That Didn't Last Long

It's only what? the second or third post? and I'm already bored with daily blog posts, so I don't think this is going to be an ongoing thing. It's kind of like keeping a very public diary, or journal. I'd rather be crafting than blogging anyway, so maybe I'll try and blog weekly??? We'll see.
It was craft day at the Lutheran church today. I had recently tried a dish scrubber made with Red Heart Scrubby Sparkle and I really liked it. It's great for the things like non-stick pans that you shouldn't use a more aggressive scrubber on. It doesn't fall apart readily like those plastic mesh dish scrubbers do. And it can be thrown in the laundry. So I brought along some very yellow Scrubby Sparkle yarn and made another one. 

I hadn't brought a yarn needle with me, so I still need to work the ends in. 
After that, I started working on a current quilt project. I seem to be making a lot of mistakes lately, but more when I'm at the church. Of course, I'm used to working at home by myself, so have few distractions. But at the church, I have lots of people to chat with, view their work and share mine. A great bunch and I enjoy going there, so if it costs me a few more mistakes, that's the price I pay for the socialization. 

I managed to sew the third row on upside down. After rectifying that. I began to assemble the fourth row, only to put two of the blocks together incorrectly. By that time, it was time to pack up and head home, so I will deal with that next week. I've already ripped out the stitches between the two offending blocks. And honestly, the colours in this quilt are much prettier in person. It's more aqua/teal and navy than grey and black. I wish my cell phone camera would exhibit more accurate colours. Sometimes I try to adjust the colours in the photo editor, but I can never seem to get it to what I see in real life. And sometimes, my editing just makes it worse. 
Went out for lunch today with a bunch of friends from my former work. It was a planned event, so I called the restaurant a couple of days ago to request a vegan meal. They gave me a handful of sautéed vegetables and a salad consisting of just leaf lettuce (plus there was one raisin in the bottom of the salad bowl, which I assume was a mistake) drenched in a very sweet balsamic dressing. And when I say "drenched", I mean it. I think there was about a tablespoon of dressing left in the bottom of the bowl when I finished my salad. I said to the friend sitting beside me that I understood why she had asked for her dressing on the side. I was kind of surprised and disappointed. And hungry! The previous time I was there, they gave me rice and some cooked veggies in a tomato sauce of some sort. I don't remember if it was a curry, but it was very tasty and much more substantial than what I had today. Maybe they've got a new cook. I don't feel that they overcharged me for my meal today, however. And I'm not going to stop going to that restaurant. The only time I go there is for these get-togethers and it's probably the best option in town for a crowd that size. And I'm not going to stop getting together with these friends. Maybe I'll sneak in a veggie burger next time. 😂
Now, it's supper time. If I do any crafting this evening, it will be a yarn project that I can work on in my living room. I'm tired and I don't feel I have the brain power to work on the travel bag.

Thread Choices and Bag Progress

 

After trimming the front and back and rounding the corners on the Ultimate Travel Bag, I was rummaging through the pieces to find what came next when I realized I still hadn't done the bag stabilizer sleeve. When was that supposed to be sewn in? I had the impression that it needed to be done after the buttons, but so much time had elapsed since I paused the project in order to purchase buttons that once I got the buttons sewn on, I just skipped to the next stage without watching that whole video. I didn't figure I needed to watch the instructor sew on buttons by machine when I intended to sew them on by hand, and I had forgotten about the sleeve. Fortunately, I hadn't started putting the bag together, aside from the side and zipper strips. So it was still workable to fit the sleeve in. When I made my grandson's laptop carrier bag, the stabilizer sleeve was separate, sewn as a wide tube into which was inserted the stabilizer, and it was then put into the bottom of the bag. But this one is just one side sewn - not a tube - into the bottom of the bag and the stabilizer is to be inserted once the bag is finished. I'm waiting to see how that turns out. And my stabilizer choice is different this time as well. The pattern recommends plexiglass, foam core board or heavy cardboard, as it did for the laptop bag. And I really didn't like any of those options. Plexiglass seems too rigid and heavy - not to mention expensive (not that bag making is cheap). And I also had concerns about how sharp the edges might be and whether it would wear through the fabric. And the other options just didn't seem very durable to me. I opted instead to use plastic canvas. I was going to use that again for the travel bag, but opted instead to try the foam core board. We'll see how that goes. If Damian decides he doesn't like it, I can always replace it with plastic canvas. Personally, I've never worked with foam core board before. 
But back to the sleeve - it had to be finished with a ¼" folded hem on each end, and then stitched into the bottom of the bag with a ⅛' seam along both sides. Since the zipper strip was already in place, I skipped placement markings and just centred it between where I had attached the pockets. When I attempted to sew down the hems, I had the regular needle plate on my machine (I was using the Janome 8200, so I didn't have to change the thread and bobbin on the 6000 - that's one of the advantages of having more than one sewing machine), and the hem ended up forced down through the hole and got stuck there. I wasn't sure what was holding it there, but I couldn't get it out. I opened the bobbin compartment, removed the bobbin and snipped the bobbin thread. That didn't help. Then I snipped the upper thread, also didn't help. I removed the bobbin case, then the insert that fits around the machine in its table and then popped off the needle plate. I then had a needle plate attached to the stabilizer sleeve. I had to pick out some threads in order to release the bunched fabric and was finally able to remove the needle plate from the stabilizer sleeve. And then I switched to the straight stitch needle plate and finished the hems. I then switched the bobbin thread to black to coordinate with the outside fabric and completed the ⅛" seams. I'm beginning to feel that this bag has created just too many adventures. 

