Cross Quilt Flimsy Progress

This pattern is actually called a "Plus" quilt, but my purpose for it is to become a prayer quilt for my niece, so I am terming it a "Cross" quilt. The front (flimsy) is finally pieced, and I am awaiting inspiration for a border. The pattern I (mostly) followed is Plus Quilt by Kelly at Jeliquilts. I love her patterns!

I am too embarrassed to tell you how long it took to choose fabrics and how many times I pulled fabrics only to put them away and start all over. I am hoping to finish it up by next week and mail it to my niece. I'll post the final result with more details!

Buddy just wants me to be done with it so he can go rest in his "TV" chair.

Tuesday Archives - Harvest Button Napkin Rings

Today's theme for Val's Quilting Studio Tuesday Archives linky party is "Buttons", and the photo above shows the Modge-Podged buttons I made for some crocheted napkin rings last November. My original post is HERE.

The napkin rings were a gift for a blogging friend, and they were the first crochet project I had attempted in years!

Be sure and click on Val's link below to check out archived goodies from other bloggers!

Country White Bread

I got a message from my son yesterday "you think I could bribe you into baking a loaf of your famous white bread sometime?" Well heck yeah! Anytime my kids want something of "Mommy's", I will deliver!

A few years ago I bought The Panera Bread Cookbook, and in spite of the fact that many of the reviewers claim the bread recipes are not Panera Bread recipes, the ones that are included are excellent. With the exception of the sourdough bread recipes, each bread recipe uses the same base. The method is a different one than my other bread recipes and involves creating a starter first. Since the starter only ferments for 30 minutes, it is not a lengthy process and always results in a delicious bread. Wheat Bread with Bacon and Onion (I added cheese too) is perfect for sandwiches, and Honey Wheat Bread is excellent toasted.

I used a standard 8x4 loaf pan for one, and it made a perfectly shaped loaf (pictured above). For the other I used a shallow glass baking pan, and the loaf is squatty; but my son doesn't care how they look!

I made one change in the recipe - I used vegetable oil instead of vegetable shortening.

Country White Bread
adapted from The Panera Bread Cookbook

Starter
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup unbleached flour

Dough
3/4 cup warm water
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
4-3/4 cups unbleached flour
1 tablespoon salt

To create starter, combine water and yeast in medium bowl. Stir to dissolve yeast fully. Add flour and stir until ingredients are fully incorporated. Cover with cloth and ferment at room temperature for 30 minutes.

For dough, combine water, honey, and yeast in bowl of stand mixer. Stir to dissolve yeast fully. Add oil, flour, salt, and fermented starter. Mix on low speed until dough is fully developed. (I switched to the dough hook for about 5 minutes.) Remove dough from mixing bowl.

Divide dough into two pieces weighing about 22 ounces each. Form each into smooth ball. Place dough pieces on counter or proofing basket and cover with warm, damp cloth. Rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Prepare 2 loaf pans by greasing with shortening. Form dough into loaf shapes and place in pans. Cover with warm, damp cloth. Let rest at room temperature 30 minutes.

In the meantime preheat oven to 400ºF. Bake loaves 30 - 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. (I baked at 375ºF in my convection oven, and reduced to 350ºF after 20 minutes, but that's just me and my oven!)

Remove bread from oven, remove loaves from pan, place on cooling rack, and let cool about 30 minutes.

Tuesday Archives - Key Lime Butterfly

Val at Val's Quilting Studio has a weekly linky party called Tuesday Archives, a linky party featuring your old, archived quilting or sewing posts. The lovely Bernie at Needle and Foot mentioned it to me in one of her comments, and I think it is such a great idea! Val chooses a different theme each week, and today's theme is Butterflies.

I believe that most of the folks that participate simply link to their old post, but since my archived post is on an old blog, I decided to just repeat a portion of it here on this blog. You can read the post in its entirety here on The Katy Rose.

I think it's good to look back on old posts, especially when I see something I used to do that I should revive. Because I was new to quilting I added "Things I've Learned" to the posts about my finishes, and it was very helpful in my learning process.

Side note #1: I've had other blogs prior to this one! My former blogs are For Goodness Sake, a catering blog started in Oklahoma, Oklahoma Peach Fuzz which transitioned into The Katy Rose when we moved from Oklahoma to Katy, TX, and my present blog, started when we moved north of Katy.
Side note #2: The quilt in this post is the only quilt I've sold!
Side note #3: The paper-piecing class I mention in my old post? Sadly I un-enrolled and never took it!

Enjoy!

