homespun quilt

Weekly update: a finish and a start from With Strings Attached

Saturday afternoon I walked along this path. It's part of a bike route that goes through Illinois Beach State Park and then connects with Zion parks and the forest preserves.

When Zion City was begun in 1901 the prospective residents took the train up from Chicago. A tower near the train station allowed them to climb up and spot their house lots. These chunks of concrete are the remaining footings for the tower.

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In the studio: the homespun half-logs quilt is finished!

The back uses an Alexander Henry print from Barb M's garage sale. It's nostalgic for ...

added by Nann 1 week, 3 days ago. under design wall monday , homespun quilt , oh scrap! , table runners , weekly update

Friday check in: under the needle, and round robin revealed from With Strings Attached

After a couple of rainy days the sun has come out again so we've enjoyed afternoon outings to the forest preserves: Indepdendence Grove on Thursday and Waukegan Savanna on Friday.

At the guild meeting on Wednesday we heard from the founder and director of The Penny's Purpose, an agency that collects and distributes blankets, comforters, and quilts to anyone in the area. (Kids in crisis, nursing homes, homeless shelters....anyone.) This will be a great way to donate locally.

We also had the reveal for the 2024 round robin! There was so much interest that there were two ...

added by Nann 1 week, 5 days ago. under finished or not friday , homespun quilt , lake county forest preserves , round robin

Midweek: OMG for October from With Strings Attached

I crossed paths with a praying mantis at Illinois Beach State Park yesterday. I tried to get a head-on photo but it moved too quickly.

We have one more warm day (80's!) and tomorrow it will be in the 60's, falling to the low 50's for trick or treating.

The squirrels decided to carve our pumpkin. Ooooh noooo, Mr. Bill!

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Last evening's P.E.O. Zoom meeting included a very interesting program.

The speaker was my friend-since-junior high Pam. She was an associate editor for Science the journal of the American Assn. for the Advancement of ...

added by Nann 2 weeks, 6 days ago. under homespun quilt , midweek makers , omg 2024 , wednesday wait loss

Weekly update: more blue-sky days, another concert, and that homespun rescue from With Strings Attached

I neglected to mention that we voted last week. We got mail-in ballots and I dropped them in the box inside the early voting location at Zion City Hall. There were about 30 people in line to vote in person. I walked in, and out, with a woman I sort of recognized. As we exited the building I said in a low voice, "May the best woman win!" to which she said, "You've got that right!"

Here is the backstory of our county's I Voted sticker.

We enjoyed walks at McDonald Woods, Ray Lake, and Van Patten Woods ...

added by Nann 3 weeks, 3 days ago. under design wall monday , homespun quilt , oh scrap! , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: sunny days, a concert, more homespun + reading from With Strings Attached

Oh, such glorious fall weather!

We revisited Illinois Beach State Park, Rollins Savanna, and the Des Plaines River Canoe Launch.

Left: ground cherry (in husks). Oak leaves, compass plant seed head, prickly pear with fruit, a determined chicory flower, aster, and ground cherries (sans husks).

A friend told me about this trail adjacent to the Rec Plex in Pleasant Prairie, just over the state line. We checked it out this afternoon (Sunday).

Saturday evening we went to the College of Lake County (our community college) to hear the Blind Boys of Alabama . They were great! And with the senior discount ...

added by Nann 3 weeks, 3 days ago. under design wall monday , homespun quilt , oh scrap! , reading , sew and tell , weekly update

Midweek: design rescue in the works from With Strings Attached

Our AAUW branch met in person last evening. I was happy to go for several reasons -- to see friends, to sell tickets for the holiday raffle quilt, and most of all for the excellent program. The Dignity Index is a way we can thoughtfully respond to people whose statements and ideas may not align with ours. from the website: The Dignity Index scores distinct phrases along an eight-point scale from contempt to dignity. Lower scores (1-4) reflect divisive language while higher scores (5-8) reflect language grounded in dignity. At our meeting the facilitators (AAUW members from the Batavia-Geneva-St. Charles Branch ...

added by Nann 3 weeks, 6 days ago. under aauw , homespun quilt , midweek makers , wednesday wait loss

Midweek: estate sale encore and a flimsy + quilt history books from With Strings Attached

Barb M's estate sale began in September, 2023. Paula and her friends were off in July and this September but were back this month. And there will be more! They've raised nearly $25,000 for different charities.

Average price $2.20 per yard this time. You can see why my homespun stash has not diminished.

Not that I am not trying. Here's the nine/four patch flimsy.

I have another homespun project underway -- photos to come.