And on the subject of thread, I have 3 different-coloured threads that I'm using with this project (plus a couple that I used on the longarm). 

The two large cones on the left are the threads I used on the longarm: Bright Gold in the bobbin and Aqua on top. The others are used on the sewing machines.

And I have bobbins in each colour as well, so that the thread matches whatever colour fabric it will show on. And that means that I have often been sewing with different colours on top and in the bobbin. And I've been constantly switching back and forth, depending on what part of the project I'm working on. But since I do have several machines, I don't know why I don't just leave one colour in each of three machines and just switch the bobbins when necessary. However, the end is in sight, and I don't think I'll need to use the gold thread any more. 
I got the bias binding cut into strips, but I've run out of steam, so it can wait for another day to get stitched together. I opted to use 2½" strips as I've used 2¼" bias binding on bags before and it was really a stretch to wrap it around all of that bulk in the seams. I also will be pressing my binding. While the instructor recommends pinning it because she says that pressing it gives her wrinkles and creases that she doesn't like, I have not found this to be the case and I have found pinning my binding for previous bag projects from the same instructor to be cumbersome and annoying. Not to mention the fact that any time I use pins, I can pretty much guarantee that I will get poked. And I also tried using my quilt clips on the binding instead of pins and that gets pretty heavy... Besides most of this binding will be on the inside of the bag, so what's a few wrinkles and creases where no one sees them, even if they actually did happen? 

Sleep Aids and Other Laughing Matters

Did you know that there are bloggers that blog every day or almost every day? I was wondering how that was possible. What do they find to talk about? And where do they find the time? My post from yesterday took me about 2 hours to write, and many have taken longer. Do I have 2 hours a day to write a blog post? Or will it take less time because I will have less to say if I'm posting daily instead of sporadically? I decided to try it and find out. I could spend less time "doom-scrolling" and watching time-wasting videos on YouTube. So here goes. 

In yesterday's post, I mentioned my insomnia. One of my friends suggested a couple of things: the sleep patches in the above picture and a supplement for anxiety. I tend to react (side effects, adverse reactions) to a lot of medications and supplements, so I was reluctant to try them. But they weren't that expensive and I finallly decided to give them a try and ordered them. I chose to try one at a time so if I had a reaction, I would know which one it was. So far, I've just been trying the sleep patches. I don't think I mentioned in yesterday's post that I had woken up around 2:30-ish in the morning and started writing that post sometime after 4:00. Ditto for today. So, I don't really think they're helping. The package suggests that you use them consistently for 14 days to realize their full effect... if I can remember to use them consistently. I finally left them out on the bathroom counter as a reminder, but even that doesn't always help. The package also says to apply it about an hour before bedtime. Sometimes I remember to do that, and sometimes not. One day I distinctly remembered removing it in the morning, but later in the day when I was scratching my upper back/shoulder area, I felt something suspiciously soft and slighlty squishy that wasn't my shirt (the patches are foam). Yes, there was another patch there. Had I put one on one hour before bedtime last night and then, forgetting I had already applied one, applied a second one at bedtime? Or was it still on there from the night before? Another day, I was also scratching my back, this time around my waistband and found one that I had neglected to remove that morning. I decided not to put one on that evening since I had been wearing one for most of the day. I guess it would help if I consistently showered in the morning, but since retiring, sometimes it's later in the day, and sometimes I skip a day. I obviously cannot be trusted with patches. 
And then there are the nasal strips. I found these in the dollar store and decided to give them a try. I couldn't figure out how a "band-aid" on the outside of my nose could help me breathe and keep me from snoring. I have bad environmental allergies, so have constant congestion and am a mouth-breather as a result. And I have constant dry mouth and throat. So, I decided that, at dollar store prices, it was worth a try. 
These strips have a very strong band that, when applied to the nose, pull up and out, supposedly opening the nasal passages. I tried it once, found it rather uncomfortable and didn't notice any improvment in my sleep or my dry mouth. A couple of nights ago, I decided to try one again. I applied it too far down my nose, so I moved it up. And then it didn't want to stick. I pressed it down as best as possible and went to bed. 
I am not a sleep walker, but I do remember a time when I had finished crocheting some mittens shortly before going to bed. I put them on the dresser near my bed. In the morning, I found them on my bed and that was the only reason I remembered sitting up and putting them on during the night. So, something similar happened when I was wearing the nasal strip. I removed it, found it was sticking to my fingers and attempted to drop it over the side of the bed. This time I remembered doing it, and found it on the bed beside my pillow. I guess I can't be trusted with nasal strips either. 😄
Remember I mentioned making a sampler quilt with all of the Bachelor's Puzzle and Old Maid's Puzzle quilt blocks? Out of curiosity, I decided to check out BlockBase+ to see how many were there. Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, on which BlockBase+ is based, is not as extensive as Beyer's Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns. I did a search for "Bachelor's Puzzle" and came up with several blocks, but when I searched for "Old Maid's Puzzle", the program shut down. I tried it several times with the same result. I tried restarting my computer, I tried checking for updates, but it kept happening. When I searched for "old maid" and finally "old maids puzzle" without the apostrophe, I was able to get the blocks successfully without the program shutting down. I did report it to Electric Quilter, the producers of BlockBase+, and they reported back that they were able to replicate the "bug" and had forwarded the problem to their development team. So at least I know it wasn't just me, or my computer... But what a bizarre thing!

