Friday check in: lakefront in September, a luncheon, and some sewing

 

Two lakefront excursions this week. 

 Fort Sheridan is an unusual forest preserve in that it has a lot of human history as well as natural history. When the fort was decommissioned the land was divided as a natural area but also a town. The officers' quarters and even the stables are now very upscale housing.  This year's trail followed a ravine and part of the parade ground.   

Farther north along the lakefront:  the Southport Quilters is the Kenosha guild. Their annual show is an exhibit at the Anderson Arts Center.  The staff at AAC hang the quilts in the light-filled galleries.  The show is free and up for more than a month.  

The Andersons were a wealthy Kenosha family (American Brass Co. and Simmons Mattresses).  

These are a few of the quilts on display.

The Clara Cummings Book Club opened the year with Lynn Rymarz portraying Colleen Moore.   She is known to Chicagoans for her Fairy Castle, an elaborate miniature castle (not really a doll house) on permanent view at the Museum of Science and Industry.  But before that she 

was a silent film star -- among the highest paid in Hollywood.   She made a few talkies and then left the movie business.  The Fairy Castle went on tour during the Depression.  It was shown at department stores across the country. The admission fee of a dime raised more than $1 million to  aid hospitalized crippled children.   She was a savvy investor and wrote a 1968 book about how women can succeed in the stock market.  

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In the studio:    at the AAUW meeting last Saturday Dorothy gave me a bag of quilt blocks.  "I'm sure you can do something with these," she said.  

I'm meeting the challenge with a batch of placemats.  Come back on Monday to see the finished products. 


Linking up with Finished or Not Friday

Weekly update: when it rains . . .

Mid-morning I was halfway finished composing today's post when the power went out.  The culprit was a downed wire.   Those rechargeable lanterns I got a couple of months ago had lost their charge, I found out.  Rather than stew in the semi-gloom I drove 30 miles to Half Day Forest Preserve and completed another Hike Lake County walk.   On the way home ComEd sent the message that the power was back on.  Whew!  (And now I will find a place to keep those lanterns plugged in.) 

Back to where I was . . .

 It rained all weekend.  No forest preserve walks for me, but I kept busy.

AAUW met in person Saturday morning.   Linda Gratz talked about redlining, the systemic practice of denying mortgages to Black families, and how that affected her family.   She grew up in a Chicago neighborhood as it was changing from majority-white (her Austrian-emigrant grandparents) to Black.   I'll enjoy reading her award-winning memoir.   (Redlining was across the U.S.  The digitized maps are here:   Mapping Inequality .) 

After the meeting I delivered two yearbooks to AAUW friends who couldn't attend the meeting, and had nice visits with both of them.

Saturday evening the Downhillers performed at our church.  Their set list was a lively mix of folk-rock from four decades. 

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I 

 I assembled the solid log cabin blocks. 78" x 90".

I pieced the backing (Barb M's estate sale once again) and basted it.

 I spent most of Sunday afternoon and all of Sunday evening quilting it.   I had to set up a card table to bear the weight of the quilt sandwich.  

The finished quilt, the back, and a closeup of the quilting.  

7 yards for the top and 5 yards for back and binding. 

As I sewed I binge-watched Widow's Bay and the Marlow Murder Club.  (I watched the American Masters documentary about poet Mary Oliver last week.  I appreciate her poetry even more now.) 

Linking up with Sew and Tell  DWM at Judy's  Oh Scrap!  Monday Musings

Friday check in: HLC, stash enhancement, and solid progress

Familiar ground for this week's Hike Lake County walks.   On Wednesday, Ethel's Woods (named for Ethel Untermyer who led the effort to create the Lake County Forest Preserve District in the 1950's).   Today, Lyons Woods (named for Isaac Lyons who settled the area in 1843).   

The monarch stayed still long enough for several snapshots.   

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Roberta, a guild friend, said she had some scrap fabric for me if I was interested.   I went to her house on Wednesday (after Ethel's Woods).   You may recall that I pulled scraps and yardage for the guild rafflemania that was cancelled (plumbing problems at the senior center where we meet), and that I gave that fabric away.   Well, Roberta gave me scraps and yardage that she and a couple of other guild members intended for rafflemania.   By weight 128 yards.    I'm going to share a lot of this bounty, especially the scraps.

