And now it's really cold!!

This has been some weather week! We went from barely a dusting of snow on the ground to several inches and then wind whipped it all into big drifts. Now the deep freeze has set in and while I would love to go out and do some Christmas shopping this Friday, I am not willing to do it in nearly zero degree weather!! Too cold for me. I'll be staying in and doing projects! Speaking of projects, I finished my patriotic block for Pearl Harbor Day. I had one idea and then didn't like how it was looking so I changed the entire thing and ended up with this......... a simple star.

I was inspired by the Gold Stars that my mother has told me about that families put in the window when a son or daughter was killed during WWII. The history behind the stars is interesting and can be found here . I wanted my star to be white so I thought I'd applique white tone on tone cotton but then I remembered that I had some white wool from my Grandma Goldie. It was from a jacket she wore and I thought how fitting to have something she wore in the quilt that I am making in remembrance of my dad and his service in the war.

In the photo on the left, you can see that I cut a pentagon shape from a blue wool and stitched a star to it. Then I cut five identical triangles from the white wool. I positioned it just right and then used a fabric glue stick to hold the pieces in place while I stitched.

I bought the background fabric at "Seams to Me" which is located in Algona, Iowa. I made a quick stop there on my return trip from Iowa. This all-over flag print was in the clearance fat quarters but I liked it the minute I saw it. I also found a great snowflake print for a January project. :-)

That's my car parked in front of the shop. There's only that "dusting of snow" on the roads at the time of this photo.

And while this is not a very good photo, if you like Mickey and Minnie then you would love to see this in person.

The entire window of the shop was filled with animated Mickey and Minnie/Disney figures! I also made a stop at Heartland Quilt Shop which is also in Algona. I found fabric there for another patriotic project. Actually, I can find fabric just about anywhere. Or maybe it finds me! LOL!

I promised I'd share my Pago Pago connection when I showed you the gifts I received from Barb at BejeweledQuilts and InchWormFabrics. Barb made the Blueberry Muffin towel and potholder and her niece who owns Inch Worm fabrics sent that Pecan Praline Muffin mix. I am saving it for Christmas morning muffins. :-) Thanks to both of you for such lovely gifts!!!

So, now to my Pago Pago connection. More than twenty years ago, my parents bought a small chord organ at a garage sale in Ames, Iowa. The current owner said that it had been owned by a missionary who used it when assigned to Pago Pago. My folks paid $40 for it and then gave it to me. I loved playing that organ but always wondered if it was really used in Pago Pago or if that was just a story. One day some of the keys stopped working. My husband is handy with repairing things so he opened it up and what did he find??.........lots of sand and, of all things, Cheerios! I was pretty sure it had been in Pago Pago and I'm guessing the family had small children who "fed" Cheerios between the keys! So while I have never been there, that's my Pago Pago connection. I was near there once, though.........forty years ago I flew to Tokyo to join my husband when he was in the Air Force. The plane made two stops enroute......with one in Hawaii and one in Guam. I could hardly wait to see Hawaii, "the Island Paradise". It was sunny and the flowers were beautiful. We deplaned briefly and then took off again for Guam. What I remember about Guam was how small the island looked from the sky and I wondered how the plane could land on such a small strip of land......but we did! Oh, my ..... long ago memories!

That's all for tonight.

Sandi