This beautiful block is the eighth one in the Riley Blake Challenge Block of the Week for 2026. It was designed by Sandy Gervais and is a great example of the type of blocks that the Riley Blake Challenge is known for. It is an exquisite block, unlike things you see every day, and it was indeed a challenge.
That is why I keep going back to the RB Challenge every year. I love the fact that the block offerings are not simple. They definitely provide a challenge to me. This block was made up mostly of flying geese units in various combinations of fabric colors. The flying geese were a weird size (1 3/4 x 3), so you had to make them one at a time and carefully trim them to size when made. There were a lot of intersections where the seams and points all had to come together, which meant pinning and careful sewing.
It took a while to make, but it was fun and I am happy with the results. Here are all my blocks for this sew along so far:
This has been such an enjoyable project. Every week, I look forward to what they give us next!
I had an adventure yesterday. I had some things to return to a store before the return deadline passed, so I drove to the Galleria in Roseville, CA. This is just under a two-hour drive for me, but the weather was good, and I had a new book on my Audible (This Story Might Save Your Life), so I decided to go for it.
I got my return taken care of straight away, then went to some of my favorite shops: Talbots, JJill, Nordstrom, and Chicos. This mall has absolutely every store under the sun, and some you’ve never heard of from other galaxies. I may have gotten a thing or two at Talbots and Chicos… Anyway, I treated myself to lunch outside and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. I had a great time off on my own.
I left for home around 2:00, after a quick stop at Barnes and Noble. I settled in for a peaceful drive through the countryside once I got out of Roseville. My book was good and the time was passing quickly. Then I got stuck. There was a terrible accident at the intersection of the country road I was on and a small highway. I was the second person at the intersection and couldn’t go anywhere, so I had an unobstructed view of the scene.
It was a bad-looking accident between a big pickup truck and a smaller sedan. The sedan was smashed to smithereens. It did not look promising for the occupants. What followed was fascinating to observe. There were at least a dozen fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, and EMT trucks on the scene. A helicopter arrived in the field next to the road and airlifted the driver of the smashed sedan up and away to the hospital.
The person in the passenger seat must not have been as badly injured, but there was a big problem. The car was smashed so badly that the EMTs couldn’t get her out. It was amazing to see the “jaws of life” put to use, and the care the six or seven people working with her took to extract her from the car. It must have taken 20 minutes to get her out and onto a stretcher and into an ambulance. Either she was unconsious or the team was super gentle, because she did not make a peep. I was 20 feet away and would have heard it if she had.
Obviously, I was super impressed by the effort shown by all the personnel who showed up to handle all aspects of the accident. I counted 15 different rescue vehicles and police cars! Once the ambulance drove away, the cars were pushed off the road and out of the way, the road was swept and cleared of debris, most of the firetrucks left the scene, the EMTs were on their way, and the police and highway patrol stayed to measure things and direct traffic. It was a very impressive team effort between all the different agencies.
All in all, I probably sat there for 45 minutes while all this took place. I have never been in such a bird’s-eye position to watch our first responders and emergency personnel in action. The only agency not in attendance was the Coronor, so that is a very good thing. I pray that those poor people involved will have a short road to a complete recovery.
Every time I go off by myself on a shopping excursion or other adventure, my husband always says “Drive carefully”. I certainly have been considering his words and taking them to heart.
One Response
I was thinking you would write that you started reading a book from your B&N tour! My SIL is a volunteer fireman. At a community event, the firemen showed how they would use the jaws of life to extract a passenger from a vehicle. I got tears in my eyes as he was using that thing. So proud of him and the men and women who voluntarily give up their time to help others.