Thanks for stopping by my little piece of serenity. I’m a Tennessee transplant who loves to quilt, sew and cross stitch. I also love reading, gardening and baking. I share my daily life with 2 dachshunds, a tortoiseshell cat and a husband who puts up with all my crazy ideas. In addition, I have 3 grown children and 4 grandkids who I treasure more than anything.
Perfectly Pieced: Lattice Block Pillow
2 weeks ago
It's funny how grandchildren can assist us in changing our minds on what we are going to do for any given thing. I was planning on sending money for Christmas this year, as who doesn't want money? That was until my daughter proceeds to tell me that my grandkids have put in for cuddle blankets from Nana. Cuddle blankets - are you crazy? I know when they ask for something, it means they want me to make from scratch as that way they get a one of a kind item. Jackson especially has requested many of these over the years and takes great pride in letting his friends know that he has the only one because his Nana made it and NO ONE has one like it or can get one. It makes a Nana's heart go thumb thumb when I know they like my "special" handmade "one of a kind" items.
Now the big decision was to decide on what I would do. Mind you I have 3 grandkids that I would now have to accommodate as I am one of those that gives all the same number of gifts regardless if they each would know what the other got or how many boxes to open. In the case of my Louisiana grandkids there are two that live in the same house so they know what I do.
Anyway, I decided to use cuddle fabric aka minky for the backs of the blankets and a one piece fabric for the front as opposed to piecing the front like I do on my quilts. At first I wasn't going to add batting as I didn't want the blankets to be too thick, but after researching on the minky (cuddle) fabric I decided to go ahead and put the batting in there.
For my granddaughter who likes Stitch, I chose a fabric with both Stitch and Lola with a Christmas background. I used a gray for the backing piece and a red for the binding to bring out the red in the santa hats. I chose the quilt design, happy flowers, that I got from Urban Elementz.
I was scared to quilt this, but turns out I should not have been scared at all as it seemed pretty easy to quilt and I didn't have any of the issues I read about that others have had. I will take that as a sign these blankets were meant to be and the good Lord knew I did not need to be using Jack the ripper today.
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| Happy Flowers being quilted! |
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| Close Up |
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| What the quilting looks like on cuddle fabric. |
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| Another view! |
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| Another view! |
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| I really like how this looks! |
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| Adding the binding using a wide binding technique! |
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| With binding attached - front and back! |
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| A little AI magic to make it look like its by the tree! |
Now to get on to the next one I have to finish!
During the week of November 18th, Center Street Quilts was doing a sew along for the Atlas Zipper Case that Kristina created. I decided to participate in the sew along as I think the case is adorable. I wanted to make one for myself first and then decide if I want to make them for my grandchildren as I think they would love this case as well. The sew along was only for 5 days, which made it even more inviting, as I knew I could stay on top of the daily sewing and finish in that time frame. In addition to the instructions being on the website, Kristina also provided videos on her Instagram that showed how each step was done. Please click on the link above to go to Center Street Quilts for the pattern.
On the first day I quilted my main and accent fabrics to the lining using my Juki TL2010Q sewing machine. I chose to use fabrics from the Bloomberry line designed by Minki Kim.
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| Main Fabric |
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| Lining for main fabric |
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| Accent fabric |
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| Lining for accent fabric |
Once you finish quilting the main and accent fabrics, you had to cut the pieces down to the size stated in the pattern. Here is what mine looked like at this point.
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| all my pieces including the bindings |
On day 2, I was to sew the binding pieces to the fabrics and vinyl for the left side. It was easier to do than I expected. One tip was to add paper where you were using vinyl to avoid the vinyl not wanting to flow through the needle area. I did that on part of it which my pictures show below, but then I done some sewing with the vinyl without using the paper and luckily had no issues.
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| after the binding and zipper is added |
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| all the pieces left to sew together |
Day 3 was time for the right side to be completed, which again included adding binding to vinyl and fabrics plus adding zippers where needed. 
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| zippers and binding added |
At this point I had both sides done and in the below photo they are just laying there to be sewn on, which is shown in the second photo below. After they are sewn to the main portion of the case you have to round your corners before adding the zipper and binding.
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| time to sew together |
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| need to round those corners |
The zipper is added and then the binding. Tip - on corners take your time. Slow and steady wins the race.
Below are several pictures of the finished case and close up of the quilting. I was very excited to complete this and look forward to making many more. In some pics you might notice the zipper is longer than in other photos. It was after reviewing my pics that I decided to shorten the zipper and glad I did as it looks better being shorter.
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| Completed case with stuff added! |
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| Backside! |
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| Completed case opened up with shortened zipper. |
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| Right Side |
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| Left side |
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| Quilting up close |
I am obsessed with finding every type of recipe possible with sourdough and have now turned to cookie making. I love those cookies that you usually get at Christmas time in a tin can that are buttery soft. Out of the whole tin, they are the only version that I eat.
Well now I don't have to buy the tin anymore as I have found a recipe called, Simple Sourdough Shortbread Cookies at Foragers of Happiness , that is better than the buttery soft cookies in a tin can and the best part is you will know exactly what ingredients you have put into these cookies.
You can click the link above to go directly to the recipe and while there check out some of her other recipes as I see lots of baking in my future.
Once the dough is made, you put it in the refrigerator for at least an hour and as much as 24 hours, so you don't have to bake right away. My husband prefers them right out of the oven, but I liked the ones that were leftover the next day as good as the first day. I made my first batch on the 16th and turned around and made them again on the 19th since we loved them so much.
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| From my first batch on the 16th! |
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| From the 2nd batch on the 19th! |
My journey into sourdough continues with the baking of Sourdough Rolls. The recipe I discovered is called Soft White Rolls with Sourdough Discard by Amy Bakes Bread. The first batch I made was delicious. We could have eaten the entire batch the first night. I have to admit I have made them twice since and neither time have they turned out, but I will not give up, especially since they turned out so good the first time.
