Very favorite muffins and great summer shirts

Last week I made two batches of my very favorite muffins and have been asked for the recipe a few times so I thought I'd post it for easy reference.  I've been making these muffins for about three years and they are so full of so many filling good things that they stick with you until lunch time.  I really liked them when AJ was a tiny baby because you could eat them with one hand and they were great for nursing since you are always snacky.

I added mixed berries to this batch and they were really flavorful.  
The recipe is from a complimentary organic magazine that our local grocery stores hand out. 

Blueberry-Walnut Wheat Germ Muffins:
Makes 16
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (i use whatever i have on hand)
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup wheat germ
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 egg, well beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup nonfat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
(I also add 2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds)

1.  Preheat oven to 400.  In a large bowl, combine flours, wheat germ, baking powder, and salt (and ground flaxseed if you want it).  Stir in walnuts.   In a medium bowl, beat together egg, oil, honey, and molasses.  Beat in milk and vanilla extract.  Add liquid ingredients to dry, stirring just until mixed.  Fold in blueberries.
2.  Line muffin cups with paper liners, and divide batter between cups.  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  Remove from oven, cool, and enjoy!

Now on to the sewing.  I haven't been able to do as much sewing lately because of a persistent virus that has plagued AJ.  I think we are finally over the hump.  But here are a couple summer tops I've completed.  The pattern is incredibly easy and it fits just right.  Its from Colette patterns and found here.

I've completed two and plan on more since they are a great summer staple.  I have to rave about the fit because the measurements that I took to match up with the garment came out perfectly and the neckline is not too low cut which is a problem I often have.  With a two and a half year old I stoop down, bend over, and generally flash everyone every now and then, and this top does a good job of giving good coverage.  The black one with the floral print (fabric from Joann's) is a chiffon top and feels so soft.  However the blue one below (thrifted fabric) is my favorite since it is even softer and more casual.  I'm pretty sure the fabric is rayon.  I wore it yesterday and just loved it. 

We will be spending some time vacationing in Alabama with family this summer so I need a few breezy, sleeveless tops to beat that muggy Alabama heat!  Well have a great day and happy sewing!!!



My "new" chairs and AJ's sunhat

A few weeks ago I found a couple of new kitchen chairs.  We have a modge podge of kitchen chairs and a couple of them are getting kind of squeaky and sway a bit...two bad signs for chairs.  I've been on the look out at thrift stores and antique stores for a couple more chairs that will last longer and look like something I'd want in my house.  I found two a few weeks ago. 

They appear to be oak and also appear to be antique.  I like to call them my "farm house chairs."  They have this interesting wire reinforcement.  Most chairs I've found like this are really shaky and squeaky.  These are neither.  They are so incredibly sound and sturdy and I think it is all due to the wires.  I don't know if an individual added the wires later but I would LOVE to know the story behind them.  Wouldn't you?

The spindles were what first drew me to the chairs and then the grain of the wood was so beautiful and rich.  I'm not sure if its something to mention or brag about or what but if you're curious they were 15.00 a piece.  I think its a steal and the thrift store where I found them supports a transitional housing group so I feel good about giving them my money. 

Of course AJ wanted up in the chairs so I thought it would be a good time to take pictures of her braids (which I LOVE) and her new sun hat (which of course she refuses to wear!!).  The sunhat is a pattern from a book by Emma Hardy "Making Children's Clothes."  It has adorable clothes and has been a good book to have when sewing for a small child. 

She has an itchy nose in this picture.  This morning as I was getting ready for church and leaning over the bathtub washing my hair I could hear that the house was very quiet, too quiet.

I quickly stepped out of the bathroom and called for AJ.  She yelled something indistinguishable and I went into the kitchen.  There she was with a measuring cup on the kitchen table and a whole box of baking soda overflowing out of the measuring cup and on to the floor.  She said, "I'm baking!"  I would have taken a picture but was pressed for time to get to church and it was a lot of baking soda to get up.  We wiped and wiped it.  Our floor and table is still grainy.  But on the bright side the baking soda got a couple of stubborn spots off our kitchen floor!

