Rainbow Scrap Challenge Squares in Aqua

Some aqua selvages

Goal number nine on my July list was to make the squares in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month which is aqua. 

A few more aqua selvages

I pulled my aqua selvages--there were more than I remembered. I selected enough to make four sets of four squares.

Four sets of completed squares

Laying out the selvages always takes time. I glue baste them, press them and then stitch next to the selvage edge. This time, I noted how long it took me from selecting the selvages to stitching the edges. It took me about two hours.

  

The Farm Quilt--A Finish!--post 7

Separating the layers to process the scraps

Goal number five on my July list was to process the scraps from making The Farm quilt. I patiently use Jack, my seam ripper, to remove any stitching in the trimmed pieces. I layout the batting and stitch the pieces together. I generally butt the edges together and zig zag the edges together. I'll use this "pieced" batting in small projects. Sometimes, the pieced sections end up large enough to be used in larger projects. 

Batting pieced for the next project 

Jack also helps me remove the stitches from any pieced fabrics used in the quilt front and/or back.  I cut the pieces into useable segments and put them in their prospective baggies. I file according to size and color. I save scraps that are at least three quarters of an inch wide by two and a half inches tall to five inch strips.

Strings, 1 1/2", 2 1/2", 3 1/2" and 5" strips

Goal number four on my July list was to document the finish of The Farm quilt.  In my previous post regarding this subject, I had finished quilting the top. I figure it took me about 84 hours to quilt, bind, label and add the sleeve. I will be gifting it to my granddaughter late fall or late winter.

View of the back and front

It feels great to have finished this project! My granddaughter loves animals. She will appreciate the cats on this label!

Label

If you want the history on this project, the previous posts are: The Farm Quilt and Update-- Post 6; Farm Quilting Progress--post 5; Farm Quilt Progress--post 4; Churn Dash Is A Top and There Is A Pieced Back--post 3; Churn Dash Quilt Progress--post 2; Grand Kid Visit-Churn Dash Quilt--post 1. May 16, 2021 or post one was our initial post about this project. 

Finished front

I used 10 3/4 yards of fabrics from my stash. This makes a total of 1 1/4 yards of fabrics used since the beginning of the year. Fabric purchased since my self imposed hopping ban in February is at 16 yards. I need to continue quilting to end up with more finishes!

I'm linking to Alycia at Finished or Not Friday, Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilting and Cynthia at Oh Scrap.

Cataract Surgery and Embroidery Software Lesson

Leaf design for a jacket front

July 1, I had cataract surgery on my right eye. Of all the surgeries I have had, this was the one I was concerned about having. Eyesight is such a necessary part of life!

Christmas tree with berries

We left home at 9am and didn't return until after 4:30pm. There was a general delay because a surgery or two went over the 15 minute mark. I was okay with the extra wait. If my eye needed a little extra attention, I'd want the surgeon to take the time to attend to the issue. After waiting an hour and a half for the surgery--the paperwork says to plan on two hours, I had a chat with my husband. He, of course, thought I was finished, so taking the time to let him know is I was still in the queue was good.  If I hadn't been out at two hours and five minutes, he would have been asking what was happening!

Watermelon for a placemat

A few minutes after I had returned to the waiting area, the surgeon moved through the area checking everyone's eye. She made a notation on a piece of tape on each of our foreheads. From there, we each met the anesthesiologist. I chose to have my eye deadened as I couldn't imagine holding my eye still while the surgeon removed the cataract and replaced the lens. The deadening process was painful. Not kidney stone painful; but, close. The needle insertion wasn't bad. It was the contents of the plunger going into my eye that hurt. The anesthesiologist said the worst pain was over and she was right. Getting our eyes ready for the surgeon happened about 15 minutes before the surgeon was ready for each of us.

I learned that it was a slow day with 29 surgeries. I can't imagine doing the same surgery 29 times in a day, let alone doing it day after day! Twenty-nine seemed like a full day to me! The surgeon operated out of two rooms. When she was in one room, staff were cleaning and prepping the other room for the next patient. The staff stayed with their assigned room. 

Flower with filler stitches  

When the room was ready, they brought in the patient to get ready for the surgeon. The surgeon entered. She put on fresh gloves,  gown and mask.  There were at least two other staff in the room. 

