May Mini: Green Gumbo

 May's mini quilt was inspired by Wendy's (The Constant Quilter) April mini quilt.

When I saw Wendy's charming mini, it reminded me of the Two and Four Quilt - another quilt she inspired me to make.  

I already had the green reproduction scraps out to choose fabrics for a Blackford's Beauty block, so I decided to try my hand at Wendy's mini quilt.

Thanks to Barb's (Fun with Barb) helpful Nine Patch Tutorial, I had the nine patch blocks made in a twinkling.  The remaining strippy construction didn't take much longer and soon I had a mini quilt top!

As I was assembling all those little green scraps, I wondered what name I could give the quilt.  It struck me that all those green fabric bits were like the ingredients for green gumbo, or Gumbo Z'herbes (zahb). 

 

Gumbo Z'herbes is a traditional dish often served during Lent.  It's made with a minimum of at least five leafy greens.  More varieties may be used, but one must always have an uneven number of greens for the pot.  A good Creole cook might include mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, scallions, etc.

Traditional Gumbo Z'herbes is meatless, but over the past couple of years, versions with meat have become popular.  One of the most well-known versions was made by Chef Leah Chase, and served on Holy Thursday at her family's restaurant, Dooky Chase.   

Dear Hubby and I recently learned to make this wonderful gumbo, and it has become a family favorite!

I did some quilting in the ditch and added a dark, leafy green single binding.  Cutting board courtesy of Dear Hubby.

The backing fabric is an ancient one from the stash - I'm not even sure how old it is.  I love the print, but with the blue and yellow accents, it just never played well with other fabrics.  It's perfect for gumbo, though!