Friday check in: wrapping up April and goals for May

 

Tra la! It's May!
The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when ev'ryone goes
Blissfully astray.  

 I did say, "Rabbit, rabbit!" first thing today but I also remember listening to Julie Andrews sing  The Lusty Month of May on our Broadway cast LP* of Camelot.   

(*LP -- yet another archaic term from the 1960's.)

April was  productive in terms of quilting.   My April OMG was to make the Trip Around the World quilt.

 I made six quilts from Villa Rosa Designs patterns for the VRD Six Quilts in Six Weeks challenge.  

I finished the guild mystery and made an I Spy quilt for Baby D, due in July (shower at the end of May).

Barb-the-quilter quilted these for me.  I made the red/green earlier this year and the homepsun Aunt Vina in 2024.  

The stash report.  Fabric IN, April:  5-3/4 yards, $27.32.  Fabric OUT, April: 60-1/2 yards.

Fabric IN, YTD:  6-1/2 yards. $37.32. Average: $5.24/yard. Fabric OUT, YTD:  259-1/4 yards.  Net DECREASE: 252-3/4.  

I feel very virtuous. 

My goal for May is to make at least two placemats for the 2027 Rotary project.  I have a batch underway.  

Linking up Finished or Not Friday  OMG for May

Midweek: two finishes

 Yesterday afternoon I gave the New Zealand travelog for our AAUW travel group.  All went well.  In the evening I attempted to repeat the presentation via Zoom for P.E.O. but my computer screen kept blacking out.  My P.E.O. sisters were very understanding, I logged back in on my iPad, and the meeting proceeded without the program.  I have a Geek Squad appointment later today!  (And as I type this the computer screen is fine, but I'm going to keep that appointment.)

# # # # # In the studio:  two finishes!

The guild 2026 mystery quilt. 

 The back is a vintage print ($1.75 for 5 yards at a sale.)

The tropical print and the Big Bang stars go together.  I've just read Sea People, a book about the way people settled all the Polynesian islands.  They used celestial navigation to find their way across the open ocean.    

I had to buy fabric -- gasp! -- for the border.  I don't know the baby's gender but bright works, right? Right!

I added a strip to make the back wider.  

Linking up with Wednesday Wait Loss

(Thanks for the shout out, Jennifer!)

P.S.  On Monday Julie and Rachel (who live in central NH) went up to Passumpsic Cemetery to visit Stevens.  

Weekly update: anniversary, convention, and a little sewing

 

One year.  How I miss him!

I'm grateful to everyone for their love, support, and kind thoughts.

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The 101st  AAUW-Illinois convention was in Rockford this past Friday evening and Saturday.  (I didn't go last year because (see above).  The last time it was in Rockford was 2002 and I didn't go because my mother passed away.  Hmmm...)   Helen drove and we roomed together. (It was a test because in October we will travel together. We got along quite well.)  

The Rockford Women's Suffrage Monument was unveiled in 2020 for the centennial of the 19th amendment.   The Rockford AAUW branch was a leader in the project from conception to fundraising to creation to installation. 

Barbara S. told us all about the design process (ceramic mosaics created by an artist in Marseilles, Illinois) and each element.  It uses the suffrage colors. It is three-sided (suffragists, black women's rights, and looking to the future). There were so many ideas that the mosaic benches were created. 

 It's beautiful!

Back at the hotel:  the convention began at 5:00 with a public policy update by AAUW-IL's lobbyist, an opportunity to mix and mingle (so many long-time friends and many new acquaintances), and the keynote "Vote, Voice, Advocate" to turn concern into change given by former state rep. Litesa Wallace. 

AAUW national director of public policy Meghan Kissell spoke to us by Zoom. (She was at the AAUW-MN convention.) 

AAUW-IL's annual business meeting was brief and uncontroversial.  We voted for the new officers online.  Branch fundraising was recognized in the program booklet.  The Agent of Change winner was profiled in the program book; she spoke to us online because she was at a conference for her advocacy group.   

All of that efficiency means there's time for great programming. 

