Friday, October 23, 2009
Christmas Bells
Irene finished her Christmas bells and they are on her living room waiting for Christmas!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
My Christmas wall hanging
Last year Angela taught us how to make a paper pierced Christmas wall hanging. Finally, I finished it, to be on my wall for this Christmas - if I nicely ask my husband to put a hook in our wall, because I am not confident with drills. Here he is behind the quilt. A hook would be more comfortable.
When I quilted my wall hanging I used my Pfaff's special quilting stitches. I put Santa on top of the tree.
Christmas is all about snow but not in Lisbon. After living here for eight years, I have seen snow only once. I was lucky, because the Portuguese capital had not seen it for 50 years!
I bought a template to make bows and I used it to trace stars on my quilt.
I am happy with the result and another project is finished!
By Javhlan
When I quilted my wall hanging I used my Pfaff's special quilting stitches. I put Santa on top of the tree.
Christmas is all about snow but not in Lisbon. After living here for eight years, I have seen snow only once. I was lucky, because the Portuguese capital had not seen it for 50 years!
I bought a template to make bows and I used it to trace stars on my quilt.
I am happy with the result and another project is finished!By Javhlan
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Quilting? No, cooking!
I had the honour to be taught by a professional chef, Abbey Rudge, whose career spanned from working as the only woman among 25 French chefs, to literally high-flying cuisine catering for private jet clients.
As a little girl Abbey already knew endless possibilities how to cook a simple meal, from her father and grandmother who were fond of cooking.
After eight years of cooking in the sky and seeing much of the world, she put her feet firmly on the ground in Estoril, Portugal. Now she has her own cookery school and catering business.
Five of us, all different nationalities: Ann - English, Jurgita - Lithuanian, Lucia - Korean, Ursula - German and me - Mongolian met on Friday morning in Abbey's kitchen to improve our cooking skills, share ideas and tips and have a lunch.
We did not hear the phrase "I have prepared this earlier". And one of the dishes went wrong, which does not happen on television cook shows and isn't explained in cook books.
In four hours we had to make 10 dishes: Pea, Mint and Lettuce Soup, Crab Dumplings, Chick Pea Patties, Green Tomato Tarte Tatin, Chili Beef Slice, Oven Baked Chicken, Griddled Honey Apples with Toffee Cream, Toffee, Lemon Posset and Lychee Sorbet. We finished even before our time ran out!
We started making toffee, for which to my surprise (but others already knew) condensed milk has to be boiled for three hours over low heat in a pan of water. It was unbelievable how some nations prepare food! The end result was fantastic - provided you have a sweet tooth!
I think every Mongolian child loves eating condensed milk spread on a slice of bread. I loved it as a child and I will have my slice of bread with condensed milk once a year! Just recently my sister ate it and was very happy for the memories of childhood. Now, I will make toffee.
I never buy green tomatoes because they are tasteless. But not when you cook Green Tomato Tarte Tatin. Green tomatoes hold their shape when they are fried; when they are then baked, covered with puff pastry, the tart is delicious!
Abbey prepared crab earlier and I missed it, so she promised me that I will have a professional lesson to learn how to scrape meat out of a crab. I have never eaten crab meat in my forty-something years! From a palm sized crab meat mixed with other ingredients someone can have a great meal.
Chick peas were mixed with onion, parsley, garlic, chillies, coriander, and ginger. They should been been shaped between 2 tablespoons and deep-fried, but this did not not work. Abbey's solution to avoid putting the dish in the bin was just to fry it - and it tasted good too!
As the recipe says, the easiest and quickest apple pudding was fantastic with toffee! It looked very easy when Abbey cooked it, and the apples looked mouthwatering!
But when I made it at home, I overcooked the apples. Instead of toffee I had it with ice-cream. Next time... It was still appetizing and my husband liked it.
We were not just sitting and watching Abbey; this was four hours of interactive cooking, and with our help for chopping, dicing, stirring and beating we made ten dishes! Thank you Abbey for your easy approach to enjoying cooking. She selected recipes which were easy, fast and delicious. During four hours she did not use any modern gadgets, as she said about herself she is more a wooden spoon girl! This proves that we do not have to have fancy kitchen equipment to make a delicious meal. But personally, my life in the kitchen would not be complete without a good blender. I want, I want, I want to buy a lemon grater that Abbey had in her kitchen and Ursula used to grate lemons for Lemon Posset. Yummy!
Abbey showing her work.
Ann chopping garlic
Jurgita preparing ingredients for Chick Pea Patties
Lucia carefully dicing onions
Ursula is grating lemon with a fancy lemon grater.
