Snowmen in Australia?

Remember when Suzanne sent this charming picture of the kangaroos that she took on the golf course? Don't they look surprised to see snowmen?
This mound of snow, and several more like it, represent a lot of hours of shoveling, mostly by Daniel. Thanks, Daniel!
This morning when I took my walk I was thinking that I really do love snow. It is the most marvelous sound proofing agent. I enjoyed complete silence, broken only by. . . could it be? Birdsong. I truly think I heard a robin this morning. I didn't see one, but I think they must be starting to come back. A sure sign of spring!
We're afraid to knock the icicles down. They would probably break the window. That's a massive ice dam draped from the gutter.

It's been a busy couple of weeks, and the sum total of my crafting this weekend is a tiny pink hat and scarf for the snow baby and four small hand quilted butterflies on the flower basket wall hanging. Oh, and a few rows on a black cat I am knitting. :>}

Wishing you the best.

Sew cute!

A very fun surprise arrived in our mailbox yesterday. My sister, Sara, sent me the most adorable buttons. Did you ever see such a cute caterpillar? And how about this bee?
I added a bit of hand quilting, and this project is finished.
We are surrounded by snow and more snow. It will be so pleasant to see green grass on the ground when spring finally arrives. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Yesterday morning Larry and I took a walk at 5:30. The schools were closed due to snow, there was no traffic, and we made our way through streets untouched by snowplows. We felt like adventurers and had a marvelous time.

The thing about knitting. . .

is, that no matter how cranky or out of sorts I feel, once I've knit a few rows I feel so much better. It's like taking a walk or doing yoga. My mother-in-law had hip surgery last week, and I knit a whole snowman for her while we were waiting at the hospital. She enjoyed watching me knit part of it before they whisked her off to the operating room, and it was good to have something to do during the surgery. That one even has his own tiny pair of mittens! It's the first time I've ever knit two mittens of the same pair. Tee hee.

I went to Goodwill for some more yarn, and I may branch out and learn to knit something besides snowmen. :>}

Yummy Yogurt!

My mother-in-law, Betty, gave me this recipe a few years ago. It is perfectly delicious, and takes less time to make than it does to open the cans. Just mix the pudding mix with the plain yogurt until smooth, then add the pineapple with juice and stir. Drain the oranges and stir them in. Presto! Everybody loves it, especially someone who just came home from the dentist and can't chew for a while. Poor David.

Lake Farmpark 2010 Quilt Show

A quilt of a quilt show! How clever is that?
These beach scene quilts were made by two different people, both missing summer! The one on the left had real shells stitched to it.
This one is hilarious!
Sunbonnet Sue, one block for each month.


Well, here's one we've all seen before. I like the location they chose for it.
Isn't this cute? The person who made it won "Best of Show" last year with a similar theme in a much larger quilt. Her family members liked it so well she made one for someone else. Brutus is Ohio State University's mascot, and scarlet and gray are their school colors.
I love this basket of flowers! Right after I mentioned to Larry how much I liked it, he pointed out that the label shows it was made someone from the same town we live in. Maybe we'll meet someday.
This impressed me the most. It is completely hand pieced and appliqued, and hand quilted.
See the intricate stitching, all done by hand.
A beautiful sparkle-y castle! I thought of Suzanne's daughter Shakira and Tine's daughter Viola when I saw this.
Lake Farmpark has more than quilts. They have lots of animals, including brand new baby pigs - 14 of them - born just yesterday. It was so cute seeing a little heap of pigs sleeping under the heat lamp.

Never quite finished

After hanging this up I realized that it needs a little bit more quilting in the white corners. It's not too late! I was sorry to have to chop off the points of the white squares, but I had just enough of the green to make the triangles the size they are, which is not quite large enough. I am trying to "shop from my stash" instead of buying new fabric. I have plenty, so much that sometimes I forget about a particular piece, and it's great fun to come across something I didn't remember was there. :0}
The pattern came from this book, which is like visiting a flower show. So perfect for February in Ohio! I'm going to try a flower pot next, from the same book. I bought it quite some time ago, after admiring it on Lisa's blog, and am just now finding time to try the patterns.

I hope you have a delightful weekend! Only a few more weeks until Spring, thank goodness.

Seven things

I got the idea from Daisy to post about seven things that make me smile.

1. Each cold winter day that we get through is one day closer to spring!

2. My family makes me smile every day. My kind son, Daniel, who has shoveled a TON of snow in the last two weeks, and Larry, the nicest guy in the world, who went to visit my mom when I had to work on my day off, and David with the dazzling smile, who works so hard to achieve his goals.

3. The fun I had "planting" pansies in this basket. I'm still trying to decide if I should add a bit of pink in a narrow border before binding it in green. Opinions welcome!
4. Mr. You Tube is teaching me to crochet! This is just simple single crochet (with a really untidy beginning), but Mr. You Tube is equally proficient in granny squares, which I hope to learn next.
5. We have a new girl starting at work tomorrow, which means I shouldn't have to work on my day off next week, as I have this week and last. A day off always makes me smile!

6. The quilt show starts tomorrow. BIG smile!

7. All my blog friends make me smile! I have learned so much and been inspired to try new things, thanks to you.

7 1/2. My four o'clock slice of cake with Ginny. Mmmm.

Mrs. Chillyfrost

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed knitting Mrs. Chillyfrost. (Her first name is Cecilia). It was such a pleasant surprise to knit a round of increases or decreases and find that I actually had the correct number of stitches on the needles. Of course that didn't happen EVERY time, but as Lucy Locket said, I was being innovative.

I was thrilled beyond measure to have knit a hat! I've never made a knitted hat before, and yes, I know it's a very small hat, but nonetheless, it's a hat.

Mr. Chillyfrost, whose first name is Charles, has a scarf and half a hat. He doesn't actually have a body yet, but he will soon.

And NEXT I think I'll try crochet! At least with knitting I had done it before, so my fingers sort of remembered what to do. For some reason I never learned to crochet, but as Heckety said, it's a nice portable project, so I'd like to give it a try.

It's snowing, as predicted, and they're talking about a foot. As in 12 inches. Ah, the joys of winter. Thank goodness for 4wheel drive and a job close to home. I hope you have a good weekend!