Forty-Nine Diversions

 

“Obstacles will come. Let us not wait for things to get hard before turning to God. Let us not wait until the end of our mortal lives to truly repent. Instead, let us now, no matter which part of the covenant path we are on, focus on the redemptive power of Jesus Christ and on Heavenly Father’s desire for us to return to Him. The Lord’s house, His holy scriptures, His holy prophets and apostles inspire us to strive towards personal holiness through the doctrine of Christ. And Nephi said: ‘And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man [and woman] can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.’” – Elder Jorge M. Alvarado

Grandmother's Choice

 

If you’ve ever grown carrots, you know what comes out of the ground looks nothing like what’s in the store. Some carrots will be stubby, and some will be broken. Some have two or three “legs.” Some twist around each other. If you grow ugly carrots, you eat ugly carrots. They taste fine. But no one BUYS ugly carrots. Store carrots are pretty because all the ugly ones were thrown away. Mike Yurosek, a California carrot farmer, hated to see up to 70% of his crop going to waste because it wasn’t pretty. So, Mike repurposed a bean-cutting machine to chop his ugly carrots into two-inch pieces. He peeled them with a rough stone roller and polished them with a smooth stone roller, and packaged them as Bunny Luv Baby Carrots. That was 1986. A year later, U.S. carrot consumption had increased by 30%. Today, baby carrots account for more than 70% of all carrot sales.

Black String Block

 String quilting is a technique where long, thing strips of left-over fabric are sewn to a foundation to create a scrappy, free-form quilt top. These thin fabric strips are sometimes referred to as “strings.” String quilting is more than just a creative way to use up scraps. The easy, forgiving nature of this technique can be a very welcome break after working with a fussy pattern that’s difficult to read or to master. This year, the members of our quilt guild are working individually on quilts drawn entirely from our stashes. I already have a few projects underway that might fit that bill. Somehow, none are making much of a dent in my stash. Worse, digging through every box and bin to find just the right print has my sewing room looking like it was hit by a tornado. But if the finished product is anything like the quilt in my head, it will all be worth it.

Stitched with Love

 

The word quilting comes from the Latin culcita, meaning stuffed sack or cushion. By the 14th century, “quilt” referred to stitching fabric layers together. Dating back to 1360-1400, the Tristan Quilt is one of the oldest known surviving quilts. It features scenes from the tale of Tristan and Isolde and is housed in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. The world’s largest quilt is the AIDS Memorial Quilt, weighing over 54 tons and covering 1.2 million square feet. Early American quilts were essential for warmth. They were used as bedding, but also to cover doors and windows to block drafts. Amish quilts, known for bold colors and intricate stitching, are considered valuable (and collectable) folk art. The civil war-era piece known as the Reconciliation Quilt is one of the most expensive quilts ever sold, bringing $254,000 at auction in 1991. Quilting is still a popular pastime in the U.S., with over 21 million engaging in this useful and enjoyable hobby. Happy National Quilting Month!

Irish Spring

 

In 2009, an employee who worked for the Unlimited IT call center in Howick, South Africa became so frustrated, he told his boss, “The Internet here is so slow, a pigeon would deliver these files faster.” The company decided to put his theory to the test. They hired a pigeon fancier with an eleven-month-old bird named Winston to race against their Internet connection. Winston wore a pocket with a 4gb USB stick when he was released from the Unlimited IT office in Howick. He headed “home” to Durban, about 60 miles away. At the same time, an employee began transferring the same files via their Internet connection. Hundreds of South Africans followed the race on Facebook and Twitter. Winston arrived in Durban an hour and eight minutes later, and it took another hour to upload the files from the USB stick. In that same amount of time, only 4% of the online data transfer had been completed. 

Flying Dutchman

 

“Three things that you must come to accept. One: self-control is strength, and calmness is mastery. You must get to the point where your mood doesn’t shift based on someone else’s actions. Don’t allow others to control the direction of your life. Don’t allow emotions to overpower your intelligence. Two: stop being afraid to spend money. You go out and spend $100 on good food. So what? You had a good time with your friends. You spend $1000 to travel. So what? Your time on this planet is a gift. You can always replace money, but you can’t replace time. Three: in three generations, everyone who knows you will be gone, including the people whose opinions stopped you from doing what you wanted to do all along. Imagine someone you know achieved every dream and hit every goal. After they’re gone, how much would you care? If you accomplish your goals and dreams, do it for yourself.” – Anthony Hopkins 

Four Dozen Diversions

 

“The words of our dear prophet still echo in my mind: ‘God wants us to work together and help each other. That is why He sends us to earth in families and organizes us into wards and stakes. That is why He asks us to serve and minister to each other. That is why He asks us to live in the world but not be of the world.’ When our lives are filled with purpose and service, we avoid spiritual apathy; on the other hand, when our lives are deprived of divine purpose, meaningful service to others, and sacred opportunities for pondering and reflection, we gradually become suffocated by our own activity and self-interest, risking losing our savor. The antidote to this is to continue to be involved in service—being anxiously engaged in good works and the betterment of ourselves and the society we live in.” – Elder José A. Teixeira