My blocks are done!
Embroidering Chimney Smoke
Windows attached with embroidery floss.
Finished Shelter Home-Life Block
Attaching the leaves using embroidery floss.
So many leaves!
Securing the tree trunk with embroidery floss.
Embroidering the path of the bee
Appliqueing the hills by machine
The Finished Global Conservation Block
Today was unusual in that we had more sewing machines and more adults than girls! But that’s a good thing as many of the girls are done with their blocks or have taken the blocks as far as they can. So . . .with the two girls at hand, and the three moms, we put the finishing touches on just about all of the blocks. Here is a status report:
Proposed Layout: Can you tell which block is which?
Believe it or not, it was not easy for our little group to decide how to arrange the blocks. The two hearts looked better apart, as did the two trees. The browns looked better separated as well. The colors in certain blocks complemented each other. Eventually this is what we settled on. The missing block up top is Education which came together below.
Youkilis’ Education Block
The group overruled Youkilis’ design and added red chimneys. After all, we did agree as a troop to try to use the red and/or green sashing colors somewhere in the block. Youkilis’ freedom block was exempted since it was so historically traditional; however, we thought the red chimneys look awesome on this block!
TheSquid, Kamam, and Mrs. S were very focused today and finished Forgiveness, Independence, and Happiness. Yay! The group also convinced Kamam to add a cloud to her Safety block. Doesn’t it look fabulous?
Kamam added a cloud to her Safety block.
TheSquid hard at work finishing her Forgiveness block.
TheSquid and Kamam were the only two girls in attendance today.
A small but focused group.
FSCsoccergirl was home working on her math homework but sent her Love block in for us to admire.
FSCsoccergirl’s LOVE block
Penny525 did not attend the meeting but did work very hard all morning on her blocks. Here is a timeline of her progress.
Testing different methods for attaching small leaves.
Cutting out lots and lots of tiny pieces!
Attaching the leaves
Penny525’s Global Conservation block with many of the leaves sewn in place
Last-minute design changes to Shelter/Homelife
TheSquid and Linds’ Respect Block all complete
The Respect block center hand-sewn in place so as not to lose the details of the GS emblem face
Eleven of our 16 blocks are in progress:
Careers and Hobbies by Mrs. W
This block shows the evolution of women’s careers and hobbies from knitting to aviation. In early Killingworth, women knit to create necessary clothing and blankets; women performed “male” chores only for survival. Harriet Quimby was the first female pilot licensed in the United States and the first woman to fly solo over the English Channel. Although women have been pilots for many decades, up until about 10 years ago, women were not permitted to fly military combat missions.
Friendship by Mrs. Toe-Mom
I am representing friendship by a flower with ten petals. Seven of the petals will reflect fabric from each of the seven girls. The three remaining petals will use fabric from each of the three leaders. To me, this is the perfect block to represent these amazing young women since they have been together for a decade—since they were Daisies in kindergarten. And, of course, we three moms have a wonderful friendship too!
Happiness by Mrs. S
This block is based on Killingworth’s own historical artist and author Ruth Warner Robinson as a child. The Robinson family lived in what is known as the “Country Squire” and Ruth attended school at the one-room school house. She is best known for her colorful farm scene paintings, charming sculptures of farm animals, and short stories about the simple pleasures of country life.
Kindness, Forgiveness, and Honesty by The Squid
The grandfather clock represents “Time waits for no one,” by the Rolling Stones. I truly think it means don’t wait too long to forgive someone. If you are honest, kind, and forgiving, then it will get you further than being selfish. To be able to forgive you need to know the difference between a mistake and actually intending to hurt someone. In the moment, it may seem really huge but truly it’s not that big. Talking it out would be best.
Freedom by Youkilis
Through the Underground Railroad, slaves learned to trust select people via symbols. For example, the monkey wrench symbol meant tools were available. Slaves endured both physical and mental abuse. People (now) should never take anything for granted or complain about small problems. We should always be thankful and happy for what we have. The slaves were brave and couldn’t complain. They put their minds together and were courageous.
Global Conservation by Penney525
The leaves on the tree start with green and darken to brown from left to right. They also grow sparser from green to brown. The grass of the hill will follow the same pattern. The left side represents our ideal world while the right side predicts where our world could end up in the future unless we act now. Presently, I believe we are somewhere in the middle of the tree, and which side we will travel to depends solely on our decisions.
Shelter and Home-life by Penney525
I decided to create a basic gingerbread house inside of a heart to represent the dream-house of every girl. The heart is the home-life piece of the block, because a loving, positive home environment is also ideal for every girl’s well-being, though not every girl is fortunate to have this.
Justice by Linds
All of us will face unfair and unjust events and decisions in our lives. One of the most representative objects of this idea is the justice scale, originally held by the hand of Lady Justice. Since our project revolves around the GIRLtopia theme, I am including the symbol for male and female on each side of the scale. I think the scale should be balanced, after all, isn’t equality what is just?
Peace by FSCsoccergirl
I decided to make this block simple and easy to understand. I feel as though things that are said or showed with simplicity can mean more in volumes. I have chosen to make a dove with an olive branch in its beak. I will use a fabric with peace signs to give it more meaning.
Safety by Kamam
In my research, I discovered how many women and children in the world are not respected or safe. Over 25% of women will be abused in their lifetime. Some women in different areas of the world live in garbage dumps, abandoned, in a disease-filled environment. This quilt block represents how women deserve to be safe and sheltered. On my block there is a girl sitting happily on a swing under a big tree.
Unity and Togetherness by AS1898
I have created a ring of people holding hands to show unity. Each person is a different color fabric to show that everybody is different but we can still come together as a group to accomplish anything we set our minds to. I have also decided to place this ring of people around the earth to show if people try hard enough, we can unite men and women around the world.
Love by FSCsoccergirl
For love, I have decided to make a traditional heart, but then add people in the middle holding hands. I think that this represents a woman’s love for her family and a desire to be around people that she loves.
Under Development . . .
My first block is Shelter and Homelife. I decided to portray this topic with a basic gingerbread house inside of a heart. I thought that this could in a way represent the dream-house of every girl. The heart is the homelife piece of the block, because a loving, positive home enviroment is also ideal for every girl’s well-being, though not every girl is fortunate to have this. I am incorporating the green of the sashing into the ground below the gingerbread house. I am making the stripes of the gingerbread house the red color we are also using to tie together the quilt.
My other block is Global Conservation. In this block, I decided to create a tree residing on a hill. The leaves on the tree start with green and darken, eventually reaching brown as they move to the right. They also grow sparser from the green to the brown side. The same idea is true for the grass of the hill, and it will also go from green to brown. The left side represents partially our ideal world, and the right side represents where our world could end up in the future if we don’t act now to change our ways. Right now, I believe we are somewhere in the middle of the tree, and which side we will travel to depends solely on our decisions. I am incorporating the green and red into the leaves and the grass. I am planning on having many colors as the leaves change, such as yellow and orange as well.
I enjoyed picking out our fabrics on the group shopping trip and am looking forward to putting my block together soon!
as1898
dmwalsh
fscsoccergirl
kamam10
lgracewest
penny525
thesquid5
youkilis2013
Girl Scout Troop 62019 
