Sunday, November 17, 2013

A finished quilt and some bread baking


This is the quilt I started for Rebekah & Alex before their wedding.  She chose the fabric and it is a mixture of two lines from Bonnie & Camille for Moda called "Marmalade" (you'll love this one Anne!) and "vintage modern".  She also chose the design as she wanted something very simple (that's Bekah's taste).  I put it aside for a while with the upheaval of moving her stuff out and getting my sewing room moved upstairs.  But once that was done there was no excuse and I got stuck in again.


This is a large quilt and measures 95" x 95" and is made for a queen size bed as shown here on our bed.  It was way too big for me to quilt on my little sewing machine so I took it to the quilter and chose this scroll type design which is actually called "surf" (is that appropriate for our family or what?!)


I love the soft flow of the design and am very pleased with how it turned out.  I am trying to come up with a label for it.  In the past I have sewn on a label with a personal message in a permanent washable marker, but the time and money put into this quilt deserves something more and I don't know quite what to do. It also has a white plain background so I don't want to do something which will stand out too much.  Any suggestions from any quilters out there?


For our 32 years of married life we have tried to have some food storage put away in case of emergencies and use and rotate it.


For this reason, we store what we eat.




We have a large supply of wheat and basics as well as day to day food.


Throughout the years we have "inherited" wheat that has been given as people have moved or downsized.


As you will see here, we are using wheat from as long ago as 1978 (before we even got married!)  Wheat is a wonderful thing to store because if stored properly, it will last indefinitely.  So what do I do with all that wheat you may ask?


Well, I have a wheat grinder and I grind it into flour.


Then use it in my baking. While we don't eat a lot of bread anymore, I still love to bake it.  On Friday I did just that and thought I would take you on a step by step process. The kernels are passed through the grinder


To make this delicious flour.  If you have never smelled freshly ground whole wheat flour you are missing something special. Whole wheat flour has the most nutrition if used right away, so I only grind as much as I need.  If I do grind a little extra I will freeze it as that prolongs the nutritional value.


These little granules are lecithin and I use it in my bread dough. It has many uses but in bread dough it helps the even distribution of ingredients and is an enhancer to the dough.
I buy this in bulk and keep it in my freezer.


I love my Kitchenaid mixer for any baking, but it really comes into its own when making bread. Years back, I used to do all my kneading by hand and it was labour and time intensive.  This little beauty does the majority of the work!


When is comes out of the mixing bowl, I simply divide the dough


Shape it into loaves and let it rise for an hour


Then bake and enjoy the wonderful aroma throughout the house - not to mention the delicious taste!


There is something very rewarding about making bread.  It is a staple of life and being able to provide it for my family has given me great satisfaction over the years.

20 comments:

  1. Wow! what a beautiful quilt. I love the quilted pattern, it's pretty without being "too much"! So far I've quilted mine on my machine, just sticking to simple lines. I tried in the ditch, but wasn't happy with it so usually do something like diagonally through the squares, or either side of the seams. I'd love to try FMQ but haven't been brave enough yet! Labels are tricky aren't they? Could you embroider something neatly in a corner? xx

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    1. Thanks for popping over Debbie. I had thought about a small piece of embroidery in the corner. I just need to brush up on my embroidery skills! I will have a go on some scrap fabric this week I think. I'm with you on the FMQ - after all the hard work and time put into a quilt, it is terrifying to think about "doodling" all over it when you aren't too confident! I have taken a FMQ class and have tried on scraps, but really feel it is not for me. The frustration level is way too high. You need to let go of perfection, and that's not easy!

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  2. Your quilt is beautiful! I have never heard of anyone storing their own wheat and milling it to make flour before making bread (I've heard of making bread, just not the wheat and flour bit!) this is amazing, thank you for sharing. xx

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    1. Thanks Amy. I am really pleased with the quilt. It is so vibrant and youthful looking - perfect for a newly married couple! Glad you enjoyed by tour of bread making.

