Wildflowers at Illinois Beach and Van Patten Woods this week:Coneflower, compass plant, brown knapweed. (Yes, the flower is purple, but "The nvolucre below the flower head is brown” hence the name. Involucre = whorl or rosette of bracts surrounding an inflorescence, especially a capitulum, or at the base of an umbel. That explains it nicely.
Yellow jewel-weed, Mayapple fruit, hairy pagoda plant (aka woodmint).
Monards/bee balm, raspberries the birds missed (tasty!), Bouncing Bet/soapwort.
We saw cultivated flowers, too! The Illinois Dunesland Garden Club annual tour was Saturday morning. The library serves as the hub to get maps and to buy raffle tickets for gift baskets, etc., to support the club. The tour itself is free. I am always surprised to discover houses and their gardens on blocks that I've driven on dozens of times. And it's fun to see so many friends and neighbors enjoying the tour. The six gardens this year included one in Wadsworth, three in Zion, one in Winthrop Harbor, and two across the state line in Pleasant Prairie.
Upper right: those are just half of his tomato plants.
Back home: we were de-fence-less for a day while the old fence with its rotten wooden posts was replaced by a new fence with metal posts. "Lifetime guarantee," the guy said. I hope so.
Saturday evening we enjoyed a performance of Rent at the Racine Theater Guild. A long-time friend made the arrangements (including driving, since I'm hesitant to drive at night) and we met several of her friends. We all had dinner beforehand at a Greek restaurant in downtown Racine. It was the first time we'd been to RTG and now that I know how easy it is to get to--and that they have matinees--we'll go again.
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One of the LQS is closing after ten years in business. The owner is going to focus on her long-arm business with a few sidelines. She's having a big going-out-of-business sale. Fabric is $7/yard. Notions, patterns, books, etc. are 30% off. I indulged a little, and I may make a return visit. One of the shop assistants said they'd discovered a lot of stuff in the store room that they'd forgotten they had!
To compensate in part for that indulgence I took the box of 9-patches off the shelf and cut a lot of 3.5" squares.
Having units on hand expedites the process. These 9-patches mostly came from the long-time Block Swappers' exchange.
By Friday evening I had a flimsy. I began basting it Sunday evening.
Linking up with Oh Scrap! Sew and Tell Design Wall Monday
P.S. Kathy, one of the people in the theater group on Saturday, said, "I know you from the library. And I won one of your quilts at a school fundraiser a long time ago. It's brown." (Now that I've had a couple of days to think about it I think it's this one.)
I am sure we can sympathise with that feeling of finding treasures that we'd forgotten we had.
ReplyDeleteThe garden tour would have certainly been enjoyable. Even though I no longer garden I do enjoy seeing other folks' efforts. Our community used to do a monthly Yard of the Month, but stopped during Covid and haven't restarted. Bet you found some wonderful new treasures even though it's sad when a LQS closes.
ReplyDeleteSad when a LQS closes up shop!! We no longer have one near to us either. I do shop online, but find it hard to really buy fabric without seeing it in person--it's never quite the same I feel.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice that you got out for a dinner and show with friends...the garden you visited look so wonderful.
Hugs, Julierose
Always fun to see where you've been and what you've seen there. The garden tour looked so enjoyable! Beautiful 9 patch quilt, too. I love the look of the chain that's created!
ReplyDeleteyes those forgotten projects lurk just beneath the surface someplace...LOL...love your flower posts but how do you tramp around in such heat??? i scooted out early this AM and did a couple of errands then back inside...
ReplyDeleteI love your nine patch quilt! I also love that someone recognized you and knew they had a quilt you made! How sweet! Lovely garden tour!
ReplyDeleteDo NOT feel guilty about indulging yourself with the LQS closing sales. We all need our stash to create from - and you are not one who buys and then lets things sit without being used. Quiltdivajulie
ReplyDeleteThank you for identifying all the flowers - most I've seen but didn't know their names. So sorry about the LQS closing - there seems to be more and more that are falling by the wayside. Our local yarn shop closed recently too and now there's nowhere to get yarn here. Thank goodness for mail order but it's not the same as being able to fondle either the fabric or yarn in person.
ReplyDeleteSad to see a LQS go out of business. It's a hard business to stay in. Hum, I wonder what type of treasures were forgotten about. I've never seen Rent and I'd like to as I've sung at least one piece of music from it. It's not coming locally for the next season of a theater in the next town up from ours.
ReplyDeleteSad to see a LQS close. Envious of the garden tours. Our smaller town had them growing up but no one in a big city wants strangers wandering through their yards. Sigh. I’m just trying to keep my plants alive in the heat. Sigh. Hoping our fence can last a few more years, too.
ReplyDeleteAnn at Fret Not Yourself
DeleteSounds like a great week - and what fun to indulge!! Love what you chose - and of course - that 9 patch!! love it!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful scrappy patchwork. <3 Thanks for sharing in the Sew & Tell party. :)
ReplyDelete