St. George's Cross

Well you can't win them all I guess. Pitt lost 38-35 in the last 3 minutes or less. At least we made the playoffs again this year.

Decided I'd better get some actual sewing done today instead of playing on the computer. I haven't been making as much progress on my Dear Jane blocks as I was when I first started last May. I've at least managed to make one a week. This week I'd already done the chosen BOW (from the Dear Jane list) so I made an alternate. This makes 111 blocks so far....only 58 more to go....and of course all those border triangles..IF I decide to do them...I may not.

For the uninitiated who might be reading this blog..the Dear Jane Quilt was made by a woman named Jane Stickle in 1863. There are 169 4 1/2" blocks surrounded by 56 pieced triangles. You can see a picture here or on the sidebar on this page.

Here's today's block...L-4 St. George's Cross. The green fabric is some from the Dear Jane line of fabric by Brenda Papadakis. Thank you, Hazel for sharing!

My blocks aren't perfect, but they sure are fun. I just love the challenge and variety of these little blocks. Last year I completed Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, a quilt made by the characters in a novel, The Master Quilter, the sixth in the Elm Creek Quilts series by Jennifer Chiaverini. You can see a picture of mine in the side bar on the right. There are 144 different blocks, each finishing 6 inches.

The day after I started working on my Dear Jane Quilt, I also started working on another big project. Dutch Treat is composed of 169 different blocks that finish 4". They are all done with reverse applique and the designs are based on delft ceramic tiles The pattern book is out of print but you can find it used online and even new a few places like here .

This is an amazing example of a red and white version.


I have 63 of these blocks done. Being entirely hand pieced they go slowly. Working on Dear Jane and Dutch Treat at the same time gives me machine work in the daytime and handwork in the evening. I kind of like that. Guaranteed not to get bored.

Here's my latest Dutch Treat block. It's called Sunburst.

Play-off Saturday

I'm not a football fan..not even close. But it's impossible to live where I do without catching Gorilla fever. Pittsburg State University has the winningest all-time NCAA division II program. They have qualified for the national play-offs 17 of the last 19 years. They have recorded only 21 losing seasons in their 95 year history.

Today is round two of the play-offs and the number 3 seed Gorillas are playing number 2 seed Northwest Missouri State in Marysville, MO. It's 20 minutes into the game and NW is ahead by 7. I'm sure the stadium is packed with Gorilla fans capable of urging the team to change the situation. (Update...as I write the Gorilla's came through and it's now 7-7).

On another note, my trusty "Christmas" cactus is once again performing as a "Thanksgiving" cactus. Actually I have four of them that have changed to blooming sometime between the end of October and about the first week in December. A fifth is growing but hasn't reach blooming size yet. It's a slip a cousin gave me from an ancient mother plant that belonged to her grandmother. I used to believe I had to put my cactus outside during the summer, keep them in the shade and only lightly watered in order to get them to set buds. But I didn't get that done about three years ago and they bloomed anyway. So now I leave them in the house all year long. I guess we aren't in the kichen, where they reside, very much in the evening so they still get their requisite hours of darkness. Here's the one currently blooming: