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Choosing layouts and coordinating fabrics was a great design exercise.

Each is approximately 13 x 20.

5-7/8 yards used in all. 

They all use units from the orphan blocks box.

(The fine points of terminology: a patch is a shape cut from fabric. A unit is composed of one or more patches sewn together. A block is composed of units sew together.) 

# # # # #  I have a fear of running ...

The boys are back! 

The nutcracker collection began with a gift from my mother shortly after we were married.  She gave us two or three more.   I've acquired the rest at TJ Maxx, estate/rummage/garage sales, and thrift shops.   They're all German.  

I made Good Cheer in 2013 from swap blocks.

Just as forecast, it began snowing at noon Saturday and continued all night long.  This was the view from the front door this morning.  9" accumulation.  

I shoveled the front stoop and ...

The thrifted shirts quilt is finished. 

  I made the rounds of local thrift shops and scored two twin sheet sets (flat and fitted) and two flat sheets.  They're all cotton.   I can usually differentiate between microfiber and cotton with just a glance (something about the sheen?) though some 60/40 blends can be deceiving.    

I put one of them to use right away for the shirtings quilt.  It's the paisley.  I had to cut around some small stains.  I added the blue floral to make it wide enough.  

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 I enjoyed two programs sponsored by the Waukegan History Museum in honor of Indigenous Peoples Month.  

Thursday evening was a showing of "The Negotiator."    Billy Caldwell,  

(c) Susan Kelsey

I made time for only two walks this week, in and around meetings, when it was still warm and sunny.    The front came through Saturday night.  We had a dusting of snow and the Sunday high was in the mid-30's.  

Left: Mr. and Mrs. Crane out for a promenade at Middlefork Forest Preserve on Wednesday afternoon.  I was that close to them.

I stopped at Middlefork on my way to Lake Forest Place where the AAUW book group meets.  This month we discussed Horse by Geraldine Brooks.  I listened to it earlier this year when Diann/Little Penguin recommended ...

 There were about 20 trick-or-treaters on Friday afternoon.  The little kids are the cutest.  And most said "Thank you" without any coaching.   Three 11-year-old boys were wide-eyed at the bags of popcorn I gave out.  "You are the WINNER!!" one of them said.

 Autumn colors and a wooly bear caterpillar at Illinois Beach State Park yesterday.   Bottom left:  two mullein sprouting new green leaves.  We haven't had a frost yet.

As so often happens, it takes an obituary or a funeral to reveal all of a person's accomplishments and how many lives that person touched.  Saturday afternoon I ...

 I'll add this post to the Monday link ups because it's quilt design related.  I hope you'll scroll down to read the travelog post and leave a comment. Design Wall Monday  Sew and Tell Oh Scrap! Monday Musings

I could not resist taking pictures of the tile floors in Rome, Florence, and Venice.  My quilter's brain went to work right away figuring out how they were put together.  

Don't turn me in!  Photography is strictly forbidden in the Sistine Chapel, but I covertly snapped photos of the floors.

Capitoline Museum, Rome

St. Mary Major (Santa ...

Wealthy Chicagoans in the Gilded Age (1890's) bought Impressionists as modern and avant-garde, and relatively inexpensive.  They were patrons of the Art Institute and thus the museum developed its Impressionist collection.  

"Paris Street, Rainy Day" was acquired in 1964 and has become one of AIC's most famous paintings.  Caillebotte painted it in 1877.

I had hoped to go to this famous intersection (Carrefour du Moscou) when ...

Old School Forest Preserve

At Van Patten Woods on Friday:  sulfur butterfly on New England aster, viceroy butterfly, yellow wooly bear caterpillar.

The viceroy is a monarch mimic. The visible difference is the black band across the lower wing. (Read about other differences in this article)

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View of the lake from a second-floor window.  Podgaji "flags" guided visitors to the front door.

There were 75? or so quilts on display.

This was fun!  Each visitor got a clipboard with a scavenger hunt sheet.  ("How many points are in the star in quilt #70?" "Which quilt is named Daniel?" "What color is the center pinwheel on quilt ...

 Last week Wisconsin Quilt Show returned to the Alliant Energy Center in Madison for the 21st year.   It was begun by Nancy Zieman and Wisconsin PBS as the Wisconsin Quilt Expo, hence my blog label.   This was the seventh time I've attended and the first time I've stayed overnight.

We set up the sewing machines in the hotel breakfast room / lounge.  That attracted other hotel guests and we had good conversations.  

Both the FW ...

 I brought souvenirs back from New England--two t-shirts, a tea towel, refrigerator magnets -- and fabric!  I went to four quilt shops and a thrift shop.  

A Quilter's Garden is in Montpelier, VT. 

Sew Far North is in Littleton, NH. 

The Golden Gese [taken from the owner's surname] is in Concord, NH.   

The late Victoria Carroll-Parkhill, whose blog was Park Hill Farm, patronized this shop. When we were in New Hampshire in 2018 I met her there.  

Top: compass plant, woodbine (also called virgin's bower and devil's darning needles!).  

Bottom:  wild petunia, great blue lobelia. 

No walk on Saturday. Zion Woman's Club helped at the welcome table on Saturday at the  Zinnia and Monarch Festival.  It's a celebration of community diversity and unity.   Zinnia seeds are given out every spring and at this time of year the colorful flowers are in home gardens and at businesses.   

There's a monarch release, too.  

Top: swamp milkweed, purple coneflower, blue lobelia. Center: vervain, liatris (blazing star), red lobelia. Bottom: nodding onion, pinnate coneflower (Mexican hat), Culver's root. 

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On to quilting!

My dear Magpie friends made a two-sided hug quilt for me. It was in the mail held for me during my trip.  It began as two hugs, one for Stevens and one for me, but it turned into one.  The blocks are from the U.S., Canada, England, and Australia.  

My side was assembled by Terri and Gilly ...

I've had great walks the past few days.   So many wildflowers!    Waterlilies, purple coneflower, Queen Anne's Lace.  Monarda, gray-headed or pinnate prairie coneflower, chicory.  Elderflower, mountain mint, broadleaf arrowhead.

Mulberries are ripe but hard to reach.   Black cap raspberries are easier to get to though the canes are scratchy.   

Two mulberries on the left, black caps on the right.  The cap I wore was a handy way to carry them. 

8/16/24

Last year I improvised a carrier out of a grape leaf.  He ate all the berries in the car.

In the studio:   Jasper, the top-along ...

My t-shirt says Free People Read Freely

It rained briefly on Friday morning but the sun came out before lunchtime.  It was a beautiful evening for the Fourth of July festivities at Shiloh Park in Zion.   There was a big crowd for the concert by a band called Mike & Joe (80's rock).  They played for two hours without a break.  

The fireworks  began at 9:30.   My phone camera captured a couple of them. 

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My quilting goal for the July is to keep up with a variety of projects.  I got ...

I caught the sunrise (5:17) at the marina this morning. I stuck my toes in the water at the north beach. 

On Friday I took advantage of an unscheduled day and went downtown. "Dressed in History" is on exhibit at the Chicago History Museum featuring items from their costume collection. The garments were donated by Chicagoans, some of whom wore them.   Quite a variety!

The white Dior gown in the center is so elegant! (Worn by a debutante in 1949.)  The donor of the 18th century court dress ...