weekly update

Weekly Update: challenge met + watching/reading from With Strings Attached

Wildflowers at Illinois Beach State Park on Saturday: monarda, elderflower, lead plant; sawtooth sunflower, mounain mint, swamp milkweed; Queen Anne's lace, spurge, purple prairie clover.

I spent Sunday afternoon and evening in the studio -- the air-conditioned basement -- and finished the guild challenge quilt.

60 x 72. If I'd taken more time the color balance would be a little better but I mostly wanted to avoid two-same-fabrics-touching.

The back is as bright as the front! I got the jungle print from some bargain source (it's Alexander Henry). The green is sliced from a remnant of 108".

108"w ...

added by Nann 1 day, 3 hours ago. under design wall monday , monday musings , oh scrap! , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: rain, shine + goals met + reading from With Strings Attached

Wildflowers at Pine Dunes (Saturday) and Ethel's Woods (Sunday). Top: monarda (bee balm), purple coneflower, pickerel weed. Center: compass plant, Queen Anne's lace, false sunflower. Bottom: butterfly weed, Culver's root, swamp milkweed.

Just as forecast, thunderstorms rolled in Friday afternoon, rolled out, and more rain overnight. Saturday dawned sunny and I had a great 2-mile walk at Pine Dunes in the morning. Later in the day the rain returned and the temperatures dropped. I didn't want to bundle up and sit on wet grass (even in a chair on wet grass) to watch the Zion festivities ...

added by Nann 2 weeks, 5 days ago. under design wall monday , monday musings , oh scrap , reading , rsc 2026 , sew and tell , top-along , weekly update

Weekly update: solstice, rummage sale + VRD challenge complete from With Strings Attached

Welcome summer!

I was up really early on Sunday and caught the solstice sunrise over Lake Michigan.

In the afternoon I took a nap, rather than a walk, to compensate for the early morning.

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I did get a 2-mile walk on Saturday.

Water lily, nodding thistle, blackberries, St. John's wort, elderberry, self-heal, white avens, coneflower.

The walk came after I went to the final morning of a church rummage sale. I bought two bags for $5 each and filled them with a lot of men's shirts (23) and ties (44). If they were cotton or silk I put ...

added by Nann 1 month ago. under design wall monday , monday musings , oh scrap! , rsc 2026 , rummage sale , sew and tell , villa rosa , weekly update

Weekly update: finished + acquisitions from With Strings Attached

Wildflowers at Greenbelt Forest Preserve on Sunday afternoon. A good 2-mile walk.

Beardtongue foxglove, wild flag iris, oxeye daisy, feverfew, Japanese rose.

June goal #2: 10 placemats. All finished. The average fabric in each one is 3/8 yard so 3-3/4 yards for the batch.

I used up two ziploc bags of triangles. The hourglasses (top right and lower left) were made from 4-1/2" triangles cut diagonally and repieced.

Some fabric in the "used" column but more fabric in the "acquired" column.

A guild friend said that her church rummage sale (Thursday-Saturday) had gotten a quilter's estate ...

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

Weekly update: convention, stash report, OMG from With Strings Attached

The 123rd convention of the Illinois State Chapter of the P.E.O. Sisterhood was wonderful.

"Live Like Lulu--Be a P.E.O. Builder" was the theme for Fran's presidential term. Fran is a historian with a specialty in women's organizations and Lulu Corkhill Williams was an influential early P.E.O.

Fran, Lulu, and me

Lulu chartered Illinois chapters and the state chapter. The eponymous Lulu Corkhill Williams Friendship Fund provides emergency financial assistance to Illinois women and men. My involvement at the state level began with a term on the Lulu Fund.

I introduced Fran to ...

added by Nann 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under design wall monday , monday musings , oh scrap! , omg 2026 , p.e.o. , sew and tell , stash report , weekly update

Weekly update: lettering and a shower, and more stars from With Strings Attached

It's a warm and sunny Memorial Day in northeasternmost Illinois.

Stevens often recalled the Memorial Day weekends that he'd go with his father from their home in Summit, NJ, to the cemetery in Williamstown, NJ, and clean up around the family graves.

Yesterday I drove to DeKalb for my nephew and his wife's baby shower. My sister and her husband and my niece and her husband were there and we were so busy talking at our table (and playing baby shower games) that I didn't take photos of the three-tier cake or the cute "little sprout ...

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

Weekly update: spontaneous scrap stars from With Strings Attached

Warm on Friday, warmer on Saturday. Clockwise: blue-eyed grass, skunk cabbage in full leaf, golden Alexander, field horsetail, star of Bethlehem (a garden escapee, very aggressive).

It was much cooler on Sunday and I took a nap instead of a walk.

