside, so I was working on  projects that needed to be done, which is great. I crocheted this little cotton basket.

Stale je "nasnezeno" a tak se drzime vic doma a ja mam alespon cas na me resty.  Konecne jsem si uhackovala bavlnenou misku.

Refinished this table. Actually it was a pair and they already sold.
Zrenovovala tenhle stolek. Tedy vlastne dva ( byl to par) a uz jsou prodane.

Also I just finished and listed this wooden settee yesterday. Update: The bench is sold :)
Vcera jsem dodelala tuhle lavici a dnes prodala :)

I started working on this baby blanket. This is the color theme my daughter is going for in the nursery this time . It is fun to crochet, I am making it from three strands of yarn, so it is (will be) very chunky and cozy :)

Take jsem zacala hackovat deku pro mimco v barvach, v kterych Tereza tentokrat dekoruje baby pokoj. Pouzila jsem trojitou prizi, takze prace rychle pribyva a deka je (tedy bude) krasne tlusta, mekounka no zkratka "jen se zachumlat" :)

retro circles blanket

Dokoncena hackovana deka podle predlohy a navodu ktery jsem nasla na blogu
 " Three Beans in a Pod "  Musim ric, ze to byla zabava od zacatku az do konce. Zadne takove  " uz aby to bylo hotove, hackuji x-ty ctverec a nudim se " :) Takze dnes uz naposled v plne krase deka "Retro Kruhy"

For the last time.....finished "retro circles blanket" from Tree Beans in a Pod blog. It was fun from the beginning to the end, I newer felt bored making this blanket even though there are many, many many squares and they are all the same :) 

Zvolila jsem trosku jiny okraj nez je u deky podle ktere jsem hackovala.
I made a different border then there is on the original blankie.

Libi se mi tenhle maly "vzorek" ktery vznikne pri sesiti ctvercu.
 I love this little detail which emerged when I joined the squares.

 Z houbami se na zahrade roztrh pytel, toto je jen mala ochutnavka, je jich tam stovky a vselijake druhy. Par jich rozeznam jako jedle ale stejne je nezbiram, oni se o ne zvirata (jak je videt na fotkach) postaraji :))

We have tons of mushrooms in the yard, this is just a fraction. Some I recognize as edible, but I am not picking them . The animals (as you can see) like to munch on them :))

mnam
yummy

Chtela bych si vyrezat nejake drevene ozdoby a tak jsem pozadala  Neila aby me naucil zachazet z lupinkovou pilkou. Takze cvicne, od oka, ze stareho kousku dreva, vznikl tento stromek. Asi 15 cm vysoky, ktery ceka na novy nater.

I would like to make some wood cutout decorations, so I asked Neil to help me with the scroll saw.  We made this little tree, from an old piece of wood. Free hand, about 15 cm tall, that I still have to paint to make it more pretty.

 Mejte se krasne, Monika.
Take care, Monika.

Shepherd's pie

 Mame radi tento tzv. pastevcuv kolac a protoze vcera bylo venku zase pomerne chladno a toto je jidlo, alespon pro me, pro chladnejsi pocasi ( ano, na noc jsme zapalili v kamnech ohen ) pustila jsem se do vareni.

We love Shepherd's pie, and because yesterday's weather called for some kind of comfort food ( yes, we lit a fire for the night ), I put together this dish.

 Nejprve si pripravime bramborovou kasi. ( Ja kasi bezne delam na pul s kvetakem a pridam vzdy jeste do hrnce par strouzku cesneku. Po uvareni dodelam stejne jako kasi jen z brambor a verte, ze jestli to zkusite, budou se vsichni olizovat ) Dale si nakrajime mrkev, okrajime zrnicka sladke kukurice, vyloupeme hrasek ( muzeme pouzit i nakladane ) a dame na chvilku povarit.

Start with making the mash potatoes. I almost always substitute half the potatoes with cauliflower  and add few garlic cloves in the water as well.  While the potatoes and cauliflower and garlic cloves are cooking, chop carrots, corn and cook till done but firm.  You can add fresh peas too or use caned as I did.

 Nakrajeny cesnek, cibuly a porek osmazime s troskou olivoveho oleje a mletym masem. Ja jsem pouzila klobasy, ktere byly uz ochucene, kdyz pouzivate mlete maso, okorente podle vlasni chute. Kdyz je maso uvarene pridame povarenou mrkev, kukurici, hrasek, zahustete troskou tmave omacky- instantni tmave jisky?

Sauté chopped garlic, onion, leek and ground beef with a bit of olive oil. I used sausages, that were already spicy but you can use salt, pepper and other seasonings of your choice. When the meat is no longer pink add the carrots,corn and peas and add some gravy or beef broth. Mix well and spread the ground beef in an even layer on the bottom of a casserole dish. Next, spread a layer of mashed potato mixture. You could sprinkle it with cheese as well. 

 Vse dobre promichame, narovname do pekace, prikryjeme bramborovou kasi ( muzeme pridat nastrouhany syr ) a dame na 30 minut zapect do trouby.

Cook in the oven until bubbling and brown, about 30 minutes.

 Latky na quilt, pripravene do pracky.

Fabrics for the quilt, ready to be wash.

Tady uz vyzehlene a pripravene ke strihani.

Ironed and ready to be cut. 

 Tuto latku jsem vybrala na zadni stranu deky.

 I have chosen this one for the back side of the quilt.

Nemuzu se dockat az se pustim do prace, dnes se ale udelalo po delsi dobe hezky a tak jsem cely den stravila na zahrade.

I can't wait to start working on it, but the weather was really nice today so I spent the day outside gardening.