Midweek: OMG for October

 

I crossed paths with a praying mantis at Illinois Beach State Park yesterday.   I tried to get a head-on photo but it moved too quickly.

We have one more warm day (80's!) and tomorrow it will be in the 60's, falling to the low 50's for trick or treating.

The squirrels decided to carve our pumpkin.  Ooooh noooo, Mr. Bill!  

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Last evening's P.E.O. Zoom meeting included a very interesting program.

The speaker was my friend-since-junior high Pam. She was an associate editor for Science  the journal of the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science, for 34 years.  She told us what is involved in accepting papers out of the  15,000 submissions a year.  Her subject area is neurobiology (she has a PhD.) and she traveled to many professional conferences around the world to stay abreast of the research.  Her job included arranging for peer review, sometimes a challenge in competitive niches.  Technology changed over the years from mailed submissions in manila envelopes to email (the extensive documentation overloaded the servers) to more efficient platforms.    

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In the studio:  it's time to recap the One Monthly Goal for October.  I said I'd spend the month piecing on Sweetness, my Singer 301, while Jolly Janome was in the shop for a tuneup. 

I made a scrappy half log cabin quilt 20 years ago or so.  I came across three of Sharyn Craig's HLC books and realized the block would be great in homespuns.  I'm using 2" strips so the blocks are 7.5" unfinished. 

Can you see what's in the backgroun of the photo on the left?  We picked up the Janome yesterday.  And I did NOT buy any fabric at the shop.  

I'll use Sweetness to get the HLC blocks to the flimsy stage.

Here's a collage of the four homespun flimsies I made this month. 

Linking up with OMG 2024 October  Wednesday Wait Loss Midweek Makers

Weekly update: more blue-sky days, another concert, and that homespun rescue

 I neglected to mention that we voted last week.  We got mail-in ballots and I dropped them in the box inside the early voting location at Zion City Hall.   There were about 30 people in line to vote in person.  I walked in, and out, with a woman I sort of recognized.  As we exited the building I said in a low voice, "May the best woman win!" to which she said, "You've got that right!"

Here is the backstory of our county's I Voted sticker.

We enjoyed walks at McDonald Woods,  Ray Lake, and Van Patten Woods.   

Upper left:  ground cherries in their husks.

Sunday evening we returned to the College of Lake County for a concert.   The Travelin' McCourys are a Grammy-winning bluegrass band.  Great music!  (And so much energy and strength in their hands.)   

The ADA-accessible row gave us convenient seats.  One of the ushers is a long-time acquaintance (from the late 90's) and he helped S get to the restroom (and out of it), for which I was grateful.  (It's a dilemma when there is no 'family' or unisex restroom.)

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In the studio:

Earlier this month I made some sawtooth stars.

Last week I made some sixteen-patch blocks.

I reduced the sixteen-patches to eight-patches and made more of them.  I made more stars, too.  

I added some HSTs.   

And here's what happened!   

64 x 72

(Oops. The HST at the upper left is mis-oriented. An easy fix, fortunately.)

Linking up with Design Wall Monday Oh Scrap! Sew and Tell

Midweek: design rescue in the works

 

Our AAUW branch met in person last evening. I was happy to go for several reasons -- to see friends, to sell tickets for the holiday raffle quilt, and most of all for the excellent program.  The Dignity Index is a way we can thoughtfully respond to people whose statements and ideas may not align with ours.              from the website: The Dignity Index scores distinct phrases along an eight-point scale from contempt to dignity.  Lower scores (1-4) reflect divisive language while higher scores (5-8) reflect language grounded in dignity.                                                  At our meeting the facilitators (AAUW members from the Batavia-Geneva-St. Charles Branch) provided sample statements for us to evaluate.  It takes practice!     I encourage you to go to the website to learn more. 

