Tuesday, March 29, 2011

A Couple Stitching Projects

I have a triple batch of Bolognese sauce simmering on the stove – 3 more hours to go before I can let it cool and put in the fridge. The sauce works well on spaghetti, but I’ll be assembling lasagna Bolognese al forno on Thursday for a family get-together at my brother’s ranch this weekend. All of the baby animals are being born. He’s got about 25 new calves, 3 lambs, 5 kittens and 12 piglets.

My tried-and-true, authentic lasagna recipe doesn’t use ricotta, but instead uses béchamel cream sauce, along with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, ham dices, lasagna noodles and the Bolognese sauce. I use the Barilla no-boil noodles – which are easier to use than the typical thick, wavy lasagna noodles; they are much thinner  like fresh pasta so I can make a lasagna with many more layers. It will need to feed 13 people on Friday night. So yummy!

Sorry, I didn’t think about taking photos while I was making the sauce. But, here’s a photo of the cross stitching project I worked on while travelling to Philadelphia last week. I mixed “Wisper” floss with the off-white floss for the sheep – so it is thicker and a bit fuzzy from the mohair in the Wisper.




This next project will probably only be of interest to any LDS stitchers who visit my blog.

I designed it to commemorate the 200th birthday of Joseph Smith, but after I started stitching it, I wasn’t liking all of my floss color choices. But, I bit the bullet and decided to finish it – even though I’ll most likely re-stitch it with some color switches. I don’t like the light blue alphabet or the pink used in the little blossoms and some of the numbers. I will also use a softer gold for the beehives and house roof.


Plus, after I started the outline lettering with black, I decided it was too harsh – and so switched to dark brown. But I never frogged the black stitching – so although it’s done, I’m only moderately happy with the result.


I designed the Joseph Smith sampler to fit in the top of the Old Colonial burl wood box used for Jeannette Douglas’ Stitching Treasures. Before I invest in the fairly expensive box, I definitely need to re-stitch my project. Actually, I should get the box and make sure my floss selections match the box!



I also noticed that I forgot the letter “W” when I did the alphabet – so I need to do some minor redesign to fit it in (although I don’t think anyone would notice unless they were stitching it themself.)

Thanks for stopping by.


8 comments:

Margaret said...

Your Joseph Smith sampler is amazing! So beautiful! Wow!

Gayle said...

Nancy - Love the long legs on your sheep stitchery, and the Joseph Smith sampler is awesome! Did you make the JS Tribute quilt that was all the rage a few years ago?

Carol E. in AZ said...

The Joseph Smith Sampler is beautiful. What a work of love.... Is this your own design?

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri Malinovich) said...

I love your JS sampler, Nancy. I think you did a great job designing it! I didn't notice the missing W but I think that kind of gives it some charm.

Your sheepie finish is darling - a perfect travel size piece.

You lasagna sounds divine! I'd love to visit a farm or ranch when all the babies are being born. Enjoy your visit!

LiahonaGirl said...

Carol E in AZ: I couldn't find your e-mail address to respond directly to you, so hopefully you'll see this response. Thanks for the nice comments. Yes, he JS sampler is my own design. I've designed a few projects -- and now I know why designers have stitchers do the models for them. It's quick to design, but slower to stitch. Plus, once it's stitched and you do the fine-tuning of colors (if needed -- and in my case it's needed), you want to move on to something else. Thanks for visiting!

Deb said...

I think that you did a wonderful designing this sampler. I didn't notice the missing W either, but actually think that it gives a fun point to the design. It's very pretty.

Berit said...

Oh, I am drooling now! :o

Gorgeous stitching--and though I'm not LDS it's a gorgeous piece! Are you sure you need to re-do it, lol? Either way, it will be very nice in that box. :D

Linda said...

Hi Nancy
I love, love your work!! Beautiful sampler.
Tell me more about the box, I'm not familiar with it.
And, girl, I so want to be in your family, you cook too!! I'm Italian, kind of old school about the food, and your lasagna sounds scrumpdiliuptious!! I have no idea how to spell that!
Linda

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