I am preparing white sauce for Chili Beef Slice
Abbey 's contact details:
Photos by Ursula and Javhlan
Text by Javhlan
As a little girl Abbey already knew endless possibilities how to cook a simple meal, from her father and grandmother who were fond of cooking.
After eight years of cooking in the sky and seeing much of the world, she put her feet firmly on the ground in Estoril, Portugal. Now she has her own cookery school and catering business.
Five of us, all different nationalities: Ann - English, Jurgita - Lithuanian, Lucia - Korean, Ursula - German and me - Mongolian met on Friday morning in Abbey's kitchen to improve our cooking skills, share ideas and tips and have a lunch.
We did not hear the phrase "I have prepared this earlier". And one of the dishes went wrong, which does not happen on television cook shows and isn't explained in cook books.
In four hours we had to make 10 dishes: Pea, Mint and Lettuce Soup, Crab Dumplings, Chick Pea Patties, Green Tomato Tarte Tatin, Chili Beef Slice, Oven Baked Chicken, Griddled Honey Apples with Toffee Cream, Toffee, Lemon Posset and Lychee Sorbet. We finished even before our time ran out!
We started making toffee, for which to my surprise (but others already knew) condensed milk has to be boiled for three hours over low heat in a pan of water. It was unbelievable how some nations prepare food! The end result was fantastic - provided you have a sweet tooth!
I think every Mongolian child loves eating condensed milk spread on a slice of bread. I loved it as a child and I will have my slice of bread with condensed milk once a year! Just recently my sister ate it and was very happy for the memories of childhood. Now, I will make toffee.I never buy green tomatoes because they are tasteless. But not when you cook Green Tomato Tarte Tatin. Green tomatoes hold their shape when they are fried; when they are then baked, covered with puff pastry, the tart is delicious!
Abbey prepared crab earlier and I missed it, so she promised me that I will have a professional lesson to learn how to scrape meat out of a crab. I have never eaten crab meat in my forty-something years! From a palm sized crab meat mixed with other ingredients someone can have a great meal.
Chick peas were mixed with onion, parsley, garlic, chillies, coriander, and ginger. They should been been shaped between 2 tablespoons and deep-fried, but this did not not work. Abbey's solution to avoid putting the dish in the bin was just to fry it - and it tasted good too!
As the recipe says, the easiest and quickest apple pudding was fantastic with toffee! It looked very easy when Abbey cooked it, and the apples looked mouthwatering!
But when I made it at home, I overcooked the apples. Instead of toffee I had it with ice-cream. Next time... It was still appetizing and my husband liked it.
We were not just sitting and watching Abbey; this was four hours of interactive cooking, and with our help for chopping, dicing, stirring and beating we made ten dishes! Thank you Abbey for your easy approach to enjoying cooking. She selected recipes which were easy, fast and delicious. During four hours she did not use any modern gadgets, as she said about herself she is more a wooden spoon girl! This proves that we do not have to have fancy kitchen equipment to make a delicious meal. But personally, my life in the kitchen would not be complete without a good blender. I want, I want, I want to buy a lemon grater that Abbey had in her kitchen and Ursula used to grate lemons for Lemon Posset. Yummy!
Abbey showing her work.
Ann chopping garlic
Jurgita preparing ingredients for Chick Pea Patties
Lucia carefully dicing onions
Ursula is grating lemon with a fancy lemon grater. 
I am preparing white sauce for Chili Beef SliceBe Champs
Rua Joaquim Miguel Serra E Moura no 180,
2765-029 Alapraia, Estoril, Portugal
Phone: +351 21 468 95 81
Mobile: +351 96 496 36 50
E-MAIL: abbeyrudge@hotmail.com
Photos by Ursula and Javhlan
Text by Javhlan
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Preparing for Christmas!
Today we talked about Christmas. It is still October but it is better to start now as you never know for which Christmas this year's project will be finished!
To start with, Therese showed us her gigantic Christmas tree. It is not the usual natural pine tree, or imitation plastic tree with lights - it is a quilt. Of course, it will be decorated by patchwork. When finished, it will go to Oman as a present.
Helen kindly offered to teach to the quilt group how to make her Christmas bells and Christmas tree table centrepiece. She brought a finished table centrepiece and bells to show us.
I was thrilled by her bag and could not take my eyes off it. I did not have any intention to steal what was inside, I just wanted to see how she made her bag. One day I will make this bag because I am a bag addict - like every woman in this world, surely!