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(Last week I mentioned that a local quilt shop sells gently-used quilt books for $2.00 with the proceeds going to ...

added by Nann 1 month ago. under estate sale , homespun quilt , midweek makers , nine patch quilts , quilt history , wednesday wait loss

Weekly update: homespuns + reading from With Strings Attached

Cranes at Sand Pond this afternoon. My walk was shortened because this strange wet stuff fell from the sky. Oh, that was rain! There hasn't been any around here for six weeks. (And an hour afterward the sun was out again.)

In my post Friday I alluded to an adventure. We drove 65 miles to Westmont and took our friend Pat out to lunch.

Pat was my long-time ALA conference roommate. She lives in a retirement/assisted living community now, and no longer drives. Though we chat by phone often it's been nearly two years since we've ...

added by Nann 1 month, 1 week ago. under design wall monday , homespun quilt , oh scrap! , weekly update

Midweek: a flimsy and piecing fun from With Strings Attached

What an interesting cloud formation! I took the photo Monday afternoon at Middlefork Savanna

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I took the Janome to Sew 'n' Save in Racine for an overdue cleaning. I did not buy any fabric but I came home with some books. The shop has two bookcases crammed full with quilt books donated by customers. They sell them for $2.00 and give the proceeds to a Wisconsin veterans' project.

The Quilt Digest is issue #4, 1986. It has an article by Suellen Meyer with this intriguing snippet.

Here's the source.

While the Janome is away Sweetness, the Singer 301 ...

added by Nann 1 month, 1 week ago. under homespun quilt , midweek makers , wednesday wait loss

Weekly update: glorious days, caught up already!, twenty blocks + recent reading from With Strings Attached

Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine!

Swans at Hastings Lake on Saturday.

Herons at Nippersink on Sunday.

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Natalie Doan of Missouri Star was the guest speaker at the guild meeting Wednesday. I didn't get any good pictures! It was fun to hear her side of the family business.

This is the final month for the guild round robin. I got right to work and added borders to CB's quilt. I can't show you the entire flimsy until next month's reveal, but you can see one of the Tula Pink owls that AK added.

We got the pattern for block ...

added by Nann 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under bom , design wall monday , homespun quilt , oh scrap! , reading , round robin , weekly update

Weekly update: March summary and OMG April from With Strings Attached

The showers held off each afternoon so I could get good walks -- the state park, a forest preserve, and the nature trail at the end of our block.

A beaver-chewed tree (one of many along that stretch), a beaver lodge, and horsetails.

The skunk cabbage has leafed out. The horn-shaped purple-green flower has a lot of sulfur, hence the name.

Easter was pleasant. Stevens was able to come to church with me! I bought a 4-1/2 lb lamb roast. I rubbed it with a mixture of chopped garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper, and olive oil. It was wonderful and we ...

added by Nann 7 months, 3 weeks ago. under design wall monday , homespun quilt , oh scrap! , omg 2024 , qov , sew and tell , stash report , weekly update

Weekly update: OMG July and a finish from With Strings Attached

Broadleaf arrowhead at Van Patten Woods on Saturday. I was able to get a close up because the pond it grows in was dried up. (The ground was mucky and moist but ordinarily the water would be 5" deep.)

After 1" of welcome rain yesterday all the flowers will perk up. (More rain to the south -- 2.6" at O'Hare and nearly 9" in Berwyn/Cicero.)

The downpours delayed some of the NASCAR races in the Loop. (We aren't car racing fans so it didn't bother us.)

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Quilting goals for July:

1) Guild challenge (due in September ...

added by Nann 1 year, 4 months ago. under homespun quilt , oh scrap! , omg 2023 , sew and tell

Friday Finish: Barbed Wire from Patchwork Sampler Blog

Just one little quilt finished this week. This is the Barbed Wire quilt; a pattern from one of my all-time favorite books, Scrap-Basket Surprises by Kim Brackett. It is made entirely from homespuns, another category of fabric I am trying to eliminate from my stash. It is slow-going though because I’ve used homespuns for about 30 years and have collected a lot of them.

This book is such a classic but unfortunately is out of print since Martingale/That Patchwork Place went out of business. It is available at a very reasonable price from several used booksellers though. I ...

added by Rhonda R 1 year, 5 months ago. under barbed wire , homespun quilt , quilting , scrap quilt , scrap-basket surprises , stash quilt (Comments)

Friday check in: a finish! from With Strings Attached

A finish -- how appropriate for Finished or Not Friday -- and colorful for Peacock Party

I made the flimsy last summer, inspired by a photo of a similar quilt on a FB group. Blocks are 5" finished. The quilt is 71 x 81.

