Spinster Quilt - Farmers, Ducks, and Days

Get comfortable people, we've got a lot of ground to cover.

Darting Birds

When I was in the 6th grade, I wrote a research paper on hummingbirds.  I learned that their beaks are as long or longer than they are, they fly incredibly fast (you could say they dart about), they eat an incredible amount every day, and despite being delicate looking are rather vicious to each other when they need to be.  Needless to say, I fell in love with all things hummingbirds.  Sadly, when Sammy Davis Jr. Kitty moved in, I took my hummingbird feeders down.  He is too young and too good of a hunter and I don't want to chum for hummingbirds.  When he slows down, I'll return to feeding the little darting birds but until then they are welcome to hang out and not to linger.  This block represents the ruby throated hummingbird, because it and they are ever so pretty.

Duck and Ducklings

I don't know how I could do a block call Duck and Ducklings and not make it yellow orange like the cute little ducklings we get around here in the spring.  Seriously, I don't know how.

Economy

My first instinct with the Economy block was to make it black like our current state of the economy.  Instead, I chose to make it the color of money (albeit dark green money) in hopes that the economy is going to get better.  

End of Day

 I decided to go with this nice dark blue batik for my End of Day block.  I'm representing dusk here, which seems to set in around 4:30 these days.  Darned short winter days.

Evening Star

For the Evening Star block, pretend you are in your garden and looking at your flowers by moonlight.  Yeah, I can't see anything then either, but I imagine it would be something like this block.  

Farmer's Daughter

My grandmother (not the cups and saucer grandmother, the other one) was a farmer and a farmer's daughter.  She was a really wonderful grandmother and I miss her.  I really do.  She taught me simple crafts I could do on my own, she loved birds and flowers and made me my own quilt embroidered with each state's flowers and birds on it, and she knew the significance of the birth month flower and birth month gemstone.  She was born in February and the gemstone for that month is the amethyst.  So I made her an amethyst block.  I think she would like this.  I really do.  

Farmer's Puzzle

The only puzzle a farmer has is how to get the crops to succeed and how to keep the animals healthy.  Green crops lead to green money (see the economy above).  I didn't like the layout of this block in the book because it had a strong swastika vibe to it, so I switched it around.  Unfortunately, it now has a strong Blair Witch Project vibe to it.