I managed to get the front and back of the travel bag finished, aside from the shaping/trimming. Yesterday morning, I was working on the front and was at the point where I was ready to put the mesh pocket on the inside of the front. Reviewing the video, the instructor said to remember if you have directional fabric to make sure it was going in the right direction. I double checked and mine was not! The dragon scales were pointing up instead of down. 😖 Initially, I was being very careful to keep track of which way was up, but as I turned it around to make the required markings, I lost track. Admittedly, it's not terribly noticeable with dragon scales, and a small part of the side strip has the scales upside down (I opted not to add a seam in the bottom to reverse the piece so the scales would be pointing down on both ends), but I couldn't leave it that way. So, a lot of stitch ripping ensued. Fortunately, I have a really good ergonomic stitch ripper. Unfortunately, I had the pointed end, and not the ball end, inside the seam and ended up with a small tear in the fabric on the bag front. 😓 I used a mending zigzag stitch over the tear, and some HeatnBond Lite and a small patch of the dragon scale fabric to cover it. I used a small zigzag stitch to keep the patch in place, and then went over the quilting with teal/aqua thread so that it's barely noticeable. It's at the top edge of the bag, mostly covered by the handle. As my mother would say, a blind man will never see it. 
I finally made salad to eat with my leftover fajitas and Spanish rice for dinner. I actually really like leftovers, as long as they were good the first time. That way I can spend more time in my craft studio, without having to take time to cook. But when I went to make my ranch salad dressing, I accidentally added Italian dressing mix instead of ranch dressing mix... Oh well, I now have creamy Italian dressing. Not bad, but not as good as ranch. 
Back in the studio, I was having ongoing thread problems - looping on the back, shredding, breaking. It was mostly when I was stitching on the handle over the front pocket. Think of all the layers: the bag front and a double pocket (because the front pocket has both a slip and a zip section), plus the handle. All of these have both an inside and an outside layer of fabric, plus an inner layer - foam on the bag and pockets, and webbing inside the handle. So that's 8 layers of fabric, 3 layers of foam and one layer of webbing. And then I added the layer of mesh when putting in the inside pocket. I ripped out loopy stitches (my stitch ripper has really gotten a workout with this bag), I changed the needle, I tried changing threads - using polyester instead of cotton and then finally switched to Glide 40 weight that I'd used in the quilting - but the problem persisted. I even tried turning the project over and stitching with the inside up instead of the outside. I finally moved to the heavy duty Singer that I picked up at the thrift store for $10. After all, it has "heavy duty" right on the machine, so it should be able to handle the bulk. I put in a new Schmetz needle and initially it appeared to be working. Then I had a thread break, cleaned up that mess and started again. Then the machine stopped with the tip of the needle just barely touching the fabric, and I couldn't budge it. It took some prayer and a lot of fiddling and I was able to extricate the project from the machine. So I decided to move to my mother's Janome - the old 6000. That's what I had ended up finishing the insulated backpack on. But first, I switched the needle. This time, I switched to a topstitch needle. Duh! Why hadn't I thought of that before? In my defense, mostly what I do on my sewing machines is piece quilts, for which universal or microtex needles are all that are required. But topstitch needles have a larger hole so that the thread is less likely to shred/break when going through multiple layers of fabric. That, or quilting needles, are what are used when one quilts on a domestic machine. But I quilt on a longarm, and for the odd potholder that I quilt on my sewing machine, I generally don't bother switching out the needle. But I knew about those needles and, fortunately, I own some. After that it was "game on", and I finished both front and back without any further problems. I probably could have continued stitching on either my Janome 8200 or the Singer HD, but I hadn't used the 6000 in a while, so it needed a workout anyway. 

Now, on to the trimming and shaping. But first exercise and breakfast. And maybe I better wash some dishes...

Bags and Blocks and Sourdough - Oh My!

 

    Honestly, I really don't enjoy exercising. I find it boring. And while I did win a few ribbons in track and field as a child, I've always been more academic than physical. But I know that exercise is important, so I try to do a half-hour workout on a daily basis. However, I can go days, weeks and sometimes even months without getting regular exercise. Have I mentioned my insomnia before? It's related to my anxiety and depression, but continual fatigue does make it more challenging to exercise on a regular basis. And unfortunately, even when I was exercising regularly for weeks and months, I didn't see any improvement in my sleep or mental health. And exercise also leaves me feeling really exhausted. Even when I'm doing it regularly. 
    So yesterday, I exercised. And I was exhausted. But after "recharging my batteries" by sitting and reading, I started the laundry and worked on The Ultimate Travel Bag. Between other tasks during the day, I was able to finish the side and zipper strip and got it all together. 

