Merry & Bright - Christmas Joy Quilt

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I've been busy sewing up Christmas projects since September.  I finished up my Christmas Joy Quilt this weekend...right on time to bring it along to the Christmas tree farm for some festive photos!  What could be a more perfect backdrop for showing off a Christmas quilt?

We had a fun family afternoon picking out and cutting down our Christmas tree, then enjoying hot chocolate and cookies around the fire...followed up with sledding!  It happened to be the first day of the first year that this tree farm was open.  So glad we have a tree farm nearby to carry on this tradition in the years to come!

This quick and fun pattern is from Lo and Behold Stitchery.  Fabrics are Bella Solids by Moda.  See more of my Christmas projects (tree skirt, advent calendar) on my Instagram account, @prairiembquilter

February

So, it's been crickets chirping on here for the last six weeks or so, but that's not because there hasn't been anything happening in life!  Life has been pleasantly busy for being the heart of winter, and I suppose blogging just fell to the wayside.  Here's a few pictures of what we've been up to, aside from me finishing up a BEAUTIFUL throw quilt, which will follow in a separate post.

My kids are such goofs.

We had a GORGEOUS hoar frost that lasted two days a few weeks ago.  I had to stop and take photos driving home from work!

Social media filters have been very entertaining for the kids.

On Valentine's Day the weather was beautiful and we had a class skating party followed with homemade slow cooker hot chocolate and Olympics!

A highlight of February was heading to Winnipeg on the long weekend to spend a night at a hotel and visit the Ice Castles.  They were spectacular!  Ari loved it so much that I had to bribe him with hot chocolate to get him to leave!  The kids also LOVED the hotel pool and playing in the hotel room.

My school went to the Festival du Voyageur in Winnipeg for a field trip.  We had a beautiful day with lots of winter fun and a bit of learning about Metis culture too.

A sunny and snowy day for a sled ride.

The snow started to melt last week and the kids were SO excited to get out their rubber boots and play in the puddles! Ari also found last year's bubbles and was thrilling his sister with them.

And today we woke up to a snow storm and had a snow day, so it's back to winter boots and snow pants for the time being.  While it's been a good winter, I am more than ready for spring to arrive!

Winter getaway.

Ahhhh.

My husband and I just got home from 3 days away at this lovely cabin in the woods.

Our cabin overlooked a beautiful frozen lake. While there is snow in the pictures, we actually are experiencing a very abnormal winter this year. We should have much more snow than what you can see. In fact, there wasn't enough snow on the cross country ski trails yet!! So, off we went to blaze our own path on the lake.

We loved watching nature from our cabin window. The birds (and squirrels!) ate up all of the seed we put out for them...

...and we even had two deer wander past our cabin window while we were eating breakfast one morning!

Seeing as there was little snow, we opted for a hike instead of a ski. No need for snowshoes!

An amazing, relaxing break. I could have stayed longer!

Two more highlights of the cabin were the outdoor hot tub on our deck and the wood burning stove inside. I loved soaking in the tub with a glass of wine every evening and I also loved curling up with my book in front of the fire!

Learn more about where we stayed here.