Another Contrary Husband

This year at Quilts Etc. in Sandy we’re making quilt blocks inspired by barn quilts. What’s a barn quilt? It’s a piece of wood (usually about 8’ square) painted to resemble a traditional quilt block and mounted on a barn. Contrary Husband is the eighth in this series. Each block has instructions for a 12” finished block as well as a 3” copy that will fit in that month’s barn block. Because of this the blocks have had to be very, very simple. I’ve been playing with the 12” versions to avoid boredom. In October I made four maple leaves instead of one. I fit five friendship stars on my January block, and in February I put one monkey wrench block inside another. The original pattern for this month’s block called for eight half-square triangles. I skipped them all in my first draft by using a partial seam technique. Here’s the block as it was originally designed.

April Barn

A weighty thought for a fair spring morning: “Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion–when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing–when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors–when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you–when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice–you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot” – from Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Wheel of Time

This week our family learned we’re expecting two little girls; first daughters for both their parents and first granddaughters for my sister and me; first great-granddaughter for our mother. We couldn’t be more pleased, excited or proud. In their honor, here’s a gem from Mark Twain’s Advice to Little Girls: “If your mother tells you to do a thing, it is wrong to reply that you won't. It is better and more becoming to intimate that you will do as she bids you, and then afterward act quietly in the matter according to the dictates of your best judgment.  You should ever bear in mind that it is to your kind parents that you are indebted for your food, and for the privilege of staying home from school when you let on that you are sick. Therefore you ought to respect their little prejudices, and humor their little whims, and put up with their little foibles until they get to crowding you too much.”

Flywheel

A British friend recently shared a list of American foods that foreigners can’t stand: red velvet cake, store-bought bread, biscuits and gravy, peanut butter and jelly, grits, American chocolate, bacon and eggs, and spray cheese. I must say I agree with her about most of these. Wonder Bread can’t compare with a loaf of whole wheat fresh from the oven. Our peanut butter is mostly shortening, sugar and salt. I’d far rather spread Nutella on my toast. Who would call that stuff in a can “cheese” when they’ve known Manchego, Wensleydale, Gjetost, or Jarlsburg?  Having bought fresh free-range eggs and streaky bacon from the Knaresborough market, I’ll never again be happy with Eggland’s Best or Oscar Meyer. European chocolate makes ours taste like brown crayons. But I suspect hominy grits are an acquired taste, as are buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy. And red velvet cake, if you make it from scratch, can be food for the gods.

Bright Jewel

Lamb’s Grill has been part of downtown Salt Lake for nearly a century. While the landscape changes around it, this venerable eatery seems almost frozen in time. The elegant wooden paneling and booths, crisp white table linens, and even the menu (They still serve grilled calves’ liver!) can make you feel as if you're visiting a bygone era. On April Fools’ Day this year one particular patron had a different sort of mission in mind. She entered the restaurant, approached a waiter, and explained that she’d come at the request of her father who waited in the car. He’d eaten at Lambs’ Grill and left without paying his bill – 80 years ago. He was ten at the time, and his tab had been a whole dollar. Unable to clear his conscience after eight decades, he sent his daughter with five times that amount and a heartfelt apology. I believe confession is good for the soul. So is restitution.

King's Crown Variation

“In due course, all will see and all will know; indeed, ‘every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him.’ Until then, I believe the many witnesses of the Savior’s Resurrection whose experiences and testimonies are found in the New Testament; Peter and his companions of the Twelve, and dear, pure Mary of Magdala, among others. I believe the testimonies found in the Book of Mormon: of Nephi the apostle with the unnamed multitude in the land Bountiful, among others. And I believe the testimony of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon who, after many other testimonies proclaimed the great witness of this last dispensation. Under the glance of His all-seeing eye, I stand myself as a witness that Jesus of Nazareth is the resurrected Redeemer, and I testify of all that follows from the fact of His Resurrection.” - Elder D. Todd Christofferson