Little hands had a hard time not taking the hat off so I promised her a couple of rabbit marshmallows.  Something I try not to do but really wanted to take these pictures of her.

This picture shows the other side of the hat but it also shows a pitiful bottom lip demanding those rabbit marshmallows!!  Well happy Sunday and happy sewing this week!

Memorial day fun and new aprons!

We had a great Memorial Day.  The weather was perfect and we ate two meals under our shade tree in the backyard.  AJ had requested ice cream so we were happy to oblige and it was the epitome of happiness to watch her enjoy her ice cream cone. 

Buster loves to pace around the table and beg for a taste.  We had BBQ pulled pork and ribs from Winslows BBQ and we always love it.  We fancied up some canned baked beans with a little BBQ sauce, brown sugar and ketchup and boiled some corn. 

She's catching that drip of ice cream.  After she sat at the table for a while she wanted to sit in her swing and eat her ice cream.  That was pretty cute too.  She was as happy as a lark let me tell you!

For the past two weeks I've been making more aprons for the Peacock Cafe in Leavenworth and here are the five I've completed. 

I call this one the "Chick chick apron." 

The embroidery on the left is hand embroidered and the chick was done with my sewing machine.  I just sketched a basic outline and went over and over it with stitching.  Most of the fabrics used in my aprons are reclaimed linen from some really unflattering women's dresses.  I have to tell you that most of them already look like giant feed sacks before I deconstruct them. 

This picture does not do this apron justice.  I love the chocolate color of the fabric and the pale pink of the tea towel is beautiful along with the pale gray stitching on it.  The linen ruffle was cut from a really weird pants outfit that would've been completely see through because the weave is so loose.  But it makes an absolutely perfect ruffle on my aprons. 

It is really hard to photograph my aprons by hanging them up but I hope you can tell that this one says "Home."  There are few words that I think evoke such deep nostalgia like the word home does.  It has wonderful, rich nostalgia for me and I hope for most people.  I also think it evokes a deep sense of longing to belong somewhere.  I think it is perfectly suited to an apron.

This is my patriotic apron.  There is some red stitching detail on each pocket.  I was asked to make some aprons look patriotic but had a hard time coming up with something that I didn't think looked hokey.  Any suggestions?

You can see some of the red stitching detail in this picture.  The flowers I add are always detachable and can be worn on a shirt or a purse as well.

This might be my favorite apron out of this bunch.  The "Chick chick" comes close.  I love, love, love white linen and shell buttons.  Love it!  The embroidery also turned out just how I wanted it to.

The flowers are made from some chiffon fabric that I cut into circles and singed on the edges with a candle.  I think they look like brown poppies. 

I really enjoy creating these aprons out of old garments.  The linen is usually softer and on most of the 

backs of the aprons I used vintage sheets.  I hope to get a few more aprons done before I hand them over to be sold.  They take a good chunk of time to create since I want to feel inspired by them as I sew them. 

I don't really know how to "sign off" on my posts so I guess I'll say..."that's all I have to say about that"- to quote one of my favorite movies, Forrest Gump...well whatdaya expect, I AM from Alabama!!!!

Make it Work challenge and AJ's new do!

I have another reason to sew this weekend (as if anyone really NEEDS a reason to sew) and its the Sew a Straight Line blog's Make It Work challenge.  For some reason these types of flickr pool contests light a fire under me and help me crank out my sewing projects.  Go figure.  The first one I completed was a thrifted granny shirt that I picked up for 25 cents.  Now no offense to any one that might consider themselves in the "granny" category but the way I know this shirt is "granny" is because as I was checking out at the thrift store the cashier (who was most definitely a great grandmother) held up the shirt and said, "that's a really pretty shirt." 

It needed some de-frumping.  I took off the buttons, took off the white embroidered modesty panel and resized the whole thing. 

