Loaves and stitches

Thanks to all of you who helped me make a decision regarding which backing to go on my Coxcomb and Currants quilt. It really helped me make up my mind. This is the Windham bird toile that I thought would be good but after thinking about shadowing and other things, I decided it would be better saved for another quilt.

I had trouble getting a suitably off white wide back but ended up with this Moda Muslin in warm white. It's a 200 thread count, a bit of a higher thread count than what I'd prefer for hand quilting but it'll do.

As you can see I have basted the quilt and started some hand quilting. You might have to click the photo to see it better.

This won't be done in a hurry, I'm quilting 1/4 inch straight lines in the background. I have to pace myself since after a few evenings of quilting, I was waking in the night with tingling, numb hands. It's being done in the hoop so there's a lot of wrangling happening when going around the circles.

What else has been going on, well I've had some lovely mail from Sarah over at Kit-Bik Quilts. I won her  awesome giveaway of  lots of yummy fabrics including Liberty lawn scraps, taupe Japanese fabrics and Denyse Schmidt's. Thanks Sarah!!

Skip the rest of the post if you want, it's all about my bread making. Ive been baking a whole heap of bread, mostly sourdough and the starter is going so well that I decided to rename bubbles. What a prissy name anyway. He shall now be called Chuck after Chuck Norris cause he's just as strong.

I've turned into a major bread head and I've started to experiment a bit more. This one is spelt and quinoa flakes. Makes me feel healthy just saying it. The ancient grains are making a big comeback, have you noticed?

I make up my own formulas and recipes now and love this fig and walnut loaf with a bit of honey, wholemeal flour and cinnamon. It's delicious with cheese.

I made two different Tuscan schiaccatas with some dried yeast yesterday.

Buffalo mozzarella, basil and sweet cherry tomatoes. I like it better than pizza.

The seedless grape with raw sugar and olive oil, otherwise known as schiacciata con l'uva.

thanks for visiting, till next time, Janet