Journalism educator Ellen Austin and Rockford PL Community Engagement Director Anne O'Keefe told us about the alarming news-desertification [my term] and how RPL is providing opportunities for teens to fill the gap.

(I didn't get good photos of the two speakers!)

"You can't be a thriving, connected community without local news," said Austin. She cited Rockford where the Register-Star went from 100+ reporters in 2000 to 2 reporters now. The only school newspaper is at a local elementary school. But Austin has led initiatives for high school journalists and has brought that to her hometown, Rockford.

High school journalists are a news source and youth newsrooms serve their communities. "Student journalism IS journalism, with output held to a standard. It's not just writing for your mom." One out of every two American high schools have a news/journalism program but that number drops to one in four for small rural or majority-minority high schools. The Rockford Public Library has stepped up as a partner for youth journalism as part of RPL's community engagement and teen programming. RPL has collaborative workspace and media production facilities. The teens benefit from civic engagment, learning about finding and using sources, fact checking, and showing up in person to get the story.

The Rockford Peaches and women's baseball. Dr. Cathy Headley (professor at Rockford University and baseball fan) told us about the team and Rockford's contribution to both sports and women's history. The Peaches were the winningest team in the league.

The legacy lives on!  

 The closing activity of the convention is the quilt raffle drawing.

I've donated a quilt every year since 2005, with the exception of 2020 (convention cancelled) and 2021 (convention online).  The proceeds to AAUW initiatives for equity and education for women and girls.  

This year was the best yet:  $645!  The quilt raffles (convention and holiday) have raised nearly  $10,000.  

# # # # #  Helen and I got to her house at 5 p.m. and I was home at 5:30.  Not much time in the studio --  I took a long nap Sunday afternoon!

  I prepared two quilt backs, got one basted and to the binding stage.  More progress reports in a couple of days.

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

 

Friday check in: this, that, and a flimsy (almost)

 

Violets, Virginia bluebells (mertensia), trillium at Lyons Woods on Wednesday morning.

No walk on Thursday because the Clara Cummings Book Club met for lunch.  Pamela Toler told us about "the dragon from Chicago." That was the nickname given to Chicago-born Sigrid Schultz, who was the Chicago Tribune's Berlin bureau chief from 1925-1941 and a wire service war correspondent from 1941-1946.   She chronicled the rise of the Nazi party and developed an extensive network of contacts who provided insider and behind-the-scenes accounts of what was going on.  

Toler learned about Schultz when a cache of late 1890's photographs was found in a house on Chicago's north side.  They were of Schultz and her family, taken by her father who was a portrait photographer.  That led to research that resulted in a book and, fortunately for the CCBC members, this fascinating program. 

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In the studio:   I pulled out the novelties bin for the next project, an I Spy quilt.  

I've had a lot of these for a very, very long time. (One particular print was part of an I Spy that I made in 1999.  It's been in nearly every I Spy that I've made since.) 

Blocks assembled, waiting for borders.

(That 1999 fabric?  Fifth row, seventh column. Bright squirrels.    And the one just above it--a saxophone on a splotch of blue, white background--is from a baby quilt I made in 1997. I have a chunk of the squirrels but just inches of the musical instruments.)

The cut-away corner HSTs have been sewn, trimmed, and pressed.  They're 1-1/2" unfinished.

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The Christian Science Monitor's film critic gave The Choral a very positive review.  I got it on Amazon and watched it last evening as I sewed.  

 During World War I the choral society in an English mill town must regroup because so many of the young men are in the Army. The new choirmaster (Ralph Fiennes) changes the musical selection for their spring performance and recasts it to be a reflection of the war. There are subplots and twists, a lot of poignancy, and beautiful singing.

I enjoyed it!  

Linking up with Finished or Not Friday

 

Midweek: challenge met!

 

Jolie Afrique is finished and so is the Six Quilts challenge.    (The pattern is Jolie and the fabrics are African.) 

The Villa Rosa Designs Six Quilts in Six Weeks Challenge instructions:   finish six quilts from  VRD patterns between April 6 and May 20.  New starts, UFOs, and WIPs are eligible.  

