Playing in the snow

The kids came in yesterday and it's been great fun showing Ryan how to throw snowballs at his Papa!!

last Sow-A-Long blocks!!

I hope you had a fabulous Christmas with your families and/or friends. Maybe you even had a chance to get some sewing done this week. I hope you did.  I've completed several projects, which has been great.  My daughter and the 2 darling grandkids are arriving this afternoon so my sewing machine is getting put away.

I know you've been anxiously awaiting the final three blocks of our Sow-a-Long that I've been promising.

1.  CACTUS POT (can never have too many baskets!)

Background:  Cut (1) 2" square
                   cut (2) 2 x 3-1/2" rectangles
                   Cut (2) 3" squares-making (4) hsts, 2" unf, 1-1/2" fin, with
Medium:       Cut (2) 3" squares -  "

Background:  Cut (1) 4" square, cut ONCE on the diagonal (one extra triangle)

Dark:           Cut (1) 4" square, making (1) hst, 3-1/2" unf, 3" fin (one extra)
Medium:       Cut (1) 4" square,    "

Dark:           Cut (1) 2-1/2" square, cut ONCE on the diagonal

2.  SAWTOOTH STAR VARIATION  (COURTESY OF LORI!)

Background:  cut (4) 1-1/2" squares
Medium:       Cut (5) 1-1/2" squares,
assemble a 9 patch, 3-1/2" unfin, 3" fin

Background:  cut (4) 2" squares for corners

Background:  Make 4 flying geese, 2 x 3-1/2" unfin, 1-1/2" x 3" fin.
Dark:              "

thank you, Lori!!

3.  RAIL FENCE VARIATION (thank you Claire!)

Cut 2 strips one dark and one light / bright, 14" x 1.25". Sew together lengthwise and cut into

 (4)- 3.5" units

-cut (4)- 2" squares of a medium 

-cut (1_- 3.5" square of a second medium

-assemble acording to picture.

Thank you very much to all of my followers and those of you who have been doing my Sow-A-Long for the past year.  It's been a great adventure; I've enjoyed it tremendously. One of the best parts has been the new blogging friends I've made through this project. What a gift!!

  One of my 2013 projects is going to be to put these blocks together. PLEASE be sure to send me pictures of your progress setting these blocks. I will post them on my blog.

New project for next year? Of course.  Just haven't figured it out yet. It will be a short-term project, though, so will be easier to keep up.

Love to you all,

Randy

Happy Holiday

I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful Christmas holiday today with family and/or friends!  We are still in Sunriver where it is snowing AGAIN!

Rachel arrives tomorrow with the darling kids, after their short trip to Portland to see the other grandparents.

So today is a quiet day for Mark and I. I'm working on trying to finish up another project I started this year. I will post the picture later.

Oh and the last 3 blocks for our Sow-A-Long will be posted before the kids arrive tomorrow!

Have a glorious day.

Love to you all,
Randy

Another 2012 project

I was sewing this top from a Quiltmania magazine - it is supposed to be a picnic blanket! I am just waiting on some more sashing fabric to finish it off. I love it especially because I received blocks from DarLynn, Pat and Debbie. Do you see my barn quilt?? Isn't that great?? Very Wisconsin-ish

Just Takes Forever- done at last

I put the last quadrant (Lori's strategy) together on my Just Takes Forever quilt. It really did take forever and was a huge challenge but worth it! Now just to add the borders and drop it at the quilter's!!
What a great feeling to finish something I was working on for all of 2012!!
Anybody else finish something recently??

More Cotton Club blocks

These are last month's blocks for this BOM! I've been doing them through Pat's shop Life's A Stitch! They are beautiful!

Cotton Club

I have been working on the block of the month called Cotton Club.  I love the fabrics. This is month 9 and I'm happy to report that I'm up to date on my blocks! Aren't they fun??

Finally stopped snowing

I never tire of the amazing look of the snow!! This is the view at the end of our driveway, looking down the street.

Lori is sweeping

We had quite a bit of snow last night and Lori had to sweep her car clean in order to get out of the driveway! So sad to see them leave 😥

Christmas lights

There is a lodge in Sunriver that is so pretty in the winter. They have the most wonderful Christmas lights. With the snow it's even more picturesque!!

Snowshoeing in Sunriver

Lori, Claire and I (and Max) walked 9 holes of the golf course with our snow shoes! Whew!! What a workout!! It was great fun!!

Part III

It's great to be getting this done!
Here is Part III of JTF!
Note that I replaced some of the blocks with my own creations! This one has a huge Hawaiian appliqué I found.

