Design Wall Monday: preview 2 and L&E

Progress from the previous post:  the I Spy bear paw blocks and the letters are assembled, with a correction to the spelling of the name.  (Glad to have that before proceeding!)

["Sophie/Sophia" means wisdom and "Anne/Ann" means grace.]

 I've gone back to 1.5" "postage stamps"  for leaders and enders.  This is one of Bonnie Hunter's "Addicted to Scraps" blocks in Quiltmaker.  She wrote that she planned assemble the blocks with cornerstones and sashing to create a Shoofly secondary design, so that's what I'm aiming for.


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Sneak preview

Quilt in progress! I woke up from a nap to realize that I had this quilt all laid out in my imagination.  Would that all designing came upon me so clearly.  The Bear Paw blocks have I Spy novelty 'paws.' This is my first try at  Tonya's letters and those shown may be a rough draft. There's more to come.

Blustery day in northeasternmost Illinois

Footage taken at North Point Marina.  Quite a contrast from ten days ago!

Finished feels good

 Yesterday I started and finished quilting "Christmas Cards."  I put the last stitch on the binding at precisely 10:00 p.m. 

The Card Trick blocks came from an exchange. One of them was larger than the others (12" rather than 9").  Another came after I had set the sixteen.  I didn't want to disassemble what I'd done, nor did I want to make three more blocks (to total 20).  I pieced the large block into the back and I used the last block as the label.  The quilt is 66 x 66.  (More about this quilt design is in this post and preceding it.)

I used red thread. I outline-quilted the "cards" and meander-quilted the "logs."

This quilt will be raffled at our AAUW holiday luncheon. 

Design Wall Monday: Rusty Bows flimsy

I did get some sewing time in this weekend.  When I left for Missouri I had the center and the bow-tie border blocks assembled.  The sashed border design is one I saw in a quilt magazine years ago.  I auditioned several solid colors before choosing turquoise. 

It is 58 x 66 and used 5 yards of stash.  Thanks goes to Bonnie Hunter for creating the bow-tie challenge!

If I make another bow-tie quilt (which is likely because the blocks are such fun) I'll try deliberate color placement -- figure 8's or S's, perhaps; or x's and o's.

Check out what's on other design walls today at Patchwork Times !

Beach, October

The weather has been absolutely perfect this past week:  sunny and warm every day.  If we could only bottle it to bring out in January!

Not only did I go to the beach this afternoon, but I also went into the water.  Here's the proof.

More sisterhood, and Mizzou revisited

Sisters together! Alex, me, Mari-Anne

 Johnston Hall, my dorm (fall semester, 1970).  I knocked on the door of Room 111 and surprised the current occupant by saying, "I lived here 41 years ago. Could I take a picture?"  What could she do but agree?!  (It looks smaller than I remember.)

Stewart Hall (where the Library School shared space with Geography and Herpetology)

Leandra and I had lunch and a lovely visit

Leandra's garage is her studio

With one of her surface-design baskets

908 Curtis--the former AGD house

1313 University--summer apt. upstairs, 1973

The obligatory picture of Jesse Hall and the Columns

Jesse Hall's tile floor...there's a quilt design here!

Convention report, briefly

 The 70th P.E.O. International Convention was September 29-October 1.  I spent this past Friday evening writing the report I will present to each of the seven chapters for whom I was a delegate, and I spent Sunday afternoon creating a photo collage to illustrate the report.  3600 people attended the event, of whom 1500 were voting delegates.  This blog post had to wait!

 The ceremonies were stately.  The business proceedings went smoothly, helped by electronic voting that made tallying nearly instant.  The workshops were interesting. (I chose women in leadership; decision-making; and a book review by Cottey College faculty.) 

The Projects Night featured women who have been the recipients of P.E.O. grants and awards.  Their outstanding accomplishments truly put a face on the value of our contributions.  P.E.O. philanthropies provide millions of dollars to thousands of women. 
* Educational Loan Fund -- to assist with educational expenses
* Program for Continuing Education -- for women whose education has been interrupted
* International Peace Scholarships -- for women from other countries pursuing advanced degrees in the U.S.
* Scholar Awards -- for U.S. and Canadian women pursing advance degrees

* STAR Awards -- first-year college scholarships for outstanding high school students
* Cottey College -- owned by P.E.O. since 1927, the college has gotten approval to offer three four-year-degree programs in addition to its two-year curriculum.

P.E.O. is also about friendship.  These photos show me with Lorraine, Colorado P.E.O. president (whom I've known since kindergarten); with Fran, who was my roommate (a friend for 25 years); and with two Alpha Gam sisters whom I met when I visited their chapter at DePauw when I was a leadership consultant in 1974 (Nancy is Massachusetts P.E.O. president and Susan lives in Ohio).