Weekly update: an evening out, walking again, and finishes

 

On Thursday evening the Waukegan Historical Society hosted "Extraordinary Ordinary Women" by local researcher Meg Goljenboom. Kathy rode with me and we met June and Joann there. (I knew many of the other attendees, too.)

Meg  talked about aviation industry executive Olive Ann Beech, cabaret singer Ada “Bricktop” Smith, candy maker Ora Snyder (who had more than 30 Mrs. Snyder’s Home Made Candy shops in Chicagoland), hotelier Maria Ramirez Kramer, and Mildred Johnson who founded an air express package delivery service in the 1920s.

The weather was cooperative on Friday and Saturday. I enjoyed walks at Lyons Woods Forest Preserve and the middle unit of Illinois Beach State Park. A front came through on Sunday with chilly, blustery winds so I stayed inside.

There were several Mourning Cloak butterflies along the trail. I learned that they are emerging from hibernation. Pussy willows are 'in bloom' now, too.

# # # # # #

In the studio: I got a lot of sewing accomplished! I frequently comment that quilts with no deadline and no destination come together without fuss. That was the case with the batik stars and cake stands.

I'm especially pleased with the back. I used a batik sarong that I got from a dear friend's estate as well as two other batiks.

I deliberately kept the stamped label visible.

I replenished the stock of daisy mug rugs for the ongoing P.E.O. project.

Genre switch!

I'm participating in the 19th century mini-quilt swap again this year. I pulled out a box of CW repro units/orphans/etc. I discovered the pieced stars/9-patches, all assembled. All I had to do was add borders and quilt it. Done!

# # # # # #

One book, two ways:

A while ago I found a copy of Mary Norton's 1957 middle-grade fantasy Bedknob and Broomstick at a library book sale. It finally came to the top of the stack.

It was fun to revisit the story 65 or so years after I read it.

The movie came out when I was in college and I'd never seen it. Note that the title words are plural for the movie and singular for the book. The version I rented from Amazon included a 20-minute behind-the-scenes feature that was very interesting. A fine accompaniment for Friday evening sewing.

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