All Five Basket Blocks

Not a very good picture with kind of wrinkled blocks on my kind of shabby portable "design wall" that I rigged up a lot of years ago, but it will give you an idea of what they look like when they are together. Seven more to go. (Click to enlarge)

A Tisket A Tasket BOM Five

Here's the fifth block for the basket quilt. The instructions for putting the blocks together were there to download this time, so I am thinking about the sashing. May do offwhite with appliqued multicolored leaves on each one. (Click to enlarge)

It's Sooooooooo Pretty!

I am on Hancock's of Paducah's e-mail list and it gets me in trouble sometimes. There are always some things on sale and, of course, a lot that is not. Recently, I have really been taken by the "romantic" fabric that I see on some of the blogs. The Polka Dot Girls book that I bought has a setting for a quilt that uses the lovely, flowery, pastels.

So, listed in the sale items were precut fabrics - jelly rolls, charm packs, fat quarters and layer cakes. There is one more now - something like "muffins" which I think is fat eighths. Two of the Moda layer cakes were on sale half price. Since they are $35.00 or more that is a good deal. So I ordered Kashmir and Sweet, two lines by Moda. For anyone who reads my blog and doesn't quilt, a "layer cake" is a package of 10" pieces of fabrics, usually about 40, so there is a lot that can be done with them. Then, I saw Aviary - gorgeous! Not on sale, but I went for it anyway. Fedex brought them yesterday.

Isn't it a good feeling to get new fabric - like we need it or something? (Click to enlarge)

Happy Birthday, Molly

Twenty-eight years ago today, a darling little girl with big brown eyes came into our lives. Molly is the middle granddaughter in a set of three all of whom have given their grandparents such joy and so much fun and happy memories.

This is the granddaughter that labeled me the "old hag" when we would tease each other. I think that got started in a spirited game of croquet back in Illinois.

Molly in her pretty dress always brings back a very fond memory. Sher, Barclay and the girls came from Michigan to Illinois for Christmas before we moved up here. Dinner was almost ready and everyone was presentable but not really dressed up. Molly came out from the bedroom in her pretty dress, white tights and red shoes - all ready for Christmas dinner. That was an "Awwwww" moment for me.

So, Molly, have a wonderful birthday out there in Portland and, even though your paper card won't get there on time, I am thinking of you and sending you lots of love and

xxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Grandma

Musical Monday

For today, I will post two videos - both of the same song. First is the Ink Spots singing "It's Only a Shanty in Old Shanty Town" which I remember well when I was in high school. Give it a listen for a bit - you probably won't want to listen to it all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM84xNa6ar0

Then I managed to find a takeoff on the song that I could remember so well - even know most of the words to it. It's cute, jazzy and kind of fun. At least, I thought it was fun way back when.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uaLpZb9Su8

This is by Johnny Long and his orchestra. Wow, life was different then but, I repeat, it was good. So, Jonathan and Amy, I hope you enjoy listening to some really oooooooold, corny music!

The Layout for Red Delicious

Here is the layout of the blocks so far for this block of the month. Still six to go.

Red Delicious Block 6

There was more to this month's block than the preceding ones. Right off the bat, I messed up by fusing part of it to the wrong side of the background fabric and also doing quite a bit of the stitching before I finally tumbled to what I had done. However, I am mellowing as I get older and forgiving myself for some of the mistakes I make so I decided I was not about to start over again. And, to be honest, you probably would not be able to pick it out if you didn't know which one it was. So what difference will it make in another fifty years? Not one bit. I have always loved red, and it's a lot of fun working with all the different shades. (Click to enlarge)