30 April, 2020

Experiments

Sourdough fail - 1st attempt
I spent most of the day in the kitchen yesterday working through the process that was supposed to yield two round loaves of sourdough bread. It was experiment; and, as I recall from high school Chemistry class, some experiments fail. This was one of those. Going back and reviewing all of the elements has led me to the conclusion that the starter isn't quite ripe enough, it didn't produce enough leavening. Back to the beginning. Mr. Goodneedle did compliment the flavor, that's something. But, the end result was supposed to be more like this ↓
and less like a pancake.I'm not giving up, oh, no! When I set my mind to something I will see it through. Let's hope that there's enough flour in the stores to supply my current forays into experimentation.
I don't usually share any customer quilts here but this one has kept me very, very busy and I'm pleased with the result; I wanted you to see it. This was a collection of hand embroideries. The owner wanted an all-over crosshatch for texture but didn't want the embroidered blocks to be lost behind thread. I proposed using a clear mono-filament on top with normal bobbin thread on the back. 
This took some time (what else do any of us have right now?) to accomplish, I'm not sure that I've ever done this much crosshatching on one quilt before; I must say, though, that the outcome is wonderful. If you've ever quilted with MonoPoly you know it's almost like quilting with a human hair, it's that fine. I shared the photo above in my last post, the crosshatching doesn't take away from the block's embroidery.
I loaded YAGOF* on the rails yesterday, this one will go much, much faster. I'm quilting Stars and Loops and should be able to knock this one out in a day and get the binding on. Fingers crossed. 
Early morning visitors, I count four here but it was a herd of six. Just on the edge of the woods beyond my perennial garden. I can't apply deer repellent spray until the wet weather clears, undoubtedly they're after my Hosta and thinking "would you please go inside, we're hungry!". 

Adapting in an upside-down 🙃world:  I'm so impressed to continue seeing creative and innovative ways that people are choosing to spend their quarantined time at home. It's times like these that really bring out the best in us; when we have to dig deeper, pull harder, and come up with solutions to problems or situations we wouldn't have dreamed of just a few short months ago. 
What else could have possibly driven me into the kitchen to perform experiments with simple ingredients that I happen to have on hand? Don't throw in the towel; hang in there-- I am!

"Since we have such a hope, we are very bold..." 2 Corinthians 3:12
Life is Good!

*You're A Grand Old Flag

4 comments:

straythreads said...

That bread looked delicious. I had a long chat with a nutritionist about flour specifically about best flour for rustic pizza dough, mix it up and let sit on countertop for 12-18 hours kind of recipe she said all purpose flour was as good as 000 bread flour and better than high gluten bread flour. Maybe it didn’t rise as much because of the flour as the starter.
Beautiful job on the quilting
Thanks for your frequent comments stay safe and busy at home

cityquilter grace said...

well at least it tasted good...so often they don't turn out like the pictures...lol...and i have one of those thread pics and they are invaluable...beautiful cross hatching too

KaHolly said...

Hello, hello! Glad you’re doing well and trying new things. Enjoyed seeing the customer quilts you are working on. That first one certainly represents a lot of loving stitches by the maker! Hugs!

Tanya said...

Love that embroidery quilt quilting that you did! I have made that quilt too and didn't know what to about quilting it... It is up on my living room wall now and I see that I just stitched in the ditch around the blocks... If I get inspired I may add crosshatching like you've done! (And I really like the colors your friend used in her quilt. Mine is bright.)