Bread-Making today

Today I'm taking a break from sewing and quilting.  My mother-in-law gave me her recipes years ago so that I could make my husband's favorites.  One of them is this bread loaf.  It has Finnish origins and flavors like Cardamom.  I find bread making rewarding and relaxing.  Before baking, the tops are brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with coarse sugar.  The recipe for Pulla can be found here.

My in-laws used to eat this bread with a little butter and a cup of coffee.  We have it for breakfast, topped with jam or as French toast, or with peanut butter.  It's one of our comfort foods.  So, I make a batch at least once a year and freeze the loaves.

Just a little inspiration.

Summer is starting to wind down and I'm going to miss these blooms.  Our temperatures are very hot in the daytime hours.  I will stay inside and do some evaluating and cleaning of my studio.  That will set me up to start the next project.  Have a great summery day.  ;o)

Down By the Sea Postcard quilt

Postcard size thread painted quilt swap.  The theme for this is "Down by the Sea."   At first, I had no ideas.  After some brainstorming and sketching, I came up with seashells.  Using a white background, I painted it all over with inktense sticks.   They are water soluble which blends and makes a watercolor effect.  I used pigma permanent pen for the seashells tongue twister on the right side.  The first element was the scallop shell in the center.  I used a photograph and printed it onto canvas.  The next elements were the words I tore from a magazine.  I added them to my background with diluted white glue.  Let it dry, then laid all the elements out.   I cut the top and wadding to size  and layered them for the thread painting.  Thread painting really brings the elements to life and makes everything stand out.    The beads were added after all the other elements and before it was backed and zigzag finished.

The backing looks goofy here because I erased all the info printed to protect privacy.   Just to show that this is how I drew out the back.  The backing is a tan colored cotton fused to the quilt top and wadding.

This postcard is going overseas to its recipient, so I will put it in a bubble wrap envelope to protect it.  DH really liked this one, he didn't want me to send it off.  I will make him one so he doesn't feel left out.

Moonlit Night

A nice moonlit night for inspiration.  

As the evening wore on, the moon moved near the power lines, so I couldn't resist taking some photos.  It was really beautiful and I am seeing a small piece of work here.  This would be a good subject for fabric painting and/or thread painting.   

  Years ago I started a post card series of quilted pieces I called "Postcards From the Edge", which were journal pieces of places we have been, so I'm adding this piece based on that series.    The sizes of these postcards vary.  

 The photos were printed and placed in a collage.  I also wanted to add a bird, so I drew that out as well.  

I used Inktense sticks to paint the background onto white cotton fabric.  They are water soluble and blend nicely.   I layered the background over the batting piece.  Using a pigma pen, marked where the moon was placed with a circle smaller than the actual moon piece.  Using a ruler, I marked where the power-lines went.  

Now, moving on to the shapes (moon, power lines, and bird).    The moon is an applique circle shape with slight gray colors shaded in random areas.  I drew a circle on the reverse side of the white fabric, sewed an interfacing on the drawn line and cut it out.  Cut a slit in the center of the interfacing, clipping close to the sewing line and turned right side out.  To lightly shade the moon, I used water soluble pencil in a gray color.   I ironed the shape and top-stitched it in place over the background.   Then I started thread painting over my marked lines for the power lines and bird.   

I cut a backing to cover my threads, but you could have sandwiched it in the beginning and stitched.  To finish, I zig zag stitched all the edges.  It turned out well and am happy with the colors.