In previous years I'd start selling tickets for the holiday quilt at the AAUW-IL fall conference but it was online this year and I wasn't able to attend. (I know there are online auction/raffle platforms but I still can't wrap my head around the logistics.)   Last night's meeting was the last in-person meeting until the holiday party when the winning ticket will be drawn.  

I made the quilt in July.  

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In the studio:   

I've been taken with Wanda's recent sixteen-patch project . I tried the block with the homespuns that have turned out to be my genre-of-the-month.  I alternated the plaids with cream/tan 'regular' fabric.   Pretty blah!  I stared at them for a while and the lightbulb turned on.    Tune in again to see what I've figured out. 

Linking up with Midweek Makers and  Wednesday Wait Loss

Thanks for the shout out, Jennifer! 

Weekly update: sunny days, a concert, more homespun + reading

 Oh, such glorious fall weather!  

We revisited Illinois Beach State Park, Rollins Savanna, and the Des Plaines River Canoe Launch.

Left:  ground cherry (in husks).  Oak leaves, compass plant seed head, prickly pear with fruit, a determined chicory flower, aster, and ground cherries (sans husks).

A friend told me about this trail adjacent to the Rec Plex in Pleasant Prairie, just over the state line.  We checked it out this afternoon (Sunday). 

Saturday evening we went to the College of Lake County (our community college) to hear the Blind Boys of Alabama . They were great!   And with the senior discount our tickets were just $32.50 each. 

Note that I said "evening."  Now that I've had cataracts removed I can see to drive at night.  It makes such a difference! 

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This week I replaced broken things.  The coffeemaker was purchased in 2021 ($).  The Cuisinart food processor was purchased in 1991 ($$).  The molar (#19 per the tooth chart), grown approx. 1959 ($$$$).  [I'm kicking myself for pitching the work bowl from the burned-out Cuisinart because it would fit the new one.  I did save the blades, though.)

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In the studio:  

Here is the homespun project I referred to, now a flimsy.

I'm adapting it from a pattern in a quilt book from 1998.  The pattern uses 1-1/2" strips for 7-1/2" blocks but suggests using 2" strips for 11-1/2" blocks.  I'm doing the latter.   

Perhaps you had this book -- and perhaps you still do! 

(The quiltmaker is (was) Mary Radke of Yorkville, Illinois.  That's in Wanda's neck of the woods. I wonder if she knows her.)

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During her long life and illustrious career Marie Curie mentored many women scientists.  Sobel includes them in this interesting approach to biography.  I admit that I didn't completely understand all the scientific terminology, though Sobel explained it (fairly) clearly.

I'm a life member of AAUW which helped raise money so Mme Curie could  purchase a gram of radium .

Linking up with Oh Scrap!  Sew and Tell   Design Wall Monday. 

P.S.   A woolly bear caterpillar on the trail.  Weather lore says the wider the black bands the more severe the winter will be.  

Midweek: estate sale encore and a flimsy + quilt history books

 Barb M's estate sale began in September, 2023.  Paula and her friends were off in July and this September but were back this month.  And there will be more!   They've raised nearly $25,000 for different charities.  

  Average price $2.20 per yard this time.  You can see why my homespun stash has not diminished.

Not that I am not trying.  Here's the nine/four patch flimsy. 

I have another homespun project underway -- photos to come.

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(Last week I mentioned that a local quilt shop sells gently-used quilt books for $2.00 with the proceeds going to charity.  Reading one of those led to rereading another.) 

Jonathan Holstein wrote Abstract Design in American Quilts: a Biography of an Exhibition in 1991 in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the landmark Whitney Museum exhibit of 60 quilts from his collection.  That was the first time an art museum displayed quilts hung like paintings.  Critics were awed.   

Holstein was born in 1936, grew up in Syracuse, and went to Harvard. In the 1960's he discovered old quilts at antiques shops, farm houses, and other out-of-the-way places in New England, upstate New York, and Pennsylvania.  He and his partner Gail van der Hoof filled their Manhattan apartment with quilts. They were entranced by the way 19th and early 20th century quilt makers perceived and used colors and shapes.     

