2/6/19

Yellow Fever

Nothing like a good snow day to kick you in high gear for a day of sewing. I spent most of the day in the sewing room yesterday making blocks for my two Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts for 2019. The day before, I'd cut the pieces for the Charm Stars blocks. First this one:


And then this one:


Here are the blocks I have for this so far:


After that, I made four yellow blocks for the Paintbox Pizzazz quilt.


And these are all the blocks I have so far.


On Saturday, I'll link up to


Also, I did the sixth Tiny Tuesday block. This one is set in a diagonal setting.


Smitty helped with that.


Here are all the Tiny Tuesday blocks I have so far.


The only other sewing-related thing I did yesterday was to get the binding clips in place so I could hand-sew the binding for Emerald Isle.


Smitty prefers the part of sewing with rotary cutters and rulers. He likes to live dangerously, you know. And so he opted for a nap on the quilts-to-be-quilted pile for this part of the sewing day.


All the while I was sewing, yeast was working away in some bread dough. When I left you yesterday, I'd just put it in the refrigerator. After two hours, it looked like this.


This dough can be left in the refrigerator for up to 7 days, but I wanted a loaf for dinner last night. The recipe told me to grab a handful and then shape it into a ball. Well...mine was too floppy for any kind of shaping, and so mine sat on the countertop looking like this. In fairness, the recipe told me I didn't need to be too fussy about the shaping. Sounded good to me.


While that was baking, I took some time to hang the Muskcat Love quilt in the Mewseum. An excellent addition, no?


This wall of the Mewseum is filling up nicely, but there's still space available. More cat quilts, please!


It was a sad little loaf of bread that came from the oven, but hey! It was very tasty.


The crust had a nice little crunch. Inside, it was like sandwich bread...nice and soft. We ate about half of it last night and then had a couple of slices toasted for breakfast. It made very nice toast.


As I mentioned yesterday, this dough will make 3-4 loaves, and so I'll wait a few days before I make another loaf...probably on Friday. Then next Monday (after 7 days), I'll use the last of it. According to King Arthur Flour, it should taste like sourdough after 7 days. I'm intensely curious about this. Also, I'm curious to see if the dough will behave differently if it's given more time in the refrigerator. You can expect me to report back about this, of course.

Our snow was mostly melted by afternoon, but there are still a few patches. They'll probably be around for a while because we're expecting temperatures below freezing all week. The mountains were pretty this morning.


Smitty thinks the mountains are best viewed from inside the house.


Sadie doesn't even care about the mountains. Mornings are for cocooning in her book.


This morning's slow-stitching included the 6th of the inchies. I am loving this project. It's so much fun to stitch these little bits each morning.


Also, I finished hand-stitching the binding for the Emerald Isle table runner. Now I'm anxious for Valentine's Day to be over so I can put this on the table.


Here's how it looks from the back.


With camera in hand, I took this picture I've been wanting to show you for a while. It's my little binding kit. I keep this in a small bin so it's always ready to go. Inside it has a Quiltbox that contains my binding clips. The little triangular pouch holds my thimble and needle threader. It works great as a little "pincushion" for my needles and the flower-head pins I use to pin the corners of the quilts.


My thimble is the same one I bought when I took Home Economics in the 8th grade...let's see...sometime during the 13th Century. Inside, you can still find the little piece of masking tape with my name on it. It's the only thimble I've ever found that actually fits my finger. I wish I could find another like it.


Also, these little cat scissors.


Except for the thimble, of course, all of these items were won in various giveaways. I can't remember whose giveaway went with what, but if it was yours...thank you. I love this stuff.

So today I really need to do something a little more like work. Since I put off my grocery shopping yesterday, I'll start there. When I get home, I need to do a few housekeeping chores. If there's time for sewing, I'll get busy on my OMG for February, which is to sew together blocks for the Rainbow Jubilee quilt. When I first laid this out for its picture, I wasn't sure I liked how the blocks were arranged. With some time having passed, I like it better now. The rows are a good mix of warm and cool colors, and so I'm thinking I'll leave it as is.


My ultimate goal is to have this finished for Matthew's April birthday. However, Matthew is leaving to spend some time in Guatemala for the next few months. He won't be home until May. He's a young man desperately in need of an adventure right now, and I think he's found a good one spending some time with friends in Guatemala.

