charm packs and patterns and books, oh my!

a few days ago, Gretchen at Stella Bella Quilts had a giveaway to celebrate her 250th post ... she asked for readers to leave a comment telling her where they would spend the summer if money was no object ... i didn't give the answer much thought or i would have chosen Gretchen's dream summer vacation (England, Ireland, Wales - which i don't think she mentioned - and Scotland - never, never, never turn down the opportunity to see men in kilts) ...... i said that i would go back to Dinkey Creek, California ... my family went on a road trip to California the summer between third grade and fourth grade ... Dinkey Creek was one of the places where we stayed ... my Grandma's husband worked in a logging camp - he ran a gigantic saw and would prolly be pretty disappointed to know that his granddaughter grew up to be a tree hugger... he was missing a couple of fingertips and told a story about how he looked down one day and saw his detached fingers on a big old log and wondered how the heck they got there ... he and my Grandma lived in a log cabin during the logging season ... i think that i remember indoor plumbing and electricity, but she had to cook on a wood-burning stove ... i picked a gazillion gooseberries and she made gooseberry jam - it smelled so good while it was simmering on the back burner all day - but it burned and we couldn't get it out of the cast iron pot ... we watched men log rolling and moving the logs into position for the mill ... Grandpa took us for a ride on a logging truck and we saw the tallest trees in the whole wide world - so high that you couldn't see the sky past them and we collected huge pine cones ... we swam in the creek and the water was so frigid that it took my breath away ... it was one of the best times of my childhood and it would not be a bad thing to go back and relive those few days ...... but i digress ... Gretchen used a random number generator and chose my number as the winner ... woo hoo!!! and these scrumptious lovelies came in the mail today (with an equally sweet card) all wrapped in posy tissue paper...the picture, of course, does not do the delicious colors justice ... Auntia has already oohed and aahed over two of the Moda charm packs and told me that she knows exactly what she would do with them if she can wrestle them away from me ... Just Desserts (by Edie McGinnis) is full of yummy recipes for quilts using precut fabrics ... and the Snow Pets pattern (goodies from grandma) uses cotton batting to make a bunny, a kitty, or a puppy ... thank you, Gretchen, and congratulations on your 250-plus posts!