Meanwhile, I had started some "not refried beans" in the Instant Pot, from this cookbook,

planning to make some veggie fajitas for dinner, from this cookbook.

First I had to make my own taco seasoning. The authors of this cookbook must eat a LOT of Mexican cuisine. Otherwise, why would  you need about 3 cups of taco seasoning? And I was foolish enough to make the whole recipe. I could have halved it and still had enough to last me until I die or the Lord returns. I may have to divide it into smaller containers and start including it in gifts - "I'm gifting you a quilt and including some home-made taco seasoning"... 
    Once the seasoning was made, I then had to prepare the "Mexican Style Chicken" (I had removed the Gluten Steak strips that I had made previously from the freezer) and the Roasted Fajita Veggies for the oven. But by the time these were oven ready, I realized it was already lunch time and I was hungry and I still had tortillas to make. So, I decided to just eat a light lunch (normally, I like to have my bigger meal at noon and a lighter meal at supper time) and have my fajitas for supper. So the "chicken' and veggies went into the fridge for later. I had my light lunch and, in perusing the cookbook, which has menu suggestions, it recommended some things I didn't already have, so I decided to make a quick trip to the grocery store. And after working on the travel bag for awhile, that's what I did. 
    By the time I got home, it was time to get started on dinner. I started the Spanish rice (same cookbook), got the "chicken" and veggies into the oven, and then was ready to tackle Sourdough Tortillas. I'll be honest here and say that I looked for tortillas in the grocery store when I was there, but couldn't find ones without L-cysteine, which is not vegan. I didn't know if I was going to run out of energy before I ran out of tasks to complete. But I did end up making the tortillas. I don't remember if I've ever tackled tortilla-making before, but it might have helped if I'd worked with someone who actually knew what they were doing first. I used my large cast iron frying pan, but soon found that I did not need to have it on medium-high, as my initial scorched tortilla shows. 

I think I've mentioned previously the hispanic pastor who shared how his mother's tortillas turn out perfectly round, but his turn out looking like t-shirts and other articles of clothing. I think mine look more like geography - states, countries, continents. Doesn't that one on the right resemble Africa? Or maybe a piece of cauliflower. I then discovered that patting them out with my fingers first and then rolling them with the rolling pin helps to keep them a little rounder. Of course, mine were whole wheat and I used plant-based butter instead of lard. And I found medium-low worked much better than medium-high for cooking temperature.
The "chicken" was good. The veggies were overcooked and scorched in places and I think roasting for 15 minutes would work better than 20-25. The Spanish rice made a huge amount, and is rather flat tasting. I was afraid it would be oversalted and I reduced the salt somewhat, and shouldn't have. 
    When I finally got around to eating, my energy was depleted, and I totally forgot about putting refried beans in my fajita. I had planned on having a salad as well, but by that time, I was lucky to still be standing. 😁 And I still had to put sheets on my bed as I had stripped it to do the laundry. 
    But what about the blocks in the title of this post - well, those didn't happen yesterday. Since our local quilt shop closed, I have no fabric options in town other than Walmart. And they're not exactly known for quality fabrics. I do, however, occasionally use their fabrics, usually in smaller projects. So, one time, when I was in need of a "fabric fix", I picked up 3 fat quarters and a 2-yard piece of solid in a medium orange/peach colour, intending to make something for my daughter, whose favourite colour is orange. 

Flying Geese, left. Flying Squares, right.

I've been making 10" blocks, 

Chinese Coin, left. Propeller, right.

and was well on my way towards my goal of 7 blocks, 

Square Dance

when my block-making got interrupted by other priorities. But most of my quilts lately have been 3-yard quilts, and while I enjoy those as mostly quick projects, they are generally quite simple, and I enjoy challenging myself by trying new quilt blocks. Especially when I can take a picture that's less than 2" square and turn it into a full-sized quilt block. 

This book is my source for the blocks I've been making. And recently, I decided I needed a bigger challenge than 3-yard quilts, and completed 

Bachelor's Puzzle

the final 2 blocks I need. 

Crazy Ann

My plan is to use 3 blocks on point for the table runner and the remaining 4 - not on point - for placemats. I'll share them when I finish. But again, I've got other quilting priorities. The bags - the travelling bag for my grandson, and a backpack for my daughter - were meant to be Christmas presents, so I want to get them done ASAP. Plus some other quilts that need to be completed. 
Future quilting idea: did you know that there are 7 different blocks named "Bachelor's Puzzle" and 8 or 9 named "Old Maid's Puzzle"? I'm thinking of a sampler quilt, maybe call it "Singles' Puzzle Sampler Quilt", using all of those blocks.

