Weekly update: it's a flimsy + a new start

 
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 is the one in the refrigerator.  I managed to fit all the packages in.

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In the studio:  SIS-pin-dot (as in sis-boom-bah) is a flimsy.  

The new start:  it's been a long time since I made log cabin blocks.   Center square is 2.5" (2" fin) and logs are 1.5" (1" fin).  Blocks are 10.5" (10" fin). Keeping the rounds going in a consistent direction is trickier than it looks.  I'm aiming for 48 blocks for a 60 x 80 quilt.  

Ideally I'd use only what's in the 1.5" strip bin, but I don't have enough long strips (esp. lights) so I've had to cut some more. 

My non-quilting to-do list is very long.  I plan to chip away at it this morning.    

Linking up with Oh Scrap! Design Wall Monday Sew and Tell

Midweek: an unexpected project + reading

 

Monday afternoon:  a red admiral stopped long enough for a photo; a reddish mushroom 'protected' by poison ivy;  plantings on the restored beach.

The map: red arrow "you are here" and my finger shows where I walked on Sunday. That gives you an idea of the stretch of our lakefront.

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There was a 2-yard piece of black pin dot in the lot I bought at the estate sale Sunday.   I put it to use with a design inspired by Emily Bailey.   But yikes! I was short 12 HSTs for the corners of the SIS blocks and 10 2.5 x 6.5 sashes.  Whew!  There was a chunk of black pin dot in my stash.  It's ever-so-slightly different but the pin dots are so small no one will notice.  

Here's the work in progress.  The horizontal sashes are pieced but not shown.    Blocks are 6".

I use the Studio 180 Square 2 ruler for SIS.

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I finished two more Advance Reader Copies that I got at the ALA conference.

Ramona Emerson was a panelist at the Penguin Random House adult books luncheon.   

Readers were introduced to forensic photographer Rita Todacheene in Shutter ( reviewed here)  Rita is Navajo and lives in Gallup, New Mexico. She sees the ghosts of the victims whose photographs she takes for the county examiner. The ghosts tell her what really caused their deaths, and it's up to Rita to convince her superiors without revealing the otherworldly source.   

There's a parallel narrative.  A serial killer spins his story from his abused childhood to his work at a Gallup mission.  He is compelled to "release" indigent, often homeless, Native people by savagely murdering them.   The police department is stymied.   Rita is called in to help.