The Whitney exhibit opened July 2, 1971, and closed September 12.  From there it went to Paris and Japan. The Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) used some of the Whitney quilts and others from the Holstein collection for a 21-city tour in 1973-74.   

My observation is that some of the quilts are terrific and some are ho-hum.  So many more quilts have been discovered, documented, and shown since then, many of them magnificent.  It is interesting to read quilt analysis from the art history/critic point of view rather than that of a quilt maker.  

My copy of The Pieced Quilt: An American Design Tradition is a reprint (Galahad Books) of the 1973 publication.   It is not a catalog of the Whitney exhibit but is a follow-up companion.  Holstein elaborates on American quilting development, again with the emphasis on design.  

 In 2003 Holstein donated his collection of quilts and documents to the International Quilt Museum.   The 400 quilts include the 62 from the Whitney exhibition.  Images are in the Quilt Index here.  (It was valued at $2.2 million, quite an increase considering that Holstein and van der Hoof set a budget of $36 per quilt on their buying trips.)   In 2021 IQM  remounted the exhibit for its fiftieth anniversary.   

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Linking up with  Midweek Makers  Wednesday Wait Loss

P. S.  Thanks for the shout out, Jennifer!  

Weekly update: homespuns + reading

 

Cranes at Sand Pond this afternoon.  My walk was shortened because this strange wet stuff fell from the sky.  Oh, that was rain!   There hasn't been any around here for six weeks.  (And an hour afterward the sun was out again.) 

In my post Friday I alluded to an adventure.  We drove 65 miles to Westmont and took our friend Pat out to lunch.  

Pat was my long-time ALA conference roommate. She lives in a retirement/assisted living community now, and no longer drives. Though we chat by phone often it's been nearly two years since we've visited in person. Now that I've had cataract surgery I can see much better so I'm a more confident driver. 

Friday evening the  Saddle Shoe Sisters sang golden oldies in a concert sponsored by our church.  It was a sing-along for many of us

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 In the studio:  

I'm still working with homespuns.  I found a stack of light-cornered 3.5" nine patches made from homespuns and 'regular' neutrals.  I sewed them with pairs of 3.5" homespuns. That led to making more nine patches and then more blocks and....as of Sunday evening here's the design wall.   An 8 x 9 block setting will be 48 x 54; 3" borders would bring it to 54 x 60.

(I've had the ARC on the shelf since 2018 and took it along on my trip last month. Didn't read it until I got home, though.) 
A hundred years ago aviation was still young but it had made tremenouds progress in just two decades.   Military and commercial flight was becoming more prevalent. But what captured the public's attention was daredevil barnstorming -- brave (foolhardy?) pilots in small aircraft performing at airstrips all across the country. Records were there to be broken -- prizes for the longest, fastest, highest flights. Women were among those pioneers. Amelia Earhart is the best-known but she was hardly alone. Along with Ruth Nichols, Ruth Elder, Louise Thaden, and others they pushed the male establishment to let them fly. Some crashed, some soared, and they contributed immeasurably to aviation.

Linking up with  Design Wall Monday and Oh Scrap!  

P.S.  Heirloom tomatoes from our favorite produce stand.  They're huge and delicious.

Friday check in: swapping the quilts

 

This late-blooming coneflower caught my eye at  Ethel's Woods yesterday afternoon. 

Friday is change-the-sheets day.  This week it's also change-the-quilts.  

I made this in 2006 and had it professionally quilted.  It's been the 'summer' quilt ever since.  There are a few popped seams.  After 18 years I have gotten my money's worth out of it and maybe, just maybe, I can treat myself to a new one.   But for now, back into storage it goes.

This is the 'winter' quilt.  I made it during the 2020 pandemic lockdown and had it quilted. It named itself: Shelter in Place.   The houses have fussy-cut elements of things that inspire me: books, flowers, quilting, and more.  It still makes me smile! 

