Decoration Day

Decoration Day (now called Memorial Day) is set aside to honor those who lost their lives defending our freedom.  

A Canadian surgeon, serving in the Flanders area of Belgium during WWI, wrote the beloved poem that is often quoted on Memorial Day:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

A little patriotic crib quilt I made:

Sophia Grace and Rosie, flying a little 3 in. x 5 in. flag:

Thank you to all the soldiers who died to preserve our freedom.  I honor you today, and always.

Traveling Again This Month

When people ask me how I stay busy in retirement, I just laugh...and laugh....and laugh.  I think I've been busy my whole life, and retirement doesn't seem to slow me down.  Yesterday we flew back from a visit to our daughter and her family in Texas.  I got to watch my high school senior grandaughter get dressed up for prom, which was a special treat.  I even sewed some sequins and beads in place on her dress Saturday morning.  She is so beautiful and it was a special time together.

Now I'm back home and playing catchup with the 365 Days of Quilt Blocks project.  

Here are a few of the blocks I've made lately.  We have moved from 3.5 inch blocks to 6 inch blocks, and from "dark" fabric choices to "light" choices.

Here are the latest ones, with my "inner critic" thoughts below each:

Wouldn't it be great to have an entire quilt of these little pink stars?  I like it a lot.

 I basted the outside edge of this block because the edges were on the bias.  I like the fabrics in this one.  Nothing I would change (for a change).

I like the card trick block, and would use a different fabric (or fussy cut it) for the lower left corner fabric.  Also the outside stripes could have been going all the same way.

This block made me realize that I could have made the corner pink fabric stripes all go in the same direction, but didn't think about it until it was too late.  Each block teaches me something that I could change if I made it over again.

There should be more contrast in the pinwheels, and that's what I learned from making this block, and no, I'm not making it over.   

I didn't plan on the flowers being on each of the hourglass blocks - but it just happened!  How cool is that!  I love quilty serendipities!

What are you working on this week?  

Linking up with the usual Monday Link-Ups:

Design Wall Mondays (Here)
Monday Makings  (Here)
Oh Scrap (Here)
Monday's Moving It Forward (Here)

May progress

Lots of trips were happening in April, and I am now catching up on the two free block projects I'm working on.

Here's some blocks I made this week that are part of the Splendid Sampler project:

There are blocks coming out every day on the 365 Quilt Block Challenge, and I will be caught up with them this next week.  Here's a picture of a few of them that I've recently finished:

What is on your design wall this week?

I'm linking with the usual blogs, where I like to see what other quilters are working on:

Design Wall Mondays (Here)
Monday Makings (Here)
Oh Scrap  (Here)