Hello from some old friends, love you Two, Jen

Another One-Block Wonder - Animal Fair, by name.

This is the completed quilt top, pinned to the design wall. Double click to see the enlarged size - it will open first in a slightly larger format, but if you click on that, you can really enlarge it.

My first quilt was done with kaleidascope octagons and kaleidoscope squares. This quilt is done entirely in hexagons - that allows the cubes to become a part of the quilt, since they essentially make up the same hexagon shape. Optical illusions are fun.

More cubes and kaleidascope blocks.

This is one of my favorite blocks. The original fabric was jam-packed with every animal from an anteater to a zebra. This one was cut to show the skunk on top of the polar bear. Note the pig just below the polar bear's face, and the little tiny animal in the round at the center.

This particular block has a zebra, part of the elephant, and a climbing monkey. The long neck belongs to a giraffe, and forms the center kaleidascope.

Back to zebras and other assorted animals.

This one is partly elephant.

This was a fun quilt to make, but for construction, I prefer the octagon format for the One-Block Wonder. There were too many bias edges to work with on this particular quilt, and the planning stage was more difficult, because the hexagons had to be pinned together through the center to place on the design wall. The heaviness of that piece required that it be pinned to the wall. Octogons are sewn together as one unit, with the loose components of the squares in the corners. Designing is far easier, as is sewing the final quilt. (At least, in my opinion, after having done both.) There are more mistakes in this quilt, but we won't quibble about that, right?

Thanksgiving Sunset or Sunrise - Take Your Pick!

Winter is meant to be cold, and the frost is all around us each morning as we wake up - 16 degrees F this morning. We are thankful for many things this Thanksgiving Day, but the first thing that always comes to mind as we wake up is that we don't have to stoke the fire with wood and coal - the house is already warm, and we are protected from the cold. We realize that there are many in the world who do not enjoy these blessings. The turkey is in the oven, everything else is ready for final preparation for our meal - leftovers will last for days, and for that, I'm particularly thankful. I did not take time to prepare the turkey as Dwight suggested in his Curmudgeonly Professor blog, (dental floss???) but it will be delicious - never fails. We are particularly thankful for family, and for the means of communication that knit us together, even though we are miles apart. Thank you for being upstanding, good people, and for keeping your families safe. We are proud to be your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, and brother and sister.

Winter Is On Its Way

Winter seems to be in a hurry this year. We have "enjoyed" early morning temperatures in the low to middle 'teens this last week. It seems like the leaves just barely left the trees in the yard and in the orchard. There is a certain majesty and beauty in the mountains in their mantle of white, but there is a shiver factor there, too. Be sure to double click on the pictures to see all of the glory that is on the mountains and in the sky.

For the Birds

No picture to go with this post, because I was so entranced with the scene before us that I didn't even think about a camera. We live in a path for migratory birds, and occasionally whole flocks of them enjoy our back yard for a short time before they decide they'd better scoot along south. Yesterday morning, with the bright sunshine, we watched through the office window a whole flock of "different" birds feasting on the dark blue (now dried) berries that grow on the shrubs to the north of the house. The orange and yellow leaves are still clinging to the woody stems, so that contributes to our enjoyment. The birds made quite a picture, as they flew in, picniced, and flew off as if on command, then came swooping back for more. The main color of the birds was a light brown. The males had a yellow stripe at the end of the tail, and a pale yellow breast, with a light yellow line running down the middle of the back. The obvious female was a bit more dowdy, and mostly brown. Beaks were not big enough to be in the flicker family (we usually see a lot of them this time of year), but could handily take care of the berries left on the bushes. Anyway, it was our show for the day yesterday!

The Survivors

Frosts every morning have succeeded in killing all of the annuals in the yard, as well as making the perennials look a little "used". However, this pot sits in the sheltered corner of the front porch, and although the center large begonia got zapped, these little begonias just keep on giving. Every morning, I expect to open the door and see them hanging their heads, but the miracle just keeps on giving.

Animal Fair Fabric (Focus Fabric)

This is the focus fabric for the kaleidoscope quilt I'm currently working on. Click on the fabric to enlarge it, and figure out how many animals there are in one inch? (This should answer the question, Judy and Ann.) Could you cram any more animals into a small space? I was hoping the hexagons would be exciting, but they really needed the cubes to make the quilt top more interesting.

The Planning Stage of One-Block Wonder #2

Things have changed since I had this on the wall - and I'm taking black and white pictures to check on my value system. (The block at the very bottom was a stop-gap. I had to make one more hexagon to complete the quilt.) It's sort of like a mystery at this stage, but I'm naming this one "Animal Fair". Remember the old song we used to sing as children..."I went to the animal fair, the birds and the beasts were there. ..The old baboon by the light of the moon was combing his silken hair." Or something like that. Ask my why the quilt has that name? Aren't you curious?