Star Flowers

 

You don’t have to pay close attention to notice I generally have half a dozen projects going at once. In addition to the tops I’m actively working on at any given moment, there are also many more sitting “on the back burner.” I start with the intention of seeing it through without major interruptions, but then life happens. I run out of a particular print and can’t find a substitute. My pattern is less well-written than I’d thought, and everything goes on hold until I find a solution. Or (this happens way more often than you’d think) the prints I found so charming at the store are suddenly irritating. Often, just setting a quilt aside a few weeks (or months, or years) sorts everything out. I started this in 2017. I liked the flower blocks, but wasn’t sure I could do the curved border justice. Five years later, I realize I don’t WANT a curved border. Problem solved.

Four Cherry Trees

 

Our house is less than a six-hour drive from Las Vegas, and we have visited "Sin City" many times. But until this year, we never knew the famous Las Vegas Boulevard – The Strip – isn’t actually inside the city limits of Las Vegas. On average, more than 41 million people visit Las Vegas every year. That number was reduced by more than half in 2020. The hotels, casinos, restaurants, shows and resorts are still gradually working their way back to pre-pandemic levels. The first thing you see as you enter the Las Vegas valley from the north is The Stratosphere. At 1,149 feet, this observation tower/entertainment complex is the tallest free-standing structure west of the Mississippi. When gambling was made legal here in 1931, the rest of the country was outraged and threatened to revoke Nevada’s statehood. (That never happened.) Today, there are forms of legalized gambling in forty-eight of the fifty states.

Lynx

 

Honey never spoils. It’s low in water and high in sugar, so bacteria can’t grow. Honey can go cloudy or become crystalized when stored, but warming restores it. I recently inherited some lovely buckwheat honey. I’ll use some of it for this:

 

Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Pork

 

4-5 pounds pork tenderloin

1 cup salsa verde

1/3 cup lime juice

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon EACH chili, garlic, and onion powders

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon EACH dried oregano, smoked paprika, cumin

1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder

 

Dump salsa, honey and lime in slow cooker. Rinse pork and pat dry. Mix seasonings together and rub pork. Sear pork in oil on all sides until lightly browned. Transfer to slow cooker and spoon salsa verde sauce over pork. Cook on low 8 hours. Shred pork and add back to slow cooker. Continue cooking about half an hour. Makes great tacos, burritos, or fajitas.

Cherry Tree

 

Hoover Dam was dedicated by FDR in 1935. (Roosevelt, a democrat, called it Boulder Dam, though congressional bills during construction named it for our 31st president, a republican.) Since then, the Hoover Dam has appeared in dozens of books, movies and TV shows. In Rick Riordan’s novel The Titan's Curse, demigods meet a future oracle of Delphi and battle an army of the undead at the dam. It’s destroyed by earthquakes in Superman (1978) and San Andreas (2015). In Fools Rush In (1997) Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek become engaged, and later become parents and divorcees atop the same dam. In the first Transformers movie (2007), Hoover Dam is the site of a government conspiracy involving Megatron and the All Spark. The 2008 History Channel series Life After People suggests Hoover Dam will probably still be running and supplying Vegas with power a year after we’re gone – until an infestation of quagga mussels inevitably takes it down.

Double Cross

 

In 2013, art historian Dario Del Buffalo was signing copies of his newest book in a New York store. He overheard a young man say, “What a beautiful book! Oh, Helen, look! That’s your mosaic!” Dario chased after the couple, who confirmed the mosaic pictured in his book was a table top in Helen’s home. The mosaic in question had begun life the year 40CE as part of a dance floor on one of Emperor Caligula’s pleasure barges. After spending millennia underwater, the mosaic was rediscovered in 1920 when Mussolini drained Lake Nemi. It was housed in a museum along with other remains of the barges, and was thought to be destroyed in a fire during WWII. Instead, it had been spirited away by the Nazis, along with so many other works of art. An Italian official with a reputation of finding Nazi-pilfered art sold the mosaic to Helen, who then used it as a coffee table 40 years.

Jacob's Ladder

 

“We know Heavenly Father has a personal plan of happiness for each of us. Because God sent His Beloved Son for us, the miracles we need will fall on the very day necessary for His plan to be fulfilled. I testify this year we can learn more about God’s plan for us in the Old Testament. That sacred volume teaches the role of prophets in uncertain times and of God’s hand in a world that was confused and often contentious. It’s also about humble believers who faithfully looked forward to the coming of our Savior, just as we look forward to and prepare for His Second Coming—His long-prophesied, glorious return. Until that day, we may not see the design of God for all aspects of our lives. But we can remember Nephi’s response when faced with something he didn’t understand: while he didn’t know the meaning of all things, he knew that God loves His children.” – Elder Michael T. Ringwood

Christmas Tribute

 

Liz Porter's pattern for this quilt – called Hero’s Tribute – comes from QuiltingDaily.com. It calls for scraps in patriotic colors. At 56x72”, it’s an ideal size for a Quilt of Valor donation. I have lots of scraps in red, white and blue. I just wasn’t in the mood to make another patriotic quilt right now. That’s probably perverse of me. It’s been hovering around 100 degrees for weeks, and the neighbors will be setting off fireworks again tonight. All I can think of his how much I wish it was snowing. It just feels like the right time for red and green. The tiny sawtooth stars here are four inches finished. The next size up are eight, and then there are twelve-inch stars. The largest ones are sixteen inches square; the biggest sawtooth stars I’ve ever made. The plan is to donate the finished quilt to Festival of Trees in December, when I’ll probably be wishing for sunshine.