15 comments:

gpc said...

How nice to have friends in Guatemala. I believe they have wonderful textiles there, if he needs a mission. :)

Quilting Babcia said...

Those vintage rounded top thimbles are the only ones I use, and I grab every one I see in antique shops and yard sales. Have worn holes in a couple of them since they are used for any hand stitching/quilting I do. They generally have cost a dollar or less. We have church friends in Guatemala now serving as missionaries helping the Che'chi (sp) Indians develop better farming methods for their mountain coffee growing efforts.

Julierose said...

Looks like Sadie is dreaming of the mountains..lol
Lovely yellows in your various blocks--you do have a lot of projects on the go..
I just finished my diamond painting and will set up the next one tomorrow--I find them so relaxing ...we are going to get rains i hear--so, hoping to stay put and sew for a bit..Stone Soup needs my attention...hugs, Julierose

Sandra W said...

Isn't it sad that home ec is no longer taught in the schools? At least not in Canada anyway. Competence men and women with degrees up the ying yang can't sew on a button, or shorten a hem. The send it all to the dry cleaners. To say nothing of not being able to cook basic food. And now, even drama and music are an endangered species. What's the world coming to?
I think your rainbow quilt is lovely. Your son will enjoy it when it's done. And adventure is good.
Smitty, as always, is into everything. Sadie is just Sadie. She's a creature of comfort.
I was just thinking about your bread and that you hadn't been baking much--and there it was--right on schedule.
I'm in the UK visiting my daughter and her husband and three grandchildren--3, 8 and 8 (twins) hoping for a trip to Liberty. Off to Spain in a few days--with some hand sewing.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

I love those star blocks (no Sharon nothing new), but seeing all your block projects laid out with their kin is lovely. Keep scrappin'. My furkids enjoyed the two nice days we had, but back to being bored indoors. Cold and snowing again.

SJSM said...

Another productive day for you in the sewing room. It is lovely seeing your many projects humming along. The camera bag I am working on did move along a little more with a slip pocket partially made. About one third of the pieces are together. It gets worked on between other obligations. I had roughly an hour to use today.

Good for Mathew going on an adventure. I hope he not only has a good time but makes many memories.

piecefulwendy said...

Boy did you have fun in your quilt room; love all that yellow! I'm going to do just a tad bit of cleaning this morning, then I'm back in the quilt room. Hubs has my car and stayed up in the Cities last night so he could get to work this morning. We have freezing drizzle right now, with more snow on the way. The commutes both ways are going to be bad. That bread looks tasty; I may have to try that recipe. I have some thimbles of my mom and grandma that look like yours; wish I knew what size you needed, one of them would probably work, and I'd be happy to give it to you. I don't use them because they don't fit. I hope Matthew's trip is an enjoyable one!

Kate said...

I really like those charm star blocks. Those are on my "to do some day" list. Your colored stitchery is looking great, I love those little yellow flowers.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

I recognize the triangle thread catcher in the photo. It's been years since I made it. Glad you still like it.

Brown Family said...

Pretty yellows! It won't be long till Valentines is over!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

I really like your star blocks! The rainbow of Tiny Tuesday blocks is fun, too. Your bread looks yummy - homemade bread is the best!

Ellen said...

Wonderful yellows! You do have a lot of good things happening in your sewing room. :)

quiltzyx said...

Great yellow blocks for both of your RSC quilts.

No snow at my house, but the levels are lower in the local mountains. We have rain on & off today, so may be more know when the clouds lift.

I think those inchies definitely look like fun! I'm back to blue fingers, lettering more place cards today. Hope I have enough ink to finish them, with it leaking on my fingers!

Great box for your binding kit!

Lynette said...

Gorgeous yellow blocks! Made me smile, as I spent a lot of time yesterday shopping for fabrics to do Heather a Dinner Plate Dahlia in yellows, whites, and smidge of black for her upcoming graduation quilt. The mewseum wall is fabulous, and I LOVE your string quilt!!

Stitches said...

You were talking about thimbles, so I want to tell you about TJLane thimbles. They are the most comfortable thimble that I have every used. And like you, I have used a thimble since Home Ec. in high school. T J Lane thimbles are a little pricey but worth every dollar. Her Lacy Heart is the one that I own..I cannot use a rounded tip thimble when I am hand quilting..