I giggled when I saw this block designed by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt... Then I looked at it to try to figure out how to avoid aaaaaaaaaaaaaall that applique. I considered paper piecing the trees but then told myself "just do the applique"!
As I pulled fabric for the block I remembered that as a child we had an old hay wagon where my dad stored old lumber from various projects. My brother once discovered a whole family of skunks living under it. The babies were sooooooo cute! We begged mom to be able to capture one and have the "stinker" removed and keep it as a pet. My parents refused, even though they thought they were cute as well.
We wanted to name it "Flower" just like in the Disney movie, Bambi. But as with all "babies" they don't remain babies. My brother was assigned the task of "removing" the family. That is all I am going to say about that. Well, I will add, that he never ended up smelling of skunk, to my recollection!
Once I got the sky, ground and trees done, I was less than enthused to begin the truck & trailer... and then I saw the "love" fabric sitting on the cutting table in the midst of the other black and white fabric I had pulled as options for the block. It was at that moment that I decided that it was exactly what I needed for the truck and camp trailer!
Love was in the air!!! I, for one, am grateful that the stench of a skunk is NOT in the air.
While Dave and I were still living in Illinois, one evening as Dave was returning home from work and our Yellow Lab, Samantha, ran across the yard to greet what she thought was our cat, Dotty. Dave quickly realized that it was NOT Dotty. 😞 Rather, it was... you guessed it... a skunk! I imagine that the look on the skunk's face was one of surprise... just like this one >>>
It was the middle of the winter so we couldn't simply leave her outside. Though she really did love her dog house and kennel and would often prefer to "go to bed" outside rather than stay in the house.
We took her into the basement where there was a bathroom with a shower. We proceeded to use tomato juice and strawberry scented shampoo to try to neutralize the awful odor... it didn't really work, but it was certainly better than doing nothing! I think...
For months afterwards (until she shed her winter coat) whenever she went hunting and retrieving in the Fox River or on the private pond where Dave hunted ducks and geese, she smelled the odd combination of tomato and strawberry. It was a little gross...
This was before our knowledge of using baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and dish soap to remove the odor.
More recently our Chocolate Lab-mix, Shelby, dashed across the yard after a cat... Dave thought it was a cat, anyway. (We have never allowed her to chase after rabbits or cats in our yard.) As soon as Dave realized what she was doing he yelled for her to stop. And for once she listened! We managed to coerce her into the house while he grabbed something to "manage" the situation.
(I know, I know... this is not kosher to do in town, but we don't live in town and who really wants to worry that such a stinky creature is roaming in your neighborhood? Animal control doesn't respond to such calls in the county... you just take care of it.) He was able to handle the situation without setting off a 'stink bomb'... My Hero! We actually believe that the animal was sick and could have been a threat to the pets in the area.
Well, there you have it. My skunk stories...
Have you had a close encounter with a skunk?
Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you!
Keep calm and quilt on,
Melva
Melva Loves Scraps - home of the Quilters Through The Generations series
Linky Tuesday at Free-motion By the River
Fiber Tuesday at The Quilting Room with Mel
Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts
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It's A Wild Life BOM at Sew Incredibly Crazy
Love your block and laughing at your skunk stories!! I live on a farm and have never seen a skunk around...we get porcupines. Definitely not as stinky, but definitely painful for a few of our dogs. We take care of them the same way (we meaning my husband...I think I would need to be attacked or really hungry to so that).
ReplyDeleteYour block is so cute!!! Of all the ones you've done for that QAL, this is my favorite. Everything is so perfectly coordinated from the love text fabric for the truck and camper to the loving heart message sent by the skunk!!
ReplyDeleteI have a skunk story but first I'll tell you about Tu-Na Helper's skunk encounter. We use a live trap to trap our ever enlarging rabbit population who like to devour our garden produce before we get to. One day he groaned as he looked out the window in the direction of the trap. I didn't think much of it until I saw him a few minutes later, covered with garbage bags as he attempted to lift the trap door and let it go before it sprayed the "perfume". That skunk was a beauty all fluffy and healthy looking. When Tu-Na Helper came back into the house looking all triumph, I had to hurriedly usher him back outside. You see, he'd forgotten to protect his shoes and socks. I made him throw them away.
My encounter happened when I was much younger living on the farm with my parents and taking care of my little sister while my mom did house things. There are 11 years difference between my baby sister and myself. I thought a walk to our mailbox (about a quarter mile from the house) would be just what that bothersome three year old needed. On our way back, a skunk stepped out of the grass less than 6 feet in front of us and we stood looking at each other on the road. I grabbed my sisters hand and took off running as fast as I could (not sure her feet were on the ground) through the ditch going the short way to home. We smelled just fine when we arrived attesting to the fact that I missed my calling as a track star or maybe we just got lucky.
Thanks for the reminder. I got off track, but I wanted to save all the patterns so I could finish the last 3 later, when I have time again. This is so cute, and I love your skunk stories! I've not had that close an encounter, except with a skunk which DIDN'T spray me. He (or she) was a trained (wild, but trained?) guard skunk at a convenience store/gas station in Amarillo, Texas about 38 years ago. Ouch, I didn't want to know how long ago. LOL Thanks for sharing your great block and the stories.
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