corona-cation, episode 27

short and hopefully sweet post today....if you are interested in the oatmeal roll recipe, scroll to the bottom as i've posted it....spent most of today at car mechanic, in general people with whom i have a love/hate relationship....a couple of important things got fixed but of course with old cars, there are more that'll have to wait until funds materalize...

while going thru unfinished flimsies, pulled out this old barbara brackman sew along to add the setting triangles.  i auditioned several and found that it needed an intense value fabric....red or green or blue or brown would have worked, but of course chose the blue.  now needs trimming and basting and into the quilting pile it goes...

it's called 'stars in a time warp' and features several types of reproduction prints.   i'm probably the last to finish this project but it'll get done eventually.   and of course more triangles got sewn together, now enough for another row.  

weekend task is to work on the border of the amish honeycomb aiming for a june finish.   ****  fitness center now open and will get re-acquainted with heating pad i'm sure...LOL....but anxious to get back to routine.  it was a lovely day here and nice to see people out walking, kids at the local park...keeping their distance of course, but the ghost town feeling had gone.  and next week i really do have to tackle some household chores....now for the recipe:

OATMEAL ROLLS:

2-1/3 cups water, divided

1 cup dry oatmeal
3 tablespoons butter
2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
5 to 5-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

In a saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add oatmeal and butter; simmer 1 minute. Remove to a large bowl and let cool to 110°-115°.  Heat remaining water to 110°-115°; add yeast. To oatmeal mixture, add sugars, salt, yeast mixture and half of flour. Mix well. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.  Turn out onto a floured surface; knead 6-8 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Add additional flour if necessary. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.
Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.  Punch down dough; divide in half and shape each half into 12 balls. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.   Bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes. 

NOTES:  i halved the recipe with no ill effect and eliminated white sugar and salt.  next time i am cutting brown sugar to 2 T as i found them too sweet for a savory.  my oven runs hot and checked them after 15 min when they were just about done, total cooking time for me was about 18 min.  they are very good toasted too!

corona-cation, episode 26

could be this "cation" is winding down now that my fitness center is opening friday.  i'll not be on forced lounging after that....so here are a few photos of what i've been doing...

have deliberately avoided the baking craze for obvious reasons, but did make these oatmeal rolls as a sub for potatoes or pasta with meals, especially lunches.  i eat a lot of chicken salad and bread got boring and commercial artisan breads too much salt....

sampled and approval!  smaller than the photo depicts....just right for a small lunch sandwich with a side veg....

then there was a tad retail therapy....from jo morton's new line 'glad tidings'.....i have lots of reds and greens on hand (many of them her designs) but this mustard print is really gorgeous.....of course a neutral to go with...

lastly, a couple of close-up photos of my new england sampler....the "delicate toil of the needle" as hawthorne described is truly a salve for the unrelenting stress of recent days.   find myself gravitating toward working on it more and more.....

the four corner baskets are done and now can start adding the flowers.....there are more leaves to cut and applique but they get boring...today it's back to the plaid triangles.  enough foundations at hand for 2 more rows, which gets this flimsy to the half done stage....even with life at a semi-standstill, the days fly by....july is on the horizon!

corona-cation, episode 25

a weekend of pleasant diversions.....saturday was a picture perfect june day and a leisurely drive to trader joe's, where there was a line waiting to get in.  what to do?  go find a quick lunch place and make the leisurely drive back to the village!  sunday was a guest at 'downton abbey' with those uppity but nice crawleys watching them solve their various aristocratic conflicts.  there was plenty of sewing going on too....first up, lots of quilting time on this project where the border is now in progress...

had planned elaborate feather border, but the stencil was really too close a fit, so went for plan B.  should be a june finish.....then over to the machine for some quality time with the old viking.....a few more of these little blocks that may end up being a bed size, not sure, but they are fun to make......

then for diversion, pulled out my scrappy DWR drawer to cut out the necessary melons and connecting pieces....thankfully i used a stock kona cotton as more will be needed.  from now on i will definitely buy 4 yards of anything planned for backgrounds....then thought i would sew up a few units to polish my machine curve sewing skills....a few tweaks but good result....

ooohh be still my heart....i am quite happy about this one and already thinking about hand quilting patterns.....but it'll have to wait its turn....also caved for a teensy bit of retail therapy, a couple of jo morton's new 'glad tidings' pieces.... **** our county is still awaiting confirmation of fitness center openings later this week.  fingers crossed and if that does indeed happen, then sewing time will be rearranged.  working out and sewing will leave very little time for news and that's a very good thing!

corona-cation, episode 24

"you're a grand old flag...."

even though this flag represents a country that was founded without consideration of me, a woman, as a citizen, and even though the constitution was written without me in mind, i revere the struggle and achievement of independence and the lives sacrificed and any life given for my freedom--freedom to protest, freedom to hang a confederate flag, freedom to challenge hateful policies and freedom to seek justice against oppressors.  you will never find me taking a knee or disrespecting it or the lives it represents.  ".....sweet land of liberty...."   *** today would have been my father's 97th birthday.  i am quite certain there are fried clams in heaven, otherwise he never would have stayed.....happy birthday dad!