weekly update

Weekly update: orchids, placemats + reading from With Strings Attached

Our Friday adventure was an outing to the annual orchid show at Chicago Botanic Garden.

This year's theme is, obviously, India.

The tickets are timed-entry which helps with crowd control at this very popular show. I checked out a parking pass at the library which saved us $10.00.

Regenstein Hall was draped with fabric that evoked saris. (I was last here in November for the Fine Art of Fiber quilt show.)

The corridor to the greenhouses featured this display.

It is impossible to take a bad picture of an orchid.

The peacock's tail was all orchids.

Stevens ...

added by Nann 1 week, 3 days ago. under chicago botanic garden , design wall monday , oh scrap! , orchids , placemats , reading , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: concert, new storage, a flimsy, and reading from With Strings Attached

Still no walking, but we did get out Sunday afternoon for the Lake County Symphony Orchestra's winter concert at the College of Lake County. First act: Bernstein's Chichester Psalms. Second act: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Ode to Joy in the fourth movement was performed by a combined choir (Northern Illinois University and local chorales). Wonderful music just fifteen miles from home and $30 per seat.

It was a full house with open seating, but we had seats in the ADA accessible row.

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In the studio: Closet Maid wire basket units hold a lot of fabric. Unfortunately they are ...

added by Nann 2 weeks, 2 days ago. under design wall monday , lcso , oh scrap! , reading , rsc 2025 , weekly update

Weekly update: SAHRR, Old Town, and reading from With Strings Attached

How nice to get this FB message first thing on Saturday!

This is the quilt that she won. (Working title: "Go Scrappy or Go Home.")

The weather cooperated Saturday morning for the spaghetti dinner delivery. All our "customers" (neighbors mostly) were appreciative. We had two of the dinners ourselves -- tasty!

Saturday afternoon I went to the last hours of an estate sale. The advertised German nutcrackers were long gone by the time I got there but I got a nice office chair on wheels for $7.00. The seat-lifter on the Steelcase chair I've had at my sewing machine ...

added by Nann 3 weeks, 3 days ago. under design wall monday , oh scrap! , reading , sahrr 2025 , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update, part 2: in the studio from With Strings Attached

See the previous post for Stevens' 85th birthday weekend!

The cat's cradle blocks are assembled.

Justification for a ginormous stash: this floral print and the backing fabric (not shown), both just right.

One of my 2025 goals is to make 52 placemats. Last Monday I posted a photo of two. I made six more. (After I took the photo I bound the red and black pair on the left.) All of these are made from already-pieced panels and units from the box at the left.

None of these are the Old Town mystery, obviously. That box is sitting on ...

added by Nann 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under design wall monday , oh scrap! , placemats , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update, part 1: birthday! from With Strings Attached

123 cards and counting!

Neighbors, relatives, church friends, Rotarians, AAUWs, P.E.O.s, Alpha Gams, FB friends, and QUILTERS!

more balloons arrived a half hour later

Stevens was surprised at the stacks of cards in the mail each day. Not only did he appreciate the many personal notes but I did, too. I am most grateful to all of you!

Daughter Julie and her boyfriend Josh drove from New Hampshire for the big weekend. (They're certainly used to winter weather but the lake effect snow around Cleveland was new.) They arrived Thursday evening in time for dinner. (They ...

added by Nann 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under birthday , weekly update

Weekly update: RSC pink + SAHRR from With Strings Attached

The weather hasn't been conducive to walks . . . hope I can get out this week. Meanwhile, in the studio:

My 52 Placemats project is underway with these two in pink.

I came across a design for my 2025 RSC project. Eight 6-1/2" 9Ps each month.

I started a batch of Ohio Stars just because.

(I am avoiding dealing with Old Town.)

I'm determined to stick with the Stay at Home Round Robin this year. Here's my starter block. It was the starter block for the guild 2018 round robin that I switched up (see how it began ...

added by Nann 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under design wall monday , oh scrap! , rsc 2025 , sahrr 2025 , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: card shower request, Old Town, estate sale + bargains from With Strings Attached

I'm starting this week's post with a personal request.

Stevens will be 85 on January 18. Can you mail him a birthday card? If you don't have our address, indicate that in your comment and I will PM it to you. Five years ago he was quite surprised to get so many cards. This year he's alert but he's declining, so now is the time. THANK YOU!

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I've made 12 out of the 25 blocks for Old Town. I haven't begun to cut, let alone sew, the turquoise and neutral units for the ...

added by Nann 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under design wall monday , estate sale , mystery quilt , oh scrap! , quiltville , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: Christmas week, visitors, and an unexpected project from With Strings Attached

My internal calendar was thrown off with Christmas in the middle of the week. We went to the 5 p.m. Christmas Eve service at North Prairie UMC (the "other" Methodist church in town because we didn't want to go out at 9 p.m. for the service at our church). My sister came for lunch on Christmas Day. (Her husband is an HVAC guy and had several service calls (gotta have an operating furnace!).) She and I talk fairly often but we hadn't met in person since last spring.

