What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

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

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). 

I helped with set up and brought Stevens to the banquet.  It was great to see some long-time friends. 

The old guys: Nate, Phil, Stevens

Jack was a charter member of the club and an avid golfer. He came up with the idea of the golf outing that has become our signature fundraiser.  He passed away in 2003.  His widow and their four daughters and their families ...

Hike Lake County 2024 is a wrap!  They allow a wild card, meaning a 2-mile hike at any forest preserve not on the list.  On Friday afternoon we went to Van Patten Woods which is close to home. To change things up I went in the opposite direction from usual.  

There were many monarchs and other butterflies flitting about.  One of them stayed still long enough for a photo.  

Top: water lilies at Half Day, thistles, Jack-in-the-Pulpit seed bundle. Middle:  burning bush seeds, river ...

I’ve been sitting on a feeling for awhile that I need to change up a little bit of what I’ve been doing. I will still be doing all the fun things: designing, writing, traveling & teaching, but I’m starting to make space to work on some more “experimental” ideas.

A current “What If?” Idea in progress…

A few years ago I started getting an itch to explore new concepts and ideas in my quilting work. As a full time professional quilter, that can cause somewhat of a conflict because most everything I currently make is for commercial consumption ...

I planned to do the Hike Lake County trails systematically, starting with those farthest away and ending with those closer to home.   That didn't quite work out -- the most-farthest is yet to come -- but we did go to the next-to-farthest as well as two others sort-of-far.  Two on Friday:  Cuba Marsh and Heron Creek.  

Ripe blackberries at Heron Creek.  I left my cap in the car.  If I'd had it I would have harvested more than a handful. 

One on Sunday:   Fourth Lake/Millennium Trail.  This was something of a cop-out because it was mostly an asphalt path ...

These are scarlet lobelia or cardinal flower.  I've found them in only two forest preserves (here, Sedge Meadow Canoe Launch)  though surely they grow in others.  The red is really red!