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"..... 

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.

Quilt

Po tydnech hackovani hledam jine rozptyleni a rozhodla jsem se ze si  usiji quilt. Hledala jsem inspiraci na webu a na tomto blogu mi padla mi do oka tahle deka......

 After weeks of crocheting, I am looking for some diversion. I think I like to make a quilt, so I started looking for some inspiration on the web. I really like this pattern, that I  first saw here.......

odtamtud jse, se dostala sem .......

 that took me here and from there.....

 a nokonec nasla podobny strih tady. Vim, ze hodne z vas se ted pustilo do vyroby patchworkovych dek a tak se mozna tento vzor bude hodit i vam. Nez jsem nasla vhodny strih, zkusila jsem si ho predkreslit.
Dalsi stranka se strihy.

I found this pattern, that I think will work. Since a lot of you are into quilting, I hope you can use it.

Before I found the suitable pattern I drawn my own.
Another quilt blocks galore here.

 Zelenina na polevku z nasi zahrady.  Porek, kadeřávek a rapikaty celer jeste stale rostou od minuleho leta, petrzelka, libecek a dalsi bylinky uz z letosni urody....nesmela chybet ani rebarbora na kolac. Jsem moc rada, ze mam moznost vybehnout ven a natrhat si co potrebuji, je to hodne prace ale vysledek se vyplati.

Greens and veggies  for soup from our garden . Leek, kale and celery still growing since last summer. Parsley, lovage and other herbs from this years crop.....also rhubarb for a pie. I really appreciate, that I can gather what I need fresh,  from the garden. It's lots of work but it's worth it.

Pomocnice Maja :)

My helper Maja  :)

 Na hore Washington je stale jeste snih ale u nas v udoli je jaro v plnem proudu.
 There is still snow on Mt. Washington, but the spring is in full swing in the valley.

Deka žinylkovou technikou - Heirloom cut chenille baby blanket

O vikendu jsen usila tuhle detskou deku.I kdyz prikladam link na blog kde jsem ji objevila, a kde najdete podrobne nafoceny postup, chtela bych vam trosku priblizit, jak jsem se stim "poprala" ja. Misto tri vrstev flanelu jsem pouzila dve, z vrzchni latkou jsou to tedy celkem tri vrstvy a myslim, ze to uplne staci. Prosivane rady jsou asi 1cm - ridila jsem se ryskou na sicim stroji abych nemusela merit. Koupila jsem si na strihani pomucku ale zkusila jsem strihat nuzkami a jde to take pekne, takze se bez ni obejdete. Latky a dokoncena deka se perou az po usiti! Pouzivam susicku na pradlo ale myslim, ze neni potreba, prouzky se roztrepily uz v pracce, tim deka nabyde a je hezky "hunata". Prosivani je sice zdlouhave a zpotrebovala jsem 4 spulky niti ale vysledek stoji za to, 100% se brzy pustim do dalsi :)


Over the weekend I made this Heirloom cut chenille baby blanket. I am including link for the blog where I found this baby blanket tutorial. I used only two layers of flannel instead of three and I think it's totally sufficient. I love it, this is by far my favorite baby blanket ever! I had fun making it and I will be starting another one soon :)

Makeefovi bude pristi sobotu 1 rok a tak profesionalni fotografka nafotila o vikendu serii portretu cele rodinky. Tady je ukazka, vice priste :))

Makeef is turning 1 next Saturday and as a part of this upcoming event the family had a photo shoot this weekend. These are just samples, more to follow :))

Nove hobby-New hobby

Nedavno me Marťa nabidla zucasnit se vymenne akce patchwork stitku.Ja s radosti prijala a protoze jsem jeste nikdy zadny patchwork nesila,vyrazila jsem nakoupit potrebne pomucky a material.

I while ago my friend Marta asked me to participate in a patchwork square swap.I gladly said yes and because I never did any patchwork before I had to go shopping for tools and fabrics. 

Vybrala jsem pro zacatek tuto kombinaci,snad se bude libit.

For the start I chose this combination and hopefully it will be liked.