The surgeon doesn't say much. The staff must be used to her terms and approach. A nod, a word is all they need from her for them to retired the object that she requested. I found the position my head needed to be in was painful after about 15 minutes. I developed quite a headache before the surgery ended. I think the positioning aggravated the previous car accident injuries of my neck/spine. When she removed the cataract, I was amazed at how bright the light seemed. 

Flower stitched as a postcard

She took quite a bit of time in the removal. There were some actual conversations when it came time to place the lens. She placed it several times. Every time there was movement, it made me feel queasy. No way would I have imagined I'd be wanting to vomit during this surgery! I barely made it. Once she had positioned the lens to her satisfaction, the nausea stopped.

She said that when she lifted the last corner of the cataract from the sac or the lens capsule, the sac tore. She wasn't able to insert the lens into the capsule as she normally does. Instead, my lens capsule created a "hammock" for my new lens. My session lasted about 20 minutes plus the 10-15 minutes of prep time.

Because of the tear, I "got" to return three hours later to have my eye rechecked. The surgeon was concerned about my eye pressure and the stability of the lens. Both were good. Trying to use my eye was another story. I was seeing double; the view was also "slanted," The effect it had on me was . . .nausea. I had no idea my eye could cause me nausea! 

Staff taped my eye closed to give it more time to "wake up." Several hours later, the double vision and odd angle views were in my past. Looking with that eye was amazing. I couldn't believe how bright the sky and grass were. I looked at our dog and was shocked at how iridescent white she was! 

The day after appointment went well. I was told the lens was perfectly centered and that my eye was "still waking up" from surgery. The pupil was still a bit dilated. 

I was scheduled to have surgery on my left eye a week later; but, I came down with COVID and have spent the last ten days laying in bed. I'm on the mend. I tested negative yesterday. Thankfully, my husband has remained COVID free. I'm glad as this is a nasty bug.

I was able to reschedule surgery on my left eye at the end of the month. I hope every aspect of the next surgery is boring! Writing about my surgery was goal number 11 on my July list.

Goal number one on my July list was to finish the June software lesson. I did complete the lesson and the challenge. I liked learning about different options to automatically digitize a drawing for embroidery. I didn't stitch the January lesson. Perhaps, I can do that next month when I'm not recovering from COVID!

Indigo Way from my group

Blog reader Nancy wrote a comment that she would like to see the quilts/projects that the group made during the Bonnie Hunter Indigo Way mystery that ran from October 2023-January 2024. There were about 32 people from my guild who participated. Fifteen people sent me photos of their progress.

First top--Anne

Second top--Anne

Anne stitched two tops that she donated to the Liberty Belles which is a small group that makes and donates quilts to veterans in the Vancouver, Washington area. She chose not to make the triangles that Bonnie used in her final border.

Kinda Sorta Bonnie Hunter

Pat made fewer blocks and in her own color way. She called it Kinda Sorta Bonnie Hunter and she donated her top to Linus. A kid will love this as a finished quilt!

First top--Duane

Second top--Duane

Third top--Daune

Daune made three tops that she donated to the Clark County Quilters Comfort Quilt group. She used fabrics that she had on hand. It is fun to find Bonnie's clues in a different arrangement!

Close up of Jeff's center

Almost each Friday night since the mystery project began, Jeff joined the guild Sit and Sew group to work on his project. This past week, his plan was to spend more time on the project to make more progress toward the finish line. 

He ran out of the dark red fabric and was concerned the red he found was too bright. Now, however, he likes the sparkle it gives the project. He is a beginner quilter and was concerned about his points!

Jeff's layout with more blocks to stitch

Friday, he shared that he had completed all the "B" blocks and half blocks. Then he shared a photo his layout which looks great. 

He has even begun sewing rows together! He shared a photo of his points. . .all intact!

Corrie's clues ready for assembly

Corrie completed all the clues and is working on assembling the parts.

Eileen's blue fabrics from her stash

A sampling of Eileen's red fabrics

One more view of Eileen's blue fabrics

Eileen combed her stash for all of her fabrics. Her son became ill during the project. Unfortunately, she lost him. She is beginning to pull out this project again to work on it.

Linda might make an alternate layout

Then again, Linda might do what Bonnie did

Linda is considering to make an alternate layout; but, then again, she might end up choosing the layout that Bonnie gave us. 