Key Lime Butterfly Complete - Things I've Learned

June 17, 2013

The vintage Schnibbles from my quilt-along is finished. I added the border of the white fabric with script, and the black and white hexagon patterned binding made the other fabrics pop.

The back is pieced with vertical panels of leftover fabric along with a coordinating swirl fabric.

The final size is 30-1/2 by 30-1/2 inches.

I finally worked up the courage to free motion quilt, and after all was said and done, I am pleased with the way it turned out. I cut a template for a butterfly design, marked it on each block with a Frixion erasable pen, and used my darning foot to stitch. There was a bit of pesky "eye-lashing", but only on the back. I did straight line quilting on the lime green bordering the blocks. I added a butterfly "body" with one of the embroidery stitches on my Janome.

Things I've Learned:

I learned that joining a quilt-along gives me the discipline to complete a pattern from start to finish with a deadline. No one pressures me but myself. On the day of the "parade", it is not only fun to see the variations but also to "meet" other bloggers and read their ideas and tips. I almost didn't do this month's Schnibble, and I'm so glad I decided to do it.

I learned that I can overcome any fear in quilting. Free motion quilting should have been fun for me, and up until this project, it wasn't. I finally began to get into a rhythm and feel the instant gratification and pleasure that comes from quilting a quilt. This feeling of "I can do it!" prompted me to enroll in a paper piecing class at my LQS.

I learned that even though I try not to be too hard on myself, perfect points are still very important to me. I found this tutorial about a positioning pin on Connecting Threads, and it worked!

Check out other interesting archived posts at Val's by clicking on the link below!

Baby Girl Pillow

With a few scraps left over from the baby quilt and bunting for our soon-to-be-born granddaughter (anticipated date April 11, I decided to make a last minute pillow the night before my daughter's baby shower!

I had nothing more than an idea for a fussy-cut center block, so I just put it together using fabrics from the original quilt.

My son-in-law painted the nursery a soft gray, so I thought the Simply Simple Silver (Art Gallery "Littlest" collection) would make a nice background to the fussy-cut block.

I had almost enough Ditsy Radiance (NouvElle collection by Pat Bravo)for the backing, so I supplemented with a Grunge Basic and made a simple envelope-style back. You can tell by the gap it is really stuffed!

Quilting was stitch-in-the-ditch for the fussy-cut block and following the "waves" and straight vertical stitching for the remainder. (Why do I only notice the loose threads when I'm posting the photo?)

All the "Grandma handmades" prior to wrapping.

I got it all stuffed into one bag

Gifts to our daughter and son-in-law from Mom and Dad

I made a little card for the top of one gift with more fussy-cuts and a square antique lace doily

My daughter and me at the shower

There was a "name reveal" during the shower, and I look forward to sharing that with you! Now I can make the label for the quilt and sew it on while I am staying with my daughter after Baby Girl is born.

Linking to Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

The Case of the Disappearing 4-Patch

This really is a post about a Disappearing 4-Patch block, but I couldn't resist making a mystery out of it by taking liberties with the cover of The Secret of the Old Clock! I discovered Nancy Drew books when I was 10, and my friends and I pretended to be the characters in the mysteries. I sold chicken eggs to buy the newest books at the tiny bookstore in my small town. And to this day I get a thrill of excitement when I see those old book covers. My favorites were The Password to Larkspur Lane and The Whispering Statue.

Since I first started quilting I've been fascinated with "disappearing" 4-patch, 9-patch, and 16-patch blocks and their many variations, so this "disappearing 4-patch with a twist" on Pinterest was hard to resist. I found the tutorial on the blog of What Comes Next?. I decided to try my own tutorial, but you can refer to the original tutorial if you get confused. Click on the pictures for a closer look.

Contrasting colors work best. In keeping with the "mystery" theme, I chose two light and two dark 5-inch charm squares from Moda's Get A Clue With Nancy Drew collection.

Sew 4-patch together as normal

Place a mark 2 inches from each of the 4 corners

Using the marks as a guide, place ruler as indicated and make diagonal cuts as pictured.

A rotating cutting board is helpful!

The cuts will yield pieces like this

Here is where the "twist" comes into play:

In the upper right corner, switch "a" with "b"

In the lower left corner switch "c" with "d"

Now take the center piece and give it a turn

When the "twists" are completed, your sections will look like this

Each 3-piece section is sewn together

The three sections are sewn together, matching the center seams

Trim the block

My block finished at 8 inches square

You can use different sizes of squares and also make your diagonal cuts at measurements other than 2 inches. The variations are endless!


I am sharing this post with Val's Quilting Archives and Life a Colorful Life Really Random Thursday.