Ship of Dreams

The first dozen blocks in Heather's quilt came from the 2008-09 Quilts Etc. block-of-the-month Europe by the Yard.  They’re named for European countries, like Irish Chain, Scottish Cross, English Wedding Ring, and Castles in Spain. The last dozen are from the 2005-06 BOM Out of Your Box. I’ve moved twice since then, and the binder holding those block patterns was one of the casualties. I remember some of their names: Washington Star, Star Bright, Flying Dutchman, Raven Chase, Chinese Hat and Chickadee. I used a few old favorites – Hunter’s Star, Log Cabin, Snail’s Trail and Bow Ties – for the center. When I finished it, this was my favorite quilt top. But it was badly quilted; there are several large spots with no quilting at all. One of the prints wasn’t colorfast, and I used it in six blocks! A few of the seams have begun to unravel. I know I should replace it, but with what?

Twenty-five Sawtooth Stars

“It’s natural to have questions—the acorn of honest inquiry has often sprouted and matured into a great oak of understanding. There are few members of the Church who, at one time or another, have not wrestled with serious or sensitive questions. One of the purposes of the Church is to nurture and cultivate the seed of faith—even in the sometimes sandy soil of doubt and uncertainty. Faith is to hope for things which are not seen but which are true. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters—my dear friends—please, first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. We must never allow doubt to hold us prisoner and keep us from the divine love, peace, and gifts that come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” – President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Prairie Flower

Quilts Etc. renamed today’s block in honor of Rosa Parks, whose quiet act of civil disobedience inspired so many. I wrote about her recently – at http://mombowe.blogspot.com/2016/12/radio-windmill.html - so I won’t repeat myself here. I will say most people who think they know her story have it wrong. Rosa Parks wasn’t sitting in the “whites only” section of the bus. The first ten seats were for whites and the last ten were for blacks. Rosa was in one of the sixteen “first-come-first-served” middle seats. Her refusal to stand didn’t leave a white man without a seat. It would have meant he’d have to share a row with her. She wasn’t the first passenger arrested for ignoring a bus driver’s demands. She was chosen as an example because of her moral character.  And she didn’t remain seated because she was too tired to stand. In her words, “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

Twenty-five Spools

When Kevin Wiseman grooms trails for a west Quebec snowmobile club, his wife Audrey usually tags along. She was in the passenger seat last month as he steered the snowcat onto what he thought was a snow-covered field. When he realized they were actually on McMullen Lake, he tried to head back to the shore. The heavy vehicle broke through a thin spot in the ice and sank to the bottom of the lake. 43-year-old Kevin broke through the windshield and surfaced, but Audrey didn’t follow him. He dove back down but couldn’t find her in the water-filled cabin. “Something in my head said, ‘You’re going back under. You're staying there if you don't have your wife.” Finally he found her, pulled her out and carried her to a nearby cabin where a nurse called for an ambulance. Audrey calls her husband of fifteen years a hero. “If not for him, I would not be here.”

Happy Trails

Most of the blocks in this quilt came from the Quilts Etc. free block-of-the-month class in 2012 and 2013. All the fabric is from the same western motif novelty line, the name of which escapes me now. Generally speaking, if you choose fabrics from the same line, you don’t have to worry about the colors disagreeing with one another. But these prints just refused to get along. Even the kaleidoscope medallion in the center didn’t help much. The idea for the setting came from Marianne Hatton’s book Simply Dynamic Sampler Quilts. It occurs to me now that the most appealing photos in that book are either monochromatic or dichromatic.  I probably should have stuck with blue and grey, red and black, or brown and green – not all six at once.

Sixteen Scrappy Spools

Bad news is easy to find because fear and anger are powerful motivators. It’s a little harder to gather good news, but it’s out there. For instance, have you heard giant pandas and manatees are no longer endangered? This year the Ocean Cleanup project will begin to remove oceanic plastic waste. China is eliminating their ivory trade and moving away from coal production. World hunger is at a 25-year low. There are half as many homeless US vets as there were a decade ago. The ice bucket challenge (remember that?) provided funds to identify a gene associated with ALS. Canada has developed an Ebola vaccine with a 100% success rate, and they’ve taken steps to preserve one of the world’s largest temperate rain forests. Measles is history in North, Central and South America. More than half of Israel’s water now comes from the sea, fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 35:1. See what I mean? Good news is out there.