Keeping The House Warm In The Winter

Saturday! How quickly you arrived this week! We’re having some freezing rain as I type this and it’s been such a cold week… that means we did everything we could to stay as cozy as possible.

So it was a week of turning on the oven to keep the house warm: French meat pies, leftover turkey transformed into potpies, and lots of cookies. We might have spent the school week studying story-telling devices with Harry Potter, learning about geometry with magnetic tiles, and watching snow fall.

It wasn’t perfect, but it will do.

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I worked more on my Bloom quilt this week and finished blocks 10 and 11. I have a good start on block 12, which will be the last block for the third row. Only 8 more blocks to go once it’s finished. This has been a delightful little project and each block feels like an accomplishment. I’m getting better and better at creating the shapes and sewing the appliqúe, so it feels good to be learning something new.

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I worked more on my Flower a Day project and Christmas on Shelves, but don’t have a picture of either. I’m nearly finished with the first page (of six) on the Flower a Day pattern! And just one more motif on the second shelf of the Christmas project.

Thank you all for sharing your seasonal-based strategies for crafting. I’ve decided to put away Mighty Acorn for now and pick it up in September. I’ll be glad to have those borders done when I sit back down with it. My focus right now is Christmas on Shelves and I expect to have that done in the next week or two.

I was hoping to start Winter Rose Manor after that – I have the pattern and cloth ready. I ordered a thread pack for it on 11/26 for my Christmas present this year, but it hasn’t shipped yet. I’ve contacted the shop owner to ask about it and haven’t gotten a response. I’m considering cancelling the order and just finding a DMC conversion because I really want to start it on Christmas day… but I also don’t want to be an impatient jerk! So maybe I’ll have an update for you next week.

Also in the cross stitching queue: Annie Bayliss 1887. Annie designed and stitched this in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. Nikola and the crew at Hands Across the Sea Samplers have suggested stitching this to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee – and I am down. Here’s a short YouTube Video featuring the pattern and their idea to stitch it in 2022. I’m very excited! I might even buy some red silk to make it extra special.

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It’s busy around the house this morning so I can’t share everything I’d hoped to. I’m planning to catch up with all of your lovely comments in the morning – so don’t be surprised when I start showing up in your inbox!! Have a safe and cozy Saturday!