Keeping Me Warm At Night

It's true. I have horses keeping me warm at night.

Stuffed horses - ranging from Wells Fargo ponies to Belle's Princess Pony from the Disney Store - take up a good portion of my bed.  One of them (marked as surface washable only) survived getting tangled up in my sheets when I washed them. This one has a sound effect when the horse is squeezed of running hooves, whinnying and then snorting. The sound effect mechanism survived the washer and dryer trauma and still works. My stuffed horse collection is complete now. It was fun assembling it, though. I do have two Build-A-Bear Workshop horses, although those two don't reside on my bed.

I have one horse blanket that I rotate in and out of my blanket line up. It's turn is coming up on Sunday. (June 9, 2013) It's actually just a piece of fleece with horses on it. When it was on sale, I bought enough yardage for the right size for a blanket and it has served me well since. I also have a horse throw to keep me warm when watching videos and DVDs. It's not quite big enough to use as a blanket for my bed, but it is the perfect size to keep my lap warm during the Minnesota cold. I bought it at the 4-H tack sale at the Minnesota Horse Expo in 2011.

I'm working on a more ambitious project right now. A couple of years ago, I bought several pre-printed mare and foal quilt blocks. The packages feature two different designs. The directions that came with the packages show what colors of embroidery floss to use for what sections of the images. I decided that wouldn't be any fun. It would be boring to have all the blocks look exactly the same. Squares I have made so far include palomino, paint and unicorn. I'm currently working on a square that will be another palomino, but this time I'm adding the feathers that are characteristic of Gypsy Vanner Horses.

I'm sure I have more squares than I need for the quilt, but I figured it was better to have too many than not enough. The extra squares will become wall-hangings. I have quilt batting I had purchased many years ago, so all I need is the fabric for the backing. Once I'm to that point, I'm planning to buy John Deere fabric. John Deere has a special place in my heart since that was the brand of tractor my Dad drove in his North Dakota farming days. Of course, I've only finished four squares so far, so planning the final assembly is a bit premature at this point.

When the weather gets warm enough, I even have two sets of light weight horse print PJs. So, winter, spring, summer or fall, I have horses to keep to keep me warm at night!