Black Rock: I Am Ready!

There will be ten of us going to Black Rock (the new White Oak) in the spring: The nine regulars and a mystery woman, "Sylvia" (as in "Who Is Sylvia?"). Nine of us wanted to do a block swap as part of the event, and Kathy offered to come up with a theme and specs. She and I discussed a couple of possibilities and both of us really liked her idea of "Retro TV Stars," i.e., 12" finished blocks, all stars, in gray, black, and white solids and prints.

On the last day of 2013, with all of my important projects finished by year's end (well, I'm still binding a couple of pot holders in front of the television), I thought it would be fun and satisfying to get going on the swap blocks. Some of us committed to stretching ourselves, making more complicated blocks than usual. I dug out a book that I've had for a very long time and only used for one block, paged through, and chose one that would definitely be a challenge. They are finished, and each of the nine is unique. I had a lot of fun making them.

Nine blocks, I thought, were nice, but twelve would be even nicer. So I put out a call to see if any of the Black Rockers wanted to do a side swap and two responded eagerly. We agreed to each make three blocks using a different pattern and different fabrics from the original swap set.

I went back to the book and chose this block and made my three.

Too bad there are three and a half months before we retreat!