Therese was working very fast this morning, and before lunch she had already finished one out of the six paper pierced Christmas trees needed for the table centrepiece. I can easily guess that by now she has already finished the table centrepiece and it is just left to be sandwiched and quilted!
Recently, Ursula has been doing many paper pierced quilts, and this time she just wanted to make the Christmas bells. She laid out the fabric in front of her before she started.
Thirty years ago Ann bought some fabric to make a dress but today she was cutting it to make the table centrepiece. Helen was helping her to arrange the fabric and you can see the result - wonderful!
Regina decided to make only bells. All morning she sat quietly making her nine bells in three different sizes - but occasionally contributing funny jokes! When she left her nine bells were ready to be sewn.
Cathy and Bette worked very hard this morning making their bells. The fabric on the left is Cathy's, on the right is Bette's.
Sally decided to make both the Christmas table centrepiece and bells. She is the fastest quilter in our group and she was already stitching her centrepiece on her Bernina before everyone else.
Here is Irene cutting her fabric to make bells. Thank you Irene for the photos. She is my back up photo journalist. When I am not there I can rely on her to take some photos of every quilt group for the blog.
Merry Christmas! Oops, sorry, not yet! Happy stitching and soon I hope to publish some photos of the table centrepieces and bells on the blog.
By Javhlan
To start with, Therese showed us her gigantic Christmas tree. It is not the usual natural pine tree, or imitation plastic tree with lights - it is a quilt. Of course, it will be decorated by patchwork. When finished, it will go to Oman as a present.
Helen kindly offered to teach to the quilt group how to make her Christmas bells and Christmas tree table centrepiece. She brought a finished table centrepiece and bells to show us. 
I was thrilled by her bag and could not take my eyes off it. I did not have any intention to steal what was inside, I just wanted to see how she made her bag. One day I will make this bag because I am a bag addict - like every woman in this world, surely!
Therese was working very fast this morning, and before lunch she had already finished one out of the six paper pierced Christmas trees needed for the table centrepiece. I can easily guess that by now she has already finished the table centrepiece and it is just left to be sandwiched and quilted!
Recently, Ursula has been doing many paper pierced quilts, and this time she just wanted to make the Christmas bells. She laid out the fabric in front of her before she started.
Thirty years ago Ann bought some fabric to make a dress but today she was cutting it to make the table centrepiece. Helen was helping her to arrange the fabric and you can see the result - wonderful!
Regina decided to make only bells. All morning she sat quietly making her nine bells in three different sizes - but occasionally contributing funny jokes! When she left her nine bells were ready to be sewn.
Cathy and Bette worked very hard this morning making their bells. The fabric on the left is Cathy's, on the right is Bette's.
Sally decided to make both the Christmas table centrepiece and bells. She is the fastest quilter in our group and she was already stitching her centrepiece on her Bernina before everyone else.
Here is Irene cutting her fabric to make bells. Thank you Irene for the photos. She is my back up photo journalist. When I am not there I can rely on her to take some photos of every quilt group for the blog. 
Merry Christmas! Oops, sorry, not yet! Happy stitching and soon I hope to publish some photos of the table centrepieces and bells on the blog.
By Javhlan
Friday, October 9, 2009
Ann's very big bed-spread!!
On Thursday Ann invited three quilting friends to a "sandwich-meeting". She finished the huge quilt top, a beautiful Doube Irish Chain a while ago. Also the back was ready to be put into a sandwich.
This quilt is to cover her bed! The fabrics were carefully chosen to match the bedroom and curtains. Ann has been working on this for more than 1,5 years now. It will be a master piece when it is ready to be used!
Here are Ann, Ursula and Susan after the pinning work was mostly done.
The quilt and Susan. This photo gives more the impression of the size of the quilt. We had to move the furniture in the basement to have enough space.
It was good that we only ran out of pins, when most of the quilt was basted. Then we used Ann's handy little tool, the basting gun. But this could be only used along the edges. I wonder how one can work on a big quilt with this?
It is wonderful to be together with quilter friends and have good times together, after a tiring work is done!
Now we all wait, how Ann is getting along with the quilting! This will still be a hard work!
I will keep you informed about the progress.
by Ursula
This quilt is to cover her bed! The fabrics were carefully chosen to match the bedroom and curtains. Ann has been working on this for more than 1,5 years now. It will be a master piece when it is ready to be used!
Here are Ann, Ursula and Susan after the pinning work was mostly done.
The quilt and Susan. This photo gives more the impression of the size of the quilt. We had to move the furniture in the basement to have enough space.It was good that we only ran out of pins, when most of the quilt was basted. Then we used Ann's handy little tool, the basting gun. But this could be only used along the edges. I wonder how one can work on a big quilt with this?