Sourdough Bread (Mis)Adventures

 

My sourdough starter was finally ripe enough to use. So I tackled the Multigrain Sourdough Boule, since I wanted to try out my new Dutch oven. First, let me say that this is not a recipe where you heat the Dutch oven empty in the oven prior to adding the dough. I do want to try one of those, but want to buy or make some better oven mitts before then. Mine are getting pretty old and thin. This recipe is also one that I call "cheater sourdough" - one where some commercial yeast is added to boost the leavening effects of the sourdough. I also plan to make some more "authentic" sourdough that does not require any added yeast, sometime in the not too distant future.  
This recipe calls for a cup of "King Arthur Harvest Grains Blend", which I assumed was just a blend of different flours. No problem, I have oats, barley, rye, millet, rice and several kinds of wheat, so I could blend my own. But when I looked at the ingredients, I discovered that it wasn't a flour blend at all. And not sure why they call it "grains" because most of it is seeds.

So, I just used what I had to create my own blend, replacing the rye flakes with rolled oats and the millet with quinoa (realizing afterwards that I did have millet in my cupboard...). Of course, I had no idea what the proportions were, so I just winged it. When I poured the boiling water over it, as per the instructions, it just soaked up all the moisture and when it was combined with the other ingredients, the resultant dough was the consistency of play dough that was just starting to dry out. I added water, and then more water, and then it was too much water, and it wasn't combining well in the bowl of my mixer. So, I massaged it in by hand. And then had to add more flour, including some rye flour since I didn't have any rye flakes to add to the "Harvest Grain Blend". And it turned out well, in spite of my misadventures. It did end up kind of flat on top, so I'm not sure if it's supposed to be that way or if I had over-risen it and it fell during the baking. But it doesn't seem extra dense, and the taste and texture are good.  But this loaf is so huge that it wouldn't fit into the generous sized bags that I have for bread, nor large freezer bags. I had to "steal" an extra large freezer bag from my quilting supplies, where I use them to store/organize projects. 

And I think I need to get a lame. My steak knife didn't do a very good job of scoring the top of the loaf prior to baking. 
I also made some more crumpets - again without the rings - and I found that whole wheat taste much better than rye. But they also taste much better when they're fresh than when they're reheated. And while I do toast store-bought crumpets, I find mine are already brown enough and I'm afraid toasting may scorch them. 

Finally, I made a loaf of Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread, also a "cheater" recipe. I'm not sure what went wrong, but while the Multigrain Sourdough Boule had been too dry, this one was much too wet. I really couldn't knead it, because it was just this limp, sticky blob. I tried adding more flour, and finally managed to get it firm enough to knead, but didn't want to add too much, as the recipe did say that it was supposed to be slightly sticky. But it didn't rise as highly as I felt it should. I haven't tasted it as I put it directly into the freezer. I still had most of the Whole Wheat and Rye Sourdough Bread that I made using discard, the huge multigrain boule, some crumpets and parts of 2 storebought loaves in the fridge, so I definitely did not need more bread out. But next time, I'll be more careful about adding sufficient flour to attain a dough consistency that I feel is appropriate. The funny thing is I measured the ingredients by weight, not volume, so it should have been accurate. But maybe I forgot to zero out the weight between ingredients? Who knows? I'm sure it will still be tasty. I also found that I had to bake it for significantly longer than the time stated in the recipe, but that was likely due to the dough being over-wet. 
I would like to continue "playing" with bread, but I have retired my sourdough starter to the fridge for now. I only have so much freezer room and I can only eat so much bread, and, unless I start dropping off loaves in my neighbour's mailboxes, I will have to limit myself to what I can consume in a reasonable amount of time. 

Christmas Table Toppers and Runners

 

After sharing this picture with my sisters, one of them said how much she liked my table topper and jokingly suggested that my next project for them should be Christmas table toppers. Well, this particular sister, Nancy, never really asks for anything. She's sweet, loving and generous. So, since she was the one doing the asking, I decided to go ahead and do it. But one of the problems was getting hers to her. She lives in the USA, and US Customs now wants any duty paid prior to shipping. I had tried to ship a quilt to one of my ex-husband's nieces in the USA, as she's expecting a baby. But when I tried setting up an account to pay any duty, I couldn't get it to work with my Canada Post account. Even if I didn't have to pay any duty, I would still require this account to say so. The alternative was to download an app, and I really didn't want another app on my phone (it's already giving me grief because so much memory is taken up by apps that I don't need, but can't uninstall). So, it's become nearly impossible to mail anything to the States. But another sister, Cindy, would be visiting Nancy in March. So I had to finish the table toppers in time to ship Nancy's to Cindy so that Cindy could take it with her. And that is why I have been making Christmas table toppers in January.  
Initially, I thought of making them all identical or nearly identical, using the Triangle Frenzy pattern. But that would require me buying a few metres of fabric to make 4 runners. Then I rummaged in my Christmas fabric and my patterns, and figured I could probably come up with enough to make the table runners/toppers, making each one unique instead. 

First I found a wide striped fabric that I was able to use with the Triangle Frenzy pattern. I didn't want to call it Triangle Frenzy or Christmas Frenzy or even Christmas Triangles. Since it has boughs and holly, I decided to call it Deck the Halls. It finished at about 41½" x 18". 

