Layer Cake

Clint Eastwood once said, “God gave you a brain. Do the best you can with it. You don't have to be Einstein. Einstein was mentally tough. He believed what he believed. He worked out things. He argued with people who disagreed with him. But I’m sure he didn’t call everybody jerks.” Colin Farrell said, “As I get older and calmer and quieter in my own self, the one quality I find more and more attractive is kindness. A sense of adventure and humor is important too, but I truly find kindness and consideration for others to be the most attractive thing.” “Keep your face always toward the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you,” was Walt Whitman’s advice. My favorite Brooke Shields quote: “Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.” What do they have in common? They share the same birthday; my birthday. Happy birthday to all of us!

Sixteen Fisherman's Reels

Pasta Cobb Salad

1 pound gemelli pasta

8 slices crisp bacon, crumbled

8 ounces ranch or blue cheese dressing

4 hard boiled eggs, coarsely chopped

2.25 ounce can sliced black olives, drained

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 large ripe avocado, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Prepare pasta al dente as directed. Drain and rinse with cold water. Toss with remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and chill thoroughly. Serves eight as a side dish.

Morning Star

“I have read and passed over the seemingly unremarkable expression ‘certain women’ numerous times before, but recently as I pondered more carefully, those words seemed to jump off the page. Consider these synonyms of one meaning of the word certain as connected to faithful, certain women: convinced, positive, confident, firm, definite, assured, and dependable. As I pondered those powerful descriptors, I remembered two of those New Testament certain women who bore positive, confident, firm, assured testimonies of the Savior. Though they, like us, were imperfect women, their witness is inspiring. Remember the unnamed woman at the well who invited others to come and see what she had learned of the Savior? She bore her certain witness in the form of a question: ‘Is not this the Christ?’ Her testimony and invitation were so compelling that many believed on him.” - Linda K. Burton, Relief Society General President

One Heart One Hand

I bought a dozen fat quarters several springs ago. They were all from the same line: One Heart, One Hand by Debbie Beaves for RJR Fabric. They were rusty red or shades of blue with a little cream, gold and green tossed in. Most were floral prints, but some had stars and stripes. A few even wore the words, “One heart, one hand, one flag, one land.” The pattern came from Quilts Etc. - either the one they give moms for Mother's Day, or one I won in a drawing.  Essentially, you carve a 12.5” square from each 18x22” fat quarter. From the scraps you cut two dozen 6.5” squares and three dozen 4.5x6.5” rectangles. The result is a slightly smaller, slightly more interesting version of Tricia Cribbs’ Turning Twenty quilt. I think I bound it myself, because the binding is perfectly awful. It’s a terrific Memorial Day picnic quilt: one that doesn’t mind a little mustard.

Musical Mice

Heather was learning to crawl when I started teaching piano lessons in our home. Her brothers studied percussion, wind and string instruments. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when my daughter started asking for music lessons of her own. I’d read about the good things that can come of providing enrichment activities like this for children with Down Syndrome. So I set out to look for a teacher who was willing to take her on. It was a harder task than you might think, but eventually we found Brittany. She’s a great teacher – enthusiastic, supportive and patient. Almost twelve years ago, when Brittany was expecting her first baby, I made this quilt for her from Northcott’s Musical Mice line in garnet, royal blue, jade and banana. I’ve searched in vain for the names of the two blocks used in this quilt. They really should have names of their own, but I don’t know it what they are. 

Nine Fisherman's Reels

My daughter Heather and I are regulars at the library. We’ve visited once a week her entire life, whether it’s our local branch, the grand Salt Lake City Main Library, the elegant Harrogate Library (a Carnegie original from 1906) or a tiny military base collection. She takes forever to decide what to bring home, and her choices generally make sense to no one but herself. Often – but not always –  they’re Disney books and DVDs. Occasionally they’re DVDs she already owns. About a year ago I realized she was using the large initials on their spines to spell 5- or 6-letter words. One week she brought home DVDs that spelled the word “SHARK.” The week before it was “CASTLE,” and before that she checked out “FAIRY.” Last December she spelled “BEDLAM,” a word I’ve never heard her use. But this week she needed seven DVDs to tell us what was on her mind. 

Iris Garden Sampler

When Heather’s quilt started to show signs of wear I took her shopping to gather material for a replacement. She chose a lovely moss green print covered with raspberry canes, leaves, blossoms and fruit. It was from a line called Audra’s Iris Garden by Brannock and Patek for Moda Fabrics. The other colors in the line were toast, chocolate, scarlet, goldenrod and a deep, satisfying purple. I bought a little of everything and set to work. It didn’t take long to assemble twenty 12” blocks. Several are copies of blocks on Heather’s current quilt. But by the time the twelve intermediary Daisy Chain blocks were done, she’d decided she no longer wants this quilt. Heather’s not very good at expressing why she dislikes something, but I have to assume it’s because it isn’t green enough. So this top is the seventeenth donated to the hospital quilters, and her new quilt is back to square one.