Martha Washington Star...

Ya just can't beat a traditional quilt block.  There's all kinds new fangled ways of cutting and whacking and sewing fabric together, but sometimes you need to go back to the beginning. One of my favorite books is Judy Hopkin's Around The Block.  It has 200 blocks, each in 6 different sizes.  I've been working on a sampler from this book for years- I think at least 10.  All from my hand dyed fabric.  I'm not sure about the setting- I keep sewing and throwing them in a bin. I think it has potential to be a stunner.  I hope.

I sewed this block for my son, John.  He has a sweetheart in Georgia and is planning a visit in a couple weeks.  He made the frame for her mom, whose favorite color is red, and asked me to make a quilt block for it. Isn't that frame fantastic?  John is one of those people who can do anything.  He showed me a log and said he was going to make a picture frame from it.  I was skeptical, but as I've learned with John, he's capable of accomplishing just about everything he sets his mind to. If I had a spare inch of space on my walls I'd be hinting about a Xmas gift.  He helped me choose the colors and I left extra fabric on the quilt block so that he can trim off the excess once he gets it set in the frame like he wants. The block is 6".

So I put some beans and the end of a ham in the crockpot last night before I went to bed.  I love cooking things overnight, but there's one problem.  I never sleep well.  The smell keeps waking me up and it takes me a few seconds to distinguish exactly what it is.  Then I drift back to sleep only to be awoken shortly with the same question in my mind, "What is that?" But it's for a good cause and now that I'm awake, it smells good- not mysterious!

I bought those bins and they fit under the cutting table perfectly.  Which may not be a good thing because I now realize that if I bought more bins... they'd fit, too.