Scallops on garments is a trend I've just noticed.  I love the scallops on this Meghan Nielson skirt.   This will most likely be my next sewing project. 

The next top I finished I pieced together from three different patterns.  Here's the patterns:

I used the pockets from the Cynthia Rowley pattern, the main body from the vintage pattern, and the wide straps from the Butterick pattern. I also cut off the main body of the vintage pattern to make it into a top rather than a dress.  I have never "remixed" patterns before and am really glad I tried this.  I now know how to put inset pockets in the side of a garment.  Turns out its not hard at all!!

This is the end result and I'm pretty happy with it.  I probably would've taken it up on the sides had I not already sewn the pockets in.  Live and learn.  The white fabric is just white muslin and the triangle in the middle is from some fabric my Mom gave to me.  Recognize it Mom?  I am glad that I gave this challenge a whirl since it now helps me look at the individual pieces of my patterns differently.

I can't blog without mentioning the little sweet pea.  She has become attached to a new hair do and I think it is the cutest thing.

She recently watched the movie The Rescuers (a childhood favorite of mine) and the main character wears two ponytails.  AJ wanted her hair to be like "Penny's." 

Pointing and saying "I want the mickey mouse magnet."  AJ and I were making cookies for a friend that was coming over to visit and she loved helping.  The shirt she is wearing is another peasant top that I've made for her summer wardrobe.  It has these cute chickens with scarves on it. 

And here's one final photo of me during my "photo shoot" with Micah.  Whenever he takes my pictures for the blog he always does some kind of paparazzi shenanigans.  This time he was singing the song Paparazzi while clicking the camera at lightening speed.  It never fails to get to me.

Well that wraps us up for this Saturday!  Talk to you soon!

Summer Outfits for AJ, a new skirt for the Momma, and Mother's Day photos

I am adding my pictures to the elsie marley  kids clothing week challenge flickr pool and have had fun adding a couple more outfits to AJ's summer wardrobe.   This first ensemble has the peasant blouse that I mentioned on a previous post and this time I added some white lace down the middle of the blouse, left off the ties, and added elastic to the arms.  The shorts are from this post of a tutorial on knot shorts.  Its always a new challenge for me to make my own pattern and I like it.

This in the second outfit and it is the same peasant blouse and shorts.  The shorts are made out of a pale green linen (from a thrifted dress) and the top is from a thrifted vintage sheet.

Here's the top in more detail.  I just love the florals on vintage sheets.

And here is the peasant top in more detail.  I wanted the lace to lay down flat and be a little neutral since I sometimes end up layering AJ's white shirts under her dresses.  I think this might be the completion of her wardrobe.  Although I do have one more outfit to post for her later. 

Now on to my skirt.  It is from Simplicity 2451 and I really like the way it turned out. 

If you keep up with this blog you know I like to thrift a lot of fabric and this blue was another thrift find.  I almost passed it up but am glad I went ahead and brought it home. 

This skirt was recommended on Pattern Review and was a favorite pattern and was said to be flattering to most body types...always a bonus!  The only alteration I made was to let it out a quarter inch on both sides just so that it wasn't too tight.  I wore it this past weekend and really liked the length and the pockets. 

And finally for the actual Mother's Day photos.  I thought I would first post a sweet one...

And next post a realistic one...

GOOD GRIEF this child gets harder and harder to wrestle into submission!!! Ha!  If you can notice the dress that I am wearing is from this post.  Its the Burda pattern that I just loved.  The fit was just right for me.  I still plan on making more.  Well take care and happy sewing!

Mother's Day posting, just a little late!

I wanted to post for Mother's Day but am just getting around to it, hmmm guess that's part of being a mother, less time for things like blog posts!  Anyway, I wanted to post this picture of me and AJ taken on Easter Sunday.

Being a Mom is such a multi-faceted experience and would be diminished by my thinking that I could summarize everything about it in a small blog posting but I will say a few things....

