Weekly update: a meetup, variable stars, and scrap sorting

Lizzy accompanied her husband to a conference in Chicago last week. She had a free day Thursday and came up for a visit.   We met on the Usenet newsgroup Rec.Crafts.Textiles.Quilting in the late 1990's. It was such fun to meet her in person!   We enjoyed lunch, a tour of Zion, and a nice walk at Illinois Beach State Park.

The weather on Friday was ideal for the 22nd Annual Jack McElmurry Golf Outing -- our Rotary Club's big fundraiser.  

I bought $20 worth of tickets for the 50/25/25 raffle (50% to the club and with two winners at 25%) -- and I won $200!  (Just about what I spent on fabric at the Expo last week....)  I was the sole bidder on a coffee gift basket, too.   We were major sponsors of the event so we gave a lot more than we got, but it's a good cause.

# # # # # #

I have the first set of variable stars blocks sashed.   I tried assorted brights for the cornerstones but they competed with the variety of colors in the star blocks.  I fussy-cut elements from a red bandanna print.  Now I'm auditioning borders -- aiming for bright (and of course for using what's on hand).  

I have sorted ALL of Dorothy's scraps.   They were packed higgledy-piggledy into bags and boxes.  I pitched a lot, ironed a lot,  and sent some to a new home.  Here's what I'm keeping for now.

Upper left:  a miscellany of blocks, mostly miniatures.  Center:  60 yards (by weight) of a variety of prints.  Right:  20 yards (by weight) of batik pieces.  

There were many prints that I have had, or still have -- as though Dorothy's and my fabric shopping was in tandem.  I'll have fun as I further refine the sorting of this grand gift.  

Linking up with Oh Scrap!   Monday Making   Design Wall Monday