I leaped right on the challenge by finishing a UFO, making the April top-along (a VRD spinoff), and making four more quilts from patterns I purchased.  

It feels so good to complete the challenge three weeks ahead of schedule!

Next project:  an I Spy quilt.  Baby shower is May 24.  

Here is the back -- also African fabric. 

Linking up with Wednesday Wait Loss

 Brag About Your Beauties

Favorite Finish

Weekly update: quilt exhibit + finishes + reading

 We escaped the tornadoes and the flooding that hit Illinois and Wisconsin last week but there was a lot of rain.  It's the third-wettest April on record.  My basement stayed dry (I had the landscapers add a bank of soil around the problem corner of the foundation) but apparently there's a roof leak.  It's always something . . . 

On Friday Leslie and I met at Concordia University in River Forest to see an exhibit of quilts by Modern Quilt Studio (=Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr).  Leslie and I met at a P.E.O. convention and we immediately hit it off.  She lives in Oak Park, adjacent to River Forest (50 miles south of where I live).  She's not a quiltmaker but she has design experience. It was interesting to have a non-quilter's reaction to the gorgeous artwork!  

We posed with our favorites.

After that we had lunch at a restaurant in Oak Park.  

Traffic on I-94 and 294 was moderate and I made good time both down and back.

# # # # # #

I spent the weekend catching up on a number of things, not the least of which was four hours creating the PowerPoint version of my New Zealand trip.  I am giving two presentations on April 28 (afternoon: AAUW travel group in person; evening;  P.E.O. by Zoom).  I'll tweak the slides in a day or two.  I admit it was fun to revisit my photos and notes.

In the studio:  three finishes!

Villa Rosa Cherrydale pattern. (#5  for the Six Quilts/Six Weeks challenge.)

The batik Trip Around the World.  My OMG for April.  

It's red/taupe/charcoal though it looks kind of red/white/blue.  

I used sheets for backings on both and the serpentine stitch to quilt both.

Barb-the-quilter did a wonderful job on the red/green nine-patch.  I bound it last evening.  This will be the AAUW holiday raffle.   I'm definitely WAY ahead of schedule.

The back is from Barb M's estate sale.  

# # # # # #

Mari and her young son Levi flee from the oppression and abuse of a rural religious cult.  They return to her parents' home on Little Great Island off the Maine coast.  Her reentry to island life is difficult. Her parents love her and Levi but both sides are stubborn. How can she make a living as an organic farmer and conservationist? The island folk are conflicted, too, between the traditional lobstering (diminishing catches due to climate change) and generation-long summer residents with developers seeking to buy family homes and farms.

A lot happens in a short time (so that the novel doesn't get toooo long). That aside, the local color is terrific and it's a great story.

Linking up with Oh Scrap!  Design Wall Monday Sew and Tell  Monday Musings  . . . and a new-to-me link up Patchwork and Quilts

Friday check in: the corollary kicks in, but there's progress

 

The 24th annual Zion-Benton Senior Resource Expo was Wednesday at the Zion Park District Leisure Center.   This year Zion Woman's Club had a table along with area agencies including libraries (Zion-Benton (mine) and Waukegan), Lake County Forest Preserves, banks, home health care, and state and county officials. 

 

# # # # # #

In the studio:   

A house is the template for the chapter highlights display at the P.E.O. state convention.  Any medium is welcome (many chapters do scrapbooking-type collages). I use fabric, of course, and here's how it turned out.  The lettering is printed on adhesive label plastic (8-1/2 x 11 sheets)  that I put on after the quilting. I can peel off the labels after the convention.

(BTW, the smile on the sun is part of the fabric. I just fussy cut it.)

The bigger P.E.O.-related quilting project is April's OMG:  a Trip Around the World to use as the backdrop for my scholarship committee table.   I found many TATW designs and different TATW assembly suggestions.  What I kept going back to was this one from a Temecula Quilts book.  I liked the colorway.   Their pattern uses 1-1/2" squares.  I need a larger quilt and decided on 4-1/2" squares.  Remember that I made 37 TATW mug rugs in batiks for this display, so the backdrop quilt will be batik.  And using stash is a given. 

