Thrifty Block

Quilts Etc chose today’s block to honor Grandma Moses. I wrote about her less than a year ago – at https://mombowe.blogspot.com/2016/09/scotch-quilt.html - so I won’t repeat myself here. Instead, I’ll tell you about someone I thought would be included in the Quilts Etc. “You Go Girl” series, but wasn’t. Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha was born in Marco de Canaveses, Portugal in 1909. As a young woman, Carmen Miranda worked designing hats in a boutique in Brazil. She recorded her first album at the age of 20. Her second record catapulted her to stardom, and into films. When she appeared in “Down Argentine Way” in 1940, the Brazilian Bombshell had to learn all her lines phonetically, as she spoke almost no English. In her words, “I say twenty words in English. I say money, money, money and I say hot dog! I say yes, no and I say money, money, money and I say turkey sandwich and I say grape juice.”