Pinwheels in February

Unfortunately, the January avalanche overshadowed the pretty monochromatic pinwheel blocks everyone has been making for February. Colors are based on a theme fabric: the 2007 Hoffman's Challenge.

One of the things I learned this month is that these blocks are very hard to photograph well--the flash washes out the lighter fabric and in many of the photos it ends up looking white. Trust me, these are wonderful vibrant blocks.

From Allison:




From Colene:



From Debbie:




From Georgene



From Jen E:



From Kate:



From Lee Ann:



From Michelle:



From Pat K:





From Sandy:



From Terri:



I love these monochromatic blocks. Thanks to Kate for suggesting it ... and to AuntAnn for suggesting the focal fabric idea.

One last look at the January Blocks

Hmm ... I didn't realize until I made this map that ALL eight of the January winners live west of the Mississippi.

(click for larger map image)

I received blocks from all the colored states (both purple and yellow). The winners live in the yellow states, so that's where the blocks are (finally) going. It's impressive ... I received blocks from more than half the states in the US, as well as from Canada, France and the UK.

Who made them? Amy, Ann, Ann, Ardyth, Becky, Bonnie, Carolyn, Colene, Dawn, Debbie, Diana, Diannna, Donna, Elizabeth, Janet, Jeni, Julie, Julie, Kate, Kathi, Laura, Laurie, Lee Ann, Leslie, Maia, Mary, Pat, Pippa, Sandy, Sherry, Silvia, Sue, Susanna, Terri, Theresa, Tracy, Vanessa, Vicki, Vicky and me.

Thanks to everyone for an amazing start to the Beginner Block Lotto this year.

Belated Congratulations

... to our record-breaking 8 winners in January:

Ardyth in Nebraska
Sandy in Oklahoma
Pat in California
Julie in California
Mary in Oregon
Maia in California
Sherry in Alaska
Terri in Minnesota

Looks like it was a lucky month for the Californians ;-)

January Avalanche

I'm finally catching up with the avalanche of lotto blocks which arrived in January.

For a swap hostess used to swapping out hundreds of blocks, it may not seem that impressive, but January's 246 blocks were:

• More than 3 times the previous high of 80 blocks in a single month.
• 6 times the average number of blocks received monthly (41) during the last round of the lotto
• More than 1/3 the total number of 10" lotto blocks we made from August 2005 through November 2006.

But enough stats ... here are the photos. Credits for each group of 16 blocks are included in the titles and tags on Flickr.









... and after the photo shoot ...