More String Diamonds

When men fear the loss of what they know, 

they will follow any tyrant who promises to restore the old order.

~Barbara Kingsolver in Unsheltered

Quilting

The scrap bag still looks as full as when I started. More diamonds in the making but this time simply divided into either light or dark. A speaker at our guild showed her elegant Feathered Stars. Some were traditionally set while others were rotated 45 degrees so the points lined up with the cardinal directions.

Diamond strings made into a star

With this layout, the backgrounds are just more 45 degree isosceles triangles. Half diamonds as it were. Since they needed contrast with the star outlines, they are made using only lights. The strings are chosen to "look good" next to the previous one. Whatever that means. Just as long as they are light.

Triangle strings for a background

I wasn't sure what these would look like arranged around the star but it's not too bad.

Triangle strings added to diamond strings 

Gardening

My mother was a gardener but I've never been very successful. With all the extra time at home this year {and with lots of advice, encouragement, and some seeds from a dear friend} I planted two larger containers with zucchini and bush beans, two window boxes with herbs, and diligently added watermelon radishes between the larger seeds. The idea is that they will be pulled before/as the larger plants need more room. Watermelon radishes are delicious but usually only found at restaurants. Only twice have I found them at the farmers' market and never in our groceries. We'll see how it works out. Pretty good so far but there is a squirrel or cat who comes by regularly to dig certain plants up. Sprinkling lots of pepper around seems to be discouraging this antisocial behavior somewhat.

This morning I noticed a new but smaller hole near the plants. This time I'm getting the red pepper flakes out! And I'm open for more advice. 

Projects Around the House

Like everyone else, I've noticed an uptick in quilting procrastination. I've been reading {mainly rereading  favorites.} That led to a purge of the bookshelf. DH even agreed to discard twenty old reference books that were seriously out of date. AND the related software. Now he's on eBay selling off old DVDs and spare parts. Woo hoo! Not much money but we are both delighted to keep things out of the landfill and I, at least, am delighted to get them out of the house.

This weekend was a clean out of the spice rack. Sad to report one bottle expired in 2006. No wonder it didn't add much taste. 

Voting

Our November 3 election is 133 days away. Are you registered to vote?

Enjoy the day, Ann