Artisan Bread day ends the month

    Once again I overdid it and pushed my joints/wrist/hand beyond a good and sensible level.  I wanted to claim I finished the floral log cabin quilt  this month.   I really worked over  the weekend on the border feathers, and got it done.  Got the binding cut and ready to sew.  Then yesterday I knew I had over done it. 
   So sewing was put on hold yesterday and today and the wrist support was donned.  With the pouring rain (yay!), it made sense to just make some bread.  I found a very simple, no kneading, recipe for crusty artisan bread.  The video made it look easy and tasty. 
   It was simple to assemble, a little stir, and cover.  Eight hours later it filled my bowl.
Wow...it was quite tasty for such a simple effort.  Chewy and a good crust smeared with butter.....yum!
  I did not cook it covered in a dutch oven, but rather made two smaller boules baked on parchment lined pan.  Sir Old man just sprayed/misted with water half way thru the baking. 
   Next time I want to add fresh chopped rosemary with sea salt on the top.








So my month did not end as I envisioned.  Instead July went like this........

• Garlic Knots top assembled and detail photo of the border.
•  Cutting and sorting began for the new 2018 leader/ender challenge, Jewel Box Star.
• Spider Web string blocks were made, and joined into a top.  Border is in the works.
• Quilted the floral Log Cabin quilt......no photo yet.

August plans---can you believe it is August already?  Two days of rest and the inflammation is better.....I will be good and rest the wrist the remainder of  this week.  So August plans are simple.  

•   Finish the log cabin quilt....trim, square and bind.
•   Finish the spider web string top.....border to be added.
•   Pin the garlic knots quilt.
•   Don't forget the coiled baskets for Christmas gifts.

 And I will read and enjoy the rain  for now.  Happy stitching. 

Bread from the oven

  Well, this has been a long, rough week since the work crew was here to fix our foundation problems.   I was quite stressed Friday as they were working on the sewing room which proved to be the worse.   The back corner of the house sits on solid rock it seems.  I had visions of sliding down the hill, but all is good now.  So I can quit with the nightmares.      A doctor's visit went well....all is fine after the ultra sounds..... a load off my mind.  
  So Saturday began the return things to their place......clothes closet cleaned out and sorted,  moving machines back into the sewing room, and dividing up the books.  Needless to say I over did and had an energy crash.  It is like running into a brick wall and not being able to take another step.  Sunday was the B-12 shot and a slow return to moving again.  That said I am still in the slow long process of restoring things to normal.  It will take me another week probably to get there.

    And........I had a mess with the blog this weekend.  A windows update did me in again I think.  Or maybe a combo of Windows/Google/Blogger did it.  I got signed out or knocked out  of blogger, could not get back in, was assigned a new email address and on and on and on.  I finally figured out how to get signed back in and then got the "fake" email address removed to find that my reading list on the dashboard was gone!  So I know I have missed quite a few blogs as I tried to add ones back in.  Then dear Gene  let me know I had become a "no reply blogger".    So this morning I tracked that down and got it fixed.    All this to say, I may miss some of your posts, but I am working to return to normal soon.....lol.



   And on the bright side, I have a sour dough starter going!  A successful batch it seems.  I decided last week to try once again, since I wasn't able to do much else.  This morning was day 7 and it was very active.  Note:  I started with one bowl.   By day 2 I could tell it was doing well, so instead of discarding the excess, I started a second bowl.   I followed the King Arthur Flour formula to get here.

And here is the first batch---fresh from the oven---- smells so good.  I think it will be a sandwich night for us.
I will put one starter in the refrig and feed it weekly.  The other one will go on the counter for now for a few loaves to share with the neighbors.


  I found my iron this afternoon and plan on getting in the sewing room in the morning for a little while.  I want to at least press the watercolor and rail fence top that I got sewn.  I'll just keep getting back up and won't let these things keep me down.  Life is too short, sew on!  Happy stitching.

Simple mats

    First, let me say, that each of you are a great part of my blog life.  What a wonderful band of cheerleading quilters you are.  I was very touched by all the comments on the Therapy Quilt post.    I get overwhelmed with the past year.   I get tired easily.   and I get cranky when my fingers don't work right and my vision gets fuzzy.  I know some of you  carry your own health problems each day.    So thank you for reaching out to me.

   Today was a finish up day for simple stuff that I started.   I used 2 pieces of the panel fabric for small place mats for the kitchen island.   I added scraps of fabric that blended with the design.  Straight lines for quilting to finish them off.

