What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

It did not get dark here but the quality of the sunlight changed, the temperature dropped slightly, and a breeze kicked up.     

Photo: holding iPhone up to the lens of the eclipse glasses.  

This chipmunk was ...

I finished quilting the second version of Twinkle.  

A follow up to Monday's post about Liz....her daughter called Tuesday morning to say that they'd found more Rotary things and would the club members like them? (Bob was a 50-year Rotarian.)   I know what ...

Photo: crocuses in our garden. These are right under the dryer vent which gives them an edge. 

I took a flimsy to Barb-the-quilter yesterday. It will be the AAUW spring raffle quilt.  While we were nearby we visted a forest preserve we hadn't been to in a while.  I enjoyed the 70-degree ...

 Yesterday I received the mini-quilt from my MQG swap partner, Sara Hooten.     I am utterly gobsmacked.  Isn't it gorgeous?

A big picture of a small quilt

Detail of applique and quilting  Sara used this photo.  I took it at the entrance to the Zion-Benton Public Library in August, 2021.  Zion is Monarch and Zinnia City. This year Benton Township (Beach Park and Winthrop Harbor) will join as the Bee Cities.  (Our high school mascot is the Zee-Bee.)   Posting to Midweek Makers Wednesday Wait Loss

 Today is momentous.  Most important?  I've been a big sister for 70 years today!  

Secondly:  cataract #1 w

I'm not supposed to drive for three days so we are relying on friends.  (Stevens no longer drives.)  I've done some cooking ahead. We will not starve. 

I wish I'd ...

I took advantage of the sunshine Monday and had a good long walk at Lyons Woods Forest Preserve.  It was great to get back on the trail.

Yellow:  willow.  Green:  Japanese roses.  Red:  dogwood.

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With a fifth Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this seems to be a bonus week, doesn't it?  January seemed to pass quickly, though.  

January OMG:  wonky log cabin, made out of neckties, for the MQG Mini Swap.  I sent it off mid-month.

 The 25 B blocks for Indigo Way are finished.   

I put the A's and B's on the design wall.  I really like busy designs but my initial impression is that this is TOO busy.  

The pattern calls for 20 half blocks for the setting triangles.  I've made four. 

I've told myself firmly not to rush this -- let the blocks sit for a while.  An entire quilt of just A's and/or just B's would look pretty good.   

A Christmas Day toast

I tested negative for Covid after the five-day quarantine.  That's one test it's good to fail!   S did not come down with it.  (No way could I have masked or kept distance from him.)  

Arabic Hourglass is finished.  I did rip out and re-sew the misturned blocks. However, as I basted it I found a dark block next to a dark block.  I left that one alone.  

BTW, the baby arrived November 16.  His mother had some complications but both she and the baby are doing well.  The postponed shower will instead be a welcome party sometime in the new year ...

Here are my Bramble Blooms blossoms.  They're fused (Heat 'n' Bond Light) and sewn with a narrow zigzag stitch.

There are two veterans in our club and I'm going to propose a QOV award for them. 

Rabbit, rabbit!  

Here is the explanation of this first-day-of-the-month good luck charm. I first read about it in Trixie Belden and the Black Jacket Mystery, circa 1963 but only in recent years do I remember to say it. 

I had a productive quilting month, though I didn't work on my OMGs (placemats ...

Yesterday was unseasonably warm -- 80 degrees -- and sunny.   Perfect for a long walk in the state park.  

Top: coneflower, toadflax, goldenrod.  Middle: artemisia/mugwort (looks like an aerial view of a pine forest), evening primrose, liatris. Bottom: sumac, aster, Queen Anne's lace.  The late-blooming flowers are getting the last of the pollinators.

A cold front came through overnight and we'll have rain today through the weekend. 

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. . . . I'm pretty sure I bought the fabric when ...

 Some quilts practically throw themselves together.   I'm having such fun!

Linking up with Midweek Makers

Wednesday Wait Loss

.....and now I must mow the lawn!

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You are well aware of the saying "measure twice, cut once."  The corollary is "design twice, sew once."  

I was reminded of the corollary as I ripped out a half-dozen blocks and replaced them. I did fuss with the block arrangement before I sewed the rows and I did look to see if the adjacencies worked once the rows were sewn -- but when it came to sewing the rows together I saw too-much-of this or too-much-of-that.   Now I feel better!   Blocks are 6" finished so this is 60 x 72 ...

Left:  the bumblebee was intent on the liatris (blazing star) as I snapped several photos.  

A 2' long eastern fox snake was crossing the path.  It curled up when I stomped.  The snake is not venomous.  It warns predators off by shaking its tail to mimic a rattlesnake.  I saw the behavior as it swished the gravel on the path.  Then it slithered into the undergrowth.  

I found another fringed gentian ...

The sewing wasn't difficult but I had to cut more strips and more strips.  I arranged and rearranged to get the print density balanced.  (And now that I look at it, more balancing might be ...

I finished hike #9 for the annual Hike Lake County challenge.  Independence Grove  is more like a city park than a forest preserve. It is really crowded on the weekends (I know from previous visits) but this particular Monday afternoon it wasn’t very busy. The hiking “trail” is a blacktop bike path.

Mountain mint, evening primrose, joe pye week. American white waterlily, elderberry "lace," goldenrod. Dogwood.

"Something yellow" was my stated One Monthly Goal for August.  I'm counting this quilt and Borderlands ...