Contest winner and a walk in the ravine

This morning (Saturday) our Rotary Club cooked and delivered more than 100 spaghetti dinners to elderly people in Beach Park, Winthrop Harbor, and Zion. I don't have any pictures because Stevens and I went to the church (in whose kitchen the food was cooked), got our assigned recipients, picked up the food, and went forth!  All was done in 45 minutes and everyone was most appreciative.

Me, Mrs. Morales, and Sandy

After lunch I went to the library.  Sandy and I drew the winner from among the 32 quilt contest entries (see yesterday's post).  Coincidentally Mrs. Morales, the winner, was on her way to the library when Sandy called her.  She said her granddaughter's birthday is soon and this will be an ideal gift.

 I went for a walk in the ravine at the end of the block.  It's March 29 and there's still snow on the (north-facing) slope.
















But here is a sign of spring: skunk cabbage. These little blossoms are high in sulfur, hence the name. 






Lichen on a log....looks like a ruffle!

Flowers, flourishes, a finish....and new fabric

Today's letter is F.

Flowers: 

Poppies in our back garden: so pretty, so fleeting.






In early June drifts of phlox Dame's Rocket brighten shady roadsides and, here, the bank of Dead Dog Creek Ravine.  (Thanks to Janet for providing the correct name with this link explaining the difference.)







Ravine restoration continues this season: this netting shades dozens of native plants (sedges, grasses, and wild flags (that's another name for iris)) to be planted along the creek.

Flourishes: on Saturday my guild hosted a workshop by Jan Krueger of Hearthside Quilters Nook. The subject was Borders, Too . I don't go to many quilt classes because it's hard for me to devote an entire day. I'm glad I indulged this time, because I learned some great design ideas!






A finish: Little Dipper, pieced in 2008, is finish #19 for the year.  It is 64 x 64. Back and binding used 3-1/8 yards.   The smaller picture shows the "almost-feathers" design I like to use in borders.   (The HSTs in the middle border are the cutaway triangles from the blocks. They are 1" finished.)

New fabric:  on Friday I went to a P.E.O. committee meeting in Oak Brook (50+ miles away). The meeting ended early and since I was in the neighborhood*  I went to Pieceful Heart Fabrics in Lisle (see my May 12 blog post).  The retirement sale prices were 40% off.  When I saw the Nancy Drew fabrics last year I wanted to get some, but I couldn't  choose among the colorways offered and then I couldn't decide what quantities to get.  At Pieceful Heart my dilemma was resolved: they had four of the prints. I bought the book cover panel and yardage.  I don't know what I will make but when inspiration strikes I will be well-stocked. ** (And as a result of Saturday's workshop I can try something imaginative.)  * Oak Brook is 7 miles from Lisle.  **I preferred Trixie Belden to Nancy Drew, but they haven't made Trixie Belden fabric. Yet.

I'm linking up with other quiltmakers for Design Wall Monday at Judy's Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday: swap blocks and postage stamps

  
 A week ago the path to Dead Dog Creek ravine was still snow-covered and slippery -- too slippery for me to walk down without a walking stick. Warm days have melted nearly all the snow so today I could easily go down the hill.  The alligator still lies in wait in the woods. 

The skunk cabbages have come up through last season's fallen leaves.




 Back in the studio:  here are my contributions for two of the five installments of the Progressive Swap.  Lori K wrote that she has a stack of pine tree blocks and wants houses and stars to go with them.  She provided three different gray/white prints for the backgrounds.   Cassandra is working on a design with different sizes of blocks, all batiks.  Once I pull out the boxes of batik FQs and scraps it's hard for me to stop!

 Here's how my latest postage stamp (1.5" squares) project has turned out. The blocks are 5.5" unfinished. The orientation is supposed to alternate (horizontal strips, vertical strips) but now that I look at it, there are a few that flipped. (How does that happen? LOL!)  The flimsy is 51 x 56. 

See what other quiltmakers are working on at Judy's Patchwork Times.