I had admired the Christmas Star topper pattern in the same magazine in which I found the pattern for Democracy Defended. It can also be found as an individual pattern here. This finished about 29" square (supposed to be 30", but that's not how mine turned out). The parallelograms in the red fabric are made using the stitch and flip method. a method I prefer to avoid, as it wastes too much fabric. But I was in a hurry to get these done and didn't want to take the time to calculate the measurements I needed. So I ended up with 16 large triangle leftovers in each of the red and green fabrics. After I was finished all of the toppers/runners, I stitched the triangles together into a large (about 13" square) mat, quilted with a layer of Insul-Bright so that I can use it under hot dishes for Christmas dinner. 

Next, I made the Ribbon Wreath pattern found in this book from my quilt library. 

It's meant to be a wallhanging, but I figured it would work as a table topper as well. 

It works out to 25" square. 
Finally, I had the Christmas Bells table runner pattern (slightly modified pattern called Holiday Bells currently available). 

This is the largest of the 4, measuring 52½" x 19½". I had one gold fabric that I could have used for the applique blocks in my stash of 1-metre fabrics, but I felt it was too light and didn't contrast well enough with the solid cream fabric. So, I raided the fabric that I have in my Coronation UFO that I planned on making to commemorate the coronation of King Charles III. I felt that I could "steal" these 2 squares of gold fabric and still have sufficient to finish that quilt. At the rate I'm going, I might not finish until William's coronation, however. 

I had 4 individually cut metres of this large Christmas floral print that I stitched together and used for the backing, and stitched all 4, plus my table mat, on the same backing. I used the Christmas Holly pantograph and some Aurilux thread in a Christmas variegation (white, red and green). 
Meanwhile, I had also decided to include my sister-in-law in receiving a table runner/topper, and added Christmas Birds, which I completed last August, to the collection. 

Pinning it to the design wall with the rest, which had yet to be quilted and bound, I shared this photo with my sister, Nancy, and told her she got first choice since it was her idea. She chose the Christmas Bells runner. 
I would find it a tough choice as I think they are all very pretty. Hopefully, the remaining sisters will be able to come to an amicable agreement on who gets which one. 

Sourdough Again

 

For Christmas, I bought myself an enamel-coated cast iron Dutch oven. I've been wanting one to try some of the sourdough recipes that require it for baking. So, I'm back to making sourdough starter again. As my house can be rather chilly in the winter, I was keeping the jar of starter on my heated cat mat on the lowest setting. I decided to feed it with my rye flour, since mine was getting older and needed to be used up. This time, I was determined to really keep up with the discard. 

I made pancakes, 

biscuits,

bread,

and crumpets, converting them all to whole grain as much as possible. I still had about half a cup of discard in the fridge, when I decided that I didn't actually want to use just rye flour. Rye has a pretty strong and distinct flavour, which is not necessarily what I want in things like pancakes. So I switched to white for one "feeding" and then whole wheat for the next feeding.  But then I smelled a mold smell in the starter. I was hoping it was just the combination of flours that imparted an off smell - sourdough has a weird smell anyway, and it had been mostly rye flour, which also has a unique smell - so I fed it again and decided to see what happened. I also returned the jar to the top of the fridge, thinking that maybe it was too warm on the cat mat. But when I smelled it again prior to the next feeding, I could still smell mold. So, it got dumped in the compost, and I've started again, scrubbing the jar well, and bleaching the plastic lid (I've since been told that I should use peroxide instead of bleach, as peroxide destroys the spores and bleach does not). I was going to use the little discard I still had in the fridge to start a new batch, but it when I checked it, it had visible mold, so it joined the starter in the compost. Puzzling because when I made sourdough starter previously, I had both starter and discard in my fridge for months, and never had any mold.This time I used whole wheat, and have the jar on top of the fridge instead. I considered other options as newer fridges really don't get warm on top like older ones did. My hot water tank, which is one of the suggestions in the King Arthur sourdough recipe, is down in the basement, so not very practical for regular feedings... I have since discovered that there is actually an electric sourdough starter warmer available. I'll have to see how enthusiastic I become about sourdough to see whether or not I can justify the expense. 

History of the Waldenses: A Book Review

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake.

Matthew 24:9

I've had this book in my library for many years. As a matter of fact, it had my married surname inside the front cover, and I reverted to my maiden name sometime around 2005/2006. So, I've owned it for over 20 years. But it's not light reading, and it's definitely not for the faint of heart. I think I started reading it at least a couple of times, the most recent, according to Good Reads, was June of 2024. I made it about halfway through by November of that year, and then it languished. Until last night, when I was suffering insomnia, and got up and decided to read, and I finished it.
As the text at the beginning of this post indicates, the Bible forewarns us that we will suffer for our faith. But it doesn't generally go into graphic detail. As a matter of fact, Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." So I'm really not sure how this book fits into that verse. I do believe that we should know our history and be aware of what has gone on and is going on in the world around us. I'm aware that throughout history, many Christians have been persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and martyred for their faith. And having read the book, The Great Controversy, I was aware of a brief history of the Waldenses. And personally, I think that's all I needed to know about them. 
This book is more appropriate for a reference book, that you might want to refer to if you're doing research. As a matter of fact, it's actually quoted in The Great Controversy. Otherwise, it's not something I would recommend for general reading. I also find that the writer tends to use flowery language (the Waldenses' valleys and homes "smiled") and occasionally waxes eloquent and poetic in his descriptions of the mountains and valleys and rivers... I felt like telling him to get to the point. Maps would have been far more beneficial than poetic descriptions. I read the writings of Ellen G. White, mostly written in the mid to late 19th century. I read the King James Version of the Bible, dated 1611. And mostly, I don't have any problems understanding what they are saying, occasionally referring to a dictionary or a Bible commentary. But I found J. A. Wylie hard to follow at times. I can read a whole paragraph and wonder what on earth he just said. And he often inserted French phrases in his writing, assuming that his reader would understand what he was talking about. I didn't. Even though I took 4 years of French in school. 
While I am inspired by the example of faithfulness on the part of the Waldenses, my biggest takeaways from this book are: 

