Mario!

Some time ago, guessing a year, I started this quilt. The idea came from here. I knew a quilted blanket would get finished much sooner than a crocheted one. The top of the quilt was finished relatively quickly. Then I asked Stuart to pick out the backing blanket. He picked green. GREEN!!! I struggled with his choice, so set it aside. Crafters weekend came along and I promised Jackson I would finish it. And I did. And the green does not look so bad after all! (Yes, Stuart you were right!) After washing, the quilt went up to Jackson's bed and has been there since. It is well loved. Now he asked for a Luigi one...ah, NO!

Let it Snow!

We had A LOT of snow over this past week. I am not sure of the official measurement, but A LOT works for me!

On Saturday we enjoyed the snow, on Sunday the temps decreased and made the outdoors less tolerable.

We took Jenna out of a bit. She did not enjoy it. Here she is standing in the driveway asking if she

could go in now!

It fell like this all day. ALL DAY!

Jackson was lovin' making snow forts!

It was a perfect weekend for making homemade caramels! That is my stirrer that Jackson made me last year. It saves my arm from one hour of stirring! LOVE IT - and no, he is not getting the parts of his toy back!

And the final snow blowing of the weekend. Stuart is snow blowing across the end of our driveway after the plow came though.

The Apparent Project

The mail arrived today, as always - in rain or shine, Keith delivers the mail. Today the mail was more then items to put in my recycling bin and bills to pay. Today a package from Haiti arrived. A package of pure joy.

A few weeks ago in my blog reading hours, I stumbled across a post about a project in Haiti. Not just any project. A project of crafts, business skills, and success. The Apparent Project. Teaching others to succeed and create a livelihood for themselves. The project stayed in my mind, and just how could I help? A quick decision was made to purchase 100 bracelets. Yes, 100!!!! That is what arrived today, 100 bracelets. They are beautiful. Oh, they are so neat. Each one is labeled with the artists name and a little about them. By now, I am guessing you are wondering what I am going to do with 100 bracelets. Maybe I could wear them all at once, but instead I am going to give them away!!!!! In the next 100 Guestbook Store orders that come in, each person will receive a bracelet. Starting now....

The next project...

is in the planning. And so far, so good....

ABC's

This project has been waiting for me. A creative mind block, you might say. The center panel was complete, but I needed an idea for the edges. Finally, the idea came! I love free motion quilting with a very whimsical pattern. For the border, I wrote the alphabet (with a pencil first). It look a bit to jog my grade school memory of the proper way to connect letters. The results are fun. For the backing, I picked a orange minki type fabric. LOVE IT. This is by far the softest quilt I have made so far. Of course with every quilt, I learn a lesson. This time, my backing was too dark for the white on the front, since I did not use batting. Lessoned learned. I think the little baby who will cuddling with this one will not mind a bit!