I decided to take today off from work to do some projects outside, in time for company on the 4th.  I just came in the house at 4:30 and realized that I completely forgot to post about the final day of the blog hop.  I’ll show you next week what I was so busy doing, but in the meantime I want to tell you about today’s featured designer.  Mary from Quilted Treasures in Rogers, MN is doing a demo on grommets.  Grommets are all the rage right now, so for those of you who haven’t already tried them, here is your chance!  Mary owns one of my favorite quilt shops in the state of MN, so you may even want to stop by her shop and see her grommet pillow in person. 

This wraps up our final day of the blog hop.  Thanks to everyone who helped make this event a success.  I hope you learned a lot and got inspired – I know I did!  I’m just curious – are you all interested in participating in an event like this again next year?  We’d like to know if we should do it again.

 

PS – Happy 4th of July (in advance)

Only 2 more days left of the blog hop.  Boo. Hoo.  But, that also means only a couple more days until the winners of the Blog Hop Grand Prizes are announced.  WooHoo!   Today Jamie over at Scrap Bags is our featured designer and she is sharing a fascinating demo on fabric dying.  You can read all about it here.  It looks like something you can really get creative and have some fun with.

 

I also wanted to just answer a couple questions from the posts from the last few days.  Many of you have been asking about who does the machine quilting you have been seeing.  I like to do every step of the quilting process, from the piecing, to the quilting, to the binding; so everything you see on this site has been quilted by me.  I have been machine quilting on a Gammill for the last 13 years, but just made the switch to an APQS a few months ago.  I used to do my machine quilting on a regular home machine, but after a year or so of that, I got a longarm and went into business machine quilting for others.  I have since quit that part of my business, but continue to keep my machine and quilt my own samples.  That way, if I have to finish a quilt by a deadline, I can! 

 

The other question that came up yesterday, is where is the bread recipe?  Joel hinted about it to his Mom and she offered it up! 

Here is her version, with as I mentioned yesterday, everything done by hand.  (I’ll follow up with my version, adapted for the bread machine)

1 Quart Boiling water.  Add to boiling water:

4 tsp salt

2 cups quick oatmeal

Stir and add:

5/8 cup dark molasses (she uses black strap molasses from our local health foods store – this is key!  It won’t be as good if you just use regular molasses)

1 stick butter

2/3 cup brown sugar 

Cool this mixture to 110 degrees

When cool, mix in 4 cups flour and

4 T. yeast, dissolved in 1 cup warm water and a little sugar (1 tsp)

Continue to add flour to make a fairly stiff dough – about 4-5 cups.

Knead on floured countertop until smooth.  Let rise until double in size.  

Make into six loaves on a cookie sheet (you could also make 4 loaves in standard size bread pan) and let rise until doubled in size and looks airy on top.

Bake at 350degrees for 30 minutes.

 

 

Now, here’s my version, for the bread machine:

2 1/4 cups boiling water.  Add to boiling water:

1 cup quick oatmeal

2 tsp salt

1/2 stick butter

1/3 cup dark (black strap) molasses

1/3 cup brown sugar

Stir and allow mixture to cool to 110 degrees.

 

In bread maker,

Add 5 cups flour

and 1 1/2 Tbs yeast, dissolved in 1/3 c warm water with a little sugar.

Add oatmeal mixture and run dough cycle.  If looks too sticky after the dough cycle, knead in a bit more flour

Shape into two loaves and allow to rise until double in size.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

 

I don’t think the bread turns out quite as good in the bread machine, but I’m just don’t have that hand kneading technique down yet.  Maybe after a few more years of practice . . . .

I hope you all enjoy this recipe – Let me know how it turns out!

 

 

We are down to day 8 of the blog hop.  Today Shelly from Cedar Canyon Textiles is our featured designer.  Be sure to stop by her blog and check out what she’s doing.  If you are into art quilts, Shelly is the designer for you.  If you aren’t, here’s your chance to learn something new and think outside the box! 

 

I have to show you what I made the other day.  My mother-in-law came over and we worked on a valance for her bathroom.  It’s made out of my Rebel Roses fabric -

 

It’s made from one of my favorite combinations – a multi-colored floral and a stripe.  Notice how the edging is made from the stripe cut on the bias.  We had to cut it on the bias, because the bottom edge of the valance has curves.  Cutting the stripe on the bias will give you the extra stretch to make it around those curves.  But, I would have cut it on the bias anyways because it looks so darn cute that way!

Eveyone moans and groans about having to cut something on the bias.  It really isn’t that hard and it’s totally worth the effort.  To see my technique for cutting bias strips, click here.  I’ll get off my soap box now.  But I still really think you should try it!

 

The technique my mother-in-law shared with me was baking bread.  She’s been making home-made bread for over 40 years now, so she’s had lots of practice.  She’s also very quick at it – see?

She does every step by hand. 

 

Me ? – I’m not so quick at it.  In fact, I felt quite awkward trying to do this.  I guess there is a reason I’m not a domestic goddess.

 

 

Here is the bread raising.

 

It’s oatmeal molasses bread and the secret ingredient is black strap molasses.  Regular molasses just doesn’t cut it (I’ve tried it both ways)  The bread was delicious.  In fact, I’m debating which I like better – home baked bread or bias cut binding.  It’s a tough decision!