STEPS TO THE COURT HOUSE

A log cabin quilt contains one of the most popular blocks used in quiltmaking.  I've certainly done my share having made several.  Time to make another; this time the court house steps variation.

  

THE STATS:  "Steps To The Court House", 2026, 34" x 34", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted.

I'm partial to this variation because of the many fond memories I have of my hometown county seat and its courthouse.  I was born in that county and my birth certificate was issued from there;  my grandfather's office as a county commissioner in the 1940s was located there.  I remember very clearly at age 16 when I took my driving test and received my license on the street in front of the building.  Then, Bob, his mother, and I went there to get our marriage license.  At that time, the bride only needed to be 18 years old, but the groom needed to be 21.  We were 19, so Bob's mother had to sign for him to marry me!  Fourteen years later we, with our 4-year old son, went to the court house to pick up at the welfare office a 3-week old baby girl for adoption.  After six months time, the last trip to that building was for the final signing of her adoption papers. Who would have thought at that time she would be the mother of our adult grandchildren?  It has been a long journey with many steps to that Otero County court house!!!

This is the court house of my childhood----

Then in the late 1950s they tore the orginal building down, and built this one.

P.S.:  One misstep on the steps of that court house -----

As a mother of a four year old, I thought I knew everything.  Wrong!!  When we left the welfare office with our new daughter,  I threw her pacifier away in the trash barrel on the steps of the building.   She found her thumb before we even got to the car.  She ended up spending ten years of her childhood in orthodontia.  Edited to add:  A favorite picture -- she had just gotten her braces off in time for her senior year in high school.

TWO BLOCK WONDER

I've been fasinated for years with combining two or more geometric blocks together to form secondary patterns.  I even wrote a book and a reprint booklet about the subject back in the early 2000s.  It is not only intriguing to alternate blocks containing different angles, but then change the effect when colors and/or shades of fabric are chosen.  The possibilities are endless.

Here is my latest experiment with the idea ----

The two blocks repeated and rotated in this quilt.

THE STATS:  Two Block Wonder, 2026, 27" x 27", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Appliqued, Machine Quilted

The books:

FIRE STORM

It is officially summer, which means wildfire season in Colorado.  We are currently experiencing one of our largest fires of record, the Aspen Acres fire.   It has been scarry; and has been estimated it will not be fully contained for quite awhile.  We live in the area north of the fire.  Early on, we prepared partially for evacation, if necessary.  Needless to say, it is hard to decide what is important to take with us.  In the meantime, quilting is my emotional support 'animal'; so I worked on this quilt, called "Fire Storm".   

Since 100% containment of this fire will not totally happen soon, the containment line in the quilt shows there are still danger spots elsewhere.

THE STATS:  Fire Storm, 2026, 26" x 26", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted.  Nerd Report:  64 three-inch blocks, 650 pieces with the border.

More about the Aspen Acres Fire -----  We watched the news closely, as the pre-evacuation area was about 5 miles south of us and the fire actually several miles south of that.  It has impacted us only as it forced us to gather together important documents, family photos, a few important momentos; and to consider future down-sizing (including a very large quilt collection!).

I followed constantly social media reports about the fire.  The best reports were from the twice daily reports from the Incident Commander of the fire.  The first two weeks of this fire were under the command of a well trained, and competent unit from Alaska. The Northern Rockies Complex Incident Management Team from Montana then took over. There is now a third team at work. There have been many experienced fire fighters from many states working this fire, for which Coloradans are more than grateful!

Even though I worked in offices of the U. S. Forest Service for three years in the 1960s; I have finally learned more in the last weeks about their dedication to the work involved.  I've improved my vocabulary --- I understand the meanings more clearly of 'contour felling', 'slop', 'super scooper', 'hot shot', 'hot spot', 'mop up', 'dozline', 'black line', 'mitigation', 'numbers like 100,000+ acres, 1,800 fire fighters'; plus important old words like  'family', 'community', 'volunteer', 'faith', and 'hope'.

As of this posting on August 4, 2026, the containment at Aspen Acres is at 71%, and now they are down to 360 fire fighters.  At the height of the fire, there were as many as 1800 fire fighters working the fire, which began in June 2026.

The quilt photos were taken at the Canon City Royal Gorge Park, where there are still wild fire scars from a devastating fire in June 2013.