Grandma's Kitchen, block #20: Lovely Dishes

I've gotten a little behind with my Grandma's Kitchen blocks. Life has gotten busy and it's going to get busy as of this week with Thanksgiving Sinterklaas December 5, D's golden birthday later that week, and of course Christmas, and all the end of year fun. Stress shuts down my creativity so it took me a little longer to figure out how I wanted to do my blocks.

For the moment, I've skipped block 19, and worked on block number 20 from Pat Sloan, Lovely Dishes. 

With the holiday season kicking off today, it's fitting that my block celebrates the time of year that we are most likely to use our "lovely dishes." Growing up in Minnesota, my early years found us celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas by making the trek through (often) snowy roads to tiny Blackduck, which is only about a hundred miles from the Canadian border. 

When I called mom to ask about Gramma's dishes, she said that Gramma had some white china with gold on them. I couldn't picture them but that's probably because I would have been sitting at the kids table with paper plates!

This picture is from the house Gramma and Grampa lived in before I was born. I think maybe Gramma's lovely dishes are in this cabinet.

I don't have a good picture of Gramma's lovely dishes, but I did find this picture of her silverware. I took it the last time I was at her house in Arizona, while she was in the hospital with mom. I had a feeling it would be my last time there so I took time to take it all in.

While browsing for pictures, I also found these pictures from my early Christmases in Blackduck. That's me transfixed by the big frog.

My brother and I checking out the nativity in the basement.

Once I got a little older, we started celebrating a combined Thanksgiving/Christmas in Wisconsin because it was a more central location for everyone. One of my favorite holidays took place when I was maybe ten. My aunt Terri and uncle John were caretakers of a Girl Scout camp. There was plenty of room for everyone to sleep and explore the grounds. I wish I had pictures from that weekend.

In my teens, Gramma and my Aunties were over the big holiday prep, lovely dishes or no. So we started celebrating our Thanksgiving/Christmas gatherings at a casino! All you can eat buffet and no clean up. While the smoky environment wasn't so fun for me, the adults sure enjoyed the entertainment.

This picture wasn't taken at one of the casino Christmases, but it doesn't capture the tone of our fun-loving family.

As an adult, I often spent Thanksgiving at home with friends. But after getting married and become a mom, we started spending some of our holidays in Arizona with my mom and Gramma. 

Sometimes we enjoyed a small dinner at mom's house. And sometimes we joined the rest of the retirees for a buffet in the clubhouse. 

I love this picture of Gramma in her poinsettia sweatshirt. She loved getting her poinsettia each year, and often wore her fancy sweatshirts in the winter months.

One last Christmas story to share, and it's one of my favorites. It's one of those memories where the origin gets fuzzy after awhile, but family memory and inside jokes remain. Patsy & Elmo had big hit in the late 70s/early 90s called "Gramma Got Run Over By a Reindeer." Of course, we loved singing that song to Gramma Ann. And we especially liked making up our own lyrics to it. 

After Grampa died, we loved to tease Gramma whenever she got special attention from the men around her. And because Gramma had lived in her 55+ community for several decades, everyone adored her and spoiled her. One year, someone at the park gave Gramma a peck on the cheek. It was just the fodder we needed to make up a song: "Gramma got kissed by a stranger, walking over to Chi's house Christmas Eve."

Smiling at that Christmas memory, I started this block with the red reindeer print. The acorns and leaves are for Thanksgiving. And the gold accents for the rim of Gramma's lovely dishes.

I still haven't put any of my rows together yet, though I did have the idea that I will use some of the filler space to include important dates, like Gramma's birthday, wedding date, etc.

Previous blocks:

#1: The Kitchen Table

#2: Sticky Buns

#3: Key Holder
#4: Half A Modern
#5: Glasses & Cups
#6: Wash Day
#7: Oh My Stars
#8: Grandma's Apron
#9: Kitchen Window
#10: Recipe Box
#11: Peppermint Swirls
#12: Kitchen Door
#13: Sunday Dinner
#14: Salt & Pepper
#15: Game Shows & Soaps
#16: Small Change
#17: Pantry Goods
#18: The Fridge
#19: Mending Basket
#21: Telephone Time
#22: Pick a Posey
#23: That One Thing
#24: Grandma's Purse
#25: Famous Cookies

If you'd like to see what I'm currently working on, follow me on Instagram at de Jong Dream House.

Linked to:
Pat Sloan (Click here to see other Lovely Dishes blocks)
BOMs Away @ What a Hoot Quilts
Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts & Doll Quilts
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hands Quilts
Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River
Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Quilts
Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication
Monday Making @ Love Laugh Quilt
MOP Monday @ Tweety Loves Quilting
Moving it Forward @ Em's Scrap Bag
Off the Wall Friday @ Nina Marie
Oh Scrap! @ Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Show Off Saturday @ Sew Can She 
Show Off Saturday @ Sew Can She
Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter
Whoop Whoop Friday @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
WIP Link @ Silly Mama Quilts

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