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Several months ago I made string X blocks into a flimsy and added a border. I didn't like the border but it was the only fabric on hand that sort of worked and that I had in enough quantity. I put the flimsy in the box and hoped I'd like the border better eventually. It still didn ...

added by Nann 2 months, 1 week ago. under design wall monday , monday musings , oh scrap! , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: Wildflowers, Bunco, and placemats from With Strings Attached

Two walks in two days! Lake Carina on Saturday (lower left) and the south unit of Illinois Beach State Park on Sunday. Upper left: crabapple. Upper right: hoary puccoon (which sounds like a Shakespearean insult). Center; Sand cherry.

But before that: Zion Woman's Club spring Bunco was Friday evening. We've done this for 10+ years and have a group of regulars. Though fewer people came than last fall the preliminary income is $1402 (thanks to club members who aren't asking for expense reimbursement).

There are four raffles: 50/50 cash, a gift card tree ($195 value), a ...

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

Weekly update: anniversary, convention, and a little sewing from With Strings Attached

One year. How I miss him!

I'm grateful to everyone for their love, support, and kind thoughts.

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The 101st AAUW-Illinois convention was in Rockford this past Friday evening and Saturday. (I didn't go last year because (see above). The last time it was in Rockford was 2002 and I didn't go because my mother passed away. Hmmm...) Helen drove and we roomed together. (It was a test because in October we will travel together. We got along quite well.)

The Rockford Women's Suffrage Monument was unveiled in 2020 for the centennial of the 19th amendment. The ...

added by Nann 2 months, 4 weeks ago. under aauw , design wall monday , monday musings , oh scrap! , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: quilt exhibit + finishes + reading from With Strings Attached

We escaped the tornadoes and the flooding that hit Illinois and Wisconsin last week but there was a lot of rain. It's the third-wettest April on record. My basement stayed dry (I had the landscapers add a bank of soil around the problem corner of the foundation) but apparently there's a roof leak. It's always something . . .

On Friday Leslie and I met at Concordia University in River Forest to see an exhibit of quilts by Modern Quilt Studio (=Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr). Leslie and I met at a P.E.O. convention and we immediately hit ...

added by Nann 3 months, 1 week ago. under batik quilt , monday musings , oh scrap! , patchwork and quilts , quilt show , reading , sew and tell , villa rosa , weekly update

Weekly update: exhibits and celebrations + two finishes + reading from With Strings Attached

I took a little excursion Friday afternoon. Every year the Racine Art Museum hosts an exhibit of Peeps art. Entries come from studio artists, kids, city/county departments, and every day people. Such punny fun!

Top: Peeping Beauty School of Cosmetology; Frida; No Mistakes, Just Happy Little Peeps (Bob Ross). Center: from the Racine city dept. of development; Arthur; "Peepal Conclave." Bottom: Don Quixote; The Scream.

Of course I liked "They Read Banned Books."

In the upstairs gallery at RAM: paper cutting. Exquisite!

The top left and center right are Polish (or Polish-style). Upper right: Japanese. Lower left: I think ...

added by Nann 3 months, 2 weeks ago. under design wall monday , monday musings , oh scrap! , p.e.o , reading , sew and tell , villa rosa , weekly update

Weekly update: Easter, two finishes, and a six-part challenge from With Strings Attached

Easter Sunday was cool but the sunshine was abundant.

I went to church in the morning and had a nice long walk at Van Patten Woods in the afternoon.

Sumac, fungus, mullein. The place names Des Plaines and O'Plaine are corruptions of "eau pleine" meaning "full of water," which is how the early French explorers saw the river in flood. You can see why.

I had to work off some of the gustatory delights of the day. I made a half-batch of pancakes, our customary holiday breakfast. The pancake mix (Christmas 2024 gift) still had enough baking powder oomph ...

added by Nann 3 months, 3 weeks ago. under design wall monday , homespun quilt , monday musings , oh scrap! , sew and tell , top-along , villa rosa , weekly update

Weekly update: nine patch progress from With Strings Attached

Monday morning has rolled around too fast! This needs to be a quick post.

Three luncheons in three days (Clara Cummings Book Club on Thursday, retired library directors on Friday, GFWC District 10 on Saturday) plus the 5th Sunday potluck after church on Sunday -- good company at all.

Palm Sunday origami! Did you (or do you still) make a cross from the palm frond?

Every year at this time I look for skunk cabbage along the trail in the ravine at the end of the block. The “horn” is the flower. It is so named because it has a high ...

added by Nann 3 months, 4 weeks ago. under monday musings , nine patch quilts , oh scrap! , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: an evening out, walking again, and finishes from With Strings Attached

On Thursday evening the Waukegan Historical Society hosted "Extraordinary Ordinary Women" by local researcher Meg Goljenboom. Kathy rode with me and we met June and Joann there. (I knew many of the other attendees, too.)

