Surprises!

We have been having some very mild weather so far this season. I've read about those in areas that are having below zero temperatures already, and lots of snow, but here at our house, there are many days when I can still crack a window open! We have been running the wood stove for almost two weeks, but there are days when it is too warm and thus the window cracking (as in opening it, not breaking).

Over Saturday night we did have a little snow, but it didn't amount to much. Not even enough to plow. Sort of like a "little" winter, but the temperatures were warm (not according to my fair-weather-Florida-Fleeing-father) and not very wintery. The snow disappeared in the rare sunshine.

This morning, however, was totally in fashion with the date on the calendar!

Surprise!

Several inches of snow on the ground, and SLEET! It is quite wintry, and I would be perfectly happy with the coziness of the woodstove within, and snow without, except for the fact that Dale has to drive to work in the sleet. It is kind of a mixed blessing that he has been driving the big van for a couple days. The white van is down again. Not the battery this time, but a part that is supposed to turn under a belt isn't turning and making the belt do a high pitch squealing. So, back to driving the big van, which thankfully has plenty of weight and good tired for traction.

This next surprise is one I received in the mail on Friday. I got this mysterious package. I know this time of year you really shouldn't open boxes that come in the mail, but I couldn't resist. Plus, usually whatever is inside is wrapped seperately. I figured if it was Christmas wrap, then I would wait. If not, then it was fair game.

I got into the box (ever notice how hard those priority mail boxes are to to get into?) and saw the wrap wasn't Christmas. It was a pastel baby motif. Hmmm, baby? Unless the sender knew something I didn't, the only thing I could come up with was that Isaac's birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. But, it was labeled for me, not him.

I know some would sit there, enjoy the anticipation, and ponder the meaning of the package like it was the meaning of life, but I am not that patient and thus tore it open in a way that pleased our children.

Surprise!

It was a quilt. Not just any quilt, but a memorial quilt made lovingly by some of the ladies at Christian Moms of Many Blessings (a forum I am in).

Please pass the tissues.

I was so stunned by this that I stood there looking and looking at it. Examining each block, amazed and humbled and thankful for the love and prayer and time that went into such a treasure. Each block is unique, and meaningful to me. I know it sounds corny, but I really could just look and look at it. My SIL (Mel, who comments here quite a bit) had included a little note which I didn't notice at first. There were also several notes from the ladies that made the quilt. Each one so encouraging! The whole thing brought both Dale and I to tears. I can never say Thank You enough for that wonderful surprise! This time of year is not the easiest for me, and the quilt came with perfect timing.

Another surprise was that there was a block from my Grandmother/Mom.

Also, yet another surprise was a block from my quilting buddy here in town who isn't even part of the forum!

A big surprise to me was a block from Esther and Elizabeth. Now I really was teary-eyed.

The package was perfect, the quilt is truly precious to me, and the letters are wonderful. The only thing missing was a box of tissues! LOL

Here are some pics of the quilt (they really don't do it justice, but here they are anyway):

Oh, and can I just point out that those of you who have ever said "I could never quilt!" just ask my SIL, Melinda about that. She did the hand quilting, and the binding. Notice her perfectly invisible ladder stitches she tacked the binding down with (oh, wait, you can't!), and her nice, even quilting stitches. She even mitred the corners. Also, her quilt block was the one in the middle with "Aaron Gabriel Post" and the Scripture reference (from his funeral) embroidered... HAND embroidered on it. The piecing of the block is perfect, and the embroidery is so perfect I thought at first she had it machine embroidered. When I took a REALLY close look at it, I saw it was hand embroidered. Excellent job from a non-quilter! I hear rumors that she was bitten by the quilting bug during this project! Quilters are always glad to welcome another member into the fold. :)

The point of that ramble.. if you want to quilt but are afraid.. just try! It doesn't have to be perfect. There aren't any stitch police going randomly house to house and measuring the space and length of your stitches. The key is not to put pressure on yourself and just ENJOY the creativity!

Enough rambling... here are some pics!
















I can't say enough how special this quilt is to me and how very appreciative I am! Each block is beautiful in its own right. I read through the secret thread in the forum after I got the quilt (My sIL said I could have official permission to read it) and all this talk about mistakes confuses me. I didn't see any mistakes in that whole quilt.

In my eyes, it is absolutely perfect.