1. Don't trust your enemies. The Waldenses repeatedly over the centuries trusted the promises of their persecutors, only ending up paying the price in blood. 
2. If your enemies give you an ultimatum to give up your faith or leave, then LEAVE! Especially if you have a safe place to go. Even if leaving would create hardships. At one point in the book, the Waldenses were given the option to give up their faith or leave, as all their liberties were being removed. Yes, it would have posed a great hardship to leave and travel over the mountains in the dead of winter to freedom and safety in Protestant lands. But by choosing to stay and fight, many ended up dead, many more imprisoned and when Protestant leaders negotiated their release, there was only a small fraction of them still alive and they ended up having to leave in the dead of winter anyway.
3. Don't get so attached to a location that you are willing to sacrifice your safety to return there. At one point, the author tells us that the Waldenses regarded their valleys as their promised home as much as the Jews regarded the land of Canaan. I'm not sure if that's the author's interpretation or if it was their actual belief. And while I do believe, as the Scripture says, that God prepared a place for them in the wilderness to escape persecution (Revelation 12:6), it was no longer a safe retreat for them. And I also believe that this world is not our home, so attachment to any location in this world should only be temporary. (Hebrews 11:16). Honestly, I couldn't understand the determination of the 800 to return to the Piedmont rather than settle in relative safety in the Protestant nations. I don't know if it was actually the direction of God or their extreme longing for "home" that made them return, so I really cannot judge. But it seemed like an extremely foolhardy decision to me. And they suffered severe hardship as a result, with their original numbers being reduced to only 400. And even when the Duke of Savoy made peace with them, and the remaining refugees were invited to return, they lived a severely circumscribed life. I have to question if that was actually God's plan for them, or if He just allowed them to follow the desires of their hearts. I believe that we should be willing to suffer hardship and even death for the sake of the gospel, as the Apostles did, and many other Christians have over the centuries, when that is what God calls us to do. But it is foolish for us to place ourselves in a position of hardship if that is not where God wants us to be. As I said, I honestly don't know if God actually directed them to return, but it is a cautionary tale to make sure that it is God's voice and not just our own hearts speaking. 

I'm on the fence as to whether or not I will keep this book in my library. I could keep it for reference, should I require it (although it is available online as well). Or maybe find it a new home so that I have the shelf space for books that I find more encouraging than this one. 
Now, I'm going to try to tackle History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century. I'm 115 pages in of 870 pages in rather small print...  

 

Maple Leaf Forever Scarf and More

 

I introduced the Maple Leaf forever scarf back in November when it was almost finished (see post here). I finished it in the meantime and had sufficient yarn to make a matching toque, but I didn't want to make it using multiple double pointed needles. While I do own some, I have never used them to actually knit in the round and have no desire to, using them only when I need them for a cable or other fancy stitch. Especially when I also own knitting looms. While I can generally hand knit faster than I can "loom", I just didn't want the hassle. There's probably a way to make a toque with a circular needle instead of double pointed needles, but I would have had to find a pattern. And I had made loom-knit toques before. However, when it came down to it, I didn't remember which pattern I'd used. I think I finally found it, but now I don't honestly remember which pattern I used. I believe it was for a slouchy from LoomaHat, but she has a lot of different patterns and videos. I modified it anyway as I incorporated the maple leaf design from the scarf pattern and made it shorter, so it wouldn't be as slouchy. If I had to do it over again, I would move the maple leaf closer to the brim and made the toque even shorter as it's still slouchy, and I don't like slouchy hats. Yes, I know I was using a slouchy pattern, but my previous efforts didn't turn out slouchy at all... Perhaps it was a totally different pattern that I had used before. 
I finished both the scarf and the toque by the middle of November, but I've been so busy getting other projects finished before Christmas that I haven't blogged about it until now. One of the projects was Tartan Delight, another one of Fabric Cafe's 3-yard quilt patterns. 

This one is the It's a Snap pattern from the book Pretty Darn Quick. I had purchased the fabric on one of my quilt shop hops. I love tartan fabric and I think it turned out very nice. The recipient suggested blues and greens, and this was the best match I had in my 1 metre/yard collection. I used a royal blue minky dot for the backing. 