They were so light and fluffy and tasted sooooo goooood!!!!
I am in the planning stages of a new quilt for one of my granddaughters who loves mushrooms and I found this adorable pattern designed by Jina Barney of Poppie Cotton named, Mushroom Buttons. The fabric was designed by Jill and Rani of Poppie Cotton and is called Mushroom Blooms. The pattern includes making a dresden plate times 20. I have never made one of these, so I felt like I needed to do a sample version first before diving in on this one as to avoid having issues down the road.
For the sample version, I chose some Lori Holt fabrics from my stash. I picked 4 different designs to make the dresden with and coordinating colors for everything else. Most of these are from the Bee Vintage collection.
In addition to making my first dresden, I also embarked on a new way of doing binding. I've seen several people doing tutorials for wide binding and decided to try that too. The one above is 3/4" wide.
Another first was using my Juki TL2010Q to free motion the quilting. I didn't want to quilt over the dresden itself, so I just free motioned in the white space. For a first timer, I think it turned out okay. I admit me and jack spent a lot of time pulling out seams and trying again.
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| Close up of the mushroom! |
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| Close up of the free motion quilting! |
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| backside - this design is so cute |
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| free motion quilting close up on the back |
The great thing about having your own blog is you get to share whatever you want, even if it is out of the norm of what you usually share. Although I love to make quilts, I also love to bake and cook and I do have a recipe section here on the blog where I share some old favorites.
However, today I would like to share a new journey that I started in sourdough making. I have always been intrigued by it, but was always apprehensive and scared to start, but on October 27th I started my first sourdough starter, which I purchased from Sourdough Sparrow. When I decided to start this journey I wasn’t sure where to even begin, so I researched several websites and found lots of recipes and advice and it was the story behind Sourdough Sparrow’s “Eden” that I decided to start my journey with a purchased starter. For their story about “Eden,” please visit their website as it is their story to tell.
My story starts on October 16th when I bought my starter. On the day I received her, I immediately started the rehydration process so I could get her growing. I was so looking forward to making that first boule. That’s what it’s called when you make sourdough in the half circle looking shape.
It would take several days of feeding my starter before I would be able to bake that first loaf. I took those first few days to gather all the supplies I would need as I am not one to start a new endeavor half baked. I usually go all in or nothing.
By the 4th day of the rehydration process my starter was starting to look pretty good. From everything I had read, that bubbly goodness in this pic was what I was supposed to be getting.
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| Ready to turn out and shape. |
However, I would not let that derail me and I pressed on. I had not received all my supplies that I had ordered, so I found a bowl that I could use to put my first boule' in and put in the refrigerator overnight (I didn't take a pic of that).
The next day my boule' would be ready to bake; however, my package didn't come that day (thanks USPS for not delivering as scheduled), so I took the time to go to a local store and buy an enamel cast iron pot as I did not have one and everything I had read, that was what you needed to bake it in.
I'm sure it was probably due to my impatience that my first endeavor did not turn out as I would have liked. Although it was edible, it was not as good as it should have been.
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| The white stuff is flour that I should have removed. |
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| The inside had a nice crumble or so I thought so! |
One of the traditions of sourdough starter is to give it a name. What I had purchased was called "Eden", but that was not what I would end up calling mine. I believe it was on day 3 that the information card from Sourdough Sparrow said I should come up with a name and just out of the blue, I said to my husband, "I think I'm gonna call her Molly." His response was, "that's a good name." At the moment, it didn't ring a bell and I wasn't sure why that name came to mind; however, once he left the room, it was like a slap in the face when it doaned on me that was his little girls name that passed away in 1991 at only a day old. Part of me said I should change it, but another part said no, if he had not wanted to hear her name in our home, he would have said something. I think that name came to mind because God wanted "Molly" to be a part of our home, even if its only a sourdough starter.
Although my first attempt didn't quiet turn out as I thought it should or how I wanted it, I would not be discouraged. Instead I kept feeding "Molly" and said we are going to get this right! In my research, I had found several people that make sourdough bread and I decided to switch up the recipe. In addition, I paid a little more attention to the consistency of my dough. By this time my supplies had also come in, so I was able to put my second boule' in a banneton bowl once I had gone through all the processes of stretching and flipping and all that stuff to the dough. She rested in her banneton bowl overnight looking like the queen she is.
I tossed her out onto parchment paper so I could make the cuts in the top.
Although my first attempt didn't quiet turn out as I thought it should or how I wanted it, I would not be discouraged. Instead I kept feeding "Molly" and said we are going to get this right! In my research, I had found several people that make sourdough bread and I decided to switch up the recipe. In addition, I paid a little more attention to the consistency of my dough. By this time my supplies had also come in, so I was able to put my second boule' in a banneton bowl once I had gone through all the processes of stretching and flipping and all that stuff to the dough. She rested in her banneton bowl overnight looking like the queen she is.
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| She looks so big and beautiful! |
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| Scored her with the lame! |
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| She is beautiful! |
Five days later I made another loaf using the same recipe I used on the second loaf that turned out so good and I swear it was even better.
My husband likes it too. With my discard I have made pancakes and cinnamon rolls. The pancakes were great, the cinnamon rolls still need some more practice on those. As I type this up on the night of November 9th, I am waiting for dough to finish the last rise before I try something else new. If it turns out maybe I will share in another post.
This is the last pic I will share here, which was taken on the 8th showing Molly's bubbly goodness.
If you've ever considered starting your own sourdough journey, I cannot tell you enough that it is so worth it. I am obsessed and wouldn't have it any other way!
Loving my sourdough journey!
