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

Groupon quilts?

I received this email offering me a Groupon to specially order a quilt to preserve all my memories...for $75!!!???!!!

Groupon

Kind of amazing to me...

Love to you all,
Randy

More tabs

Thanks to Janet for helping me amend my index of all the blocks to include those I omitted.  She's the best.

Hope you all are having a great week and looking forward to a fabulous weekend.

Love to you all,
Randy

Check out these blocks

One of my followers, Terri Lynch, just sent me a picture of her latest blocks and I was just so excited to share them!!

She said she didn't have to make any new hsts...how's that for using up scraps?? What a champ!!

Thanks for sharing, Terri. Anybody else want to send me some pictures?? I'll try to post them.

Love to you all,
Randy

Sow-A-Long blocks, first Wednesday of November

Are you ready for another installment of blocks?  Here are three blocks for the first Wednesday of November.  There will be another 3 later in the month; then 6 more in December and we're DONE.  WOOHOO.

I'm terribly sorry that I've been so inconsistent. It's very unlike me.  But I obviously made the decision to spend all my free time with my new darling Emma and the sweetest boy Ryan, until my daughter goes back to work. It's a small price to pay but I was happy to do it---and felt really lucky, honestly, to be able to have the time with them! You grandmothers out there will completely appreciate what I'm talking about.

1.  INDIAN PLUME

This block requires 28 scrappy hsts, 1-1/2" unf, 1" fin.
Plus:
background:   (1) 2-1/2" square (center)
                    (4) 1-1/2" squares

2.  DOVE IN THE WINDOW

This is effectively a nine-patch, with the 4 corners being what I call the block "Mary's Triangles"
Corner units:
background:   cut (2) 2" squares, making 4 hsts, 1-1/2" unf, 1" fin.
dark:             cut (2) 2" squares,   "
background:   cut (4) 2" squares, cut ONCE on the diagonal
dark:            cut (2) 3" squares, cut ONCE on the diagonal

Center:
Dark:          cut (1) 2-1/2" square

middle of "9 patches", you will need to make 4 flying geese (1-1/2" x 2-1/2" unf, 1x2 fin), using your favorite method AND
background:  cut (4) 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" rectangles

3.  RAILROAD

Background:  Cut (1) 1-1/4" x 21" strip
medium:      cut (1) 1-1/4" x 21" strip, making (8) 4-patches, 2" unf, 
1-1/2"" fin.

Background:  cut (4) 2-1/2" squares
dark:           cut (4) 2-1/2" squares, making 4 pairs of (2) hsts, 2" unf, 
1-1/2" fin

That's it!!
I hope you are all caught up and have enjoyed this process. I can't wait to put the blocks together.

Love to you all,
Randy

Germany, Part II

I went with my husband for a trip to Frankfurt. We rented a car and drove about 100 miles towards the Rhine Valley, where there are beautiful castles in all the small towns dotting the river, as well as fabulous vineyards.  I've been unable to post pictures until now.  I think you'll enjoy them, even though not quilt related!

This is a pretty typical town, small and charming.  Note the castle at the top as well as the beautiful fall colors, especially in the vineyards, which are almost vertical!

This was where we stayed our last night. It's actually the Mosel River.   Note again all the vineyards.  Aren't you impressed with my photograph? Got a swan in the front!!

This is the castle I tried to blog about from my phone. This is a castle located in the middle of a forest. I'm not sure you can see all the beautiful fall colors.  It's a most amazing place, almost like a fairy tale!  We actually had a guided tour in English! It's also in fabulous condition, the best we saw. It's called Burg Eltz.

This was a restaurant in Bacharach where we ate. I think the building dates from the 1300s. There is a number in the upper left corner with the year! This is pretty typical architecture.  Buildings there also frequently had vines growing over parts of the buildings, which were changing colors! Places like these also had outside gardens for dining although it was too late in the season for that when we were there.

This was a vineyard we visited. Aren't the colors just gorgeous?  Note how steep this land is. Imagine having to climb these hills to pick grapes or trim the vines? No thanks!!

Last, but not least, is my darling husband.  Here is a picture of him along the Rhine River.

It was a wonderful trip which we thoroughly enjoyed.  It's also good to be back home, though.

Love to you all,
Randy

Better pictures

I'll have to figure out how I can post better pictures from my phone.  The Burg Eltz photo I posted the other day was much too small. I'm going to share more photos here from our trip last week to Germany.  It was through the Rhine River Valley and the Mosel River Valley, both not far from Frankfurt.

This is a pictures of the hotel where we stayed the first couple of nights in a town called Bacharach, right on the Rhine River.  Our bathroom windows were one flight up from those you see with the white frame on the curved portion of the front of the building. They are clear glass dating back thousands of years! Everything was built of slate!

The Rhine and Mosel River Valleys are beautiful, dotted with small towns along their banks.  The area is largely a wine-producing region and the hills are lined with vineyards hugging the slate mountains. The hills are so steep you'd wonder how anyone can stand alongside to pull the grapes or prune the vineyards.  Because we were there in late October, the fall colors were in full view!

I'm having trouble getting pictures downloaded so I'm going to start with this. More to follow...

Love to you all,
Randy
ps: Sow-a-Long blocks will be posted tomorrow...THREE. Be READY

Favorite Europe photo

I've been with the grand babies since my return but I wanted to show you one amazing site we saw. More to follow!!