Solid progress in the studio.

This is one of those designs that is throwing itself together.   I hope to have it assembled for Monday's post.  

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Stitched was a lot of fun!    A group of quiltmakers have their longtime friendship tested when they prepare their group quilt for a prestigious annual competition.  

Here's the blurb on the back.  

The cover art is by textile artist Victoria Van Der Laan who uses only reclaimed/secondhand fabric for her work. 

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Linking up with  Finished or Not Friday

Midweek: in the studio + HLC

 Two more trails for my 2026 Hike Lake County list.   Spring Bluff is my wild card ("pick any trail not on the list"). I chose it because I hoped to find some bottle gentian, a hard-to-find wildflower that blooms in late summer.  I was not successful. Maybe I was too late.     Raven Glen was partly a farm and and one time a campground (see Timber Lake, upper right).    

Bottle Gentian, 2024

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In the studio:  

Four placemats for the ongoing Rotary project.  (They'll be given away in February at our spaghetti dinner delivery to shut-ins.  I have about 100 more to make.)

100 blocks for Cynthia's Many Hands and Many Hearts block drive.  I mailed them yesterday. 

 

I saw a picture of a free-form Log Cabin quilt made from solids.  I was intrigued and pulled out the three big bins of solids (how have I acquired that quantity?), cut 2" strips, and started sewing.

I working on the setting now. 

More fun with 2" solid strips.   I bought Victoria Findlay Wolfe's Modern Quilt Magic book at her presentation last week.   The "magic" is partial seams.   The interwoven herringbone braid is fiddly but not hard.  This is the practice piece she includes in the book. I want to try to make a whole quilt.  I have a hamper of 2" strips (prints, not solids) right under the cutting table, ready to go. 

There's a lot else going on in my non-quilt-related life.  I hope to have a reading round up post in a few days.

Linking up with Wednesday Wait Loss      

Weekly update: quilt show and afterward

 The 22nd Great Wisconsin Quilt Show was at the Alliant Center in Madison September 10-12.   It used to be called an expo, hence the quilt label that identifies the post.  It's the eighth time I've attended and the second time I've stayed overnight.  

By pleasant coincidence both Anna and I arrived at the same time Thursday morning. We met at the entrance--we didn't even have to text.  She stays at her brother's cabin.  I had a motel reservation.

I was able to get tickets for two lectures. 

   I've known Jennifer Chiaverini since she wrote the first Elm Creek Quilts book.  She talked about the latest installment in that series.  I'm looking forward to the next stand-along historical novel, The Rational Dress Society.  It will come out in 2027 and is about the dress reform movement in England in the late 19th century. 

The incomparable Victoria Findlay Wolfe spoke at the very end of the day -- 6:00-7:30 p.m.  I was really tired but her presentation was so lively that I perked up.  Such creativity!  Such inspiration!   

"I make any kind of quilts that float my boat.....I sew fast. Make decisions quickly, sew, and move on....You have permission to make mistakes. You have permission to cut it up.....Don't copy my quilt! I already made it. Make it your own....In each quilt you make, think 'What can I do to make it different from what I've done before?'" 

If you've been to a big quilt show you know what to expect.  There are stunning quilts in all styles and colors.  There are quilts you could conceivably make.**   There is inspiration in every aisle.   

I have artists' statements for nearly all of these if you want to know more.   

 

Note the highland coos (cows) in the upper right. 

I forgot to turn in the ballot with my favorite quilts. This ballerina won my vote.

**  "Quilts you could conceivably make" because I made these.    

There were special exhibits, too.

I checked into the motel (just 1-1/2 miles from the convention center) after Victoria's lecture.  I had dinner at a Perkins next door.  

 I brought the Featherweight and did a little sewing, but not much.  I was truly tired and got a good night's sleep.  

When I woke up I changed my plans.

 I'd enjoyed all the quilts and I did a lot of shopping (evidence below).  I got to see Anna and my QOV friend Karen.  

I decided I didn't need to spend another night at the motel, so I checked out.    Destination:  Reedsburg, WI, 60 miles northwest of Madison, to see the International Crane Foundation. 

Since I was running early, I took a detour to see Natural Bridge State Park.   Wildflowers, fungus, and 20th century petroglyphs. 

