Yeah...I don't know. As usual, nobody consulted me. Click on that link I gave you above the picture to read more about this event. There are some great pictures there. Just one more reason I love Portland.
As for the goings on here at the Three Cats Ranch, we used the sunshiny morning to dump the compost pail, fill the bird feeders and take a general walk around the place. And here's the trouble with Sadie. Nearly every picture I take of her looks something like this:
The cat cannot stand still. Occasionally, she gives me a little tease like this one. That tail cracks me up.
The only time I can get a very good picture of her is when she's resting and nearly asleep on my lap. And then, she's a precious little pipsqueak.
On the other hand, there's this cat who was born to be a covercat model. That's a handsome hunka mancat right there.
He was licking his lips in anticipation of nibbling on this tuft of grass growing up in the gravel driveway.
There are a few remnants of summer left in the garden.
The cherry trees, so bountiful in their harvest this year, have lost nearly all their leaves.
The colors on the Bing reminded me of a quilt I made for a friend a few years back. This is the Colorful Colorado quilt.
It came from Jean Wells' book, Portraits from Nature.
But let's just get back to the cardinal, shall we? Yesterday I got to work hand-sewing the applique to the quilt. First, I switched out the eye from the one I did the day before. It looks better now...a little less lumpy.
And then I sewed the holly berries on. This took so much longer than I thought it would. I believe this has cured me of my curiosity about hand applique.
When I had it all done, I laid it out on the floor for a picture.
It was well past time for lunch by then, and so I left it lying there while I made a sandwich. When I returned, it appeared that someone was testing Molly's theory about the flavor of the bird. Is it spicy? Does it taste like cinnamon? Neither kitty was talking.
From there, it was time to start sewing the borders on. I first sewed the various 72 pieces into groupings of threes and fours.
And then sewed them into strips from darkest to lightest, and lightest to darkest, and added the corner units.
And then, it didn't take long before they were sewn onto the quilt center. Wow. That was a lot of work, let me tell you. And let me just mention one more time...there are 1,626 pieces in this quilt. Go ahead and count if you must...I'll wait.
So here's where I thought I might want opinions, but the Resident Engineer and I have already discussed it at length. We agree with the designer about the final border. And here's the thing: It's tempting to just leave it off and bind it as it stands. But with all those points in all those diamonds, adding a narrow border makes sense. I'll be able to see where I'm sewing on those points. On the other hand, if I add a binding without it, I'll be sewing blind. I have no expectation I could do that without cutting off some of the points.
So, okay...what about that border anyway? The designer suggested yellow, and that seemed kind of weird to me. I looked through my bins of fabric and pulled some I thought would be better. I auditioned all of them to include the bird's eye to make it fair to everybody. First, there's this mid-range blue in the lower left corner.
Nah. Too dark. It kind of disappears.
But what about this lighter blue in the upper left hand corner?
Same problem...it kind of disappears.
Okay, so what about the yellow?
It brings out the yellow in the bird's eye, and it really is the best choice. So, yellow it is. The border is cut just one inch wide, and so by the time the binding is on, it will only be half an inch...kind of like a little piping around the outside. It's going to look fine. And that's what I'll do today to get this to flimsy stage. No telling when it will get quilted, but I'm shooting for an entry in the 2019 Oregon State Fair.
In baking news, I made good on my plan to try out some sourdough pancakes this morning. I had to make a "sponge" last night. I started with this recipe from the King Arthur Flour website. It makes two dozen pancakes, and certainly that was too much for the two of us. I cut the recipe down to 1/3 of the original and ended up with a "sponge" that looked like this.
