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 5 months, 3 weeks 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 6 months 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 6 months 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 6 months, 2 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 6 months, 3 weeks ago. under bom , design wall monday , homespun quilt , oh scrap! , reading , round robin , weekly update

Weekly update: golf, "fringed" benefits, and project at random from With Strings Attached

The 24th annual Jack McElmurry/Jake Zappa Memorial Golf Tournament on Friday was a great success.

The weather was beautiful and all the golfers (36 foursomes, a full course) had a good time.

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 ...

added by Nann 7 months, 1 week ago. under design wall monday , lake county forest preserves , oh scrap! , rotary club , scrap quilts , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update, part 2: wildflowers, challenge reveal, and neckties from With Strings Attached

Be sure to read the previous post about the Wisconsin Quilt Show.

I discovered bottle gentian last year at Spring Bluff Forest Preserve. I have not seen it anywhere else.

The blossoms grow in tiers along the stem.

Bumblebees are the only pollinators strong enough to pry open the flowers. A bumblebee happened along to do just that.

In the left photo you can see its rear poking out of the flower.

Fringed gentian are also in bloom now. These are behind a dune at Illinois Beach State Park. I'll have to go back to get a better close ...

added by Nann 7 months, 2 weeks ago. under design wall monday , neckties , oh scrap! , weekly update , wildflowers

Weekly update, part 1: the Wisconsin Quilt Show from With Strings Attached

The 20th Wisconsin Quilt Show (formerly 'expo,' hence my blog label) was held September 5-7 at the Alliant Center on the south side of Madison. This was the sixth time I've gone, and the fifth time on a one-day bus trip chartered by a LQS. We met at the Kenosha County administration complex and boarded the bus to depart promptly at 7 a.m. We arrived at 9 a.m. just as the doors opened.

Bucky Badger and the University of Wisconsin Pep Band rallied the quilters.

I like to do the exhibits first and save the shopping for ...

added by Nann 7 months, 2 weeks ago. under design wall monday , oh scrap! , quilt show , weekly update , wisconsin quilt expo

Weekly update: HLC complete, stash report, and reading from With Strings Attached

Rabbit, rabbit! Welcome to September. I caught this cottontail bounding across the path at Lyons Woods last week.

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.

Saturday morning we went to Ryerson. It's 27 miles away and I ...

added by Nann 7 months, 3 weeks ago. under design wall monday , lake county forest preserves , neckties , oh scrap! , reading , sew and tell , stash report , weekly update

Weekly update: hikes, Equality Day, rummage sale, a bunch of blocks, and 44 years! from With Strings Attached

We checked three more forest preserves off the Hike Lake County list. Wednesday: Lake Carina is a reclaimed gravel pit quarried to build the Illinois Tollway, traffic on which can be heard though not seen from the one-mile trail around the lake. Friday: Capt. Daniel Wright Woods and Half Day are adjacent but divided by the Des Plaines River. Though there's a bridge to cross the river it wasn't on the marked trails this year so we drove from one to the other.

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

added by Nann 8 months ago. under charity quilts , design wall monday , lake county forest preserves , lake county women's coalition , oh scrap! , rummage sale , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: three hikes and a finish from With Strings Attached

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 ...

added by Nann 8 months, 1 week ago. under batik quilt , design wall monday , lake county forest preserves , oh scrap! , sew and tell , weekly update

Weekly update: beautiful weather from With Strings Attached

The weather was glorious this weekend -- temperatures in the mid-70's, low humidity, and lots of sunshine. We went out both Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

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!

We've visited Volo Bog when we've had enough time for the 26 not-very-direct-mile-drive. Today was one of those days. I hiked the entire trail -- 2.75 miles -- which took so long that I didn't take the boardwalk through the bog ...

added by Nann 8 months, 2 weeks ago. under design wall monday , lake county forest preserves , oh scrap! , sew and tell , volo bog , weekly update

Weekly update: goal #1, some experimenting, and some good books from With Strings Attached

Wonderful wildflowers at Ethel's Woods Forest Preserve this afternoon.

Clockwise from upper right: coneflower, teasel, false sunflower, rattlesnake master, ironweed, and a mass of monarda and more false sunflowers.

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I received notice that one of my quilts was accepted into the Wisconsin Quilt Expo!

The quilt is named Antipodes because the word means "polar opposite." For the British that was Australia and southeast Asia -- fitting for the Australian prints and Indonesian batiks that I used.

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In the studio: I tried again to make a container for Wonder Clips. (See Friday's post for the less-successful first try.) This time ...

added by Nann 8 months, 3 weeks ago. under oh scrap! , reading , scrap , sew and tell , weekly update , wildflowers

Weekly update: log cabins + reading from With Strings Attached

Some of this week's wildflowers and other flora:

Top: smooth false foxglove, chokecherry, sand cherry. Middle: few-leaf sunflower, limestone calamine (teeny flowers!), white flat-topped goldenrod (new one to me). Bottom: sky-blue aster, mountain mint (it does smell minty when it's crushed), whole leaf rosinweed.