I'm not a big fan of paranormal fiction but I'm cheering for Rita!

~~~~~~~~~~~

In 1924 Leonard "Kip" Rhinelander, scion of an elite New York family, married Alice Beatrice Jones, the daughter of a housemaid and a taxi driver. That match became a society scandal, not because of Alice's humble origin but because her father was a mixed-race Jamaican. Kip's father threatened to disinherit Kip if the wedding were not annulled.  Alice and her family fought back.  The legal battle made headlines not only in New York but across the country.

In 1940 Roberta Taylor, Alice's long-estranged niece, is a reporter for New York Amsterdam News, a Black newspaper. Roberta is able to interview Alice to find out the entire story that led to the eventual divorce (with a settlement contested by the Rhinelanders).

Anachronisms in the narrative spoiled the story for me. (Examples: p. 9, Roberta refers to Ms. Petry. In 1943 women were addressed as Mrs. or Miss. p. 124 "thrown under a bus"--not in 1924; the phrase is from the 70's/80's. p. 131 -- "go bonkers" --origin in WWII slang, not 1924. p. 143 using a can opener to open Coca Cola; Coke came in bottles then, so a bottle opener would be used.)

However, I'm sufficiently intrigued to look up the story of the Rhinelanders and the trial.

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Linking up with Midweek Makers Wednesday Wait Loss 

Thanks for the shout out, Jennifer. 

Weekly update: flowers, fun (and games), (estate sale) find, and a finish

 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, lead plant, shrubby cinquefoil, the new beach (last year the waterline was up to the vegetation that you see), Culver's root, rosinweed.

Old School Forest Preserve on Friday.  Top: coneflower, monarda, Queen Anne's lace. Middle: rattlesnake master, woodland sunflower, hairy pagoda plant (sweetmint). Bottom: yellow loosestrife, bellflower, butterfly weed.

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Wednesday's guild meeting was the annual ice cream social and bingo party.  We made bingo boards out of fabric.   (Five specific colors, choices for the prints such as novelty, plaid, stripe, dot, batik, 30s repro, etc.)   The boards will be assembled into charity quilts.  

The 2024 mystery quilts were revealed.  A guild member designed the mystery which was available online (=non members from anywhere could participate).  Here are a few of the entries.  I did not join in, but I wish I had!

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There was an estate sale here in Winthrop Harbor this weekend.  I didn't know the homeowner; in fact, I didn't even recognize the house.  I stood in line Friday morning because it featured EIGHT Featherweights with original cases!   They were all in pretty good shape -- $250 each -- and I did not buy a single one.   During the time I was there three were purchased.  

There were boxes and boxes and boxes of clothing patterns. There were bins and bins and bins of fabric, much of which was polyester doubleknit.  Though the sewing room was in the basement, mercifully everything was dry. No mustiness.  But: $3.00 per piece of fabric? Not for me. 

I went back Sunday afternoon when EVERYTHING left was $1.00.  (No Featherweights.)  Still, $1.00 for a FQ? Nope.  I bargained with DJ, the estate sale company owner.  I got all of this for $53.00.  (In the pile: a box of zippers for my friend who makes tote bags; real pipe cleaners ("for a sweeter smoke") for my friend who sells vintage on Etsy; and an unopened roll of Heat 'n' Bond.)    The fabric worked out to .41 (forty-one cents) per yard.   

If I can't not buy fabric then I am going to be sure I get bargains!

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And, finally -- a finish for July!    Christmas Mountain Majesties is quilted and bound.  This will be raffled at the AAUW holiday luncheon in December.   It's my OMG this month. 

The back uses two 1990's Cranston prints (on the left from Barb M's estate) and a real vintage (36" w) green check. 

6-7/8 yards total.

Linking up with Design Wall Monday  Oh Scrap!  

Overdue: recent reading

 I shipped a lot of books back from the ALA Annual Conference.  Many are ARCs--advance reader copies, though quite a number have been published.  I'm pleased to report that I've finished five ARCs and one published book.  I've also read two others (one checked out of the library and the other a book-sale purchase).  

The Swan’s Nest 
Laura MacNeal

          (I started the book when the flight left Chicago and finished just as we touched down in San Diego.) 
           The courtship of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, told from the points of view of the poets as well as other significant people in their lives.  Well-told.  (Now I’m going to look up The Barretts of Wimpole Street.)
  
The Treasure Hunter’s Club
Tom Ryan
ARC – October, 2024
           I heard the author at the last event of the conference.  The book was perfect to read on the long flight home. 
           A Christie-like plot set in modern-day Nova Scotia. A Victorian mansion, a generations-old conspiracy, revenge, and genuine who-done-it.   Great fun!
 
Bad Liar
Tami Hoag
ARC – September, 2024