Kathy's project quilted and ready for binding

Kathy has a finish. She has made a number of Bonnie quilts and said she used fabrics from past projects in this mystery.

Sharleen's beginning

From the beginning, Sharleen planned to use cheddar instead of the red in her project. She had some indigo fabrics in her stash but, collected a few more.

Alvera's combination of Judy and Bonnie

From the beginning, Alvera planned to fold the parts of Bonnie's mystery around a center she had made earlier that was a Judy Niemeyer pattern. The "center" was the size of a wall hanging which wasn't useable for Alvera. She chose her fabrics based on the fabrics she used in the center. It grew large enough to fit beautifully on a king size bed.

Sue's top with polka dot border

This was the first mystery that Sue had participated. She had the polka dot fabric in her stash. She was glad that for her first time, she was glad she went with half of the blocks.

Sharon's first mystery top results

Sharon appreciated the different methods of creating the units. She gained so much knowledge in organization and persistence!

Nancy's fabric pull from stash

Nancy's progress on the clues

Nancy continues to make progress on her project too. She said it was hard to pull so many fabrics together to begin the project.

Terry's center

Terry--Me, the writer of this post. . .I'm planning to make progress on this project this month. I have the center pieced.

First top--Shannon

Second top--Shannon

Third top--Shannon

Shannon completed three tops. The top one she plans to finish for herself and the other two she plans to gift. 

There will be a class for people to enter their finished quilts in the quilt show next spring. I shared many times with the group that while I had a goal of getting this one finished before the next mystery started, if I didn't, I'd still keep it where I could see it so I could continue working on it. 

In the end, people learned something while participating. They liked that it is still okay that they are working on their project even though the mystery ended in January. I'm linking to Alycia at Finished Friday or Not; Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilting and Cynthia at Oh Scrap.

Documenting my group's progress was goal number 14 on my July list.

Sourdough Baking--A non quilt related post

Disclaimer: This post contains no quilt related information!

The cookbook

Goal number 10 on my July list was to document the recipes I've made from the "Artisan Sourdough Made Simple" cookbook by Emilie Raffa. Heidi, from my Mystery Mavens group, recommended this cookbook several times. After seeing some of her photos on Facebook of the recipes she made, I decided I would check it out.

Checking it out is exactly what I did. . .from the library! I had to wait almost a month before it was my turn because it is a popular book! If someone recommends a cookbook, I like to check to see if the library has it. I can read it and note how many recipes I like and would make. I can also make some of the recipes to see if they are as good as they sounded!

When I was a kid, my grandmother baked a lot with sourdough. She gave me starter when I went off to an apartment as a junior in college. I managed to keep it mostly going for many years. Early in the process there were a couple times when I forgot to save some and baked all the starter. Lucky for me, she was there to replenish me!

About three years ago, I did lose my starter. Somehow, I contaminated it. It actually developed mold! Yuck! I was sad because the people I had given starter, hadn't kept there starter going so I was out of luck. Then, my friend Alvera offered me a start of hers. This was how I came into the starter I currently have.

Over the last almost fifty years, I've baked my starter into biscuits, pizza dough, muffins, English muffins, bread, waffles and tons of pancakes. It took a lot of affirmative reviews for me to add another cookbook to my shelf! 

Every Day Sourdough

The first recipe I made was the first recipe in the book. I figured why not bake my way through the book! Every Day Sourdough had a super chewy crust because it is actually baked on the oven rack sans a pan a few minutes. We liked it.

High-Hydration Sourdough turned out similarly to Every Day Sourdough. I likely handled the dough too much to get the big air bubbles which when baked gives the bread large holes. Again, we liked it; but decided that moving forward, we'd like a more tender crust. For future recipes, I baked the bread at a little lower temperature for a little longer time and left the bread in the pan.

Stuffed Croque Monsieur Focaccia with Ricotta and Swiss

Stuffed Croque Monsieur Focaccia with Ricotta and Swiss was a later recipe in the book. The recipe sounded delicious. We decided that we would pass on making it again. As a non dairy enthusiast (dairy upsets my stomach), we don't purchase ricotta cheese. The Swiss cheese set up quickly as it cooled. I anticipated eating a gooey serving; but, it wasn't gooey.