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We watched the first season of Joe Pickett. We've both enjoyed the series by C. J. Box. This season combined two of the books. They took other liberties, not the least of which was that Nate Romanowski was cast as a Black man (in the books he's a blond) and Mary Beth ...

added by Nann 9 months ago. under oh scrap! , reading , scrap quilts , sew and tell , weekly update , wildflowers

Weekly update: it's a flimsy + a new start from With Strings Attached

After last week's storms it's easy to see why the French explorers called the river "eau pleine," or "water-full." Eau pleine became Des Plaines (a river and a city) and O'Plaine (a road).

I ignored the sign and walked through the puddle on my heels.

That was Saturday's walk at the Des Plaines River Canoe Launch. Sunday was closer to home at Sand Pond.

Clockwise from left: coneflower + monarda, mullein, pinnate coneflower, nightshade, betony, primrose, swamp milkweekd. Center: American germander.

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Our friend Mary Lou invited me to harvest a second batch of rhubarb. Our only freezer ...

added by Nann 9 months ago. under design wall monday , log cabin , oh scrap! , scrap quilts , sew and tell , weekly update , wildflowers

Weekly update: flowers, fun (and games), (estate sale) find, and a finish from With Strings Attached

We enjoyed both wild and cultivated flowers this weekend.

The library is the starting point for the Illinois Dunesland Garden Club annual tour.

This year's sites included the Garden of Faith at Memorial UMC (our church). People can rent raised garden plots -- 20 this year with room to develop more -- for vegetables and flowers.

Other gardens on view were in Winthrop Harbor, Carol Beach, and Pleasant Prairie.

The quirky sculptures were fun!

We've had good rainfall this season and the wildflowers are abundant.

Illinois Beach/Hosah Park (89 degrees on Sunday). Clockwise from left: chokecherry, mullein, nodding onion ...

added by Nann 9 months, 2 weeks ago. under christmas quilt , design wall monday , estate sale , oh scrap! , quiltville , weekly update

Weekly update: back to sewing with stash report and OMG from With Strings Attached

It's a wildflower wonderland here in northeasternmost Illinois. We went to Ethel's Woods and Pine Dunes.

Compass plant, false white indigo, monada/bee balm, mountain mint. butterfly weed, show tick trefoil, rattlesnake master, pickerelweed, Culver's root.

Bumblebee on a purple coneflower and a flock of little yellow butterflies.

The Lake County Symphony Orchestra performed on Thursday evening. The tuba solo (Strauss's Happy Farmer) was fun.

Though we missed the fireworks at the park in Zion the neighborhood was a-poppin' with firecrackers until nearly midnight. The smell of the powder was heavy the next morning.

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Here's ...

added by Nann 9 months, 3 weeks ago. under christmas quilt , heartstrings , oh scrap! , omg 2024 , quiltville , sew and tell , stash report , weekly update

Weekly update: a quick finish and playing with scraps from With Strings Attached

If you're on Facebook you can't hide from your birthday. 155 greetings and counting! I appreciate them all. I am now squared and cubed.

Black raspberries were ripe at Lake Carina Forest Preserve on Friday afternoon. Lake Carina was a gravel pit that was quarried to build the tollway (I-94) in the late 1950's. That road and a high-voltage transmission line are the eastern boundary.

The lake and the stream that flows into it.

The Home Forum feature in this week's Christian Science monitor further identified the raspberries as black caps. I picked a handful and ...

added by Nann 10 months, 1 week ago. under charity quilts , design wall monday , oh scrap! , sew and tell , string blocks , weekly update

Weekly update: red stars and OMG + reading from With Strings Attached

We've had a string of sunny days. (We could use some rain, for sure.) We went to Rollins Savanna on Friday and Lyons Woods on Sunday.

Nodding thistle, thistle bud, raspberries, beardtongue, wild white indigo, purple angelica, coneflower.

It was sunny Saturday, too. I helped staff the Rotary booth at the annual Juneteenth celebration, held this year at Illinois Beach State Park. Our Rotary club president was the chair of the entire event -- a huge job, and she carried it off so well! (Didn't get a photo of her....she was too busy elsewhere on the grounds.) Stevens ...

added by Nann 10 months, 2 weeks ago. under design wall monday , oh scrap! , reading , scrap quilts , sew and tell , tote bags , weekly update

Weekly update: workshop, component parts, and bargains from With Strings Attached

Dorothy asked if I had any queen-sized or thereabouts quilts available. I had two that might do, and when the AAUW book group met at her retirement complex on Wednesday I took them. She liked them both and bought this one . "It sleeps well," she reported.

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I gave myself a birthday-month treat on Saturday. A guild in the next county had openings for a workshop with Jane Sassaman. (Thank you, Ann, for your encouragement!) My calendar was open and V was available to take care of Stevens.

Jane used her Moths and Moons pattern to teach us her applique technique ...

added by Nann 10 months, 2 weeks ago. under design wall monday , jane sassaman , oh scrap! , round robin , sew and tell , weekly update

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