Scrappy Sewing

Good morning, my friends. It's a gloomy day here in the Pacific Northwest. The dense cloud cover has returned just in time to obscure our view of the total lunar eclipse. It is ever thus. We gave up on trying to see celestial events a long time ago. The sky is almost never clear when something especially interesting comes along. For that, we must drive to a different state...but not this time. 

I can actually recall seeing a total lunar eclipse in December of 1963 while I was living in Hawaii. I was nine years old. So, yeah...I'm a veteran. Probably, I didn't realize how special the event was at the time. Nevertheless, I have a clear memory of standing next to a banana tree with my dad, taking in the spectacle.

Yesterday morning started with me baking some muffins. These are Flaxseed Raisin Muffins. The dark color comes from the "ground flaxseed." I used "flaxseed meal," which The Google tells me is the same thing. It also uses whole wheat flour, applesauce, banana, and golden raisins. There is only 1/3 cup sugar in the whole batch, which divides out to less than 1/2-tablespoon of sugar per muffin. (I'm trying to keep these pre-breakfast snacks relatively healthy.) They're about 150 calories per muffin, so not bad.

Probably, I found this recipe online originally, but I can't find it now. I'll give it to you here:

Flaxseed Raisin Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

Canola Cooking Spray

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup ground flaxseed

1/3 cup sugar

1 medium ripe banana, mashed

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup fat-free buttermilk

1/2 cup golden raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper cups.

In large bowl, blend the next 9 ingredients (through salt) together and set aside.  In separate bowl, mix together eggs, oil, applesauce, buttermilk and raisins.  Add to dry ingredients, mixing until combined.

Scoop batter into muffin cups.  Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool muffins in tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.

* * * * *

While I was waiting for the muffins to bake, I finished off March's block for The Sewing Room.

When I made my way to the sewing room, I added some scrappy borders...

And then made three scrappy pieced blocks.

Here are all the blocks I have for this quilt so far.

Okay, and then I spent some time switching out my plastic shoebox items to move on to the next embroidery project, the Kitchen Herbs. I'll start with the "Chives" block.

Also, I spent some time choosing floss colors again. In yesterday's post, I mentioned that the original pattern used a brand of floss I'd never heard of: "The Gentle Art Simply Shaker." When I looked at it again, I inquired of The Google if there was a color conversion chart for DMC floss, and there is! And that allowed me to look at the color for DMC floss. When I selected colors before, I was just guessing based on the name given in the pattern. Mostly, I stuck with my original choices, but I made a couple of switches. These are the floss colors I've settled on.

And that took more time than you might expect. There was just a little time left in the day to start on the Land & Sea quilt. I dug through my blues and cut the centers for the next row of blocks. And, yes, as a matter of fact, that is a manatee on the left. I bought that fabric while visiting the Suwanee Valley Quilt Shop in Trenton, Florida. It was a fun store. There was a pet talking bird living there who "meowed" at me as I walked away.

Last night's dinner was a bit of a to-do, but it was all made in a single skillet. (The cauliflower was roasted in the oven.) This is Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Cherry-Thyme Pan Sauce. 

It was fancy enough to serve dinner guests, but easy enough for a weeknight meal as well. The single skillet preparation was very much appreciated, and we liked it. I've given you the link back there, but you might not be able to open it. If you want the recipe, and the link doesn't work for you, email me and I'll be happy to send it to you.

Okay, so today I'll get back to the Land & Sea quilt. It should be easy enough to make five more blocks this afternoon. After that, I'll get back to the pieced blocks in the Girls' Getaway quilt. I'm actually not sure how many blocks are left, but I'm making them two at a time. If I find myself close enough to having them finished, I might do that today.

Yesterday turned out to be a busy day, and so I wasn't able to get in my Bowflex workout. For sure, I'll do that today. There are a couple of easy housekeeping chores, and then sewing. It should be a pretty easy-going day.