Ocean quilt

On my design floor today:  Ocean quilt.  Half log cabins arranged in a ladder formation.  These are 3 strips with 3 more to go.  Yep, I like square quilts.  I will probably border the quilt with a pale green that moves from almost no color to light green.

After this quilt, I think I'll take a break from log cabins, although there are some wonky ones I'd like to try.

Today's Menorah

Tonight we light 3 candles + the shamash (the candle that lights the 3).  No latkes or other fried foods.  The Hubz is on a diet, and all that greasy goodness makes my acid reflux go through the roof.  We'll pretend.

I tried to photograph it on the table, but it is so dark and gloomy in my dining room that the results were bad.  I promise you that we won't light the candles on the chair.

Is she not the cutest Statue of Liberty?  I love her face.

Pretty much the immigration story of early 20th century.  My family came here much later.  My grandma on my mother's side was widowed while she was pregnant with her third child.  She had a sister here already.  So when her kids were just about old enough (my mom was about 6!), she left them with her mother, my great-grandmother, and came here to make a new life for herself and her children.  My great aunt, Tzili Neni (Aunt Tzili in Hungarian) sponsored her.  Mom and her brothers came here sometime in 1928.  The three young teens traveled by themselves from Szalard, Rumania (which was Hungarian before WWI) to New York.  None of them spoke a word of English.  Can you imagine your kids doing this today?

My dad got his parents out of Vienna, Austria right after the Anschluss.  They were smart and saw the Nazis coming in and knew they had to escape.  His brother made it to what was then Palestine.  His sister and husband barely got out and went to England.

So that immigration menorah truly speaks to me.  It's my favorite!

Happy First Day of Chanukah

Jewish holidays start at sunset the night before, so we lit the first candle last night.  Today is the second day of Chanukah, and that's why there are two candles on the right.  The one on the left is used to light the other candles.

Is this not the cutest menorah?  We have a small collection of them.  Tomorrow I'll pick another one.

 

Traditionally we eat latkes (potato pancakes) or doughnuts for the holiday.  But the Hubz and I don't do this because the last thing we want is more fried food.

Here is the story of Chanukah.

It's an important story because it celebrates religious freedom, but is actually a minor holiday in the Jewish calendar.  We don't bother with gift exchanging; we have enough trouble figuring out birthdays.  But we do give our kids and grands gifts.  Nothing crazy or outrageous.  Just some nice presents.  It's a pretty low-key holiday.  It is not the Jewish Christmas.  There is NO Jewish Christmas.  Christmas celebrates Jesus' birth;  Chanukah celebrates religious freedom..  It's just that the two holidays fall at the same time of year, so there is this sense that it is the Jewish Christmas.  

Edited at 4 PM today:  Stay tuned for an equally adorable menorah for tomorrow.  This one is probably my favorite!

Design bed Monday

The design floor was occupied with furniture so I had to lay out the blocks onto the bed.  The blocks look somewhat seasick as a result.  Pics taken at different angles so the diagonal is not the same in each pic.

Design floor Monday

Building my log cabins

This is where I started from.  I did add some more lights.  I always need more lights.  I think I should concentrate on buying them.  I'm always drawn to mediums, both in knitting and quilting, and darks are not hard to add.  It's finding the right light fabrics that's difficult. 

So now you get the picture.  These are half log cabins. They'll get 2 more lights and 2 more darks.  I think they'll end up as 10" squares.

Batiks!

I love batiks!  When I look at them, my mouth starts to salivate and I can actually taste them.  Weird, but that's how I react to color, and batiks are all about color. 

So, I'm thinking of a half log cabin block.  Possible arrangement is a ladder, but who knows?  I have to sew them first.

 

At first I was going to combine purples with the green/blue/turqs fabrics, but changed my mind.  So of course, I'll then have to do a purple quilt.  This is so addictive.