A Big Finish

This morning I turned the fourth corner on the binding for Stars and Stripes.

Shortly after that, the quilt was finished. 

This quilt is made from blocks created by members of the "We Bee With It" online quilting bee. I only know their online names, so thank you to NewbieJen, SuperSara20, SoSewGreen, Karmawillo, and Anita of Daydreams of Quilts for their contributions of beautiful quilt blocks used in this quilt. The back is pieced and made from some blocks that were created with the color choices reversed. I can't remember which of the ladies of the hive made these blocks, but thank you for your generosity in contributing these two blocks...perfect for the quilt back.

It ended up at 60 x 76 inches and so it's a good sized quilt for cuddling up. A few have asked me whether I'm donating it to Quilts of Valor. While that is a noble cause, the answer is no. For one thing, it has a hole that needed repair, and so it isn't really appropriate for donation as a quilt of valor. A more selfish reason is that I asked for these blocks during the bee because I'd wanted a patriotic quilt of my own for a long time, and just hadn't gotten around to it. 

Its new home will be in our fifth wheel trailer. We supplied ourselves with a couple of fleece blankets to be used in the trailer, but the kitties have commandeered those for their traveling cubbies. Hopefully, they'll let us have this quilt. Also, it makes me think of that old Simon & Garfunkle tune called "America." The red, white, and blue makes me all schmaltzy about the traveling we've done past and future and brings to mind these song lyrics: "They've all come to look for America."

Finishing Stars and Stripes was my January goal for 

so I'll be linking up there.

As I mentioned yesterday, it was a day for running around and that took most of the day. While I was putting away the groceries, I noticed that both of the starters had developed a liquid on their respective surfaces. I'd read about this on some of the bread-baking sites, but couldn't remember what it meant or what I was supposed to do about it.

Enter my friend, Google. According to the website, Cultures for Health:

The dark liquid is a form of naturally-occurring alcohol known as hooch, which indicates that your sourdough starter is hungry. Hooch is harmless but should be poured off and discarded prior to stirring and feeding your starter. If hooch is forming on your starter regularly, increase the feeding frequency and/or move the starter to a cooler spot (70-85ºF), to slow things down.

So, okay. Mine is in the refrigerator, and so I don't think a cooler spot is the answer. That must mean they're hungry, and so I poured off the offensive stuff and fed the starters. Now they look happier. We can't have hungry mouths around here, now can we?

I'm still wanting to make a plain sourdough loaf. The few I've tried have been unsatisfactory for one reason or another. That said, I saved the amount of bread flour starter I poured off, fed it, and now have it sitting on the counter. In a few days I'll try again for a basic sourdough loaf. For now, I'll just feed it each day and give it a chance to grow strong bones and healthy teeth before using it in the bread dough. 

Also fermenting on the countertop is another round of Cabbage and Carrot Kraut. I blogged about this a few months back. You can read about it right here. As it turns out, this is a great way to use up leftover cabbage and if you happen to like sauerkraut as much as I do, it makes a very tasty, low-calorie, probiotic-packed snack. (Try saying "probiotic-packed snack" five times fast.)

So...Stars and Stripes was my last quilt sandwich. I don't even have any more finished quilt tops. You might say I'm living in a topless world right now. For the remainder of January, I'm going to work on quilt blocks, but beginning in February, I have a few stacks of blocks to sew into flimsies, and so that's where I'll put my energy for a while, at least. Today's plan is to make the 6th of the Solstice Challenge blocks. If I have time, I'll get to work on the next block for Chicken Buffet.