    And the longer section I turned into a small wall hanging for the kitchen too.  I used some floral fabrics to mix with a "coffee creamer" colored scrap.  The binding was odds and ends in the binding box.  Simple but it fills the blank space on the side wall for now.
  I was getting tired by this time and it shows in the wobbly binding....I will wash it and no one will know.  Please keep my secret:)











  The sourdough adventure has taken another twist, as in throw out the first bowl full that was foamy but not rising.  A good bit of reading/research and it was decided that I did not have yeast fermenting, but some stinky bacteria that was not what I wanted.  Barbara at CatPatches pointed me in the direction of an article by a microbiologist that clicked in my mind.

  So yesterday I began a new batch of starter with whole wheat flour and pineapple juice.  Today it is foamy and bubbly......I hope from yeast.  Once again.....I am just stubborn enough to stick to it for one more try :)  Besides if it snows this weekend, bread baking would be perfect.
Happy stitching.

Old things, new things

 Old Things:
 A pinning session to prepare the pineapple top for quilting.  As I pin I tend to contemplate the quilting design.  Usually I am inspired and figure out what to quilt, but not this time.  So I haven't made a start to this one.
  The water color banner was pinned too, so I will quilt it up first.







 The wild geese are just hanging in strips on the design wall.  I lost my drive to see them fly.  But they do need to get sewn at least into a top.


  The Therapy Quilt of circles is waiting on binding....I will cut that today.









New things:
  Sir Old Man was heading out  to the Big Box store and I hitched a ride so he could stop at the quilt shop.  My excuse was that I needed a  new pair of machingers---gloves for quilting.  My old pair has holes in two fingers and are bad!

  A few fat quarters became the second excuse......just because they were purple!  And all fabrics were on sale, I just had not shared that tidbit of information with him.

  Marietta always a stack of flat fold fabrics too.  This older fabric with coffee theme panels caught my eye.   A perfect size  for small wall hanging and a few snack mats.   Buy now, and make for gifts through the year😉.












   The new adventure is under cover.   I got pulled in by the thought of
the aroma of fresh baking sourdough bread.

  It is Catpatches fault.   Barbara has been sharing her adventures and breads she is working on.  Then she shared details of starting some sourdough starter for a virtual bake at the facebook group..

    My starter has died and could not be brought back to life.  So I figured it was a good time to try again.    The first few days were touchy and nothings seemed to be happening.  I decided to hang on and then got the bright idea to put the bowl onto a cutting board instead of sitting on the cool granite countertop.  That helped a lot.  This is now day 4  and I have bubbles and it has begun to increase in size.  Today I will discard half and feed it....mix and let sit.    Hoping to get the yeasty aroma soon.  Baking begins next week, and I want to have plenty to share with the neighbors that have been so good to us especially this year.    I also plan to save an freeze some of the starter via method that Judy at Patchwork Times shared.
 
   And the last new thing is one to share......The Solstice Sew Along with Pat Sloan.   She is offering a new pattern each week--12'' block-- and the goal is 25 blocks in 6 months.  Make all of them or make the ones you like, just be sure to download and save the patterns.  They are very good.   There is a linky too and it is good to see all the color combinations being used.





 And that wraps up my year of 2016.
  My word was Enjoy.....and it should have been persevere. Next year I will move forward, being stronger and the best me I can.

Wishing all a Happy New Year and health for each one.
Happy stitching.  

December's list

    My list for December included making labels for the quilts-in-waiting---those in line for quilting.  I printed out a page of 4, another is hiding under something :)  Two of them are ready to go.  The pineapple label needs some borders added yet.












   Mug rugs on display......these are finished and some straight line quilting.  I just kept going  round and round  and back and forth.    I also had time to cut out some words for the giving on Tuesday.  I think I will have enough to send at least 3 to each name I pick.









  I have been reading and enjoying Barbara's adventures at CatPatches blog with her barm and bread making this week.  I got motivated to make a couple of loaves of sweet bread stuffed with cooked apples.     I think I had the  icing a little bit thick....thinner would be more of a glaze.

Thick or not.....it is good.  It won't hang around here very long, so I can try it again.
  I used a sweet dough mix that I got this spring.....and I use a bread machine to do the kneading and first rise to dough stage.   The apples were chopped and cooked to a softer stage with some sugar, cinnamon and corn starch for thickening before filling the dough.
   A full weekend.....and it's Monday morning by the time this post goes up.  That means I am getting ready to have the stitches out this morning.....look out world, she has hands!   Back tomorrow.....happy stitching.