The back is all-the-same this time, no orphans or miscellaneous pieces, so no photo.

I used the walking foot and the serpentine stitch to quilt parallel lines through the blocks.

P.S. I have no shortage of homespuns. Confession: I've recently bought a few more yards in brighter colors.

added by Nann 1 year, 8 months ago. under finished or not friday , homespun quilt , peacock party , scrap quilts

Friday check in: stash report, a finish, and OMG from With Strings Attached

A blue-eyed bunny for the September Rabbit Rabbit good luck charm. (I do remember to say it first thing on the first of the month.)

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Stash report:

August fabric in: 99 yards, $15 (I got some great gifts)

August fabric out: 26-1/4

YTD fabric in: 1520-5/8, $8.70. That's $1.86/yard. (Imagine if I'd paid today's going price (say, $13/yd) -- $19,760!) Remember, I've gotten several destashes in 2022.

YTF fabric out: 146.

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It's nice to begin the month with a finish. Here is It's Not Ohio Star.

The back ...

added by Nann 2 years, 2 months ago. under finished or not friday , homespun quilt , omg 2022 , stash report

Weekly update: explorations and homespun stars from With Strings Attached

Our field trips this week included three forest preserves and a state park. We hadn't been to Marl Flat or Chain o' Lakes before. I've done seven out of the fourteen sites for the 2022 Hike Lake County challenge. (It began August 15 and goes through November.)

Coneflower, compass plant, lobelia.

Sumac, wild cucumber, gray dogwood.

Common reed, elderberry "lace" (after the birds have eaten the berries), ragweed.

My Friday morning shift at the church rummage sale wasn't terribly busy. The event chair said they had good traffic Thursday evening and made $698. As a volunteer my ...

added by Nann 2 years, 2 months ago. under design wall monday , homespun quilt , illinois state parks , lake county forest preserves , monday making , oh scrap! , weekly update , wildflowers

Friday check in: it's not Ohio star from With Strings Attached

After the four-patch homespuns (see Wednesday's post) I still had a box of 4.5" homespun squares. I also had a heap of homespun scraps. I found several yards of cream muslin. I used the homespun and the muslin to make a bunch of 3.5" hourglass units.

Sure, I could put them in a box to stew for a while. Maybe a long, long while. Instead I recalled a magazine pattern from years ago called "It's Not Ohio Star!"

This is the initial layout. (I thought about using 3.5" nine-patches instead of the 3.5" squares ...

added by Nann 2 years, 2 months ago. under finished or not friday , homespun quilt

Midweek: finish! from With Strings Attached

Happy 42nd anniversary to us! (8/23/80).

My big non-quilting project this week is to compose the 2022-23 Zion Woman's Club yearbook. It's done! (MS Word's "booklet" format makes it so much easier to set up.) The draft has been sent to the club board members for their okay. Because August has five weeks (that is, a fifth M,T,W next week) I feel that I've been given a gift of more time. The first club meeting is September 6.

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In the studio: it's a finish!

I used the walking foot and the ...

added by Nann 2 years, 3 months ago. under homespun quilt , midweek makers

Weekly update: homespun lemonade from With Strings Attached

(See the previous post for the explanation of "lemonade.")

If only we could bottle the weather! 80 degrees, low humidity, breeze from the northeast, and abundant sunshine.

Ethel's Woods/Raven Glen is (are) the fourth for our Hike Lake County 2022 challenge.

(Ethel Untermeyer spearheaded the legislation to create the forest preserve district in the 1950's.)

Though we're out and about during the day we are at home in the evening -- sewing and TV time. Here's what' I've accomplished.

The monkey wrench project is a flimsy. The blocks are 5" finished so this is 65 ...

added by Nann 2 years, 3 months ago. under design wall monday , homespun quilt , lake county forest preserves , monday making

Friday check in: five columns and a stack of blocks from With Strings Attached

I made 98 homespun monkey wrench blocks. The inspiration was a FB photo (I didn't get the maker's name) that alternated the pieced blocks with an assortment of squares.

On point? Hmm.

Controlled selection? But I'd need at least 2 yards if I used just one fabric for the squares.

I asked a half-dozen other quilters who thought the inspiration photo was the best. Thank you all! I got to cutting and then to piecing.

As of 9:15 Thursday evening I had five columns with a stack of wrenches and squares to go.

And "go" is ...

added by Nann 2 years, 3 months ago. under finished or not friday , homespun quilt

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