Part II JTF

I'm excited to be making progress:
Here is Part II!

Just Takes Forever, Part I

Lori is quite the inspiration! She got her JTF quilt completely together this week. I hoped to finish mine as well and, with Lori's guidance, I am putting it together in sections. Here is the first part!!
All I can say is "WHEW!"
These blocks really took forever!!

Love to you all
Randy

More blocks to share

Helen in the UK sent me a link to her blog to see what she did with the sow-a-long blocks that she's already put together!!

Don't you think it's fabulous??

HelenQuilts

Love to you all,
Randy

Out for a walk

Lori, Claire and I took a short walk with Max, just to get some fresh air before it really starts to snow!
Tomorrow I'm taking the girls snowshoeing!!
Love to you all
Randy

THREE SOW-A-LONG blocks, at last!

I know I've been unreliable about posting my blocks in a timely fashion.  I'm just not the best blogger. I'm sorry. You know why, of course...Nana time!!

Anyway, here are the three I promised.  I will post the last three in the next day or so.

1.  BASKET (can never have too many baskets!)

Background:  cut (1) 4" square
Dark:           cut (1) 4" square, making (1) hst, 3-1/2" unf, 3" fin (one extra)

Dark:          Cut (1) 1-1/2" square, cut ONCE on the diagonal
Background: cut (1) 3-1/2" square, cut ONCE on the diagonal (one extra tri)
Background: cut (2) 2 x 3-1/2" rectangles

Background: Cut (3) 2-1/2" squares
Medium:      Cut (3) 2-1/2" squares, making 5 hsts, 2" unf, 1-1/2" fin (one extra)

2.  BASKET (see what I mean??)

Background:  Cut (1) 4" square, 
Dark #1:      cut (1) 4" square, making (1) hst, 3-1/2" unf, 3" fin (1 extra)

Dark #1:     Cut (1) 3" square
Background:cut (1) 3" square, make (2) hsts, 2" unf, 1-1/2" fin.

Various backgrounds and darks:
make (6) hsts, 2" unf, 1-1/2" fin.

Background: Cut (2) 2 x 3-1/2" rectangle

I'm especially in love with this block since I used some of the scraps my dear friend Will gave me when I saw her in Paris two weeks ago.

3.  JACK IN THE PULPIT

CORNERS:
Make (4) hsts, 2" unf, 1-1/2" fin.
Background:  Cut (4) 2-1/2" square, cut ONCE on the diagonal.

Center:  Cut (1) 2" square
Black:    Cut (2) 2" square, cut ONCE on the diagonal.
You are making a Square in a Square, 2-3/4" unf, 2-1/4" fin.

Black:  Cut (4) 1-1/2" squares
Medium:  cut (4) 1-1/2" x 2-3/4" rectangles
This center unit will measure 4-3/4" unf, 4-1/4" fin.

There are three more coming in the next day or two.

Hope you're enjoying the final blocks for our sow-a-long!

Love to you all,
Randy

Retreating in snowy Sunriver

My family usually spends some of the winter holidays in Sunriver.  Last year, Claire and Lori and I got together for some serious sewing before the family arrived so we thought we'd do it again this year.

Claire and I drove the 9 hours yesterday through all kinds of weather.  We arrived to a beautiful winter wonderland here in Sunriver!!

Note the temperature warmed up from the chilly 10* it was when I went outside to snow blow the driveway so Lori could put her car in~!!

Here's the view out our living room window! Just gorgeous.

The sow-a-long blocks are almost ready to be posted...all 6 of them!! It's my first project for today! I have a couple already done and Claire thinks they're adorable!!

Hope you're all having a great pre-holiday season and not too stressed.

Love to you all,
Randy

What a treat!

I was able to have both Emma and Ryan stay with us for 2 days - such a great couple of days!

Galleries Lafayette

One of the largest department stores in Paris is called Galleries Lafayette.  You cannot imagine the CROWDS in that store.  It's also enormous, covering two city blocks! The French go all out in their displays.  I thought this display was amazing. They look real, don't they?

That store's windows were in large part devoted to Louis Vitton purses and luggage.  They were fabulous! And all the little characters were moving, including the bear!

This is another favorite.  I couldn't imagine all the work in putting together all the little trinkets they put into this window:

This one is my all-time favorite, I think.  The doggie was wearing headphones and actually his head and rocking to the music.  It was awesome.

Here was another Louis Vitton window.  This polar bear was enormous, and moving, like all the other little figures.