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  3. Julie, I absolutely adore your quilt! You were right I do love it and the 'marmalade' design would have been perfect for us. I didnt realise you could make a quilt top and have someone quilt it for you! What a brilliant idea! I dont know if anyone does anything like that over here in the UK though.
    I am amazed at your food store! We have so little space that we wouldn't be able to survive for long on what we keep in. I would love to have a pantry (I'm sure you know what I mean by that) that you can walk into with lots of storage. We occasionally bake our own bread, its so much nicer than anything you can buy and I even bought Tony a bread maker for Christmas once but as with most things these days, time is at a premium. One day, maybe when we have retired, I'll get round to doing what I'd like to do but dont have time for. XX

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    1. Thanks Anne. I thought of you when we found the "marmalade" fabric! We are fortunate to have a full basement in our house as with most houses here. We have a family room downstairs, which is where we keep the TV, we have a play area for grandchildren (currently Norah!) and we also have a laundry room which also houses our food storage. I don't know how we'd do it otherwise. However, having said that, we have friends in England who have a food storage without a basement. You just have to be more creative and use every inch of spare space you have (under beds etc). Hope you're having a god weekend. XX

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  4. It is a beautiful quilt. I have often done a cross stitch label for the back of a quilt, using initials or a pretty pattern.

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    1. Oh Elizabeth, what a wonderful idea! I hadn't even thought about that yet it's something I can do. Do you just "frame" it with fabric?

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    2. Yes, you can, or you could jut zig zag the edges neatly nd blanket stitch it on the quilt.

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    3. I have my graph paper and aida cloth ready. I think this is the route I will go. Stay tuned for photos!

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  5. A beautiful quilt indeed - I am sure your final finish will be lovely. Dom is the bread maker in our family and he likes to make simple soda breads by hand. I shall suggest flour grinding to him next time I think!
    Take care
    Best wishes
    Jenny
    PS: I have tried to follow your blog several times but keep getting thrown out for some reason

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    1. Thanks for visiting Jenny. I have no idea why you can't follow my blog. Are you trying on Blooger on Bloglovin'? Your blog is fun by the way. Julie

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  6. What a beautiful quilt, and that's some sore cupboard you've built up there. Lovely blog.

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    1. Thank you Kim. You are a talented knitter. I know basic knitting stitches but have done little else with it. I am determined to try some knitted dishcloths soon. I have needles and yarn at the ready. There are so many projects in my head at the moment - but so little time! I look forward to browsing your blog some more.

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  7. Your quilt is lovely, I use all of Bonnie & Camille's collections, I have just a few tiny bits of Bliss left and am loath to use them. I make our bread but have never ground wheat. I keep a full larder, I have been snowed in a few times, even in the UK it happens, and like to be prepared. During summer I make sure that everything is rotated and by November my stores are full. I keep 4 pints of milk in the freezer and a stock of dried. If it was not for dairy and the veg I do not grow we could live well for at least 6 months without shopping.

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    1. Hi again Pam. Sounds like you are prepared. It is a good feeling to know you could survive in an emergency. Years back we had an ice storm in Ottawa which brought power lines down in some areas and there was a rush on bread and dairy at the supermarkets. We had power, but our friends with their three kids weren't so lucky. Offices and schools all closed for a few days due to the danger of falling ice so our friends moved in with us we had a great time. I made homemade bread and pizza and we played games. Our kids still look back on that time with such fondness. One thing I would like to have is a wood stove as it gets really cold here in winter. That is something on our list for sure!

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  8. Hi Julie, thank you so much for your kind comment on my blog. I haven't quilted the quilt on the photo but the one I am doing at the moment is, its taking me a long time to do it but I'm enjoying it. Love your quilt on this post its so colourful and cosy looking. xx

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  9. I have quilted a few myself, but this one was so large that there was no way I was going to attempt to put it through my machine - the binding was enough!! It cost a fortune to have it long arm quilted, but it's a wedding gift and an heirloom so I justified it! Your throw really is lovely Jill. Please post photos of the one you are working on at the moment when it's finished. It's always good to see other people's work. Have a lovely day.

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  10. What a wonderful quilt. And I love the idea of grinding your own wheat, it must taste lovely when it's so fresh.

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    1. Thank you CJ and thanks for stopping by. I am enjoying reading your blog. I like the look of the bread book you got your hands on - your rolls look really tempting! There is nothing like bread fresh from the oven!

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