Cut-a-thon

Good morning, my friends. When I got out of bed this morning, it was 6:00 a.m. I took a little peek out the closed curtain to see if there was snow. It was still dark, and I couldn't see anything. Checking the thermometer, it was 33°F out, and so I put the idea of snow out of my mind. Until the sky brightened. Then, I could see it. We got just a little dusting overnight. Here's a view of the field.

This next image is up closer to the house.

We're expecting more than this over the next couple of days. I'm still hopeful it won't force me to reschedule my appointment for an annual physical. I've already waited months for this appointment. There's nothing to do but wait and see. 

My first stop yesterday was to bake some muffins from the recipe on the back of the jammy bits bag. These are Oatmeal Jammy Bits Muffins. They're made with whole wheat flour, regular oats, and buttermilk. They're a rather dense muffin, but not too sweet. We're kind of "meh" about them. They're edible, but I probably wouldn't make them again. The "jammy bits" are no substitute for real blueberries.

You might recall I bought the jammy bits because I wanted to try a bread recipe from the King Arthur website. They're kind of expensive, but I bought some when they went on sale. The bread was not very good, but I still have about half a bag left, and so I'm trying to use them up. When they're baked, they melt into little pockets of jam. I probably still have enough for one more baking attempt. 

My next try will be to use them in some Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins I baked a while back. The recipe was from Cooking Light. The muffin batter is ladled into the baking pan, and then a little teaspoon of jelly is added before baking them. When they come from the oven, they look like this:

Inside, they look like this. 

I'm thinking I could use the jammy bits in place of the strawberry jam. My only question is, do I mix them into the batter? Or do I spoon them in like the jam? I'm thinking mixing them into the batter would work, and so I'll try that next. I'll finish off that bag somehow. Mark my words.

Okay, so I did a Bowflex workout, and then I went to work cutting up all the pieces I'd need for the kitten in a blue teacup. (This is my rainbow scrap project for the year. Blue is next.) These are all the pieces I'll need to make a single block.

The pattern includes two different designs for the kitten, and so I've cut and labeled all the background pieces I'll need for the whole project. 

Unfortunately, I spent a good amount of time relabeling the pieces as I worked my way through the pattern. It would have helped if she'd labeled the pieces where the cutting instructions are, but it's left to the quiltmaker to figure out what goes where. And since the letters are reused for different sections of the block, it's doubly confusing. And, I promise, that's the last time I'll whine about this crappy pattern.

It was nearing the end of my sewing time when I was able to get to the actual sewing. This kitten is going to be a Sadie cat. I have the head and tail finished. I'll add the cup today.

Regarding Sadie, I was wishing I'd saved her for one of the kittens with no tail showing. This is the first iteration of this block from January's pink.

Later in the evening while we were watching TV, I realized I could do what I did with the Cats in Pajamas block I made for Sadie. Here's how those blocks looked when I followed the instructions.

To make Sadie's block, I simply dispensed with the long part of the tail and used just the tail tip, filling in the rest with the same background fabric. It turned out cute.

And Sadie was happy about that because everyone knows the best dressed cats have short tails.

So, I'll start there today. It's going to be an NBS day today...yay!...although I'll probably force myself to take a walk on the treadmill. Since returning to the treadmill several months ago, I've been spending my treadmill time watching Ken Burns documentaries. The man is a genius. Did you know he also collects quilts? No wonder he's so smart. In my treadmill time I've watched his documentaries about Vietnam, the American Buffalo, Benjamin Franklin, America's National Parks, and Leonardo daVinci. Today I'll start on one entitled The West...seven episodes, I think. It helps me to look forward to these forays into indoor hiking.

And all of that to say it's time to get started on my day. Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes for our Sunday breakfast. It's time for me to go save a life.