 Kind of looks like animals were a central theme, doesn't it??


I'll post some more pictures tomorrow. Don't want to overload you.
:-))

Love to you all,
Randy

BACK, at last

I love traveling but I've gotta say that being home is great. I just love my own bed!

I had a wonderful trip and, as promised, I'm going to share some pictures.  Here's a picture of one of my favorite people, Will.  I brought her a little pincushion I made from the Shawnee glass I got in Wisconsin this fall.  She was very excited!

This is one of my favorite spots in all of Paris: The D'Orsay Museum.

The D'Orsay is a converted train station.  It's a stunning example of beautiful architecture with absolutely amazing art.  I love it there, although the crowds are pretty large, even in December!

We were waiting for a bus one evening and the color of the buildings was just amazing. I'm not sure this picture was able to capture the white glow well enough but I hope you can get the idea.  This is a pretty typical view of the Seine.

Christmas windows and other goodies will follow, as well as the blocks for December!!

Hope you are all having a great holiday season.

Love to you all,
Randy

More blocks!!

Amanda in Australia shared her blocks...

It's so much fun seeing different people's blocks in different colors. I love it!

Love to you all,
Randy

First night of Chanukah

Happy Chanukah!  Tonight is the first night.  If I was home, I'd be lighting a candle in one of our menorahs.  It's going to have to wait until we get back Monday night.



When I get back, I'll be sending you the most amazing pictures. I've been snapping Christmas windows and can't wait to post them.  I don't have the internet on my phone while away, so you will just have to wait. And I'll also reveal my whereabouts, too, since I know you are seriously wondering Where in the World is Randy???? :=)

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend.

Love to you all,
Randy

More blocks

Susan in Sacramento sent me her blocks to enjoy!!

Aren't these colors fabulous?

Love to you all,

randy

Reprieve!!

Guess what??

You get a week's reprieve!  I won't be posting blocks this week. 

I'm a bad blogger!  DH and I ran off for a quick trip and I didn't get the blocks done in time. So sorry.

It will give you an extra week to catch up.

Three more blocks next week; then another 3 before the end of the month.  I don't know how many that totals, to tell you the truth. I will post a picture of mine up on a wall (or on the floor since I think my wall isn't big enough).

I hope you are enjoying this quilt and sorry that it's coming to an end.

Have a great week!

Love to you all,
Randy

What a gift!!

I am excited to tell you that Janet O. sent me a most wonderful little wall quilt to thank me for donating a couple of quilts to her daughter's fundraising efforts on behalf of her grandson.  It was a very generous gift and I'm eternally grateful for her generosity. I feel very lucky to have received one of her beautiful quilts.  Now I just need to figure out which wall will be blessed to have it adorn its wall!

Don't you just love basket blocks? I am thinking we need more baskets for our Sow-a-Long...

Hope you are all well,
Love to you all,
Randy

Thanksgiving was ...

Not as we expected.

We had all the kids and both grandkids up in Sunriver. GREAT.
We had a great dinner planned.  GREAT
Everyone finally got there (not without major flight issues). GREAT.

EVERYONE got the stomach flu!! (Well, Emma didn't, thanks to the wonderful attributes of breast milk; Ben skated by, atleast until last night).

Family picture?  NOT possible.

This is what I created to memorialize our trip... hope you have a sense of humor!!!

Hope everyone else had a great holiday, in whatever manner you chose to embrace it.  Thanks to everyone who shared warm and very personal thoughts about Thanksgiving. Anybody have any good stories to share? I'd love to hear them... 

What did we learn?  It isn't always going to be what you expect.  It doesn't have to be.  Even everyone getting sick creates a different kind of memory of being together. Don't you agree??

We're on the mend; not life-threatening!
Hope you have a great week.

Love to you all,
Randy

Third Wednesday of November: SOW A LONG blocks

Are you ready for three more blocks to add to your quilt?  We are almost at the end:  6 more after this installment and then you get to figure out how you're going to set all these darling 6" blocks.  Mine are still stuffed into a large zip lock baggie!! 

1.  LEAF BLOCK

Background:   Cut (4) 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" rectangles
                    cut (4) 1-1/2" squares
Medium:        cut (4) 1-1/2" squares
Center (Dark) cut (1) 2-1/2" square
dark 2:          cut (4) 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" rectangles (my reds)

You also need 4 flying geese, 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" unf, 1x2 fin.

