A winter trip to Detroit!

 I finished the rainbow knitted scarf for my daughter's birthday and it went very well with her khaki green jacket. She loved it; I forgot to take photos of the finished piece, fringe and all. 

But we traveled all the way across Michigan to Detroit by car. Highway 94 is not exactly flat, but rather bumpy and there is always Chicago to drive around. This makes for a long drive.

Getting to be with her and her beaux was definitely worth it.  We had Detroit style pizza, so yummy that went with a local beer I liked. Yummm.

Saturday we went to their Eastern Market, the biggest farmer's market that is open all year.  There are many buildings (sheds) with walkways in between lined with produce and products.  I am looking forward to trying a chicken casserole kit  and bean soup with a ham hock as well as the cranberry walnut bread I purchased there. Plus we had some crepes with apples and cinnamon, so good.

Afterwards we went to Belle Island to see their aquarium and a conservatory with incredible plants ( already having daffodils and hyacinths ready for spring). Lots of interesting water creatures as well as cactuses and rainforest flora in the 2 buildings. Belle Island is a smallish island in Lake St Clair between Lake Erie and Lake Huron.

Our guys in the bottom :)

And last but certainly not least we went to Cliff Bells for an incredible 5 piece jazz band. What a great old décor with mahogany ceilings and old booths. And the musicians were just amazing. 

Oh, if only they lived closer. 

On the quilting front:   I have finished piecing the small half square triangles for my center block:

Each half square triangle is 1 and 1/4 inches.  when put together this should be a 20 inch block. 

Fabrics are Kansas Trouble fabrics from my hoard.  I have an entire bag of jelly roll strips , layer cakes and lots of fat quarters and half yard leftovers, most of which have been cut into  ( several donated from friends. )

I have made several quilts from these. 

As I emptied it out I found some blocks that I had started from guild, and no other pieced patterns were given. So I have determined to use my stash and make blocks: 

Here is what I have so far:  These are 8 inch blocks.