Images From Our Monday

A blue belt is earned.

Magnetic letter play on the door and coloring by the fire.

Cold snow falling outside and warm chicken stock simmering inside.

Two loaves of homemade bread made. (orange cinnamon and dill cottage)

Exploring A New Craft

As I mentioned earlier I decided to try my hand at a new craft - one I have been thinking about for awhile. To date I have completed 3 needle felting projects - a robin, a cardinal and a mushroom (which began as a dog leg - I discovered I am not ready for 4-legged creatures just yet). To help me out in my learning I checked out some needle felting books from the library. The cardinal is by far my favorite and I envision a bird mobile encompassing the birds that visit our yard. This means of course that I need to start working on a chickadee, goldfinch and blue jay to add to the two already completed. There are many more that visit but I think this will be a fair representation. I also have a strong desire to make a snowy owl. I have always loved owls and since they elude me in the wild (I have yet to see one on our excursions in the woods) I must create my own.

The Evolution of a Quilt

Once I completed my youngest son's quilt I knew that I needed to immediately start one for my oldest son. Eight months later it is done!

I am not a quilter in the traditional sense. I really don't like following directions (although I am okay following knitting patterns) so I have found my own way of quilting. I call it "mud map quilting". I start by assembling the fabrics I like, cut them into random sizes and then put them together in a pleasing manner (pictures above and below show the process). I may cut pieces here and there to make them fit a particular spot or luck out and have just the right size already cut. Once the map is put together I either draw it out as I did with my youngest's quilt so I can pick it up and come back to it later or just start sewing it together right away and photograph where everything is in case it gets out of order (which is what I did with this quilt).

Below is the completed quilt in all it's glory. My mom came over and helped me finish it (actually she finished it for the most part by tying most of it and binding it while I made animal ears for a church pageant but I was there :)! Thank you Mom!!! I was going to present it to him as a Christmas present but couldn't wait so he got it on the Solstice - what better night to receive a quilt than on the longest night of the year.


I love to include a number of embroideries (I LOVE to do embroidery) in quilts that fit with the theme of the fabric. My oldest son LOVES the outdoors and animals so his quilt is in fall colors and speaks to the animals that roam our home state of Minnesota (including a few dogs - his favorite animal).

I tried to make the back as pleasing as the front so he can use either side on his bed. The back side is leaves and eagles.

Above is my favorite block. I did the same style of writing on my youngest's quilt and loved how it looked. It was such fun to do something freestyle. All the other embroideries are from embroidery patterns (there are appx. 8 embroideries in all on this quilt).

I was going to present it to him as a Christmas present but I couldn't wait (and neither could he) so he got it on the Solstice - what better night to receive a quilt than on the shortest night of the year!

One added note: I am very pleased to say that all the fabrics in this quilt and my youngest's quilt were fabrics from my stash or my mom's - nothing was purchased specifically for the quilts outside of the batting and some thread. Even the yarn to tie them was from my stash. I have another quilt top that was done the same way that I will report on once it is finishes. I call that one my Summer Quilt and is intended for use in our camper so I must have it finished by camping season.

Handmades For The New Year

With the completion of all my Christmas handmade's I was able to spend some time in the week between Christmas and New Years working on some new projects. Above and below are some embroideries I finished. The owl is going to be worked into a pillow for my Little and the sewing bird is destined to become a project bag for me to take along on our trip to Arizona in March (more on that later).
The scarf/shawl above I knit in 2 days! It was such a fun, easy knit and the yarn (Araucania Natural Wool Chunky Multy - a birthday gift from my mom bought at a neat little yarn store in Buffalo, MN) was a dream to knit with. The pattern is called Saroyan (designed by Liz Abinante) which I found while searching Ravelry using the search words lace, leaf and scarf. I wanted something that spoke of the outdoors since the colors are very earthy and I specifically made it to wear with my Carhartt olive colored canvas vest. (I also love that the pattern was inspired by the designers favorite TV program Bones which I too LOVE).


Today, I tried my hand at needle felting and I think I made a fair attempt at it for the first go around. My Little loves birds and thought a robin (sorry for the poor picture) might be a nice first try. I have a cardinal now started on the foam block. Needle felting is something I have been meaning to try for a long time and with some Christmas money and some inspiration from the beautiful items on this blog I decided to give it a go - I am so glad I did!!!

Happy New Year and The Holiday Season In A Nutshell

(Our 2 boys opening their goodies)

(Our Winter Solstice Ice Lantern)

(Over Thanksgiving our nephew (who has a degree in outdoor education)

took our 2 boys on a tracking hike up north - they had such fun!)

Happy New Year!!!!

As the Holiday season winds to a close I realize that my camera did not play a big part in the festivities. No pictures of most of the handmades - mocha mixes and hand rice warmers for 2 uncles and soup mixes for the other 2 uncles, handmade bath salts and handknit washclothes for the aunts, handknit slippers and an embroidery for my mom, a handknit scarf and owl ornament for one nephew and a handknit chapstick holder for another. All well received but alas no pictures. No pictures of all the wonderful food, no pictures of the 16 inches of snow that arrived between Thanksgiving and Christmas, no pictures of us just enjoying the time off from school and work. What I did get are above. One of my resolutions in the New Year are to remember to take more pictures :)!!!

Christmas Preparations

The tree has been decorated full of memories and homemade goodness.

Presents are slowly coming together.
One for the youngest above (thanks to a great idea from this blog)
and the oldest below (THANK YOU Grandma for your help!) .

Christmas outfits are coming together (and some pieces are already being worn)

And packages are being prepared for shipping - this little pinecone owl will be soon gracing a nephew's driftwood Christmas tree in Duluth.

There is still lots to be done - lots of baking, finish the headbands for the church Christmas pageant, knitting and sewing presents, shipping of a "Finals" care package to another nephew in Duluth, completing a package for an ornament swap (almost done!) and of course wrapping presents - and I know I am forgetting one or twenty things but this list is enough to keep me busy until Christmas...tis the season :)!

The Start of Our Holiday Season

(The Little and Grandpa all decked out for Christmas)

We officially started our holiday season this weekend with our annual Gingerbread House Building at my Mom and Dad's. We can't quite remember how long we have been doing this but we know it has been since the biggest grandkid in the picture below (now 18 and in college) was about 8. The kids (and my 37 year old brother) all had a great time building their houses and then posed at the end for the annual grandkids picture. It was a wonderful day of good food, time with family and even a couple quick Scrabble games. It was the perfect way to start the season!