Winter Update

Hello Blog Friends

I'm finding that writing a blog post after so much time has gone by is like writing a letter to a friend that you've known since childhood, but you've somehow lost touch.  It's just hard to know where to begin.  During COVID I mostly watched YouTube videos of quilters and cross stitchers.  It was like spending time with a friend.  Lately, I've really enjoyed reading blogs again, and I'm excited to see that a lot of you are still writing blog posts.   Since I've enjoyed reading and seeing what all of you are doing, I thought I'd start to write again.   Not many days go by that I don't work on some kind of craft, so I'll take some photos soon and post them.   I had these photos of my winter decorations so thought I'd start with those.   For this first post I mainly wanted to see if I could change the header and still get photos into a post.

For a change we had some show this winter.  We got 9" of snow during this storm.   It actually snowed during the day when we could watch it.   I enjoy watching the birds on the feeder.   These are my two finch feeders.   Under the tree over to the right of the photo I have another feeder, seed cake holder and a suet cake holder.    

Here are some of my friends that come up to eat the seed that falls off the feeders.   I put a pile of seed under the tree for them.   When I go out back and shake the feed container, they come up out of the pond and toward the tree.  They're spoiled, and I'm not sure what the neighbors think.  

I like winter because I really enjoy the fireplace.   It's gas so starts up with the flip of a switch.  It's not messy, and there's no wood chopping.   

This is a quilt pattern that I designed.   I had fun with the wool applique' and embroidery in the center.   I still like handwork and have just started working on an applique' project.

This is a table topper made from one of my patterns.   The colors didn't come out looking quite like they should.   We have so many gray days in winter that it's hard to get good photos sometimes.

I bought this giant tiered tray when a lot of other cross stitchers were doing the same.  It's a good way to display seasonal cross stitching.

I love these little patterns from Small Town Needleworks on Etsy.  I have the January stitch fastened on the backer with double sided tape so I can change it out monthly.   I only have November and December left to stitch.  Somehow February has gotten away from me, so I might just skip to March.

My youngest  Grandson belongs to a service club at his school, and toward the end of year they collect knit/crochet hats and scarves to donate to our local pantry.   I'm getting a head start this year.  Knitting these hats and scarves is more relaxing than any other craft, I think.  This is an easy hat pattern.  I'll share more of the hats and scarves that I have finished in a later post along with the patterns.   

Until next time.....

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.