A Pirate Stole My Horse and Treasure!

Patrick has been a huge fan of Lego for years. Recently he has discovered YouTube and has spent lots of time watching homemade videos of Spongebob, Mario, and Lego. He took a class at the Park District and learned some of the basics of stop-motion animation. Oh the fun! We figured out how to do it very easily using our digital camera and imovie. This is a fantastic next step for him to extend the ways he plays with his Legos.


He did this all on his own. He took all the photos and did the voice over himself. Most of the time I was not even in the room with him. The song at the end is The Entertainer, his latest piece on the piano. I love how his narration is so much like how kids talk while they are playing.

Here's a link to the youtube version if this doesn't work

Maria's finished quilt

Should I try this again? Maybe.
Recently I finished a quilt for Maria. I slowly worked at hand quilting this quilt for about two years (!). Now it is done. It was nice to get to the end or find the end of this everlasting project. Hand quilting is worth it because I think it looks far better than machine. It just takes sooo long, and would be discouraging when I couldn't wrangle up the motivation to keep at it. In any case, it looks beautiful on Maria's bed. I remember starting this quilt at a time that Maria was very frightened of many things. She couldn't sleep at night and wanted me there with her until she fell asleep. I was so sorry for her and wanted to be able to help, but it just took time for her to work through her worries. I didn't get the quilt finished in time for it to be of any comfort. The entire quilt is backed with one of my all time favorite fabrics, a little red riding hood toile. I thought the story was appropriate because it deals with a young girl who is both afraid and brave.

Betsy can't wait for me to get started on one for her. I don't know how many more twin size hand quilted quilts I can make.