          I admit it: I've never read a novel by Tami Hoag. She spoke at the Penguin Random House authors' luncheon at the ALA conference in San Diego. (You know who the Famous Author is because that person is the last one of the panel to speak.) 
             Detectives Annie Broussard and Nick Fourcade investigate a missing person and an unidentified dead body -- what's the connection? They work their way through atangled web of years-long deception and revenge.   The south Louisiana setting is reminiscent of James Lee Burke.   This thriller is #3 in a series and I'll definitely check out the first two (or maybe download the audio?).   
             P.S. I know it's an uncorrected proof...in the Cajun vocabulary at the end she defines the greeting "ca va?" as "it comes." No -- "ca va?" means "how's it going?" Those French irregular verbs....
 
How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund?
Anna Montague
ARC – October, 2024
Seventy-year-old Manhattan psychiatrist Magda Eklund sets off on a journey with her longtime friend Sara to see all the places they have talked about visiting over the years. The twist is that Sara is in an urn. Her husband cannot cope with her death and it's up to Magda to take care of the ashes. On the trip Magda gains new a new perspective on her life and identity.
 
We Were Once a Family A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America
Roxanna Asgarian
Winner of the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.
 
The author spoke at the Carnegie Medal reception at the American Library Association annual conference in June.
In 2018 Jennifer and Sarah Hart drove their SUV over a cliff into the Pacific Ocean. Their six adopted children were also in the vehicle. All eight perished. Because the children came from the Texas foster care system, Houston-based reporter Roxanna Asgarian was assigned to investigate.
The Harts, who were white, adopted two sets of three Black children. Their carefully-maintained facade of a loving home with fun adventures hid controlling, abusive behavior. Asgarian documents the pervasive racial bias in the foster care system and how child protection personnel fail too many of their clients.
Asgarian writes clearly and forcefully. It's an important story.

The In-Between Bookstore
Edward Underhill
ARC – March, 2025
           Just before his 30th birthday Darby's job at a New York tech startup ends abruptly.  He wonders if the hip world of Manhattan is worth the expense, both financial and emotional. He's changed a lot since he left Oak Falls, Illinois -- not the least of which is changing his gender. But his mother is moving from the house he grew up in and she welcomes his help. High school friends still live in Oak Falls, including his best friend Michael who has changed, too.
            The bookstore on Main Street was Darby's refuge from the confusion of adolescence. When the current Darby steps in he finds himself back in time and meets his teen-age self, working as the store clerk. Can Darby change fate and help that teenager come to terms with gender identity? When he leave the shop it is into the present day, but each time he goes back in it's to the past.
A little suspense, a few risks, and some humor all add up to a confident decision. Hooray for Darby!
 
 
The Bookshop Sisterhood
Michelle Lindo-Rice
July, 2024
        In a nutshell: four women, “besties” in their own four-person book club, have decided to open a bookstore that will stock the kinds of books they like to read. In January of their big year a slew of unfortunate events happens to each one of them. Life-threatening medical conditions, a blackmailer, PTSD from a carjacking, a lottery win sucked dry by a scammer. Throughout it all the four women are there for one another, providing emotional and financial support.
        I do not much care for rom-com/chick-lit and this book confirmed that. The timeline was implausible—all the action happens within four months. Brand-name dropping and book-title dropping were very obvious. The word “alright” was used frequently. (I looked it up: modern usage is either all right or alright, as the writer prefers. I, the reader, prefer “all right,” so the variant was very annoying.
  
Total Garbage: How We Can Fix Our Waste and Heal Our World
Edward Humes
         Humes is deft at describing the perilous pickle we are in but not making us (at least me) feel helplessly guilty.    Plastics, fossil fuels (to generate electricity, for transportation, to heat and cook), paper and packaging, clothing, food:   our individual actions to reduce consumption and waste does make a difference.   
 

Midweek: all set!

 My car registration is due in July and this is the year for its emissions test, so we went to the Waukegan testing station Monday.   The car passed the test but the computer system to renew registrations was down.  Rather than hang around we headed south to Greenbelt.   

There are trails on both sides of Green Bay Road. This time we went to the west.  

From upper right rattlesnake master, which has such other-worldly flowers!  St. John's wort, eastern bottle brush grass. early goldenrod ("early" is part of the name, and it is!), a buried wheel rim likely from the time this was mostly a dumping ground.  (The website tactfully says "Greenbelt has felt the effect of 150 years of settlement.")