I hoped it would expand overnight, because there was no way this would make enough for the both of us. Also, I didn't want to use too much of my starter because I'm making bread tomorrow. So, when I got up this morning, it had expanded a little bit. It looked like this:
It still didn't seem like it was going to be enough, and so I decided to make our pancakes a little differently. I combined it with our favorite pancake recipe from the cooking light diet. We absolutely love the diet pancakes. It's become our Sunday morning ritual. To turn it into a sourdough pancake recipe, I made up a new concoction by adding more buttermilk and some quick-cooking oats to the sponge. Then I ladled them out onto our griddle, added some frozen blueberries (I add them after they're on the griddle), and cooked 'em up. When I flipped them, they looked like this:
And then, I totally forgot to take a picture once they were dressed with a little butter and syrup, but they turned out great. They don't replace our favorite oatmeal pancakes as a new favorite, but they're just as good if you like that sourdough tang. Here's my recipe:
Blueberry Oatmeal Sourdough Pancakes
Makes 8 medium pancakes
2/3 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons sugar
2/3 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup sourdough starter, unfed/discard
Pancake Batter
all of the overnight sponge
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (optional)
To make the overnight sponge, stir down your refrigerated starter, and remove 1/3 cup.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the 1/3 cup starter, flour, sugar, and buttermilk.
Cover and let rest at cool room temperature (about 65°F to 70°F) for about 12 hours, or overnight.
Add remaining ingredients to the overnight sponge, stirring to combine. Allow to stand 10 minutes.
Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls (adding blueberries, if using) onto your preheated griddle and bake to desired doneness.
Serve immediately, or hold in a warm oven till ready to serve.
~~~~~
Okay, so I spent the entire day sewing yesterday. Today I need to do a little housework, but I'll get the cardinal finished today if it's the last thing I do...and it might just be the last thing I do.
14 comments:
love pancakes! have not made sour dough in awhile though and I used to always have some on hand but then I was baking too much - way too much! Love your cardinal quilt
Blues are my fave colors, but they just seemed to blend into that fabulous border too much. Wow, the yellow border really does the trick! Woohoo!
The new pancake recipe looks delicious. And you know, you can always freeze the extras...just sayin'.
While I do really like the mid-tone blue border, that yellow pops in a really nice, Christmasy way, doesn't it? That diamond border has a ton of work in it! I can't believe you have it finished already! Impressive, lady!
Love the witches on paddleboards - that must have been a surprise for people walking by! Your cardinal is just amazing! The yellow border surprised me, too - interesting that I didn't think it would work at first, but it will be really pretty!
Both of your Purrkids are impressively gorgeous. I would have suggested a yellow myself - an added pop that compliments the cardinal piecing. Pancakes sit too heavy for me - waffles!
Saved that recipe to Paprika. The app works well finding the recipe and copying that part. The picture was of the paddling witches and titled "The Trouble with Sadie". No problem changing the title. The witches will stay. It will be a reminder the recipe is from you. I do freeze my extra pancakes, too. All that work should set you up for more than one meal.
Love the cardinal. The yellow is the right choice.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful creations, your sweet furry friends, your flowers and the amazing places and things you discover.
I have never heard of the witches before. I enjoyed clicking on the link and reading all about the event. You are the best!
Loved reading about the witches! Thanks for the link. I wish there was something like that around here. That deep yellow really is the best choice for the border, although I never would have guessed it. You knew that the kitties would be investigating the cardinal quilt when you were gone. I always look forward to your posts and read them while drinking my morning coffee.
The witches ... LOL!! How funny is that?? When I first read just your blog title, my immediate thought was, "Well, nothing!" But I see your point! Smitty is centerfold material. Happy National Cat Day!! :)
Wow that's a lot of pieces in the cardinal quilt but each piece was worth the effort because it is so beautiful. I agree that the yellow really makes the whole thing sing.
Ok, I was just a bit worried when I read the title to your post. Then I saw the paddleboard witches and was totally confused. Haha. Then I saw the action shot of Sadie. Okay, all better now. I think you opted for the best border for the cardinal. What a project, with all those pieces! No wonder you needed pancakes, which look delicious, by the way!
Oh, Cardinal! My favorite bird. All the little pieces in this quilt are so worth it. And it has just enough applique to look good without being a chore. (Those who really love to do applique will likely not understand that comment.) Yup, that yellow border does it to bring out the bird’s eye. Your kitty is like one of my grandsons—always a blur in photos.
Loving the cardinal!
Beautiful cardinal! And thanks for sharing the Portraits from Nature book. I may have to get me one of them. And your kitties are cute; not as cute as mine, of course, but cute, too. :)
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