Bosna #9

 Bosna #9. Hand dyed and commercial cotton, machine pieced and machine quilted. 62x64".

I've been working on this baby for over a week and finished it today with a faced edge, hand sewn down! hahaha, something I rarely do. Luckily I discovered that audiobooks are free on Youtube, which of course helped keep me on task as I quilted daily.
My husband declared this one to be unisex, which means that even a man would like it, I guess.
My sister Brooke saw it before the quilting and said, "I suppose this is all about your quilting?" which is half true. I think it is about the impact of color, with a tiny bit about the quilting. And of course SIMPLICITY.

Seven Dollar Bread

3 cups bread flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour (optional)
1/4 teaspoon fast acting yeast
1 teaspoon salt
big glob of honey or corn syrup (optional)
12 ounces water.
Mix in an 8 cup Pyrex bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature overnight. No kneading required.

Other ingredients that I am currently adding:
sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, oatmeal, raisins sometimes, and of course sesame seeds both white and now black! I'd add almonds if I had some, too.


The next morning while the coffee is brewing and the dawgs are eating their breakfast, I dump out the very wet dough onto the floured countertop and adding more flour, I arrange it into a loaf, pop it into a buttered pan and allow to rest for an hour or so. I take the pups to the doggie park  for our walkies and when I return, preheat the oven to 425F and brush the loaf with water, or half and half or if I'm enthusiastic, beaten egg, slash the surface and top with sesame seeds. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Done-a-roo.

Doncha just hate posts where they have a great thing you want to make and you have to wade through ads, photos, chatty stuff, and finally get to the recipe, only to find it has ingredients like buttermilk or tofu which you don't have in your pantry?

Here's the story:
Dave eats toast  and sandwiches day and night and I got pretty tired of running back and forth to the store to get more bread. And the bread I got was dull white bread. We have an artisan bakery just down the street and I did buy a great loaf there, for $7!!! and decided right then to make my own. Truth to tell, mine is better, because it is not day old which is what the $7 costs if you wait a day. Ha!

Homemade bread is a slippery slope and one can start resembling a loaf if one is not careful. So something had to go. In my case it was wine...or booze altogether. I figure I'd trade the calories for a slice of warm buttery goodness, and then walk extra fast at the doggie park.

The offshoot is that I can now remember what I read last night in bed. And no more four hour naps after a wine-y lunch. Amazing.  I still crave wine, especially while I cook, but it eventually goes away.

Leftover bread makes a great strata, another overnight sensation.
4 eggs
8 ounces milk, or half and half or evaporated milk,
bread chunks.
Mix together and soak overnight in the refrigerator. In the morning stir in cheeses, veggies like sauteed spinach, leftover chopped broccoli or asparagus, green peppers, or cooked sausage or ham. Bake in a buttered dish while bread is baking and top with crispy bacon. Serve to your sister when she miraculously shows up. Yum!

Ah. . . Retirement!

 It's been ten years since we retired and I am just getting into the swing of slowing down. The blog shows it. I have been doing a lot, at church mostly and then baking daily (homemade bread) and then frequent trips to the doggie park where I get a good fast walk twice a day, which is my only real exercise. There's been lots of knitting and mystery reading and even some quilting.

 Every now and then I just don't want to do anything but bask in the sun on the porch with a nice cuppa and thank God I don't have to go to work.

I've been blogging since November 2004 and have steadily lost readership to Facebook which I refused to join. Not sorry. I also gave up my cell phone, since I rarely used it and haven't missed it once. But even tho I don't post as often, it is a good thing to have a blog, if only to keep track of when things happen, if they should even happen!

I'm still making new friends in real life and that is a super plus. Dave is doing better for the most part, and we are so grateful. My new 1.5 year old microwave died last month and while we got its replacement, we will dawdle installing it for days. Nothing is a rush anymore.

My sewing room is quite efficient now and it makes me so happy that I didn't have to spend a fortune on a fancy set up to achieve the results I want. Of course I look at sewing rooms on Pinterest and gasp at what people have, who are often just beginners. O well. 

And I am going to take my time quilting the new top, and allow myself to enjoy the process.  Love and Peace to you all.

Bosna #7 Done-a-roo

Bosna #7, quilted! 

Moving right along, I am finishing up the unquilted Bosna tops and ready to start a new one.

Well....ready to put binding on the last three first. I admit that binding is my least favorite part, but alas, it does make the quilt really finished. So I cheat a bit by posting it at this stage.

What has helped me finish up quilting is this new sewing chair which is the correct height and fits my body perfectly. Sigh, at last!

 
 ++++++
I must tell you that I have recently discovered a new artist (to me) to further inspire the Bosna series.
Richard Paul Lohse, aren't these so delicious?

 

Bosna #3 Done-a-roo

Bosna #3, cotton, machine pieced and machine quilted. 63" square. I am slowly getting the series quilted, and have one top left to quilt, before I continue adding to the series. In my head I am thinking 15 pieces would make a great exhibit. I have 8 so far.

 I particularly like this one, because it accomplishes the subtle color shifts associated with Harold Krisel's work, which I hope to emulate. Secretly, it also gives me a reason to collect blues, teals  and oranges of various shades to incorporate in these works. 

As for my imagined exhibit, I have no venue or invitation, so this is all a fantasy, but these days I am believing in 'if you build it, they will come'.

The sewing room at church has been met with tremendous enthusiasm and I am so thrilled at the response. Hurray!!!

A Community Sewing Room

 This idea came into my head...why not make a sewing room in the vacant room at church that used to house our knitting group's yarn storage? Tables and chairs were readily available and the room was well lit and air conditioned, and I had extra supplies of everything needed for sewing and quilting. This morning I mounted the big design wall, and tomorrow I will get a batt big enough to cover it (60% off Joann's coupon). In the meantime, I have pinned up a top and some blocks over a piece of white cotton, to simulate the effect. There is a large cutting table and another for pressing, covered slapdash at the moment with a canvas covered blanket, and held fast with bulldog clips. Hey, it works and I will make it look better in coming days. On the small table is cone thread and my entire scrap collection. 

 My good old Panasonic iron, with auto-shut off will get used and behind the pressing table is a wire shelf unit which just needs assembling...it has been waiting for about 5 years. Maybe now it will happen.

Two of my machines are set up here, and I still have another at home. And on the right wall, a smaller 48" design wall. My sister found this Elna (made in Switzerland!) on the side of the road, I kid you not, and it works just great, so it came along to join the fun.

How have I managed to collect so many rotary cutters, scissors, pins and needles? Also on the table are two mats and oodles of rulers and templates. We already have a good supply of fabric and more is waiting to be hauled upstairs.
This room is on the third floor, no elevator! So it's a good thing we have enough sewing machines to get us started.
Who is the us of which I speak? So far I know of two others in the church who showed a great deal of interest, and I am thinking that once we announce this facility, folks will come out of the woodwork. If you build it, they will come. I hope.

Bosna #8

Bosna #8

Hand dyed and commercial cottons, 57x53" machine pieced and machine quilted.

Lime green, teal, red-orange, yellow and lavender...how can I make a quilt without these colors? But now I added black, gray and white. O. K. I feel the whoosh of the combo.

Lots of quilting, taking up my days. I am not complaining. It was fun.