DWM: special events while still displaced

Special events this weekend:  on Saturday the 13 P.E.O. chapters in Lake County held their annual Founders Day celebration.  I have gotten to know many of the women in area chapters over the years and it was nice to see so many again.  The program featured four women who have been recipients of P.E.O. projects funding. Three of them are now members. One received an International Peace Scholarship and came from Germany to study at the University of Illinois back in 1953. She married an American and stayed. Two received Program for Continuing Education grants for women whose post-high school studies have been interrupted. (One is a nurse, the other is a counselor.) The fourth is a graduate of Cottey , the women's college that P.E.O. owns. All of their stories were inspiring and it was wonderful to see the results of our fundraising in person.

On Sunday I drove to Wilmette to hear novelist Jane Smiley. Her book Some Luck is the Wilmette Public Library's community reading selection.   The sequel, Early Warning, has just been released.  They are two thirds of the Last Hundred Years Trilogy, chronicling an Iowa family from 1920 to the present day.   I got advance copies of both at ALA (one last summer, one this winter). I'm including them in my spring book review lineup -- presentations tomorrow (April 27), at the AAUW-IL convention this coming Friday, and for another group on May 8.  (Ms. Smiley said that volume 3 will be published in October. I can't wait!)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
Our phone was disconnected the day that the insurance adjuster tried to call us. Since she couldn't reach us by phone she sent a letter that arrived Monday. I promptly called. Her schedule for the week was set and the soonest she can come is this coming Wednesday, April 29.  We need her to see all the damage before the new flooring can be laid, and the contractor has other jobs before us. He told me this evening that the preparation, the installation, the baseboards, and the carpentry will take 3-4 days.  Then the ServiceMaster crew comes and moves the furniture, fabric, books, etc. back.

I will be patient. My husband will be patient.  It will be beautiful when it is all done.

Here's the scrappy project I made this week. I had many of the 1.5 x 7 strips already cut. I was able to get to the bin of blue FQs in the garage so I could cut more strips.  This is 60 x 60.  I may put a border on it, or I may add another row or two of blocks to lengthen it.

This is the beginning of the tote bag that I need to finish for the P.E.O. state convention in June. It's adapted from a pattern in the August, 2005, AmP&Q.  (The strippy center fabric will have a yellow border. The body of the bag will be black. I have the fabric for the lining, too, but I need to find batting (in the garage, somewhere). )







Under the needle now: 3.5" red rails blocks. I made two red rails quilts a few years ago. I've been cutting 3.5" strips for a while. When they filled these candy boxes I decided it was time to start sewing. 66 blocks made so far.

See what other quiltmakers are working on at Beth's Monday Making  and Judy's Design Wall Monday