On Thursday Bob posted that he was enjoying ...

added by Nann 2 months ago. under design wall monday , oh scrap! , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: many activities, little sewing from With Strings Attached

Who says we can't try new things? After decades of a Saturday luncheon, this year the AAUW gathering was on Friday at Lamb's Farm. It's a residential vocational center for adults with disabilities. Their restaurant servers are clients. Of course we don't just eat -- we raise money! There's a white elephant/silent auction, a 50/50 cash raffle, and the quilt raffle.

The winner is a member of the Naperville branch. She and I will meet up sometime soon for the handoff.

The quilt raised $390 for the AAUW Greatest Needs Fund (unrestricted support for ...

added by Nann 2 months, 2 weeks ago. under design wall monday , lcso , oh scrap! , raffle quilt , sew and tell , table runners , weekly update

Weekly update: holiday events, UFOs out and in, OT part 3, and the new flimsy from With Strings Attached

Holiday events are underway!

Luncheons Tuesday (Zion Woman's Club) and Saturday (Lake County Women's Coalition), both at the same local restaurant.*** I was hostess for ZWC and brought my vintage Christmas tablecloths to decorate (we were in one of the restaurant's small rooms) but I was so busy presiding that I didn't get a good picture. (***Local as in four-tenths of a mile from my house!)

On Friday we joined friends Bill and Debbie for dinner before going to the high school performing arts center We all enjoyed the high school's holiday show by the ...

added by Nann 2 months, 3 weeks ago. under design wall monday , oh scrap! , scrap quilts , sew and tell , string blocks , weekly update

Weekly update: the stash report, Old Town, OMG + reading from With Strings Attached

The tree is up.

The boys are back. (The big one never went away....)

My mother started our nutcracker collection in the mid-1980's with one of the twins on the mantel (#2 or #10) and later with #5, #6, and #8. The others came from estate/garage sales and TJMaxx. They're all German.

I try not to acquire more Christmas decorations, but if I come across German nutcrackers at good prices I will indulge.

The November stash report shows that I didn't indulge much compared to earlier this year. Fabric IN: 60-1/4 yards, $80, average $1 ...

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

Weekly update: placemats + reading from With Strings Attached

On Friday I showed a photo of nine-patch blocks that I made out of the border fabric from the bingo board blocks. I said I had no plan for them. Well, they had plans for me -- and here is what happened. The placemats will be donated to the guild for one of the agencies it supports.

Speaking of the guild, this week I need to make an ornament for the exchange at next week's holiday party. I also need to fill the gift box for which I made this runner.

Our Thanksgiving will be the two of us which ...

added by Nann 3 months, 1 week ago. under charity quilts , design wall monday , oh scrap! , reading , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: bingo finish from With Strings Attached

It's been unusually warm this fall. We haven't had a freeze yet, let alone a frost. (I just looked up the definitions: A frost is when ice crystals form on the outside of your plant. Frost can occur when the temperature is above 32F.....It’s a short event (usually happens right around dawn). A light frost happens when the ground is still warm enough to give off heat. A hard frost (also known as a killing frost) can occur when the ground temperature drops below 32F. A freeze, on the other hand, occurs when the temperature drops ...

added by Nann 3 months, 2 weeks ago. under charity quilts , design wall monday , oh scrap! , sew and tell , weekly update

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 3 months, 3 weeks ago. under design wall monday , homespun quilt , oh scrap! , table runners , weekly update

Weekly update: quilt show from With Strings Attached

We went to the Chicago Botanic Garden Sunday morning to see the Fine Art of Fiber. It's an annual collaboration of Illinois Quilters, Inc., North Suburban Needlearts Guild, and the Weaver's Guild of the North Shore.

I have artists' statements for most of these if you'd like to know more.

The theme for this year's Explorations in Fiber was "Inspiration." Here are some of the selections.

We went into one of the greenhouses. Upper right: cacao pods.

Outside: roses are still in bloom.

Work crews were setting up for Lightscape, the holiday light show that opens ...

added by Nann 3 months, 4 weeks ago. under chicago botanic garden , design wall monday , fine art of fiber , quilt show , weekly update

Weekly update: lots going on but not sewing! from With Strings Attached

The Zion Woman's Club held its annual ladies' night bunco party Friday evening. 64 women (some girls, too) came out to play. Most of them were first-timers though there were some who come every year. Great fun was had by all!

The Moose Lodge gives us a great deal on the room--$100. The other benefit is that their bar/restaurant are open so those who want an alcoholic drink can purchase at the bar and bring it upstairs.

My friend Suzanne won the 50/50 cash raffle ($173 to her, $173 to the club). My P.E.O ...

added by Nann 4 months ago. under design wall monday , estate sale , lccca , lcso , oh scrap! , weekly update , zwc

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 4 months, 1 week 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 4 months, 1 week ago. under design wall monday , homespun quilt , oh scrap! , reading , sew and tell , weekly update

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 4 months, 3 weeks ago. under design wall monday , homespun quilt , oh scrap! , weekly update

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 5 months ago. under bom , design wall monday , homespun quilt , oh scrap! , reading , round robin , weekly update

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