Meg talked about aviation industry executive Olive Ann Beech, cabaret singer Ada “Bricktop” Smith, candy maker Ora Snyder (who had more than 30 Mrs. Snyder’s Home Made Candy shops in Chicagoland), hotelier Maria Ramirez Kramer, and Mildred Johnson who founded an air express package delivery service in the 1920s.

The weather was cooperative on Friday and Saturday. I enjoyed walks at Lyons Woods Forest ...

added by Nann 4 months ago. under batik quilt , cwrsrp , monday musings , mug rugs , oh scrap! , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: quiet weekend, RSC, batik blocks from With Strings Attached

I had a meeting Friday morning (good to get out and be sociable) and the rest of the weekend I was at home with just a couple of errands. We're on the southern edge of the huge storm with only 4" of snow. We're under a blizzard warning because it's quite windy. I cancelled an appointment this morning and plan to stay in today. Sewing and reading and, just maybe, catching up on a few no-time-pressure tasks.

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In the studio: I made red "coin" panels for this year's RSC project. The pattern (shown in the photo ...

added by Nann 4 months, 2 weeks ago. under design wall monday , monday musings , oh scrap! , rsc 2026 , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: celebrations, a binding resolution, and remembering from With Strings Attached

The Lake County Women's Coalition annual Women's History Month luncheon was on Saturday. Each LCWC member organization nominates an honoree who exemplifies the year's theme.

I'm on the LCWC steering committee as the rep for the Zion Woman's Club but I am also a member of AAUW. AAUW's honoree was Nan Buckart (bio on left) who was director of education for the Lake County Forest Preserves. ZWC's honoree was Wendy Driver (bio on right) whose many interests in community activism include gardening (seed-saving, monarchs, zinnias, and more).

Top: the ZWC contingent.

Kim Sigafuss ...

added by Nann 4 months, 3 weeks ago. under design wall monday , lake county women's coalition , monday musings , oh scrap! , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: SAHRR and another finish, stash report, goals + reading from With Strings Attached

It was a puttering-around kind of weekend. Too chilly to go for a walk, no major errands to run, nothing much that needed attention. So I sewed!

The Stay at Home Round Robin is quilted and bound. Hooray!

The back uses two book-related fabrics.

I made the courthouse steps flimsy in 2023. Barb quilted it in an overall Baptist fan. I bound it last evening. It's 72 x 84.

I've scheduled a quilt a month with Barb. Whether I take something from the box of flimsies or create something new will depend on the month.

STASH REPORT, February ...

added by Nann 4 months, 3 weeks ago. under design wall monday , monday musings , oh scrap! , sahrr 2026 , sew and tell , stash report , weekly update

Weekly update: placemat delivery + MQG swap reveal + a flimsy and a finish from With Strings Attached

My trip to New Zealand was wonderful! You can read all about it in the post right before this one.

It didn't take long to recover from jet lag but I caught a cold on the way home (15 hours on three airplane flights means a lot of exposure). I can finally be more than a foot away from a box of Kleenex.

When I left the amaryllis had one bud. I took it next door to Mike and Jen who watched the house for me. It liked its vacation home! Four blossoms.

Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning were ...

added by Nann 5 months ago. under design wall monday , monday musings , mqg swap , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: SAHRR, the answer is 42, scrappy souvenirs + reading from With Strings Attached

Brrrrrrr! I hope you are keeping warm during this storm. I've been mostly indoors since Friday. I went to two memorial visitations on Saturday (the son of a Rotary friend in the morning and a quilting friend in the afternoon) though I didn't stay for the funeral services. I overrode the thermostat so the heat stays at daytime temperature overnight. Otherwise it would take all morning to warm up. Snowfall was about 2", no wind.

wrapped up in the Magpies' quilt with another quilt at my back

I appreciate all the people who braved the cold, wherever they ...

added by Nann 6 months ago. under monday musings , oh scrap! , reading , sahrr 2026 , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: goal met, onto the next + reading from With Strings Attached

The last batch of placemats! The units and blocks are from the orphan box/parts department. Some are recent (the three at the lower right); some are middle-aged (the green/blue hourglasses are from Indigo Way (which itself is blocks-in-a-box); some are elderly (the hard-to-see scrappy trips that are the background for the two feathers in the upper right).

Choosing layouts and coordinating fabrics was a great design exercise.

Each is approximately 13 x 20.

All 121 in the bin. Each placemat averages 3/8 yard, so 45 yards. (With thanks to QuiltDiva Julie who sent a set of four ...

added by Nann 6 months, 2 weeks ago. under design wall monday , monday musings , oh scrap! , placemats , reading , sew and tell , weekly update

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