WIP: Grandma's Kitchen, Part Deux

So work continues on Grandma's Kitchen.  I am done with my blocks! 

Ooh. Aahh.

Last time I got requests for more stories behind the blocks.  You asked, you get!

First row, first block: Sunday Dinner
This block is pretty self-explanatory...it's about memories of Sunday dinners.  With Grandma Henderson, it wasn't Sundays, it was Saturday night hamburgers.  She LOVED a good hamburger and boy did she makes delicious ones!  Grandma Bowden was not a great cook.  Remember how I vaguely mentioned the great porkchop incident in my last Grandma's Kitchen post? Well.  Those porckhops doubled as home defense.  They were so tough if you smacked home invader in the face with one, they would get a concussion.  She tried though and that's what counts!  She did make good potatoes and gravy, and canned hella veggies.

First row, second block: Salt and Pepper
For this block, Pat reminisced about the salt and pepper shakers at her grandma's house, because they were unique.  My grandmas both had very plain, basic salt and pepper shakers.  every now and then, Grandma Henderson would use the salt and pepper shakers that came with her dish set, only to remember the salt comes out like half the bottle at once and then change back to the regular ones.

First row, third block: Game Show and Soaps
Pat's grandmother loved game shows. Mine?  Not so much.  Grandma Bowden, for reasons beyond my comprehension, LOVED watching golf.  Yes.  Golf. Soft clapping, pastel wearing, rich bitch golf.  To my awareness, she didn't golf herself.  Of course, she passed when I was 16 so I didn't know her hugely well.  Maybe she had a secret golf career.  Or maybe she had a gambling ring.  I don't know!  Grandma Henderson was into movies and TV series, not game shows.  Mysteries and crime dramas were her thing.  She loved Monk and Bones.  She also loved Dancing in the Rain, A Town Called Alice, and True Grit when John Wayne said "Fill your hands you son of a bitch!"

First row, fourth block: Small Change
This was about how her grandma's used to give her mother change as a kid to go spend at the corner store...and how she was given change to save up.  Grandma Bowden didn't do this.  For ... reasons.  Great Grandma Bowden had a jar of pennies she kept around when I was a toddler because I liked to play with them.  Grandma Henderson would always give Myke and I whatever dollar coins were going around at the time.  I still have $10 in Sacajawea dollars she gave me like 15 years ago.  I will never spend them.

First row, fifth block: Pantry Goods
This one was about stocking up for the winter or for bake sales, and how the pantry was always full.  Grandma Bowden, like I said, hella canned and ALWAYS had leftovers.  Grandpa would always have them for lunch after working on his truck or in the backyard all morning.  Grandma Henderson always had c h o c o l a t e. 

Second row, first block: The Fridge
Pat's grandmas had distinctive fridges. Mine had regular.  Moving on!

Second row, second block:  Mending Basket
This is self explanatory...it's about a grandma's literal mending basket. I don't remember if Grandma Bowden had one, but she did have TONS of crochet stuff.  She would watch golf, and crochet, crochet, crochet without even looking.  She tried to teach me but uh...whelp, I don't crochet.  Grandma Henderson had a sewing basket in the guest room, but I never saw her use it. 

Second row, third block:  Lovely Dishes
Every grandma had her dishes. Grandma Henderson had grey and blue Pfalzgraf ceramic dishes with a heart in the middle.  Grandma Bowden had  smattering of different ones...white and blue, cream and gold.  All lightweight glass or thin ceramic. 

Second row, fourth block:  Pick a Posey
Some grandmas garden, some don't.  Mine did.  Grandma Bowden grew strawberries, blackberries, tomatoes, grapes, three different kinds of cherries, three different kinds of peaches, and apples once upon a time.  Grandpa grew poppies.  Grandma Henderson grew flowers...roses, tulips, rhodies, lilacs, peonies...

Second row, fifth block:  That One Item
This is about the one item that triggers the most fond memories of one's grandmas.  Well, I've been trying to be upbeat through these articles, but it is probably apparent by now that the relationships I had with both grandmas were quite different.  It's hard to pinpoint an item from Grandma Bowden that inherently, on its own, triggers positive memories - there weren't many of those with her, unfortunately.  If I had to pick something, it would be her Michael and Gabriel figurines.  She collected Seraphim Angels and I gave her those two and she seems to like them.  Bu with Grandma Henderson it's hard to narrow it down...she was very dear to me.  I guess if I HAD to pick it would be the weird bells she kept in the camel chest.  They were about 2" or 3" tall and thick metal but they looked like they were forged by hand not by a mold because they had imperfections.  They had funky little loops and were red, green, and gold.  I don't know where they were from or why she had them. 

