Birds and Thank Yous

I made a quilt for my mom a while back. Originally I was thinking of just making a wall piece with a couple of large blocks but I didn't feel satisfied with that so I made another set of the blocks and then realized that putting just about anything else in between them would be too busy (due to my fabric choice).

So in the end I decided to just put white in the middle and sew on a few birds and branches with red buttons on the ends.

This was also my first try at hand quilting. It was a bit of a mess in the back but I really enjoyed doing it. Plus, I figure that if anyone is going to be inclined to love my sloppy quilting, it would have to be my mother. Mother's have a habit of loving your crafts no matter how amateur they might be.

One of the other reasons I wanted to do some hand quilting (specifically my first) on a quilt for my mom is because all my life I've watched her quilt. I always have this image of her in our living room, watching shows or playing scrabble with me while quilting.

I think quilting to her is like writing to me and when I moved to Sweden I realized how much I miss seeing her do it. The only thing I could do was learn to do it myself.

I suppose this quilt is a thank you of sorts, for being so artsy and raising me around such beautiful and intricate things. My mom and her whole side of the family are incredibly artistic and crafty people, a tradition I'm more than happy to learn and uphold.

Wontons

Wontons are a labor of love. Either you love wontons or you love the person you're making them for.

They're incredibly easy to make, just chop up whatever you want inside and mix it in a bowl (I used carrots, mushrooms, vegetarian ground beef, and onions). Lay out some wonton raps, flour side down. Put a little of the mixture in the middle and then wet two sides before folding it into a triangle and pressing. Some people make them into little packets instead of triangles by bunching the sides but I think the triangles are easier. The only thing about wontons is how tedious they can be. You can only put a little in each one and it takes a bit of time to set out and seal each of them.

We boil them real quick before eating but you can always fry them... lets face it, you can fry anything if you really want to.