The Nigel Slater Project, Winter Block

Sometimes the muse just strikes. The Winter Block for our cousinly Nigel Slater project isn't due to be traded until the first of March. I'd been playing with design ideas in my head ever since finishing the Autumn Block, but I'd been stymied by the challenge fabrics selected by the Andrews husbands for this next quarter.  Scottie Dogs and…glow-in-the-dark Space Bats. Really???

Suddenly my design ideas needed to make a right turn. And then, last week we woke up to this, a perfect day for French Onion Soup. 

The moon on the crest of the new fallen snow, and a big bag of onions, loaf of fresh french bread and red table cloth spawned a new design. These are all improvisational blocks…quirky log cabins, wonky drunkard's paths, and some skewed strip piecings and here it is..

French Onion Soup and Fresh Bread on a Cold Winter's Night:

And the other one in the pair:

And now…on to spring design ideas!

The Nigel Slater Project

Last summer, I had a chance to spend some time with Kris, who you will remember from the Great Cousinly Quilt Project way back in 2009.  We discovered that we both had a full set of Nigel Slater's food writing and cookbooks, and both of us were enjoying exploring various culinary adventures. Before we knew it, the creative juices were flowing, and The Nigel Slater Project was born. 

Here's how the project works:

• Using Nigel Slater's cookbooks for inspiration, we each create a 12 X 18 quilt block. 
• We can only use fabric.
• We need to create two copies of the same block.
• Our husbands each select one fabric to be used in both of our blocks.
• We have three months to create the blocks.
• At the end of each quarter, we send one of our copies to each other, along with the husband fabric choice for the next block. 
• At the end of the year, we'll each have the same set of 8 blocks…which we can then piece into a finished quilt. 

Last weekend, we travelled to Vermont to see Kris, Christopher and delightful little Cole. Amidst the gingerbread houses, legos, hikes in the woods, and studio show and tell sessions, Kris and I exchanged our first blocks! After 3 months of work, it was so much fun to see what each other had created and it was awesome to see how great the blocks look together! 

Nigel Slater's "The Kitchen Diaries"

Pumpkin Tomato Lahksa - it was a yummy recipe for a cold, rainy autumn day!

Pumpkin Laksa!

The fabric palette for the first block.

Piecing in progress:

Tobi's finished autumn blocks:

Kris's finished autumn block: Cathedral Windows hand piecing!!!

 Autumn blocks together, with the husband challenge fabrics for this autumn block. 

Christopher's swirly fabric on bottom center.

Bruce's purple batik on bottom right.

What will next quarter bring??