Winter 2010 in the North Country

We have had to stay close to home this year because of weather and stuff going on here at home. Because of that, we have made the best of the winter and enjoyed every minute of it.

We have been getting out every weekend snowshoeing.. what a blast. We moved to Errol from a large town/city. Errol is known for winter activities and if you don't enjoy winter - it can get the best of you. Luckily Mel and I both love winter.. this year we have learned to love it even more.

Even though it is the beginning of March, we still have snow on the ground - the ponds are still frozen enough to walk across them - and that we have done.. we walked across Big Akers today and snowshoed in the woods. Awesome is all I can say!

The other thing we have loved about living here is taking time to get to know the neighbors. Back in our old town - we might have talked to the neighbors - but here we make a point to stop by the neighbors who do the same to us.

In our old town, weekend bordem might have meant a trip to the mall or dinner out. Here there is no mall - and dinners out usually does not get very exciting. There is no bordem here. That's not to say we don't have long winters -- they are exceptionally long..but we have to make the most of them.

Enjoy some pictures from today's snowshoe trip.

Two finishes...

I finished two small quilts -
A lap quilt and a baby quilt.





What's next?

I have another lap quilt on the sewing table.. its a scrappy quilt for Amy and Jason.
I'm hoping to get the piecing done in the next couple days.

I have a table runner after that.

I also bought myself an Accuquilt Go.. and can't wait to start playing with the dies..
We'll see how long I can hold off before starting something with them.. ;)

That's it for today..
Kathy

brrrr it's cold out there.

Well, its colder than we are used to. Its supposed to get even colder tonight - that's all relative...its always cold here and lots of snow.. I feel bad for people in Florida who are expecting to get flurries in the morning.. flurries at Walt Disney World.. brr

I finished a UFO this week. This is a lap quilt I started for a friend of Mel who was very sick. Unfortunately, I never finished it before he passed away, so I put it away. I took it out this week and finished the binding and will give it to his daughter.. (I will post a picture later).

What's for dinner..
You don't want to know..
Its Friday night and I am not being creative tonight..

Have a good night.. stay warm
Kathy

Winter is finally here..

Last year we got snow in October and it lasted through the end of April. This year, the snow did not start until December and it has finally gripped its cold hand on us.

We originally were supposed to get 12-18 inches of snow last night... we ended up with 4 inches on top of the several we already had. The wind blew like crazy as well.
I got out and snowshoed a little yesterday to see how I would feel. I'm glad to say, I feel great today after snowshoeing and will be back out today at some point.

I cut out a baby quilt last night for one of my nieces... I will work on today and just relax.. back to work tomorrow after a holiday break.

What's on the menu for dinner tonight:

- Meatloaf
- Mashed potatoes
- Steamed carrots
- Apple waldorf salad
- Homemade bread

Since I am going back to work tomorow, will be starting to use the crockpot again. Will probably plan a stew or chicken soup and fresh bread.

Happy New Year - 2010

It's hard to believe we have reached a new decade.. Wow, 2010.

I've been reading lots of quilting blogs lately... my own blog (created 2 years ago) has remained quiet for the past two years because I didn't think I had anything to share.. I want to use this as a way to share my quilting, family times, cooking and photos. Hopefully others will enjoy my ramblings.

My plans for quilting for 2010 are:

- finish 3 baby quilts
- finally get the bed quilt designed and pieced for our upstairs bedroom
- finish Amy & Jason's lap quilt
- quilt the bear wall hanging that I did for Mel for Christmas (yes, Christmas - at least I finished the top)

Well, let's start there -- and see where this takes me.

Today will be a relaxing New Year's Day.. its snowing outside - so it will be a good day to do a little sewing and cooking. My brother Tom turned me on to the no-knead breads - (article about them can be found in this month's Mother Earth News).. so I have dough ready to go and will bake one today. We also received our annual meatpie from Mel's mom for Christmas - so we'll heat that up today..

Healing Hands Quilt

Recently my former manager had been diagnosed with cancer. For someone as vibrant as she, this was a real blow. I work for a group that is all over the globe, so I decided to collect handprints to put on a healing hands quilt.

The goal was to have everyone trace their hands, scan and sent to me through email. I received many of the handprints and trace them to the fusible. I worked with a color of the girls from my team to pick out a color combination that would be healing for her and we selected blue/green.
What I didn't think of was how I would use the color combinations. My original intent was to use the green for the hands and the blue for the background.. but in my zeal to get the quilt finished, I used the blue for the hands. Not realizing that I created a bunch of smurf hands, I fused all the hands to the quilt. I embroidered the word "Hope" on the center block of my quilt. When I was finished with the quilt, I had to laugh at all the blue hands. Fortunately, I was the only one that thought of them as smurfs.. I sent the quilt off to my manager and she was truly touched by the gift. She was going to use it to take to her treatments. I also made her a bag of the same fabric to carry the quilt to her treatments.

Our two best friends

We have two beautiful golden retrievers that keep our lives balanced. Cody and Ariel, each have their own personalities. Cody is the quiet one - who has been described as having an old soul (for a 5 year old), Ariel is a spirited young lady of 2 years who knows how to keep things lively.