More snow

It is the end of January and we had yet another snowstorm today. Most of the snow went south of us, but we still got about 4 inches. The bad part is the ice under the snow on the roads. Making turns was a bit tricky! I only went out to the post office and to get my hair cut. I spent most of the day working on a t-shirt quilt that I started about 3 years ago! It is for my daughter. She gave me her t-shirts that were special to her and I have backed them and cut out the squares. Today I started assembling the squares into strips. There are 24 squares, each one is 14 inches. I will post some pictures when I get further along. I just got my sewing machine serviced and it runs like new again, so I am motivated to use it!
I have also been making items for military babies and will post a picture as soon as I finish the hat I am working on (it is #4), plus the booties to go with the hats.

Baby time

The day after Thanksgiving our niece and godchild had her first baby--a girl that they named Zara. She is so cute (from pictures). They live in the Boston area so I do hope I get to see her before she grows up! I made her this IQ blanket. I have made one for our children's kids, so I didn't want to break the "tradition." I just got it in the mail earlier this week, so I don't know their reaction yet...

These are donation items I sent to the 'Lil Troopers Yahoo group I belong to. These were sent in October or November. I am presently working on baby socks and slippers for the group, plus some more hats.

These are baby shower gifts for Kingston who is due to arrive around Valentine's Day. He will be my friend Barb's first grandchild. I added the heart to the hat after I took the second picture. The bib has a snowman on it to go with the blanket I edged. The baby shower is next Sat. but we will be out of town so I already gave the gift to Barb for the shower. They requested a book instead of a card, so I got a box of 26 books for the baby!!

We leave tomorrow night for our vacation to St. Maarten. We have never been there, but the idea of crashing at the beach in Jan. appealed to us (with MORE snow on the way to Michigan it is even more appealing). So I will finish updating my blog when I get back. And no, I am NOT taking any projects with me, just some books to read!!

Scarves

I finished 5 scarves for the Special Olympics project and got them mailed before the Jan. 15 deadline. That in itself was an accomplishment for me.

I was never a fan of making scarves, but this changed my mind. I am now making them for teeneagers at church that need some encouragement. We are calling them prayer scarves. We are making them much narrower than these, so they can be worn as fashion accessories. The first one I made was for someone who had brain surgery. She is only 17 years old and loves her scarf. This is the one I made. Purple is her favorite color, so that is what I used.

Apron time

I made many aprons for Christmas gifts this year. I also sold several at a craft show in early December. I really like making aprons--and wearing them. I am always on the lookout for cute fabrics and patterns. Here are some I made recently

This was made for Lauri. We went to their house on Christmas Eve and had a great time. I used 2 Christmas dish towels to make it. I liked it so much that I went back to the hardware store after Christmas and bought some more of the towels -- 75% off!!

This was made for JoAnne. We went to their house for Christmas dinner. Last year I made her a snowman apron, so this is her newest addition. Again, I used a dish towel and then a dishcloth for the pocket. The plaid almost matches a chair she has in her family room!!

This was made for my walking partner Rosanna. I used 2 different fabrics so it is reversible. The 2nd picture shows a close-up of the pocket. She does lots of baking and cooking.

All of the aprons were well received. I have more fabric to make some for Valentine's Day. They featrue dogs and hearts!!

Happy 2009!

The new year has arrived and I am so glad. It has to be better than 2008. You may have noticed that I have not updated my blog in months--I had severe computer problems. My laptop crashed and eventually died. I lost most of my data and have had to rebuild. It took WEEKS to get things straightened out, and then more WEEKS to get my old laptop (this one) up and running--cable connection problems, etc... But I have been very busy and will try to catch up on what I have been doing. Things may be out of order, but at least they will be here!

I made this prayer shawl for a friend Minnesota. She received it the day before Christmas. I used Lion Brand Cupcake yarn. The pattern is on their website (Half Moon Shawl) and was fun to make. I need just a bit more yarn than I had, so I used a lighter green for the border.

This is another prayer shawl I made. To be truthful, I forget who it was for or what pattern I used. I do like it and it has been given away.

This prayer shawl was made for my daughter in law's mother. Red is her favorite color. I gave it to her on Thanksgiving when we were in St. Louis. She loved it. I used cotton ease yarn (the old stuff that has been discontinued). It worked up very fast.

More to come.....