Anise is the pantograph I chose. It was one I received for a pantograph of the month program that I was in briefly, but I haven't used it as it didn't really appeal to me. However, now that I've stitched it out, I do find it rather pretty, though it will likely never be one of my favourites. 
I worked on this one at the Lutheran church sew days, but when I got it home and put it up on my design wall to measure for the borders, I thought, "What is wrong?" It definitely did not look right. I finally figured out that I had gotten all the blocks in the correct order in each row, but then I had stitched the rows together in the wrong order. I think I only ended up with two out of the 6 rows in the right place. I gave the stitch ripper a workout that day. 
Next up was Higher Ground, using the Stepping Up pattern. I had gotten the pattern as one of the freebies that Fabric Cafe shares. They switch out their freebies every couple of months, so it's a case of you snooze, you lose. But I try to keep up with their pattern giveaways, so I don't lose out. 

I was kind of loathe to part with this one because the colours and the fabrics are just really awesome, but the recipients loved it. I had to make a few design changes - a couple were deliberate, based on my fabric available (I didn't have quite enough of the navy blue, so had to rearrange fabric placements, and decided to make the mauve border wider). And I accidentally made one too many of one block and one too few of the other, so my rows are arranged slightly differently than the pattern. But it's still a beautiful quilt, in my opinion. 

I had some mauve minky dot in my stash that I used for the backing and Zoidberg Feathers for the quilting. This is a pantograph that I have used before, but I had to choose something that would work with minky - nothing too dense - and would look good on the quilt top. It's probably one of my favourite designs - it's very pretty and works up relatively quickly. 

As a matter of fact, I decided that it had the right qualities for stitching up fabrics for bag-making, and I used it for quilting the fabrics for a travel bag for my grandson, seen here on the longarm, and a backpack for my daughter. I was really hoping to get these bags finished, plus a couple more quilts, in time for Christmas, but I just ran out of time. As a matter of fact, I didn't even get all 3 of my Christmas trees up and decorated until Christmas Eve. And other Christmas decorating around the house was pretty sparse. Hopefully, I'll get the bags finished soon and you'll hear more about them then. 

Wavewalker by Suzanne Heywood: A Book Review

I read an excerpt from this book online and thought it sounded rather interesting and decided to put in a request for it through my local library. It came in shortly before Christmas, and after my family left on Christmas Day, I decided to relax by reading it. Briefly, it's the story of the author's family leaving behind their everyday lives when she was a small child, and sailing off on a "remake" of Captain Cook's third voyage. What should have been an awesome adventure turned into years of drudgery, neglect and emotional abuse.
I can't honestly say that I enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong: the author is a good writer, knows how to engage her readers and keep them interested. But her parents were just so aggravating. They were both self-centred, immature, entitiled narcissists who had no business having children. And if they did, the most responsible thing they should have done was leave the children on someone's doorstep. I read the whole book waiting, hoping for them to grow up and behave like responsible adults. But they never did. Picture this: your young daughter experiences a near-fatal accident in a storm that almost destroyed the boat. When you finally get her to a doctor, he explains that she will require surgery, and you respond, "What if we do nothing?" I can barely describe how disgusting I find this couple. They reminde me of those Instagram "influencer" parents that portray their perfect family life to the world, but when the real "behind the scenes" story comes out, it's a very different tale. Too full of themselves, they would never see themselves as child abusers, but that's what they were. They may not have beaten or sexually abused their children, but there are other kinds of abuse: emotional abuse, neglect, failure to provide the necessities of life. That the author not only survived, but went on to get the education she so desperately wanted, had a successful career and a happy marriage and family, is a testament to her persistence and resilience. 
But there are a few things that puzzle me in this story. The first one was when she called the "Help Line" while she and her brother were living in Australia. Why was there no follow up? She and her brother had essentially been abandoned by their parents and left to fend for themselves with only quick, brief phone calls when they were in a port from which they could make a call, and very rare visits. Why wasn't this reported to Child Protective Services and an investigation done? I know this was 40-odd years ago and laws/regulations have changed, but still it was an obvious case of neglect. Was it because they were foreigners? Or because they were already teenagers by this time? Surely our obligation to protect children doesn't end because they don't happen to be citizens of the country, or because the author was almost 18? Hmm, I wonder what legal age in Australia was at that time...
The other thing that really puzzles me is Chapter 28, "Fiji: Looking for Wavewalker". Personally, I know nothing about the Fijian culture, but reading this chapter made me feel like I was reading a spy novel, or something. Why did it seem that almost everyone was colluding on keeping the author from finding out what actually happened to the boat? Furthermore, what difference did it make? I was perplexed as to why it was so important to the author to find the boat that was the site of so much anguish, neglect and abuse. She spent time and money travelling to Fiji from England to do so. The only thing I can conclude is that she needed it for closure, and for confirmation that what she went through actually did happen. And maybe I can relate to a certain extent. I know how discombobulated I felt when I discovered that the house I had lived in, in Saskatchewan, had been torn down. It had been a really rough patch in my life and my marriage, and I found it rather disorienting that the house was gone, as if that part of my life had been erased. 
Regardless of her reasons, my sympathies are with the author, and I'm glad she's achieved success and happiness in her life. My biggest take-away from this book is how thankful I am for the parents I had. They were definitely not perfect - none of us is - but they were so much better than the author's parents that they weren't even in the same league. Thank you, Lord, for my parents.