I next baked Dill with White Cheddar except that I only had yellow cheddar; but, it was a great loaf. I didn't snap a photo of it though! At this point, I decided that I would purchase the cookbook. Heidi had recommended purchasing a spiral bound edition which was a great recommendation. I purchased my copy through an online company named, Lay It Flat. Spiral bound is more expensive than the traditional glued spine; but, worth the cost because the page really does lay flat.

Olive, Thyme and Parmesan 

Olive bread is a favorite of mine so when I read that recipe, I knew I'd be making it. I used regular black olives and dried thyme because that was what I had on hand. Definitely, I'll bake this loaf again. 

Sourdough Key Lime Ricotta Cookies

Sourdough Key Lime Ricotta Cookies enticed me because wrapping my head around using sourdough in cookies was a big leap! These were easy to bake. Because I transported the cookies to share with my small group, I didn't add the lime icing. They were soft and delicious! I froze the leftovers. Like all the sourdough recipes, they were best eaten the day that I baked them. I would make these again.

Sourdough Zeppoles

Because I had half a container remaining of the ricotta, I next made deep fried the Sourdough Zeppoles. I shared these with the Sew Happy group. They were good reheated in the microwave for a few seconds. They reminded me of the times I ate Indian Fry Bread that was made on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation that is located in Central Oregon near Madras. I'll likely not make these again; but, only because they are deep fried. I don't deep fry often enough to get the most out of the oil.

Skillet Greek Yogurt Flatbreads

My friend Theresa was coming over one afternoon and asked if I would have hummus on hand. She likes my hummus recipe and we have made it together so she knows the secrets. I decided I would make the flat bread recipe to accompany our lunch. These were delicious. Although, if I were serving a crowd, I'd be using two pans to cook them. Best eaten warm; but, good the next day when heated a few seconds in the microwave.

Soft Honey Whole Wheat loaf

Next I baked a loaf of bread. Early in our marriage, I baked all of our bread. I made a lot of sourdough bread in those days. This loaf was tender and light. Although, I need a bigger loaf pan. I'd bake it again.

Ciabatta

The last recipe I made was Ciabatta. This was the easiest of all the recipes because I used the dough hook on my mixer to combine the ingredients. This was the stickiest dough that I have encountered.I was glad I had a dough scrapper to help me form the loaves. These baked wonderfully and were also delicious.

Overall, there is little kneading of the bread dough. The recipes are well written and easy to follow. Of the ten recipes I've tried, only one recipes was a one and done. The author shares many helpful tips about shaping and producing a good loaf of bread so in the end, I'm happy with my purchase.

When it cools off in a few days, I'm going to bake some crackers. Stay tuned for another round of photos as I bake my way through more recipes! If you would like to order the book, check out Lay It Flat. If you use the discount code, TERRY65832, you can get 15% off of your order. I'll also receive a little something back as an affiliate. 

Pieced Back for Transparency--post 5

 

Cutting the leftover fabrics into rectangles

Goal number 13 on my July list was to document the pieced back that I made for the Transparency quilt. First, I cut the leftover fabric into rectangles. 

Auditioning the pieces on the design wall.

I placed all of the pieces on the design wall to view all of the available scraps. Next, I began piecing the smaller pieces together. I try to put the smaller pieces toward the inside of the quilt back. 

Pieced sections hanging out on the design wall

I sewed the fabrics together with a 3/8 inch seam allowance. I pressed the seams open to reduce  the amount of bulk when quilting. After I pieced a section together, I returned it to the design wall. When the top was smaller, the lime green fabric would have been large enough for the backing. After I extended the top, I didn't have enough of the green. I did use it to sash the leftover pieced back.

Checking the back size

When I think I've a section that is about the correct length, I lay it on the top to check. Then I continue piecing sections until I have completed the back. As I piece, I also square up the sections as I stitch. In the photo above, I inserted the '"legend" which is the second pieced section.

Pieced sections 

Piecing a back, while rewarding in the number of scraps that can be inserted into a back, takes time.  I do like how a pieced back can make a quilt two sided! 

Finished back 61 inches x 67 inches

I like how this back looks. I love that the remaining scraps are small and few! I've sandwiched this back with the Transparency top and some 80/20 batting. I have an idea of how I will quilt it.

Linking to Alycia at Finished or Not) Friday; Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts; and Cynthia at Oh Scrap,

Leftover scraps: mostly strings!