Weekly update: golden composites, an 'heirloom' is hung, planned and unplanned quilting, and some books

It used to be that the "where where you when..." question was about Kennedy's assassination or, for our parents, Pearl Harbor. Now our "where were you..." prompt is twenty years old. On September 11, 2001, I was in the conference room at the North Suburban Library System headquarters.  Lynn S., Sandra N., and Carol L. and I were there for the initial meeting  of a fellowship/support group for women library directors. The big-screen TV was turned on to the news--the first tower had been hit. We thought we were seeing a clip from a disaster movie as we watched the jet fly into the second tower, then we paid closer attention as we learned that it was not fiction. It was real.

# # # # # # # # #

For decades Labor Day in Zion meant Jubilee Days.  The Mayor's Prayer Breakfast was at 8:00 in the high school cafeteria. The 100-plus float parade attracted 17,000 spectators. It started at 1:00 p.m. -- except for those who were riding on floats for whom the lineup was at 12:15.  I was a float-rider or a float-walkalong -- for the library and for Rotary, tossing candy to eager kids along the 1-1/2 mile route.  Some years it was blazing hot. Some years it was chilly. Some years it rained.  

Jubilee Days was cancelled in 2020 and again in 2021.  The weather was beautiful both times.  (Sheridan Road, the main street and the parade route, is being repaved right so it's just as well there wasn't a parade to be re-routed.) 

We enjoyed outings to Illinois Beach State Park and Van Patten Woods this week.  (Stevens will now volunteer:  "If you'd like to go out this afternoon I'd be delighted to accompany you.") 

Left: on a sunny day you can see the Chicago skyline 40 miles away.  [Click to enlarge the photo and look closely at the horizon.]

Bull thistle, sawtooth sunflower, hedge bindweed and aster, New England aster or Michaelmas daisy with a bumblebee, and a field of "golden composites" that could be sunflowers or rosinweed or another 'daisy-like yellow flower.'

# # # # # # # #

 

Our new mailbox has a backstory.  In the late 1990's my mother bought a new mailbox (this one) that bears a decorated, recycled roofing slate. Had I been smarter (and less emotional) I'd have swapped out the mailbox before we sold the house in 2002. The new owner wouldn't allow any alterations.  I told Judy and Mike (who are now the longest residents on that block) that I wished I'd gotten it. Judy remembered and told the man who rented and now owns the house.  When he replaced the mailbox this summer he gave the old one to Judy and I picked it up from her.   Our next-door neighbor (another) Mike hung it for us.  It looks right at home.

# # # # # # # # #

In the studio:   last year I made two wall hangings to give to the then-outgoing co-presidents of the Zion Woman's Club.  Our first meeting of the year -- in person!! -- was Tuesday. I pulled out the wall hangings and realized they were too much of a gift for the occasion, especially considering that the presentation was postponed for a year.  (The board and the club met by Zoom most of 2020-21.)  

What to do?  On Labor Day (24 hours prior to the meeting) I pulled out a stack of 4-1/2" batik cake stands from the Parts Department.  I arranged and rearranged. I cut setting triangles and borders.  And, voila!  Two smaller wall hangings that were just the right size. 

I made four daisy mug rugs for a P.E.O. project. They have a pillow-style finish (sew RST, then turn right side out) rather than bindings.

Speaking of binding -- I picked up the wedding quilt from Barb-the-quilter.  It turned out so well!  I need to bind and label it. 

On the design wall:  the blocks for the AAUW holiday quilt are finished.  I used a pattern from American Patchwork and Quilting for both blocks but I'm setting them differently.  They are 8.5" unfinished. 

# # # # # # #

Republic of Detours: How the New Deal Paid Broke Writers to Rediscover America

I am sure I was aware of the American Guide series at my hometown public library: thick volumes with black-and-white scenic photos and pages of dense, small print. I learned about them in the government documents class I took in library school. The guides were in the collections of all the libraries where I worked -- at least for the states and regions where those libraries were.

The Federal Writers Project was a WPA entity created to put unemployed and underemployed writers to work. In the process they documented America local history and geography -- with creativity and bias that, in retrospect, has charms but at the time were subject to attack by anti-New Dealers. (U.S. Rep. Martin Dies' investigations were the precursor to McCarthy's HUAC of the 1950s.)

Borchert tells the story through the experience of FWP executive director Henry Alsberg and regional project directors/writers Vardis Fisher (Idaho), Nelson Algren (Chicago), Zora Neal Hurston (Florida), Richard Wright (New York). It's a tale of people and politics and Borchert keeps the many strands from getting snarled. A good history! And now I will reread the Illinois guide that I got at a library used book sale.

Ice and Stone

I've been a Sharon McCone fan since 1977 when Edwin of the Iron Shoes was published. This one seemed a little more hurriedly-written than earlier books in the series but it kept my attention. I appreciate Sharon's passion for justice for those who are too often marginalized.  

When Sue Grafton spoke at an ALA conference circa 1995 I remarked that Donald Westlake and Joe Gores had had one another's characters make  cameo appearances in their novels. I asked if Kinsey Milhone would ever meet Sharon McCone in a similar fashion. Grafton got a little huffy and said no, absolutely not. Many years later (PLA/Portland 2010) I went to an audiobooks dinner with both Grafton and Muller (and their narrators, which was neat!). Darned if I didn't forget totally to ask if Kinsey and Sharon would ever, eventually meet. [And now it's too late since Grafton died a couple of years ago.]

Southern Quilts: Celebrating History, Traditions, and Designs 

Sixteen quilt historians/collectors write about sixteen different designs prevalent in the American South. Each design is illustrated with photos of quilts in that pattern. This is a history book rather than a pattern book.

Linking up with Oh Scrap!   Monday Making   Design Wall Monday