The back.   

This is my favorite quilt, I think.  I made it in 2008 and it, too, is professionally quilted because back then I was not very confident about my FMQ skills.  I use it as a topper before I add the blanket and comforter to the bedding. 

Yes, there is a quilt for S's bed but he prefers his plain blue L.L. Bean comforter.  Arguing with a person with dementia is not productive, I assure you.

We're off on an adventure today!   

Linking up with Finished or Not Friday  

Midweek: a flimsy and piecing fun

What an interesting cloud formation! I took the photo Monday afternoon at Middlefork Savanna

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 I took the Janome to Sew 'n' Save in Racine for an overdue cleaning.  I did not buy any fabric but I came home with some books.   The shop has two bookcases crammed full with quilt books donated by customers. They sell them for $2.00 and give the proceeds to a Wisconsin veterans' project.  

The Quilt Digest is issue #4, 1986.  It has an article by Suellen Meyer with this intriguing snippet.  

Here's the source.  

While the Janome is away Sweetness, the Singer 301, has come out to play.   A few drops of oil and she's humming away.   I paid $75 for her about 20 years ago.  (I also have a Featherweight but it needs a new belt.)   Note to self:  buy a new bottle of sewing machine oil! New machines are self-lubricating so it's not something I have to think about . . . until times like now.

Aunt Vina's Favorite is a flimsy.  6 yards.  

More homespun blocks are in the works.

Linking up with   Wednesday Wait Loss   Midweek Makers

Weekly update: glorious days, caught up already!, twenty blocks + recent reading

 

Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine!  

Swans at Hastings Lake on Saturday.

Herons at Nippersink on Sunday.

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Natalie Doan of Missouri Star was the guest speaker at the guild meeting Wednesday.  I didn't get any good pictures!   It was fun to hear her side of the family business.  

This is the final month for the guild round robin.  I got right to work and added borders to CB's quilt.  I can't show you the entire flimsy until next month's reveal, but you can see one of the Tula Pink owls that AK added.  

We got the pattern for block #3 of the BOM.  It's the one at the bottom, shown with the previous blocks. 

BTW, this is the quilt for which I bought the background fabric. It was a BOM circa 2007. I quilted it in 2012 and donated it.

I finished 20 Aunt Vina's Favorite blocks.  They are 12-1/2" unfinished.   The inspiration photo (Jean Wells, Patchwork Made Easy) has 30 blocks set edge to edge like these. I'm going to audition sashing.   

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And on to the reading report.   I took four paperbacks on the trip.  I finished one the first day and gave it to my hostess (who rescued me during the flight delay).   I left two behind, unread (they were advance reader copies) in the London hotel room because I knew I wouldn't get to them.  In the midst of the trip I only read a few pages before turning out the light.  Of course I took a look at the books at the newsstand at DeGaulle airport -- shelves of English as well as French books -- and bought one!  That kept me going on the long flight home.  

A man confronts his grief and loss and learns to trust in love again. A tender story.   

It took a while for me to get into the rhythm of the story but once I did I kept on going.   There was a lot of foreshadowing that made me feel that something unimaginably terrible would happen.   From our 21st century viewpoint the terrible part was the smug superiority that the English colonists felt over the indigenous people.  Narrator Bethia also had to deal with men's domination (again, outrageous to us now).  But I think that Brooks describes how things most likely did happen without overlaying "we know better now."

A richly-imagined, suspenseful story about Lucrezia di Cosimo di Medici. The portrait commissioned by her husband Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara, is likely the model for Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess."

Linking up with other bloggers at Oh Scrap!  Design Wall Monday

P. S.  We do not recall that we have ever eaten pawpaws. A customer gave a basket of them to the proprietor of the produce stand we patronize (see the apples in Friday's post).  She was giving the pawpaws away and I took six.   They're not bad but they're not something we will make a point of seeking out.