Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that I live in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes where the summers are short and the winters are long . . . and cold . . . and snowy.
We aim to make the best of it during the winter months. As soon as our little lake makes enough ice, it becomes populated with a village of fish houses. My husband and several of the neighbors become evening and weekend fishermen. Occasionally I bundle up and venture out onto the ice as well, so I can keep him company.
Now don’t feel too sorry for me. We are hardly “roughing it.” This is my husband’s fish house, a 16-foot Ice Castle complete with an oven, television and cozy places to curl up and read a good book. It’s also a great place to snack or take a nap.
Oh, and fishing, of course the fishing is really important too.
It dawned on me recently that the fish house would be an awesome place to do some handwork, so I’ve decided to get back into counted cross stitch. I haven’t stitched for over 20 years, but the patterns today are so beautiful! My first project will be a wintertime sampler kit from Fat Quarter Shop called Jack Frost’s Tree Farm by Little House Needleworks.
The kit includes all seven patterns in the Jack Frost series, the 30ct linen fabric, and all threads. I will be stitching the series together to make the overall sampler, but a person could also stitch them individually as shown in the photo above. I took my kit out to the fish house to look it over, and now I can’t wait to get started.
This past Saturday we spent several hours in the fish house, fishing and watching NFL football. The Minnesota Vikings lost in the playoffs, which was a bummer. But somehow the loss was easier to take due to our surroundings.
My sister and I used to go ice fishing with my Grandpa Ed when we were little, and I loved it. Grandpa had a curve-top vintage camper that he renovated into a fishing shack. He would rig up all the lines and send them down the holes. While we hoped to catch a bluegill or crappie, what we really enjoyed was playing cards and making jiffy-popcorn on the stove top. When we got restless, Grandpa would send us outside to skate on the ice. (For all you non-fishing folks, a crappie is a small panfish that makes a delicious fish fry meal. And just so you know, crappie rhymes with poppy.)
Someday, I hope we have grandchildren so we can carry on this tradition with them. In the meantime, I will enjoy reading, stitching or watching a football game with my hubby as he works to reel in his catch. I suppose I could become a fisherwoman myself, but I really just enjoy being out there.
Are you thinking about getting back into stitching? The Jack Frost patterns can also be
purchased individually, in case you\’d like to do a smaller test run. All of the
Little House Needleworks patterns are so pretty!
Thanks for stopping by, quilting friends! I\’ll keep you posted on my stitching progress.
~Taunja
