Sunday, June 7, 2020

Weekly update: wildflowers and SIP



Early June is a wonderful time for wildflowers!  The collage at the left has pictures from Lyons Woods Forest Preserve and Illinois Beach State Park.

Every year I look for wild flag iris.  The blue flags are native and the yellow flags are invasive. There are a lot more yellow.  (They differ from hybrid iris in that they grow at the edge of marshy area to keep their feet (rhizomes) wet.)

I also look for this patch of misplaced hybrid iris at the Camp Logan unit of Illinois Beach State Park.  It has really spread since I began observing it. (Did someone dump the rhizomes? Who knows.)

















Ox-eye daisies bloom in profusion along roadsides. The first weekend of June is when I really notice them -- because in normal years that's when I'm headed to the Illinois P.E.O. convention.
This year is hardly normal. On Saturday I met by Zoom for the P.E.O. Home Fund committee orientation.  On Sunday (today) I Zoomed with state officers and committee chairs for the installation of the 2020-21 state board.



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In the studio:  I set the Shelter in Place blocks.  I've had the border fabric  for a while.  I've auditioned it for a couple of projects but it didn't make the cut -- until now.  I had enough of it to cut the borders lengthwise so I didn't need to fiddle with piecing them and trying to match the print.

[Blocks are 8". With border, 83" x 91".]







I'm working on the pieced back.  I'm not wild about the lettering -- (a) "in" is too close to "place" and (b) the letters are top-heavy because I trimmed too much off the bottom. I'll need to give that some thought.

Linking up with Oh Scrap!
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday


17 comments:

  1. Oh I like how your lettering looks--I feel that anything just
    a bit "off"--is perfect for that saying--aren't we all just a little bit "off" these days??? I also like the fabrics you've chosen for the backing...
    I have never done lettering--and I am hoping to try some this year...(uuuh notice the l o n g time frame I've given myself hahaha)
    Hugs from afar julierose

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  2. I like your lettering block too! Who needs it to be “perfect” and spaced just right! It fits with the pieced back! Thanks for the wildflower pictures.

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  3. perfect border for all those adorable houses...!

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  4. I did not know that about the yellow flag iris. Love your border choice!

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  5. I love the choice of the border fabric, it is exactly right.

    I would have to redo the spacing, even if it is on the back I would know it was there and not as I planned it.

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  6. Always love flowers and I adore your quilt! You picked the best fabric to border your blocks, it's beautiful! I like the lettering as it is! Have a great day!

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  7. Love your Shelter in Place, even the lettering. The house block is one of my favorites though I've never made one, hmm. Wild flowers galore here in Southern Illinois alos.

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  8. I love houses and yours is beautiful! The back is looking good just like it is!

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  9. I've grown hybrid iris, but never realized that the wild ones could be invasive. So interesting. Your border choice really fits in well with the shelter in place blocks.

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  10. The "inPlace" would bother me too, but I really had to look HARD to figure out the 'top heavy' complaint. From the back of a galloping horse.... Seen from a distance (as in: look at the photo), the phrase looks well balanced.

    Love that border fabric too!

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  11. Shelter in place looks great! And that border fabric is perfect for it. Love when that happens.

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  12. Your Shelter in Place is lovely, and is certainly a historic statement of these times. You will be able to look back when the virus is conquered knowing that you and your family did your best and played your part during the pandemic.
    I finished a wall hanging last month and the label states it was stitched through the virus pandemic. I may well add to the label when it is all over, as the numbers involved throughout the world are horrendous.

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  13. Meant to add, beautiful flower pics, they certainly lifed my spirits!

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  14. I've noticed those beautiful purple flags in Eastern Oregon as well. Did not know that the yellow was invasive. Love your SIP houses! The lettering is fine, it means that a person made the quilt not a team of slaves in some foreign country.

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  15. It looks fantastic from here! Love that border print!
    I know how that goes... looking at the letters and evaluating what you like and don't like.
    You could insert a strip between 'in' and 'Place' to give more space if you would like it better.

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  16. I enjoy learning about wildflowers from you. Guess I should look for an online class. The Shelter in Place quilt is coming along wonderfully. Lovely colors. Your yellows perk it up so much. It would be fairly easy to add some space between in and Place But I don't think your words are top heavy. I think they are fine.
    Are you going to add extra shelters here on the back? Either extra houses or other types of shelter. Hmmm. That's an idea I should think about myself.
    Stay safe.

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