Weekly update: the social whirl, bargains, a finish and a start

 There were more festive gatherings this week.  On Monday evening my P.E.O. chapter met for dinner at a restaurant. We exchanged holiday socks (a chapter tradition). Everyone brought gift cards that I will deliver to a local agency.  

On Tuesday the Zion Woman's Club had a holiday luncheon.  I didn't get a photo of my vintage Christmas tablecloths in use.  We had box lunches which made serving very easy.  A white elephant exchange meant each of us got something to take home.  We also collected food for the two local food pantries. That all went into my car until Thursday when we met to deliver it.

The chair of the AAUW holiday luncheon conducted a poll to see how many would like an in-person event this year. Twenty said yes -- and 44 sent in reservations!  That was Saturday.  It was SO great to see AAUW friends and their guests (many of whom come every year).  It was our first in-person gathering since February, 2020. 

This was the, hmm, 18th? year that I have donated a quilt as a fundraiser.  Ann has faithfully and enthusiastically bought dozens of tickets over the years -- and this year she won!  

The raffle raised $385 for the AAUW Greatest Needs Fund.  The 50/50 split-the-pot raised $138 for our local STEM scholarship (and $138 for the lucky winner).

More fundraising -- the Rotary citrus has arrived.  I spent this afternoon (Sunday) delivering to those who ordered through me.  We have a case of oranges and a case of grapefruit in the garage for ourselves.

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I stopped at a couple of thrift shops  this week and got some bargains.  The print on the left was $2 for 4 yards. The other two are a cotton flat sheet and a twin sheet set totalling 15 yards for $8 in all.   (I also got an ironstone salad bowl that will go nicely with the winter dishes and a never-worn L.L. Bean flannel shirt. The shirt was $8.75. That's higher than I'd normally pay at a thrift shop but I knew it would go quickly. And, after all, the catalog price is $49.95.) 

The CW Repro Nine-Patch Strippy is quilted and bound.  

You can't see the back very well. I used a mid-vintage (44"w) and a real vintage (36" w) on the back. 

I finished Clue 2 of the Rhododendron Trail mystery.  

I know that Clue 3 is an easy one but I worked on a new project instead.  These slab blocks are 12-1/2" unfinished. I'm going to make 20 for a 4 x 5 setting unless I get ambitious and make 30 for a 5 x 6 setting.  

My scrap box never gets very full because I cut scraps into specific sizes as I generate them.  (1-1/2" and 2" strips; and 1.5", 2", 2.5", 3", 3.5", and 4" squares pretty much.)

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I am 3/4 of the way through a novel. Since I haven't finished it I won't report on it. 

I indulged in this holiday quilt book.  Historian Sue Reich  invited fellow art quilters to create mini-quilts based on the quatrains of  A Visit From St. Nicholas, better known as The Night Before Christmas.  Among the contributors are Barb Vedder and a long-time librarian colleague Bonnie Dwyer.   Sue Reich tells the story of the poem and provides quilt designs based on some of her 19th-century green and red quilts. 

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P.S.  Last year I saw Christmas ornaments hung in the trees in one of the forest preserves.   I got 8 red ornaments for $1 at a rummage sale this summer. I hung them on my walk in the state park on Friday afternoon.  We had very gusty winds that night (the same storm system that brought tornadoes to Kentucky and southern Illinois). I'll have to back to see if any of these are still hanging.  

Linking up with Design Wall Monday   Monday Making