Green Bean Thank You and WIPs

My friend Deb and her family live on a gorgeous farm that spans 142 acres. I can't even imagine. Their house is circa 1840's and it's been in the family for 5 generations. I wish I'd have taken a picture of their home...so beautiful. We spent Labor Day at their house visiting with friends and eating. At the end of the evening she asked if I wanted to take any green beans home. They were done picking and putting up all the green beans her family would eat for the winter but their plants were still producing tons of green beans. I picked a half bushel of green beans and ended up blanching them and freezing 10 quarts for the winter. On Saturday, she was in the area and brought me a bushel more and about 18 tomatoes. Wow! When all was said and done, I ended up with 30 quarts of green beans. They are all packed nicely in my freezer waiting for the winter. I'm planning to make some more salsa with the tomatoes. What a blessing. She wouldn't even let me give her any money for all the beans and time they spent picking them. So I thought I would give her one of my aprons as a thank you gift. I made several of these aprons at the beginning of summer. Many of them will become gifts for friends and family at Christmas. They are all reversible. This one has blue gingham on the front with a little tea motif and the back is a snowman print material. That way, she can enjoy it all year long. I made each apron different. Each one has a year long fabric for one side and a winter/Christmas print for the other side. The ties are made out of grossgrain ribbon. Some of them have pockets. My daughter's each wanted a turn to model the apron...so Mckenzie modeled the front and Maggie the reverse.

I've also been working on some other projects besides green beans and salsa. My current WIPs are the Evangeline mitts. Isn't that yarn gorgeous? It's Cascade 220 Paints. The picture doesn't do the colors justice.

I've gotten one done and am starting in on the second. My hands have been itchy lately...I'm so hoping it's not the wool. I never thought I'd be hoping for ragweed.

I've also been working on my cross stitch. It's my Epic project. I'm making progress though. It's my goal to have it done before Thanksgiving...we'll see. There is still one more square and then the border to finish. It's a Snapperville pattern from Bent Creek. (Beth Ann, how's yours coming?...you're probably done!)