You know the saying, "Measure twice, cut once."  There is a corollary!  "Design twice, cut once."  And I violated that right off the bat.   I followed the Temecula colorway with three creams, three tans, taupe, red, charcoal, blue.  I cut 4-1/2" squares in all the colors, even if they weren't exactly the contrast I wanted. 

I didn't take a photo of the array on the design wall. Suffice it to say I wasn't thrilled.

Would I have to buy more fabric?   

I went back to the stash bins.  And look what happened! 

(And now I have 150+ 4-1/2" cream, tan, taupe, and blue batik squares to use in another project.)

The column on the right is the top row.  I began laying out the squares with the middle row and ran out of room at the top.  I wasn't going to risk messing up the sequence by moving everything down.  

I got all the rows pinned right away because I didn't want any of the patches to drift.  

At the end of last evening's sewing I had 12 rows sewn.

But now it's Friday morning.  I have to get going.  I'm having a quilty adventure today.  Come back on Monday to find out more!

Linking up with  Finished or Not Friday

Weekly update: exhibits and celebrations + two finishes + reading

I took a little excursion Friday afternoon.   Every year the Racine Art Museum hosts an exhibit of Peeps art.  Entries come from studio artists, kids, city/county departments, and every day people.  Such punny fun!  

Top: Peeping Beauty School of Cosmetology; Frida; No Mistakes, Just Happy Little Peeps (Bob Ross). Center: from the Racine city dept. of development; Arthur; "Peepal Conclave."   Bottom: Don Quixote; The Scream.

Of course I liked "They Read Banned Books."  

In the upstairs gallery at RAM:  paper cutting. Exquisite!

  The top left and center right are Polish (or Polish-style).  Upper right:  Japanese.  Lower left:  I think an American artist. Lower right: I forget.....What I kept thinking was how unforgiving paper cutting is. What if they goof?    I am a lot more comfortable with "it will quilt out." 

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Saturday:  a little cultural fusion:  a Rotarian (me) having Kiwanis pancakes at the Moose lodge.  I went by myself, but I saw many people I knew.   

(The Queens program is about community service and leadership.  Kaylynn is the granddaughter of Rotary friends Debbie and Bill. Bella and Laura (next to her) go to my church.)  

120 P.E.O. sisters from the thirteen chapters in the Lake County Round Table celebrated the 157th Founders' Day.   A three-chapter committee did all the work to bring about the lovely event.  All I had to do I'm LCRT president was preside.

Top: with my chapter sisters.  This year's theme, Live Like Lulu: Be a P.E.O. Builder, honors Lulu Corkhill Williams, She was among the first initiates into the new society (perhaps the first; records aren't clear) in the spring of 1869. She was influential in establishing P.E.O. in Illinois. 

A quilt was involved.    My chapter raffled my Courthouse Steps to benefit P.E.O. projects.  Jane T. was the winner.  ($335 raised. The decision to have the raffle was almost last-minute. We didn't get a permit, so sales were only at the event.)

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All of these goings-on were during the day.  I had evenings to sew!  

Villa Rosa Six Quilts Challenge, #3:  Boscobel.  Finished!  I added a border.  

Six Quilts Challenge #4:   Turnkey.  Finished!  

The pieced back and binding use the same print as the bars in the blocks.  (It's a Laura Ashley sheet, $1.00 rummage sale purchase. I used the sheet to back another Six Quilts quilt, too.  Just scraps left.) 

# # # # #

 

Margaret Finch values routine and precision. Those qualities are helpful in her job as a research assistant to a renowned botanist at a west-coast university, but less helpful in her interactions with other people. When her boss is found dead in his office she suspects he has been poisoned. She's determined to discover the culprit. With the help of a journalist-turned-janitor she succeeds.

If you enjoyed Molly (The Maid) and Elizabeth (Lessons in Chemistry) you'll like this delightful mystery.

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

P.S.  An array of spring greens at the state park yesterday.