Block 33 - Contrary Husband

The story for this week's block was another reminder of how often women were regarded as second class citizens before they achieved the right to the vote and associated equal rights.

 This was a block that needed a big center square. For week 20 we also needed a (cut) 4 1/2" square and I had used this large motif then. Experience has shown that if you use something dominant once it will jump out but if you use it at least one more time it will settle happily into the set. With that in mind I decided to use this big, formal motif again. It was in formal settings like a court of law where men were seen to have more rights than women prior to the success of the women's suffrage movement so it seems right to use a formal motif.

For my fun photo I decided to be the contrary photographer...and record that I made this block when the cherry trees were in full bloom. The front lawn display on the cherry trees is so fleeting I like to make the most of it.

 Such a simple block could have been sewn and posted this morning. But instead I was out and about and spent a few hours at the garden centers (along with some new plants I also got my first sunburn of the season on the back of my neck!) so here I'm showing the block with my newly acquired hardy gardenia, flowering almond and Marshall's Delight Bee Balm.

I was hoping to come home with a white camellia which was the symbol for the New Zealand Women's Suffrage Movement. Alas, no luck today as the one I found was going to grow to 12' high and that is too large for the spot in the garden I had planned to put one.  More thought will be applied and I will have another trip to the garden center to see if I can achieve my goal of getting this plant. It would be a fitting way to memorialize this quilt project.

And, humor me, one more garden shot. At last my bluebells are starting to have real blooms which are all too shortlived so I wanted to record this moment as well.