Quilt and Snow

I’ve been busy taking pictures to try to use for my Christmas cards. These are all images that did not make the card. I actually like some of them better than the images on the card, but for various reasons they didn’t fit with the other images on the card and didn’t get used. I can’t help but to share them, though. I love how forlorn some of them look.

The quilt in the pictures is one of my special treasures. My Grandma Edna made it for me when I was in the eighth grade. I curled up with it to study every day all through high school and college, and rocked all my babies with it snuggled around me late at night when they were newborns. It is the coziest, softest quilt you’ll ever come across, and in real life, it’s my favorite color: purple. I can sit and look at the pattern of quilt blocks for minutes on end, and it relaxes me. My grandmother handstitched all of the quilting in the whole blanket. Sadly, the quilt is dying . . . there are some holes in places, so it tends to only get used for special occasions now.

I’ve always been a HUGE fan of quilts. I especially love crazy quilts with their helter skelter pieces that fit together like an intricate puzzle. I wish I had the patience and sewing skills to make one of my own, but maybe because I can’t do it myself I treasure the quilts I come across even more.

On another note, Greg and I were trying to persuade Mr. Sneaky Pants to come outside to take these pictures this afternoon. We offered him all kinds of deals: an extra snack, a trip to the store with dad, extra computer time. Yet he was not easily encouraged. At one point I was dressing the Banana in her coat, and I hadn’t heard Mr. Sneaky Pants for some time. That’s never a good sign, so I asked my husband if he’d seen him. We called his name, and eventually heard some rustling behind the couch. “I don’t like pictures, not even one picture” he whispered. Yes, my little guy had actually crawled behind the couch to hide so he wouldn’t have to have his picture taken. We laughed so hard. We eventually bribed him with a medium sized bowl of raisins, for your Christmas card viewing pleasure.

This last one is from last week. It’s pretty rare to catch these two next to each other, as they both have some jealousy issues.