Betsy's Blessing Blocks

Hello Everyone,

I put about 30 of these little blocks together last week.  It is a very simple Churn Dash block using only scraps from my bin full of Betsy Chutchian fabrics.

I'll put a tutorial together this week for the sashing section.  The sashing finishes at 1".  The little red stars are going to twinkle across the wall hanging or tabletopper.

I can see an entire bed quilt comprised of these cute blocks.....one of these days.  I have only 6 more blocks to put together to make this complete.  I like to occasionally make a small project to add to my collection of designs.  This one is going to be as sweet as it can be.

The blocks are on display on the island in our kitchen.  Mr. Joe made this from a tree that was harvested just down the street from us.  He spent weeks sanding and staining.  It is a huge slab of tree, and I love it!

Those of you who have been following my blog know that my twin granddaughters are involved in FFA.  This year, at the online FFA auction, we bought one of the pigs they raised. Since we bought an entire pig, we had to buy a freezer.  These are the most expensive pork chops EVER!  Who knew how hard it was going to be to buy a freezer.  Did you know they are in short supply due to the pandemic?  The earliest we could have one delivered was the middle of November.  So, we bought the floor model at a store about 45 minutes away from us.  I wanted an upright, but the one we found is a big, honkin' chest freezer.  The arrival of the freezer meant we had to clean the garage and make room for it.  We soon discovered that when you lean over the freezer to get something from the bottom, it would be easy to tip over and end up in it!  If you don't hear from me in a few days......check the freezer.

We drove out of the county last Friday to pick up the pig at the processing plant about 2 hours from the cabin.  This was the biggest outing for us since March.  We discovered there's a whole world out there that actually seemed quite normal.  On our journey, we stopped by Cloth and Quilts in Hilmar, CA.  Ann finished making the shop sample of my "Christmas Ribbons" quilt, and they have a couple of kits left HERE.  You could have this one made in time for the Holidays.

It has been insufferably hot here in the mountains as we are in the grip of a days-long heat wave with no end in the foreseeable future. Yesterday is was downright scary with the wind and the heat.  We are in the peak of fire season, and we are holding our breath until the rains come.  We don't have air conditioning, so we exist like two slugs sitting in front of the fan.  Luckily my sewing room is the coolest room in the house, so I tend to spend a lot of time in it. Mr. Joe visited me often. If it is as bad today as yesterday, I may be checking out spending some time in the freezer!

This week I'm setting sail on my "Crossing the Pond" design.  I made huge headway last week, and hope to again this week.

Soon,
Lynn