The Quilt Block Choice

The choice for the quilt blocks was the last one in the previous post's lineup or the one at the top of this post. This picture at the top is of the sample block in the sewed together state.









Then there are some pictures of the method -
1. Cut a piece of material of the dark and of the light colors about 16 1/2 inches by 9 inches each. Press their faces together.
2. Lay them on the cutting board with the lighter side up and draw the grid on the material - 3 7/8 inches square with diagonal line through each square.
3. Pin the two pieces of material together around the outside edges.
4. Sew a seam 1/4 inch from each side of each diagonal line.
5. Lay the sewn material on the cutting board again and cut the vertical lines using the ruler and cutting wheel, then cut the horizontal lines and then cut the diagonal pencil line.
6. Open each triangle and press seam towards the dark side.

The bottom picture is how the little blocks are arranged to get the final design. This picture also shows the chosen materials for the quilt I am making. If you enlarge the picture you'll get a better idea of the color. I had more of the dark material on hand than of the other dark material in the sample blocks. I chose this particular lighter material as the best choice of what was available at the store. I think I'll be trying to bring out either the brown or dusty blue tones a bit with the boarder (framing) strips.

One cute boy
















A red flower

This is a trail to try to put tags with the picture - these are very old pictures.

Sample Quilt Block Designs

Here are some quilt block designs that I have been sampling in an effort to decide which one to use on a quilt for a queen size bed. I may not use the exact colors but I will use one of these layouts.

My readers may vote on their favorite by number starting with number one at the top. I have already decided and in the next post I will show the layout that I picked and hopefully by then I will have chosen the colors also. I have to go shopping to find out what is available. These were made from goods that I have on hand but I don't have enough to do a large quilt top.

Eight of the layouts are made with the exact same blocks in different orders.

Buildng Ginger Bread Houses - Nov. 2008

On the Sat. morning after Thanksgiving with the Shorts we went to the Malvern Bible Chapel to help prepare ginger bread houses for an outreach activity that they were planning for the next week end. We had lots of fun working together with the other believers and visiting at the same time.

The gal in the dark blue in the top picture is Laura Short.

Second picture is Merve, Nancy & Ziggy

Third picture the gal in white is Carla, the "contractor" "supervisor" or the moving force behind the project.

The precision builder in the striped shirt is my dear Helmut.

In the bottom picture you have Andrew, Audrey, Barbie and the lady in red -whose name I don't remember.

On the Friday after U.S. Thanksgiving Andrew, Barbie, Ruth, Helmut and I took a day trip to Lancaster County, PA. First stop was a photo op at Zimmerman's store. We didn't go in so I'm not sure if it was a general store or a little grocery store. Then we continued on to the Kitchen Kettle "Mall" which is a Mennonite/Amish shopping area. Helmut had forgotten his cap so that was the first thing we had to purchase. Mostly we walked around looking at the various wares but bought very little. We were in a place that sold hand made furniture and wooden items - it was very interesting. I found the quilt shop very nice to look at but the beautiful hand made quilts were very high priced. No doubt they require many hours of labor.

I had a baked ham sandwich for my lunch and the rest of the family waited until later in the afternoon to eat.

U. S. Thanksgiving 2008

On Nov. 25Th. in the evening we left Winnipeg for the long drive to Exton, PA where our future daughter-in-law's family live. After about 28 hours of driving and riding with tired minds and bottoms we finally arrived near midnight on the 26Th.

The Shorts welcomed us and after a brief time of getting acquainted we all turned in for the night. The long ride had not been very kind to my legs so I had many cramps during the night and didn't sleep very much.

We had a leisurely morning with a late breakfast. Laura and Will had the dinner preparations in hand and their three girls helped a lot. (one of their daughters was away visiting her boy friend in Florida) There were so many items to be cooked in the oven that they had borrowed space in the neighbor's oven so they were running back and forth.

Top picture: Andrew, Barbie, Susanna with the dog Paris, Mom-Laura, Jackie and Jean.
Second picture: Dad-Will, cleaning the patio of leaves.
Third picture: Most of the Short Klan. Will has seven siblings, four of them not in the picture - the youngest sister and her family came later and didn't eat with us. One of the adult men in this picture is a nephew. Laura's Father is also at the table.
Bottom picture: Two "visitors" that passed through the back yard while we were at dinner.

Thanksgiving with the Shorts is like this every year they say but it is their main family get together of the year.

Andrew, Barbie & Ruth went to a football game in the evening while Will, Laura, Helmut & I had a good visit.

Bright Spots

Do you think you could see these guys in the bush on a snowy day?

This particular style is for the avid hunters or parking lot attendants. Especially made by Opa Z.

The three in this picture are "models" - only one is a hunter. Two of the toques are for his friends.