It is wonderful to be together with quilter friends and have good times together, after a tiring work is done!Now we all wait, how Ann is getting along with the quilting! This will still be a hard work!
I will keep you informed about the progress.
by Ursula
Monday, October 5, 2009
365 Free-motion Quilting Challenges
Leah Day has been quilting only for four years and she is challenging her to make 365 free-motion quilt designs. On her website and on her blog you can follow her designs. They are not just for experienced quilters but also for beginners too. Leah gives clear instructions and videos to match how she quilts.
Follow her website and blog and you will learn a lot about her short but full quilting experience.
By Javhlan
Follow her website and blog and you will learn a lot about her short but full quilting experience.
By Javhlan
Friday, October 2, 2009
Painting on fabric
This week, Arabela had agreed to show us how to paint on fabric. Before we started, there was our usual show of our work. Three of us, Arabela, Anne-Marie and I posed for a group photo; coincidentally, we have all been making bags.
Arabela's bag was quilted and I love the colours. Very cheerful!
Anne-Marie's bag was quilted too but had embroidery in the middle. Pink ballet shoes! Very girly - very pink!
Anne-Marie made an applique with Arabela's help. It was big, almost 50 cm high. She has to make a decision what to do with it.
Ursula almost finished her project on which she has been working during summer. She printed paintings on the fabric interspersed with lots of suns. My daughter was counting how many suns on Ursula's quilt.
For the back of the quilt she did not have enough fabric to finish and used different ones. Still the back of the quilt looks wonderful. This quilt will be a present for a very lucky person!
After seeing our projects, Arabela showed us how to use fabric paint. You put a piece of white fabric on freezer paper and use a stencil to make a painting. Here, Arabela is stenciling an orange car on fabric and my daughter is looking carefully.
After stenciling you can outline the edges of the drawing with brush or outliner. Let it dry and iron from the back. Now you will have endless possibilities to make the painted fabric into small or big quilts, cards or something else. It is up to you what will be your eye catching product. Here is the orange car:
Students are at the painting class.
Therese was concentrating hard.
Irene used a Japanese doll stencil, probably my influence because I love Japanese craft.
We welcomed Lisbeth, a new member who came on Thursday morning. I forgot to take her photo as I was also looking after my two children - sorry Lisbeth! Anyway, she was very busy with sorting the pieces for her five year old quilt. She put everything in one big box and I am sure soon she will be back on track and will be stitching happily to finish it.
I do not yet have a five year old project because I have been quilting only for three years. But I have been making one quilt for two years - I am hoping to finish soon. Fingers crossed! I had a friend from Korea, Luisa, who finally finished her ten year old quilt. Do you have an unfinished project? How long have you been working on it? Let me know!
By Javhlan Byamba
Arabela's bag was quilted and I love the colours. Very cheerful!
Anne-Marie's bag was quilted too but had embroidery in the middle. Pink ballet shoes! Very girly - very pink!
Anne-Marie made an applique with Arabela's help. It was big, almost 50 cm high. She has to make a decision what to do with it.
Ursula almost finished her project on which she has been working during summer. She printed paintings on the fabric interspersed with lots of suns. My daughter was counting how many suns on Ursula's quilt. 
For the back of the quilt she did not have enough fabric to finish and used different ones. Still the back of the quilt looks wonderful. This quilt will be a present for a very lucky person!
After seeing our projects, Arabela showed us how to use fabric paint. You put a piece of white fabric on freezer paper and use a stencil to make a painting. Here, Arabela is stenciling an orange car on fabric and my daughter is looking carefully.
After stenciling you can outline the edges of the drawing with brush or outliner. Let it dry and iron from the back. Now you will have endless possibilities to make the painted fabric into small or big quilts, cards or something else. It is up to you what will be your eye catching product. Here is the orange car:
Students are at the painting class.
Therese was concentrating hard.
Irene used a Japanese doll stencil, probably my influence because I love Japanese craft.
We welcomed Lisbeth, a new member who came on Thursday morning. I forgot to take her photo as I was also looking after my two children - sorry Lisbeth! Anyway, she was very busy with sorting the pieces for her five year old quilt. She put everything in one big box and I am sure soon she will be back on track and will be stitching happily to finish it.I do not yet have a five year old project because I have been quilting only for three years. But I have been making one quilt for two years - I am hoping to finish soon. Fingers crossed! I had a friend from Korea, Luisa, who finally finished her ten year old quilt. Do you have an unfinished project? How long have you been working on it? Let me know!
By Javhlan Byamba
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