Third row, first block:  Telephone Time
What kind of telephone did your grandma have?  Regular. 

Third row, second block:  Grandma's Purse
A grandma's purse is iconic.  Like, you KNOW your grandma's purse.  Grandma Henderson was particular and loved her red purses.  For several years before her passing, Grandma Bowden was ill and largely homebound.  I don't remember her purse because I don't think she had much need for one for several years.

Third row, third block:  Famous Cookies
Oh my God.  Those home made cookie though. Grandma Henderson made the best chocolate drop cookies!  They were cakey and wonderful.  Mine always come out dry and crumbly. 


On a totally unrelated note, I am watching Gabriel Iglesias (LOVE that dude) and I had no idea he was on All That.  Sure the frig enough. 

WIP: Grandma's Kitchen

I love me a good quilt along.  I need more projects like I need a hole in the head, but I suppose I could be addicted to meth instead of quilting so it's all about perspective, I guess.

What I love about quilt alongs is that they're generally very manageable in terms of time spent per segment and in total, and don't generally have huge fabric commitments either.  I'm not knocking Bonnie Hunter, her mystery quilts are fantastic and a lot of fun, but I am not usually looking to make 400 some odd flying geese in one week followed by like 200 square in a squares the next.  One or two blocks is fine for me, and it is yet another way for me to play with my scraps.

So Pat Sloan offers quilt alongs on a pretty regular basis, which I didn't know until I joined a Facebook group and someone posted about it.  So I started Grandma's Kitchen VERY late...like, in the last month.  Mom had been asking about the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt I did and seemed interested in doing something like that, but definitely didn't have time for 5 million flying geese. So I told her about Grandma's Kitchen, and we decided to do it together in our own styles.

She decided to use a springy Fig Tree fat quarter pack and one of Fig Tree's solids for her background, following the program's fabric requirements.  As usual I am not known for following instructions very well, and I decided to do mine all scrappy and in fall colors from my pit o'scraps. I don't have a picture of her blocks yet, but here's mine from earlier tonight.

I am using whites, creams, and tans for backgrounds, and fall colors plus dusty blue and plum and minus green.  After this picture was taken, I finished one more.  She will be somewhat annoyed to know I have gone ahead of her by three blocks, lol.  Pat just started a new one that I think is two blocks in...thinking I might jump in!

But there's something else cool about this quilt along.  It's called Grandma's Kitchen for a reason - it was inspired by her grandma and her memories of her.  I am fresh out of grandmas (applications accepted)...my Grandma Bowden passed in 2003, and Grandma Henderson passed in 2014.  I don't have them anymore, but I do have memories.  Each block is a theme around which people shared their memories.  Here are some of mine, in order from left to right.

Top Row, Block 1: The Kitchen Table
Lots of stuff happened around my grandmas' kitchen tables.  With Grandma Bowden, I would sit with her while she chain smoked and watched golf and we'd play Rummy for hours.  I feel like I should remember how to play Rummy, but I sure as shit don't.  Then with Grandma Henderson, we'd sit and talk, eat orange danishes, and she would play go fish with my brother and I...later she taught us how to play blackjack and hearts.  Lots of card games at grandma's kitchen table. 

Top Row, Block 2: Sticky Buns
This block is all about the made-with-love foods grandmas make.  To be honest, I don't remember the foods Grandma Bowden made...I don't recall much other than the great porkchop incident.  But she did a LOT of canning and had a fantastic backyard with several fruit trees, strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, and blackberries.  Great Grandma Bowden made some mean peanut brittle and sweet rolls.  Grandma Henderson made all kinds of goodies, on account the woman loved chocolate.  The best fudge on Earth came from her house.  Chocolate cookies.  Angel dessert. 

Top Row, Block 3: Key Holder
This block is all about the special places grandmas keep their keys.  Seems like they all have a funky bowl for keys in the kitchen.  Mine had a wooden key box near the garage door, where grandpa labeled every single hook.

