5/14/2011

Jury Duty, BB CWs, and More

Had jury duty from Monday through Thursday. They took a day and a half to select the jury, so you know what meant. Lots of time for doodling:


There are lots of interesting lunch places in downtown Decatur now. I never get a chance to go out at lunch with Day Job, so it was the most intense pleasure to stroll around the square and leisurely select the next lunch spot. There was even an outdoor concert on Wednesday, where some 60s guys were beautifully singing 60s style folk songs. I felt like a completely different person and moved far away from Day Job miseries in my mind. There was also time to pop into the public library and write some very fast letters to Timothy that I sent via motomail.

However, I was once again chosen for the jury, so even though the delightful breaks continued and the subset of the jury panel was every bit as jolly as the original pool of 54, the subject was sordid and the whole thing was draining and rather upsetting. I was going to blog about it (and heaven knows, it suddenly gave me all kinds of good material to write Timothy about after months of not seeing any humor anywhere), but there were eight guys all the same age keeping a vigil at the verdict and sentencing, and there were no less than nine police officers keeping a vigil over them, so I think I will prudently just keep my mouth shut.

Timothy called last night! He is fine. So far, so good. We were just beginning to have a pretty interesting conversation about irrigation methods in Afghanistan (which he seemed to suddenly have an encyclopedic understanding of and which began when he said they were told to dunk themselves in the irrigation canals because several of them were fainting from the heat), when he suddenly had to hang up again. Sigh.

Here is Wanda C.'s Holmes County quilt from the Study in Amish class! I just love it.

Prairie Women Sewing Circle took place sometime before jury duty; that was my first time there and it was very enjoyable. Muriel was in period costume, talked about prairie life, displayed a lovely antique quilt that Linda R. had just found in a relative's Maine attic:



and also baked us some vinegar pies, which as you know, is an old pioneer recipe. It was very good and tasted like there was lemon in it, which there wasn't:

Muriel made this quilt from the Prairie Women book:

Last week's BB CW block:

This week's BB CW block. I am very taken with the fabrics in this one! Except that after I scanned it, I wondered if it would look better with a black background. I worked four hours on this one, though, with a hundred other things to do, so there is no do over on this one. I am going to keep the fabrics together and perhaps make more blocks to be in a quilt by themselves, although I have no time to do that. I'd like to make the block bigger (these are 6"), but then the fussy cut flowers wouldn't work. Also the stripe is quite a vintage fabric, I believe, and I do not have very much of it. So we shall see:

12 comments:

ann hermes said...

I love those pink and white signature squares. Wish I could read the details. Yes, jury duty, I was on a jury last summer and actually found the whole process fascinating.

Mary said...

My sympathies on your trial. I used to do research on criminal cases and I know just how sordid some of them are. I have stories that would give anyone nightmares. No fun at all.

But I did like your doodles, especially the last one. And you have really nice CW blocks.

keryn said...

Love the block and the fussy cutting, very sophisticated. The vinegar pie sounds intruiging, might have to google the recipe..
When I doodle I draw rows of tents or boxes, not recognisable faces! I'm not much of an artist.

Sheila said...

i love your Civil war block this week, great fabrics and beautiful fussy cutting

Anonymous said...

Sigh, I have jury duty for a month starting next week. There are nearly a dozen trials on the schedule and I am hoping they all settle out of court. That is usually the way of things around here in my neck of the woods.

Love your blocks!

Karen said...

I like that third doodle a lot. The one with the vase. Good for a quilt block or a bigger block for a wall hanging.

Barb said...

great doodling! I have jury duty at the end of the month. I'll bring a pad and do some sketching - thanks for the great idea.
I'm hoping they won't need me, last time I got a case that lasted a week.

Barb said...

Loved your doodling.....must have been quite boring...

enjoyed your blocks.

Vivian said...

Love your doodles.
I like the pink signature blocks. The top pink fabric looks funky modern.
Your two BB CW blocks are winners. The fussy cut flowers and stripes in the 2nd one are really special.
Vinegar pie? I'm going to look up more about that one.
Stay safe, Timothy.

The Calico Cat said...

but there were eight guys all the same age keeping a vigil at the verdict and sentencing, and there were no less than nine police officers keeping a vigil over them, so I think I will prudently just keep my mouth shut.

religious cult, eh? (In the deep south to boot. tongue firmly in cheek.)

Vinegar pie - I'm going to have to google that one.
But
I have had a Ritz pie that tasted a lot like an apple pie - I have the recipe, but have in the mean time decided that apples are a good thing.
And
I have had a Pinto bean pie that tasted an awful lot like a pecan pie.

Libby said...

Three cheers for doodles and new lunch spots. Good things do come from jury duty - besides the satisfaction of doing your civic duty *s*
Glad to hear that you received a call from Timmy. I know just how much good it does to actually hear that voice coming through. Now to work on enough time to complete a conversation!

Gretchen said...

Love your blocks!! So happy you heard from Timmy and all is well with him. Jury duty sounds like a great story to tell over coffee--we must get together sometime to chat when you Day Job lets out.