#1) Its THE hardest job I've ever had- I don't think anyone can describe for you how physical it is and how physically taxing it can be what with the lack of sleep in the beginning when they are babies and the constant motion as they grow into toddlers, not to mention the terrible twos...don't get me started!

 #2) I never knew I could feel so incredibly vulnerable- as my Mom says, "its your little heart running around in the world." 

 #3) I live more in the moment now than I think I ever did before I was a Mom- I guess a child is an inadvertent way to become more Zen or more like a Contemplative! 

#4) I never knew just how much overwhelming joy I was missing from my life before I had AJ-  I've really noticed this lately when looking through photo albums before Miss AJ and after Miss AJ.  I really loved my life before her but I just have SO MUCH joy now. 

#5) It gives me a deeper level of gratuity for my parents- after all somehow they had four of these energetic things and they did such a great job of loving us all.

#6)  Family times together are even more important and more wonderful- We love having our family visit but now we LOVE seeing our parents with our little girl.  There's just something about seeing your child with your parents, it feels like a gift you give back to them for all the hard work they did on you!

These are just a few of my reflections on Motherhood and they are just a snapshot of all that I've learned these past two and a half years.  Its a wonderful ride and I'd never, ever change it for the world!

What you can get at the thrift store and ramblings...

This weekend I found some time to run to one of my favorite thrift stores for their half off end-of-the-month sale.  I always scout out the whole store and especially like to check out their fabric.  I found a bolt of fabric with a few yards of what looks like old-time scenic Missouri.

It reminds me of the fabric that I posted about this winter here.  I love the scenes but am wondering what I should make out of it in order to preserve the large scenes?  Any suggestions?  Its also vintage so I wouldn't want to make anything that would be subject to multiple washings.  I think it was decorator fabric because it feels thick.  Here's the bolt end.

At some time this fabric was 1.99 a yard.  Seems like a stark contrast to the prices of decorator fabrics now huh? 

I also thrifted some taffeta for a Christmas dress for AJ.  I looked at buying some this past Christmas but just couldn't bring myself to fork over the money.  I found two yards of this taffeta for 1.00.

Its exactly the pattern and color that I had in mind last Christmas.  I think it just goes to prove that the karma of finding something you want will eventually catch up with you at a thrift store.

I also popped in to a local church rummage sale.  I literally whizzed in and practically whizzed out which is not like my usual lolly-gagging that I like to do at those kinds of sales.  I picked up this kids craft book and was super excited as I flipped through it.  The binding is really fragile but I LOVE the activities inside. 

Its by McCalls and dated 1953.  Here are a few of the activities.

I like that the pictures/activities often include both boys and girls.

These instructions are really clear and who could resist this little Dutch girl hat? 

Now I'm going to get a little reflective, you've been warned!!!!  I feel so fortunate to have the choice to shop at thrift stores and rummage sales.  On Sunday I needed an hour escape in the afternoon and went to a thrift store that features 20 cent clothing items on Sundays.  I haven't been in a while and since I can only go later on Sunday afternoons its not always worth it (all the items are very picked over by then.)  I rummaged around a bit and then decided I'd rather spend my time at Hancock's fabrics.  As I was leaving I noticed a Mom and daughter that looked as if they had no choice about where they shopped.  I went on to Hancock's for about thirty minutes and as I was driving home I saw the same Mom and daughter walking home on the street with their bags of clothing.  My heart went out to them and I considered just how incredibly lucky I am to have a choice about where I shop.  When I go to a thrift store it is for fun and it helps me support a value that I am trying to live out of trying to conserve the earth's resources but it is not out of necessity.  Yes it does help our budget greatly but again I still have choices. 

I am reflecting on this experience because I hope to use it as a reminder of how much Micah and I have and how we can be generous and live in a spaciousness that gives us open hands ready to give.  With the economy as it is, it's too easy to live with hands closed tightly around all your possessions.  I hope that I can live with more freedom than that.