Top Row, Block 4: Half a Modern
This block was about the contrast between Pat's two grandmas - one was all about having modern, up-to-date appliances, and the other didn't go for those things.  Mine were both fairly traditional, but I suppose Grandma Bowden was more practical and less sentimental about the stuff she kept.  Grandma Henderson was a curator of family things - she used my great grandmother's cookie press, kept her little bean pots, and little things like that. 

Top Row, Block 5: Glasses and Cups
Grandmas seem to have odd glasses that they have had since the dawn of time.  I remember Grandma Bowden had these huge, amber colored glasses.  I have a few of them now.  The bottoms are all scratched where they have been stirred for years and years.  They're great because they're so oversized.  Grandma Henderson had these funky, blue juice glasses that I always thought were so fancy because they were like chubby wine glasses.  She also had these pretty black and gold Japanese themed glasses...she used to use the shot glass to take her pills.

Middle Row, Block 1: Wash Day
I was very rarely around when it came to wash day at my grandmas'.  We lived out of state, so we only ever came over for vacation.  She might do a load of laundry here or there, but nothing massive.  Grandma Henderson I remember occasionally dried things out on the line in nice weather, but that's it.

Middle Row, Block 2: Oh My Stars!
Grandma's and their euphemisms around kids...they're great.  Grandma Bowden didn't exactly hold back on the swears, but Grandma Henderson tried.  I didn't hear her eve say shit until I was a teenager, and she looked around before she let it fly.  I do remember her saying that someone didn't know shit from shineola once.  She also said crapola quite a bit.  She had a thing for the -ola suffix.   

Middle Row, Block 3:  Grandma's Apron
Neither Grandma wore aprons that I can recall, so...I have nothing to say here.

Middle Row, Block 4:  Kitchen Window
Both grandmas had their sinks under a window, but their houses were quite different.  Grandma Henderson had a one story house, with a view into a small, but very green backyard.  There was a thermometer outside the window, and the view was stopped by some very tall arbor vitae.  Grandma Bowden had a two story house that, because the area they lived in was an addition, was oddly arranged.  The kitchen window looked out right over the neighbor's roof and into their backyard.  It made for good people watching...the neighbors were weird folks that the local PD probably knew by name. 

Middle Row, Block 5:  Recipe Box
SO much of their cooking came from their memory!  I don't think Grandma Bowden had a recipe book or box...she, to my awareness, did most if not all by memory.  Which I think is why we can't find the recipe for her lemon cake or stuffing.  Grandma Henderson also did a ton from memory, but kept a little, bright yellow index card box for recipes she clipped from magazines or got from friends. 

Last Row, Block 1: Peppermint Swirls
This is about the candy dishes ad candies grandmas keep.  Grandma Bowden had a pretty, purple mercury glass jar she always had chocolate coated peanuts in.  I loved to raid that thing!  Grandma Henderson didn't keep a whole lot of candies, but she would always get our favorite breakfast stuff. 

Last Row, Block 2: Kitchen Door
Grandma Bowden didn't have a kitchen door, on account that it was on the second floor; the deck was off the dining area.  Neither did Grandma Henderson...the way the house was arranged, the back door was off the dining area, and the "kitchen door" was off the laundry room. 

Come at Me, Quilt Police

How annoying.  I had a post all written up on Blogger on my tablet, but couldn't add pictures.  I assumed it would just be in draft form in Blogger, but color me wrong because here I am re-writing it.  Splendid. 

So I am doing the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, On Ringo Lake (get it HERE on her blog, Quiltville) and until very recently we were under strict guidelines to not say anything about measurements, quantities, nada.  Trust me...the Facebook page (not Bonnie!  She was perfectly pleasant) got caaaaaatty any time some well-intentioned quilter posted any of the aforementioned.  Quilt police be damned! 

But I am about 3,400 pieces in with a clue and a half to go.  Yes.  3,400.  And no, I am not on meth.

So what's the point here?  The point's the point.  I got cocky.  I was sewing along, feelin' fine and everything was looking good.  Good enough.  You know.  So I didn't trim.  Got. Cocky. Started sewing my triangles on.  And there it is.  Floating point.

Good thing I only work in batches of 10.  They all came out screwy.  So I went and trimmed all blahblahhundred of them. 

Moral of this story?  Trim yo' shit.  It makes a difference.  Because of course it does, because we all damn know it.