Also from the website:  "Greenbelt sits atop the sub-continental divide, marked by Green Bay Road. Rain falling on the east side of Green Bay Road h.  eads for the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but rain falling on the west side heads for the Gulf of Mexico."

....And the car registration?  I went online and renewed it. 

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In the studio:   the Christmas mountain majesties are all set!  I'm auditioning fabric for the back.

I used several different lights for the background. 

Linking up  with Midweek Makers and Wednesday Wait Loss

Weekly update: back to sewing with stash report and OMG

 

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 the stash report for June.  

Fabric IN;  73-1/2 yards, $172.  (Estate sale bargains and an indulgence at a workshop.)         Fabric OUT: 75-5/8 yards.

YTD fabric IN: 1003 yards, $2065.   That's $2.05 per yard!                                              YTD fabric OUT:  616-1/2 yards.

I pieced 48 red-centered string blocks before the San Diego trip.  I assembled them this past week.  I've made thousands of these blocks over the years using the HeartStrings 'pattern' -- fabric foundation (this time a white bed sheet), 9-1/2" unfinished.

I used Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Mountain Majesties earlier this year to make this quilt.  I realized it would be a great design for this year's AAUW holiday raffle quilt.   It's my July One Monthly Goal  

I made more blocks after I took the photo. I'm going to make 50 in all for a 60" x 72" quilt. 

These blocks are a snap to make. I'm going to suggest it to the ALA Biblioquilters for next year's silent auction. [See the previous post.]  Do you have any suggestions for theme or colorway??

Linking up with July OMG Sew and Tell Oh Scrap! Design Wall Monday

P.S.  Our concert selfie.   

  I'm still getting used to having distance vision after 65 years of nearsightednes but, oh, boy, do I need those readers. My post-cataract bifocals have prisms on the top (vertical alignment to avoid double vision) and readers on the bottom.

P.S. 2.  The ALA boxes arrived Saturday. 

The swag (top) included socks and a bandanna as well as bookmarks, pens, post-its, little notebooks, buttons, and stickers.

The books include ARCs (advance reader copies) (July through March) as well as finished (=published) books.    I have read FOUR of them so far.  Book reviews to come!

#alaac24 in San Diego, part 2: the quilts

 

Note:  read the previous post for my conference report. 

The silent auction was front and center across from conference registration.

They created new signs for the conference -- heavyweight corrugated cardboard -- but they didn't update the text.  The ALABQ did begin in 1998 when Connie and I met at the annual conference in Washington. We began making quilts for the auction in 2000.  Minus the cancelled conference in 2020 and the virtual conference in 2021, that makes it 23 years.

We make the quilts, ship them to the company that handles the conference exhibits, and they do the rest.

Christopher Hoy, for whom the scholarship is named, was the exhibits manager for many years.  The award is $5000.

  I made five of these (45RPM, Batik Diamonds, Chunky Bars, Parquet, Autumn Puzzle) and assembled/set one (International Sisters). I've written about all of them in previous posts.  Susan M. made the daisy runner.  The easels display artwork donated by the people who write/draw graphic novels, also for the scholarship fund.    

Glenda's panel quilts always do well.  Book Love, the scrappy heart, was made by a newbie quilter and group member. 

Knickknacks and Kitty Cats got the highest bid--$550.  

My friend Ray bought my wall hanging (made from a conference tote bag).  In 2019 he was the high bidder for On Ringo Lake.  

TOTAL BIDS:  $4955

My records only go back to 2013. 2013-2024 total raised:  $40,383! 

Linking up with   Finished or Not Friday  

#alaac24 in San Diego, part 1

 

The American Library Association held its 148th Annual Conference in San Diego.  13,523 people attended. That is fewer than the two post-pandemic years (Chicago 2023: 15,842; DC 2022: 13,900) and many fewer than pre-pandemic (Chicago 2017: 22,701).    ALA is streamlining operations.  Librarians and library workers are accessing continuing education differently (online) and it's often difficult to get travel funding.  Still, the in-person gathering has such energy and enthusiasm!  

I joined the Legacy Society in 2004

The first annual conference I attended was in 1984. Since then I've missed two (1991: no funding; 2016: Orlando in June? no, thanks).  The 2020 conference was cancelled. The 2021 conference was virtual.  That means I've been to 38 out of 40 conferences in 41 years. 

Yes, I'm retired -- but from the job, not the profession!  I go to the conference for the friendships, the sightseeing, and for the books and authors.  

I signed up for a preconference about the Asian heritage in San Diego. 