2. STREAK OF LIGHTNING

This block is totally scrappy:
Background:  cut (7) 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" rectangles
                   cut (3) 1-1/2" squares
Blues:          cut (4) 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" rectangles
                  cut (1) 1-1/2" square
Reds:          cut (4) 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" rectangles
                  cut (2) 1-1/2" squares

3.  DOUBLE X:

Background:  cut (4) 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" rectangles
Dark:           cut (4) 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" rectangles (my stripe fabric)

Center:         cut (1) 2-1/2" square

Corner:
You are making 12 hsts in total, 1-1/2" unf, 1" fin.
AND cut (4) dark 1-1/2" squares (my brown)

This is one of my favorite blocks; I never play with stripes so this was fun.

Love to you all,
Randy

Thanksgiving thoughts...

Are you all ready for Thanksgiving?  Do you have some special family traditions?

Family matters are frequently sticky and filled with all kinds of "baggage".  I recently heard from a blogger that her two kids aren't very close and she's done trying to get them "together".  My mom tried for years to coordinate events where my brother and I could be together.  We don't really have much in common and never enjoyed those get-togethers so she finally gave up.  My heart goes out to you out there who have family issues that are painful, especially at this time of year.

I think traditions are also so interesting.  Having grown children with grandkids now it's great to see that they are embracing some of the traditions we established.  One of my favorites is Thanksgiving.  Since we've owned a vacation home in Sunriver the past 15 years, we have always traveled the 500 miles to spend the week together under one roof in a beautiful area. Rachel has been bringing her family up here as well.  Ryan knows his way around our house in Sunriver so well, it's great.

I'm not even going to talk about the food, which my family insists always is the same year to year!! Drives me nuts!!

I'm anxious to hear about your holiday traditions...willing to share? I mean food, events, location, etc etc.

Love to you all,
Randy

More gorgeous blocks

Suzanne sent me a few pictures of her blocks and I just love the colors.
It's really interesting to me to see the difference in blocks that are two colors (gorgeous and dramatic) and those that are scrappy (more my style).

I'm still enjoying looking at your pictures so don't be shy!

The blocks for the sow-a-long for this week are already posted and will go live  on Wednesday morning.

Hope you're having a great week. I am meeting my dear friend Lori today for lunch and some quilt shopping so I'm excited!!
Our family starts coming in today and we will be in Sunriver all week! 
Love to you all,
Randy

Another set of blocks

Here is another set of blocks from Jane. I really am loving that you are sending me pictures. I have a few more to post in the next few days. I'm driving tomorrow up to Sunriver so it'll be another day before I get back to my computer.

Don't these look fabulous??

Love to you all,
Randy

French General fabrics

I have to admit that I am a HUGE fan of the French General fabric line from Moda. OMG. I could eat them up.

Piffle sent me a picture of some of her sow-a-long blocks using French General fabrics. Aren't they fabulous??  I'm loving seeing what you've been doing. It amazes me to see how the same pattern can look so different with a change in fabrics.  Keep those cards and pictures coming!!

I am leaving for Sunriver on Saturday...will get my newest blocks done tomorrow for posting on Wednesday. BE READY!!
Love to you all,
randy

Aren't these fabulous?

I just got this picture of 45 blocks made by Sue. They are fantastic! Love them.

 Keep sending me pictures. I'm really enjoying the chance to see what people have done with my blocks.

Love to you all,
Randy
Ps: I didn't realize that some of her blocks were not part of our sow-a- long! So don't fret if you don't recognize some blocks. Please only send me pictures of blocks that were part of our project to avoid confusion. Thanks

Black and white blocks

Kathy from Australia has sent me a picture of some of her blocks. She's doing hers totally in black and white.  It's so amazing to see how different they look in different colors!

Aren't they fabulous??!!!

If you are willing to share your blocks, please send me a picture and I'll post them.

Love to you all,
Randy

Bad hair day?

My hair is very curly and oftentimes frizzy. Drives me nuts.
But I recently saw someone at the airport with hair that made mine look thin, straight and stringy.  I know it's not nice to make fun of others but this woman was beyond interesting. I wish I could've gotten a frontal picture because her makeup was almost geisha-like... As it was, it was hard to take the picture without being obvious, although everyone was taking pictures. I would not have enjoyed sitting next to her on the plane, probably.

Oh, and here's a recent picture of Ryan cuddling with Emma in her crib!!  Is this cute or what?

Love to you all,
Randy

More blocks

Fabulous Kim in Poughkeepsie, NY,  sent me a couple of pictures of some of her Sow-A-Long blocks in two different color ways!

and

If you want to share any pictures, send them. I think I've figured out how to post them!

Love to you all,
Randy