2 In Between Quilt Projects, Raisin Oat Cookies, Tulips For Planting Time

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I've just put another pan of raisin oat cookies in the oven. The smell is fragrant.  Make no wonder cinnamon is so prized among spices; it makes anything baking smell so delicious.  

Outside we have had rotating bouts of snowflakes, hail, rain and yes even sunshine all these recent days. There was snow on the ground when I got up Sunday morning...I suspected because the light behind the blind seemed whiter. That bit didn't last at all.  Today we have a promise of 12 C. 

Getting back to the cookies, I used partial whole wheat flour and also ground flax seed. Extra molasses and lots of raisins. I had soaked dates with the thought of   adding them to the dough but decided at the last minute, I had played havoc enough with the recipe. I'm saving them to add to my oatmeal tomorrow. Recipe is here at Sally's Baking Addiction.

Since I had the oven on and warmed up, I roasted chicken thighs afterwards for the meat to use in a curry dish too. Chicken thighs are good for that.  All of it was tasty.

Two IN BETWEEN Projects

#1   I have a few more blocks from my Tiny Trees project to show with the thought of stepping up the sewing of these blocks this week.  I've not kept up the six or so a week I had promised myself that I would do. Need to play catch up while using up scraps.

#2  I did test out the Confetti scrappy quilt block using foundation piecing I mentioned in this post last month. It really wasn't effective for me as I realized right away I do not have enough white fabric. Seems like a lot of cream, off white, etc. is in my stash.  I also wanted to use scraps and not many of my scraps are worthy of fussy cutting like Rachel did with hers that made them look so pretty. In the end, I went rogue and just sewed randomly with the smaller scraps especially.  Perhaps more confetti like in the end as I think of confetti as tiny bits. 

 The pattern is there if I want to revisit it but for now I'm just going to sew more blocks in a liberated style and try to use up as many scraps as possible in the process. The white fabric does showcase the colours well.  This will be a 9 inch square and the thing that really surprised me was how long it took to sew this. Putting it together so it doesn't look like a dog's breakfast takes time. Hopefully,the result in the end achieving an "unstudied, unpretentious, and more interesting" quilt...a quote from Gwen Marsden.

 And another  upshot, I need to buy more fabric!

The ground is softening up quickly. I have tulip bulbs I received as a birthday gift last year that I want to put into planters as soon as the threat of frost is over.

  I can't put them in the ground as the squirrels find them. Of course, they might find them in the planters too but I plan to keep them up on the veranda close to the front door. That may or may not help.

I have two robins combing the side lawn for worms already. They are off to an early start with the nesting. 

The Phoebes are back; it was music to my ears to hear their familiar calls. Migration is such a miracle. How in the world do those tiny birds manage it! 

I'll leave you with a photo of one of the red squirrels.  It was munching away on last years' spruce cones sitting on a branch outside the dining area window. It's a good thing they're so cute!

Hope you are having a great week!

Sharing this post with Not Afraid of Color, Life in the Scrapatch, Texas Quilt Gal, Quilt Fabrication, So Scrappy, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework and Love Laugh Quilt.