 As an add-on to the preconferece,  Thursday afternoon there was a docent-led walking tour of the historic Chinese neighborhood. It started from the SD Chinese Historical Museum.  

Thursday evening the Executive Board Survivors met for dinner.  I was on the ALA Exec Board from 2004-2007 and was one of the three EBers who began the Survivors group.  

The preconference was 8:30-3:30 Friday. Rather than Asian heritage (as advertised) it was about Mexican settlement in southern California and Mexican genealogy.  The speakers were experts and their presentations were interesting, though not of direct use to me right now.  

Friday afternoon:  Trevor Noah was the guest speaker at the opening general session.   He was interviewed by ALA president Emily Drabinski.  He was great, as you would expect.

Friday evening:  the ALA Retired Members Round Table met for dinner.  This famous statue was on the way to the restaurant.  

I met Mr. Mychal!  Here is more about this true library hero.  

(I posted the photo on FB and got many likes and comments from nonlibrarians and librarians.  I saw him later in the day and told him. He smiled that beautiful smile and said he was happy to know that.)

Saturday morning:  RMRT field trip to the Geisel Library at UC San Diego (actually in La Jolla).  The library holds the Geisel/Dr. Seuss archive with most of his original artwork.  

We (=my RMRT friends Shelley, Ann Marie, Nancy, Lisa) took an Uber back to the convention center. I was in time to go to the Penguin Random House author lunch.  

I am halfway through Bad Liar, the first book by Tami Hoag that I've read. It's a thriller set in Louisiana and it's good!  (It will be published in October.)  

The RMRT business meeting was later in the afternoon. I moderated the RMRT Book Club discussion that followed.  Our prompt was California Dreaming -- any book related to California.  Quite a variety, from John McPhee to John Steinbeck to Gwen Bristow.

The Andrew Carnegie Medal goes to the best adult fiction and nonfiction of the year.  I went to the awards reception Saturday evening at the San Diego Central Library.  

Cuban-American poet Richard Blanco gave a reading before the winning authors gave their speeches. 

I read The Berry Pickers earlier this year but I haven't read the nonfiction winner, We Were Once a Family. 

Sunday began with Literary Luminaries, another book-and-author panel.  

The RMRT President's Program was at 11:00:  The San Diego Zoo's global conservation collaboration and the Zoo's library.  Both presentations were very interesting. 

The lower photo show the Red Books. The journals are at every enclosure for the keepers to record observations on every shift. The Red Books go back decades. They are being digitized.  

I spent more time in the exhibits and got more books. (And pens. And post-it pads. And little notebooks. And bookmarks.)

There's a USPS substation set up in the exhibits to ship stuff, but I was not there at the right time.  Instead I spent a small fortune for the convenience of FedEx.  Three boxes are going to arrive next Monday.  Some people just get another suitcase.  Someone else suggested getting an Uber and going to a regular post office.  

I sat in the Big Chair and read the passage from A Wrinkle in Time when Meg realizes it is her love for her family and theirs for her that is stronger than the hate that IT is. 

Dinner on Sunday:  we five (Shelley (my roommate), Nancy, Lisa, Ann Marie, and me) took the ferry across the bay to Coronado. We had dinner at a waterside restaurant.  

Lower left and right photos taken on the Convention Center steps after we got back. Left: a statue in the sunset. Lower right: San Diego Symphony in concert on the bay.  (Had we known we'd have gotten tickets.) 

Monday:   hotel checkout for both Shelley and me.  I had another (!) author breakfast.  
That handsome guy is Jim O'Heir from Parks and Recreation.  (I have not watched the show. Now I'm going to!)  

I sat in on the closing of ALA Council III.  I served on Council for 13 years (chapter councilor, councilor-at-large, and exec board).  

The Gala Author Tea was the final event.  Yes, more books and more authors -- and delicious refreshments. 

My return flight was a 10:30 red-eye, due to arrive at O'Hare at 4:40 a.m.  I  shared a cab ride with another RMRT friend and had plenty of time for dinner.    I was at the gate at 9:00 -- we were informed that the flight was cancelled due to mechanical trouble.  (The incoming aircraft hadn't even arrived.)  United sent a text automatically rebooking me and providing a hotel voucher.  What could I do but take it?   The Porto Vista Hotel is a quirky place in Little Italy with original art on the walls and in a vending machine.   I checked in at 10:15 p.m. and checked out at 4:00 a.m.  Did you know that the ticketing agents and TSA come on duty at 4:30 a.m.?  And there is already a line by the time they open up.   My SAN-SFO flight left at 6:15. The SFO-ORD flight left at 10:00.   I had first-class seats on both (I could get used to that....).     Arrived 15 minutes early, the limo driver was prompt, and I was HOME at 4:30.  

Back home:  Stevens and the caregiver got along very well.   Hooray!   He was happy to see me.  

Next post:  the quilts!