Little Tree

 

Last month, when Avery Sanford turned 18, her estranged father decided to make her last child support payment in person. In pennies. He showed up unannounced, towing a rented landscaper’s trailer full of coins, which he dumped on his ex-wife’s lawn. He’d clearly gone to a lot of trouble to hurt, embarrass and inconvenience Avery, her mom, and her sister. After they’d cleaned up the mess, they donated all 80,000 pennies to a domestic abuse refuge called Safe Harbor. It was such a lovely gesture. But if any other ex-husbands are thinking of emulating Avery’s dad, they should know this: coins are legal tender, but no one is forced to accept them. Pennies cost more to mint than they’re worth. The only reason we still make them is because of sales tax. If businesses would include sales tax in their prices, rounded up to avoid orphan cents, we could do away with pennies altogether.

I Heart Quilting

 

Four reasons why I love to quilt:

Most of what I do – cooking, cleaning, dishes, laundry, etc. – goes completely unnoticed and is undone almost before I’ve finished. It’s such a joy to make beautiful, useful things that people appreciate, and that may even outlive me.

I like that this hobby supports small, local shops instead of huge, faceless corporations. Even the online stores I patronize are tiny, skin-of-your-teeth operations. And nearly all of them are run by women.

Quilting connects me to other artists and artisans, even the ones who died before I was born. Seeing the work of quilters generations before mine has made their lives more real to me than reading their histories ever could.

Quilters are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. They’re creative, supportive, and generous. Even when they’re working in direct competition, they’ll bend over backwards to teach you what they’ve learned and to offer their help.

Little House

 

"The Lord uses the weather sometimes to discipline his people for the violation of his laws. He said to the children of Israel: 'If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit' (Leviticus 26:3-4) Perhaps the day has come when we should take stock of ourselves and see if we are worthy to ask or if we have been breaking the commandments, making ourselves unworthy of receiving the blessings. The Lord gave strict commandments: 'Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord' (Leviticus 19:30.)." – President Spencer W. Kimball

July Stars Table Runner

 

Kay Andrews passed away in Logan, Utah December, 2019 at the age of 97. I never knew her, but people started sending me photos of her headstone shortly after her death. In addition to the names and dates most people leave as an epitaph, on Kay’s stone is a recipe for her fudge. At first, I wondered if some relative had asked for it and Kay had answered, “Over my dead body!” But it was actually Kay’s idea to share her recipe with everyone.

 

Kay’s Famous Fudge

 

2 squares baking chocolate

2 tablespoons butter

Melt on low heat; stir in:

1 cup milk

Bring to boil; add:

3 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pinch salt

Cook to soft ball stage. Pour onto marble slab. Beat while cooling. Eat!

Kelli's Star

 

Eric Carle would have celebrated his 92nd birthday two weeks from today, but he passed away two weeks ago. He was born in Syracuse, New York. When he was six, his German mother, homesick for das Vaterland, moved the family to Stuttgart. It was an unfortunate time to live in Germany, but it may also have been a hard time to be German in New York. Eric was drafted into the German army in 1939 (My math must be wrong. Was he ten?) and taken prisoner by Soviet forces in 1947. When he finally came home, he weighed 85 pounds. Bill Martin Jr. saw Eric’s art and asked him to collaborate on a picture book. Their Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? became a best seller. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, published two years later, was voted second best loved children’s book, after Where the Wild Things Are. What I love about his books is they can be “read” by pre-readers.

Half a Dozen Chains

 

I use my big red Betty Crocker cookbook for nearly everything, with a few notable exceptions. I’ve written “never again” on the meatloaf page and on the page with strawberry-rhubarb pie. The meatloaf ends up tasteless, grey and rubbery. The pie is even worse. If you’d like a better one, try this:

 

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

 

3 1/2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2" pieces

2 cups strawberries, halved

3/4 cup sugar

4 tablespoons minute tapioca

Zest of 1 lemon or orange

Double pie crust

1 egg, beaten

 

Preheat oven to 400F. Thoroughly combine first five ingredients; let rest at least 10 minutes. Roll out bottom crust and line pie plate. Trim to 1/2" from edge. Spoon filling into bottom crust; spread evenly. Roll top crust and cover filling. Crimp edge to seal and cut slits in top to release steam. Brush with egg. Bake 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350F. Continue baking 40-50 minutes longer, until crust is nicely browned. 

Four Squared

 

Back in February, the poster for the Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge promised sixteen block patterns, each designed by a different artist. They’ve saved my two favorites, Lori Holt and Christopher Thompson, for the very end. I share Christopher’s passion for all things blue and white, and I’ve been a fan of Lori’s work for many years. The poster also said the final quilt design would be a surprise. I look at the finished blocks and the leftover fabric, and still can’t begin to imagine how it will come together. I’ve inserted a few blocks of my own design, partly to entertain myself, and partly to give myself more options. I may substitute one or two if an original block seems out of place. I might use them to make a larger finished quilt. Or I could save them for a sampler of my own. Either way, I’m enjoying the process. And I enjoy my own blocks most of all.