Artist Series: Mom's Quilts Pt. 1

I thought my artist series this month would be my mother's quilts.  Those of you who know my mother know what an exceedingly talented, generous and loving woman she is.  She has touched so many lives with her dedicated involvement throughout the years in Girl Scouts, church choirs, hosting AFS (exchange) students and, among other things, quilting.

She has been creating quilts for many years now.  Her sense of color, technique and design bring a unique approach to a traditional craft and art form.  This is but a small sampling of some of her quilts.  My photos don't do them justice, but you get the idea.

For all the love she gives.

This is one of my favorite.  It is a "watercolor" technique and has 3 dimensional flowers in the center.

Close up detailing.

This is her interpretation of Plantation Heritage Park (with the fountain in the middle).

She created this for Chinese New Year's.  I think I actually sketched out the dragon.

"Her First Prom"

Close up detail of the ribbons and pearls.

Purple is her favorite color and Irises one of her favorite flowers.

Stitching detail.

I think these are called windmills.  I love the color combination.

She created this one for her church choir.  These are mostly hand appliqued.

She created this mariner's compass for my father.  It was from a workshop I attended with her--a week in the mountains of Montana.  Of course her version came out much nicer than mine!  And of course, she had to finish mine so I could give it to my husband.

This is the center.

This is actually a huge king size quilt.  Every square has a different color combination but they all work beautifully together.

Stitching details.

She has made quilts for so many people and has never accepted payment for any of them.  She makes them out of love for the craft and the person she's creating it for.

I'll be going to Florida to spend some time with my mother, so I'm not sure how often I'll be posting.

Meatless Mondays: Curried Lentil Salad

There's, well, I guess you could call it a "movement" to go meatless on Mondays.  This wasn't a stretch for me as I haven't eaten red meat or pork for many years now.  I also look at Mondays as a nice day to detox.  I'll try and post a new vegetarian recipe or idea a couple of Mondays a month.  Here is my first one: a curried lentil salad.  I had this years ago at a pot luck lunch and loved the complexity of flavors.  The recipe is super easy, but unfortunately has around 1 million spices.  Ok, I exaggerate, but who has Mace sitting in their cupboard?

It's best to start this the night before to let the flavors marinate together.

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

Red Lentils.  These can be a challenge to find.  I found this pack at my local grocery store in the international food section.

The spices: salt, pepper, sugar, cumin, dry mustard, turmeric, mace, coriander, cardamon, cayenne pepper, ground cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  You'll also need olive oil (the recipe calls for vegetable oil, but I only ever use olive oil), and wine vinegar.

The added extras: currants (unfortunately, those are also difficult to find, so I'm just using regular raisins), capers, and red onion.

Directions:

Whisk together the following ingredients (in the order listed) in a medium size bowl:

3/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp pepper

1 tsp cumin 

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp mace

1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp cardamon

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Meanwhile, add 1 pound (2 cups) washed red lentils to boiling water.  Boil for 5-6 minutes.  Rinse with cold water.  Add the prepared dressing above to the lentils.  Let sit overnight or at least 2 hours.

A couple of hours before serving, add the following ingredients to the lentil salad:

1 cup currants

1/3 cup capers

1 1/2 cups finely diced red onion (I only use about 3/4 cup and I chopped it in a food processor)

Serve on a pretty platter.

I found the same recipe my friend gave me here for easier viewing and if you want to print it out.

For info about Meatless Mondays go to their website.

Vintage Ads: The Politically Incorrect Cigarette

I found this great website with vintage ads.  There are many different categories and decades, but I just loved the whole political incorrectness of the cigarette advertising of the 1950's.  The ads range from the truly absurd (a mom holding a baby) to the beautifully illustrated.  I can just hear the ad-men pitching their ideas in a boardroom filled with smoke...

That's exactly the tag line I think of when I look at her expression.

So, you're saying I'll be this beautiful if I smoke Lucky Strikes?

I actually love this illustration and colors.

 Another beautiful illustration.  But what am I supposed to be making up my mind about?

And you too can be as cool as Mister X if you don a top hat and wander around in the blue mist.

Smoking angel playing the piano.  Nothing absurd here.

Because nothing says shrimp cocktail like a pack of Pall Malls.

And nothing says thinking man like telescopes and stars.

The good old days when they passed around cartons of smokes on airplanes.

This one just makes me giggle.  The precursor to Size Matters?

Why a fish tank?  And is that quality time he's spending with his daughter?

There's all kinds of wrong with this ad.

Where do I start...

The original Marlboro Man.  Classic.

Disclaimer:  I'm not advocating smoking,  just advocating finding amusement in the past.

I can't wait for the alcohol post...

Scorpios Rising

Poor Scorpios.  Every time I hear something about a Scorpio it's usually something like: He's a Scorpio.  Translation: Difficult...Moody...High Maintenance. (Photo)

Well, maybe my ability to relate to them is due to the fact that I have a Scorpio rising.  However,  just by the sheer number of my friends that have birthdays between October 23 to November 21st, I know for fact that they are beautiful, fun, loyal, creative, and loving.  Most importantly, my husband, whose birthday is today, is one of those Scorpios.  Let's take a closer look at some cool Scorpions.

First of all, there's the Scorpion itself.  You don't get much more bad-ass than this.  I was on the receiving end of the stinger once...not cool.

Scorpion tattoos are pretty cool.

 Or you can just write it out--it's still cool.

 

 Ok, so maybe I didn't get a Scorpion tatoo, but I did get one for my husband's Chinese zodiac sign, the Tiger--another super cool animal.  But I digress...

Who could forget the Scorpions?  Classic '80's hair band that will "Rock You Like a Hurricane".  Again, getting off track...

Then there are fractal versions of Scorpions--their tails are just made for this.

And the Scorpion Hybrid Supercar--so cool they named it Super.

The Scorpion yoga pose--how many other zodiac signs have their own yoga pose, tell me?

Getting into my special interests, you can even find them in fashion.  This is a hot little number from Armani.

And handbags....

A bangle of Scorpions.

 And then there are those that take it too far...(Photo)

In any case, happy birthday to my husband Kato, and to all my wonderful Scorpio friends and family!