1/22/17

Comfortable Sunday

Today is going to be a day of my favorite things: quilting and baking. While I've always dreamed of baking beautiful loaves of bread, this marks the first year I've really embraced the art. You'd have to use a liberal definition of the word "art" to describe anything I've baked so far, but I'm having fun while I zero-in on the best method for my particular kitchen, and the particular yeast and bacteria that live there. Today's adventure is the Artisan Whole Grain Sourdough I found on the Breadtopia website. When I found the recipe, I printed it off. It wasn't until I started trying to follow the recipe that I realized I should have watched the accompanying videos on the website. Oh well. We're off to a good start in spite of ourselves.

When I left the bread yesterday, it looked like this:


After sitting in the refrigerator for the past 24 hours, it looks like this.


This being a whole grain dough, it's rather dry and stiff. The whole grain flours absorb more water than other types of flour. The recipe called for "rye flour" and I used "pumpernickel," which I'm told is the whole grain version of rye. This dough might be even more dry because it. It came out of the bowl without deflating, and when I tried shaping it onto a boule, it didn't want to adhere to itself. I got rid of the bottom seam as much as I could. When I placed it top-down in the banneton, it looked like this. I'm hoping that with its next rise, that will all disappear. Even if it doesn't, it won't matter because this will be on the bottom when it bakes.


From here, it will rise for at least five hours. When I checked on it just now (two hours on), it was beginning to rise, and that seam is looking better already.


Just now I noticed that bread-baking and sewing both involve "seams." It "seems" to me I'm onto something there. (Ha! I'm so punny.)

During the two hours the bread was rising, I was working on the big-stitch hand quilting. Recall that my goal is to finish the areas inside the border before moving onto the next project. You can see that I'm almost up to the corner there. There's just a little bit to the left and a little at the quilt bottom before I've quilted the entire quilt center.


Whoa! Wait a minute...did you just lay a quilt on the floor without me?????


I've been watching all of this going together, and I've noticed there's a cat on this quilt.


Do you see it? It's right here.


Its furs aren't as beautiful as mine though, so I'll just cover it up. There...now you've got a cat on your quilt that you can be proud to show off.


Just take a good look at these tummy furs. I have terrific tummy furs, by the way. Everyone agrees there are no better tummy furs than mine. With tummy furs like these, I could run for purresident!


Humility. That's what I like in a cat.

Also yesterday, I came ever so close to finishing the quilting on Stars and Stripes. Just this corner is left. As I go, the diagonal rows get shorter and shorter, and so the quilting is going to be finished on this today. The binding strips were cut long ago, and so I'm hoping I'll be able to get the binding on it today as well.


Bread and Binding. Those are my goals for this Sunday. What're you up to?

11 comments:

Sher S. said...

Love the tummy furs. The bread looks great just wish I could do that but with a celiac in the house it won't happen. Love the quilts and that your Stars and Stripes is almost done. You are just moving right along getting UFO's done left and right.

QUILTING IS BLISSFUL, DI said...

Ahh-what a sweet helper--not only with judging the quilts--but also with writing the posts--
bread looks great--used to make bread alot years ago--
but now I have had to give it up!!!
Happy stitching today--
enjoy the moments-di

quiltzyx said...

Yes, Sadie, you do have the most purrrfect tummy furs. And, yes, you should have run for President too - I would have voted for you.
You may already have the binding sewn on by now, you're going so fast on the S&S quilt now! Nice!!

claudia said...

Sadie Fur Purresident!!!

Quilting Babcia said...

Wow, you've been moving right along! Your big stitch quilting is looking great btw, and that bread looks like it is going to taste wonderful - we love pumpernickel!

WoolenSails said...

My kitties would demolish a quilt if i worked on the floor, lol. Looks like you have been getting a lot done and beautiful work.

Debbie

Angel, Kirby and Max said...

Sadie, you do have pretty tummy furs. Thanks for pointing that our. Another project almost finished!

Brown Family said...

Darn it! I was signed on to the kitties ID, Not mine.

Dana Gaffney said...

You so punny! I'd vote for those belly furs, of course I'd have to do some petting first.

piecefulwendy said...

Bread, kitties, quilting and puns -- what could make a better day? The quilts are looking great, Sadie is a beauty, and I can't wait to see and hear about the bread!

Angie in SoCal said...

Busy at your house and how wonderful it's the two things you like. Love all your project. I can smell that bread baking. Yum.