Normally, I like to give my posts their day in the sun – the one time in their life when you will see them and only them first.

Today isn’t one of those kind of days.

A few days ago, I was lamenting the fact that I hadn’t been doing anything sewing related lately except thinking. When I realized that I had been working on the Cross Blocks (Flowering Snowballs) on and off, but pretty regularly for about three weeks or so, I was thrilled and had to show you. I have some work done! Hooray!

Some time ago, I spent a couple of hours cutting a bunch of patches to have handy when I had time to make blocks. The above five blocks are the result of that exercise as well as the actual sewing that I have done during the past few weeks. It pays to plan ahead, I think.

Some of the fabrics I wouldn’t use again, because they are too dark or too blah, but I think they will mix in well in the end.

Since 5 blocks is an odd shape, I took a close up of these four so you could see the circle (of which I am very proud). I also wanted you to have the opportunity to enjoy some of the fun and fabulous fabrics: the kitchen fabric in the middle (upper right block, yellow) as well as the lamp fabric (upper right block, blue). Normally, I don’t use these in the types of quilts I make, but this project is perfect for some of those conversationals that I like and never use.

I have a total of 33 blocks. I could stop at 36 and make a 6 block by 6 block quilt. I would like to have this piecing see me through my summer travels.

I also want to do the self bordering technique on this project so that the quilt looks finished. I will have to make a round of blocks for the outside. That idea worked so well with the Pineapples, I will have to really think about how I can do it successfully. If I make the center too big, the border will be too daunting.

There is a restaurant in the City called the Slanted Door. I like to eat there because there are many, many offerings sans wheat. It is very hard to get a reservation as well as a bit pricey for regular visits, so usually I get take out and enjoy it at my desk. In the winter they have a particularly wonderful chicken noodle soup with NO wheat.

One day, when it was pouring rain, and I wasn’t downtown so I stopped at a restaurant near my house looking for a lunch of Mexican food. I got a variety of sensory delights.

First, they had fantastic decorations hanging all over the walls and ceilings. Many of these items were hand crafted from items you can buy at IKEA. There is a green lamp in the lower right hand corner of the photo above. It is garbage can that has been embellished and had a hole cut in it.

There were many, many parrots in cages.
They also had a variety of mosaics.

There was NO dust either. The waitress told me that they spend two hours in the morning dusting. She also said that they take stuff down that is broken or too gross.

Finally, they had the most unbelievable chicken soup. Not chicken noodle soup, but it was GREAT.