A New Home

Remember me talking about this guy last week?

About how I wanted to use him with the other Fall decor I'd made? And how I didn't know where to put him? Well, I found a home for him today.

This is a really quick and simple table Jake made up for us one afternoon (I'm pretty sure it had something to do with all my complaining that there was nowhere to put my drink).  I was wiping it down today and thought how nicely this runner would work here.  It will fit in with perfectly with all the other runners since it has the same fabrics, but won't stick out like a sore thumb since it has squares instead of triangles.

Aiden told me he really likes it and he's glad I put it there so he has something nice to put his cup on now.  He was quite sad at the removal of the Halloween mug rugs, so I was glad this cheered him up so nicely.  Now, to get moving on a Christmas runner for this table...

I also managed to get all these 4.5" squares cut out for one of the boys Christmas quilts.  The other one's quilt  top is finished (I'll have to get some pictures of that soon!) and waiting to be quilted.  I decided to use a different style block for this quilt.  The fabrics for both the quilts are all scraps and little pieces I've saved and collected over the years.  Some of them were even found at garage sales or given to me by friends/family that no longer had use for them.  

I can't wait to get started on this one.  If I finish this one soon and manage to get them both quilted and bound before the holidays, I will be quite impressed with myself.  Just sayin'.

Thanksgiving Table Runners Finished and a New One Found

Well, yesterday was our weekly sewing day at my house and I wanted to start a new project (no surprise there).  I discovered quite by accident that I had a few little bundles of different brown colored bindings all made up and leftover from some other project.  So, in the interest of keeping my promise to myself to finish the things I make, I decided to use up all that binding on the Gobble Gobble table runners I started on last week and quilted earlier this week.

This piece of binding was just long enough to do with runner with a few inches leftover.  Not bad.

I love the colors in this fabric collection.  The dots and the swirly circle-like print (kinda looks like eyeballs almost) are my favorites I think.
I was glad to use up this binding instead of having it sitting around, but it was a little bittersweet.  It was the last of my brown modern circles from the Tranquility fabric line.  The fabric collection has been out of print for a few years but this one remains one of my favorite brown fabrics.

I tell you what, it must have been my day to finish things up because this (literally) fell on me while I was reaching to grab some brown thread.  I must have pieced and quilted it last year.  My guess is I finished it after the Thanksgiving holiday and then put it aside to start working on Christmas things.

I'm glad I found it.  It's the same Gobble Gobble fabric I used in my other runners for the house, so I figure I'll keep it and use it somewhere.  Now to figure out where...

What have you all been doing lately? Working on any special projects for the holidays?

Quiet Mornings & Muffins

You know, I do love a quiet, relaxed morning with nowhere to be, nothing to do... just us relaxing and doing as we please.  Just being together.  It's wonderful to have those moments in the middle of all the "doing" that happens in life.  Especially life with two boys.

So this is what we did this morning.

Watched the sun rise together from the living room window.  Sorry, yard's a mess.

Made & ate too many Blueberry Oatmeal muffins.  Recipe follows.

Yep.  Absolute Heaven.  Our new favorite recipe.

Watched the boys play while I flipped through old recipe books.

Turned on the sewing machine but never did actually sew anything.

Sat for a minute, coffee mug in hand, and just looked at the beautiful pile of scrap fabric I have.

Indulged myself with not one, but two mugs of coffee! The boys had cocoa.

Since the muffins were so good, and we're not doing anything this morning, here's the recipe.  Just because I'm nice like that.  :)

Blueberry-Oatmeal Muffins

1 2/3 C. quick-cook oats

2/3 C. all-purpose flour

1/2 C. whole-wheat flour

3/4 C. packed light brown sugar

2-3 tsp. ground cinnamon (I do 3 tsp's & use saigon cinnamon, it's sweeter)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 C. low-fat buttermilk

1/4 C. canola OR vegetable oil

Grated rind of one small lemon (about 2-3 tsp's)

2 large eggs

1 pint OR 2 cups fresh blueberries**

Preheat your oven to 400*.  In a large bowl, mix together oats, flours and brown sugar until well combined.  Add rest of dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Form a well in bowl.  Combine buttermilk with oil, lemon rind and eggs.  Mix vigorously until emulsified (oil is mixed in and does not sit on top of buttermilk).  Pour into dry ingredients and stir just until combined, don't overmix!

Add blueberries and gently fold in just until berries are incorporated.  Taking care not to squish the berries will insure they don't sink to the bottom & keep the batter from turning purple. 

Spoon about 2 TB's batter into greased muffin tins (I use Pam spray) or use paper liners.  Muffin wells should be only about 1/2 full.  If desired, sprinkle a little granulated sugar over tops of muffins at this point.  We skip this step for our muffins.

Bake in preheated 400* oven for approx. 18-20 minutes.  When done, the muffins should spring back when gently pressed with your finger.  Remove from muffin tins immediately and cool on wire racks until just warm.  They are delicious as is (which is how my boys eat them) or slathered with butter (which is how the hubs and I eat them).

You should get 24 muffins from this recipe if portioned correctly.  The muffins will be a little bit on the small side.  We like them this way since they're just the right size for smaller fingers and mouths to handle.  If you'd like to make your muffins "normal" muffin size, fill muffin tins about 2/3 full instead of 1/2 full.  You'll get about 16 muffins this way instead of 24.

** If you can't find fresh blueberries you can use frozen blueberries instead but don't thaw them first! You can also substitute any other berries in this recipe.  It's also really good made with raspberries & chopped strawberries.
Before placing frozen berries of any kind in the batter, mix them in a small bowl with 2 TB's flour until coated.  This will help the frozen berries to float and not sink to the bottom.

Let me know if you try this recipe! I'd love to hear your take on them.  Enjoy!