As I drove through the Wisconsin countryside with verdant green and ripe-for-the-harvest golden fields under a blueblueblue sky I thought about that equally sunny mid-September morning in 2001.   So much has changed in the world and in our society but the sun still comes up every day and the sky is still blue.

 

I've wanted to visit the ICF for years and now I finally have.  It was established more than 50 years ago.  All 15 species of cranes are on view in the very attractive and informative visitor's center and grounds.   On the property, but not open to visitors, are laboratories and breeding barns.   

There are two North American species.  The sandhill cranes have made a great comeback -- we see them often here in northeastern Illinois.  The whooping cranes are still critically endangered.  

I left Reedsburg at noon.    When Anna and I met at the convention center entrance we chatted with a woman who works in a quilt shop in Brodhead, WI (east of Janesville).  She said they carry current/new fabrics and that they stock closeouts and estate sale/major destash fabric.   

Brodhead was on the way home so I stopped.  Wow, what a selection.  It's in an old church (the clerk said it housed many denominations over the years).   The upstairs selection was extensive (sorry I didn't get photos), and oh, that bargain basement!   $6/yard, FQs $2, and lots of trims, books, patterns, etc.  I exercised restraint and told myself it's not that far away and I can go back.  

Here's the combination of quilt show and church basement purchases.   I shopped with a purpose:  lime green and bright purple.   Some other gems caught my eye.   I'll have such fun playing!   

Thanks for reading all the way to the end.  Linking up with Oh Scrap!   Sew and Tell    Monday Musings  Design Wall Monday

Midweek: Hike Lake County 2026 and back to quilting

 Hike Lake County 2026 is underway.  Each year the Lake County Forest Preserve District marks 1.5-2.5-mile trails in 14 preserves.  Participants have from mid-August to the end of November to walk, run, or bike 7 of them to win a commemorative medal.   Though HLC began in 1999 we started in 2020 (with Stevens 'guarding the parking lot' while I walked). Thus this will be my 7th year.   

My goal is to complete all 14 of the designated trails in the shortest time possible.  I got a late start because I was in Scotland and then last week was blisteringly hot.  I'm making up for it:   Saturday: Cuba Marsh and Grassy Lake.  Sunday:  Grant Woods.  Monday: Ray Lake. Tuesday: Captain Daniel Wright Woods. 

 Each preserve has signs that explain the area's history.  This year they've added them in Spanish. 

Wildflowers are in abundance.

This is Prairie Lady's Tresses, a species of orchid.  It's very small.

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I skipped the Labor Day parade on Monday (see Ray Lake, above) but I did go to the annual Mayor's Prayer Breakfast.   Our church has a new pastor and I was able to introduce him and his wife to long-time friends and colleagues.  

  Donna and I got our picture taken with Rep. Brad Schneider, our congressman.  I thanked him for his good work and said, "Let's flip the House and the Senate in November!"  He agreed.

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The quilt guild has Rafflemania every year.  Members get a chance to win each another's no-longer-loved quilt-related stuff.   That was supposed to be in June, but the senior center was closed due to plumbing problems.  It was rescheduled to September -- last week -- but the plumbing problems persist.  The meeting was cancelled.  I had pulled 111 yards of fabric that I concluded I could live without.  Rather than reshelving it all I responded to a request from a quilter in a FB group. She asked for donations for a kids' group she works with.  After I filled a big box for her I still had bagged fabric.  I gave it to the other Methodist church in town for their rummage sale.  Yay!  111 yards out of the house!!

But the purpose of having all this fabric is to sew it, and I've done some of that.  

While going through patterns-in-plastic-bags to give to Rafflemania I found Pot Luck by Maple Island Quilts.   "Why not make it now?" I thought, and I did.

I pulled orange, purple, and turquoise just because.   The 12" blocks are clever and easily constructed.  

I used African prints and regular quilting cotton for Around the Corner, the August Top-along.   

The bonus triangles demanded to be included.  I made a bunch more and used them in the border.  

# # # # # #     Today has begun cool and rainy.  I have a badly-needed hair appointment this morning and a church committee meeting this afternoon.   If this morning's rain blows over I may have time for another walk. 

I'm going to Madison, Wisconsin, tomorrow for the Wisconsin Quilt Show.   Come back on Monday to see the pictures!

Linking up with Wednesday Wait Loss