Dead Dog Creek Ravine, end of September

South entrance to the trail

This post ends what turned out to be a year-long project to document the seasonal changes in Dead Dog Creek Ravine.  Serendipitously, last Thursday evening the  Lake County Stormwater Management Commission  had a public meeting to discuss the stream restoration that will begin this fall.   I was able to attend. 

From the SMC website:
The restoration project will stabilize and restore the stream channel and ravine slopes of the creek between Sheridan Road and Geddes Avenue.

The $832,850 USEPA grant is through its Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) program. The grant will fund a streambank/bluff water quality and sediment control bioengineering best management practices project on 2800 linear feet of the Dead Dog Creek in Winthrop Harbor; and create two (residential and business) demonstration sites for runoff reduction best management practices as recommended by the Kellogg Creek Watershed-Based Plan.

Dead Dog Creek is a ravine system that drains approximately 3 square miles of the larger Kellogg Creek watershed. From the ravine, the creek flows through the high quality coastal plain wetland complex of Spring Bluff Forest Preserve and Illinois State Beach Park into Lake Michigan at two outlet points. Approximately 41% of the land in the Dead Dog Creek subwatershed is developed and is generating stormwater runoff from impervious areas into the creek. The additional water flow from urbanization coupled with the locally high gradient stream channel in the ravine has resulted in increased erosion of the stream channel and banks, and sediment to the coastal plain and Lake Michigan. The conversion of land to urban uses has also caused urban runoff pollutants into the stream system. The project will reduce the sediment pollution created by the eroding stream, and will begin to address urban hydrology changes that are increasing the volume of runoff and pollution into the creek.

The west end of the trail

Last month I took a picture of a tagged tree. That was part of a census of all trees 6" and larger in the ravine.  The species included 142 American elms, 130 cottonwoods, 86 sugar maples, 74 burr oaks, and 61 box elders.  The restoration will remove only trees in the access path or work area.  The canopy is fairly dense so some thinning will help the understory.  The big concern is the erosion on the bluffs (whole slopes fall away) and in the streambed. 

The restoration project will begin next winter.  I predict I will be taking more photographs of this beautiful ravine! 

Sign of autumn!

Dead Dog Creek Ravine, end of August

There was a community clean-up day for the ravine trail. (We weren't able to participate.)  A lot of fallen leaves were raked away and downed limbs were cut up.  Many trees were tagged.  I assume the tags indicate trees to keep, but I will have to verify that. 

Most of the wildflowers have gone by, though I did see one sprig of phlox in a sunny spot.   A heron lifted off from the creek but he was too quick for this photographer.

Trailville.com has a wiki page about this trail.  It does not mention the creek, which I erroneously called Kellogg Creek until I looked it up.  It is part of the
Kellogg Creek subwatershed of the Lake Michigan Watershed -- but it is Dead Dog Creek.  How did it get that name?  I will have to look that up.

Dead Dog Creek Ravine, end of July

This is month 10 of a year-long documentation project.  At the end of July, on a hot and muggy Sunday afternoon, the ravine is lushly green.  Damselflies flitted everywhere but were too quick for my camera.

 The path to the ravine. (Compare it to the first post).

The creek.

Erosion is evident after July's torrential rain.

This tree fell across the path. Its roots are still connected; this is new growth.

It doesn't take the squirrels long to sample the black walnuts.

May apple

Jerusalem Artichokes (helianthus tuberosus)

Queen Anne's Lace has been in bloom all month. It still looks pretty

Dead Dog Creek Ravine, early July

I was going to take the monthly ravine photos this past Thursday (June 30) but at 8 p.m. a "supercell" or microburst storm hit.  It lasted about 5 minutes and felled dozens of trees in our town.  We lost only two branches from the maple tree in the back yard which did not harm anything.  However, the electricity was out for 47 hours and 50 minutes!  We have a gas water heater so we had hot water.   A predicted heat wave (95+) did NOT come, and the temperature only got up to 82 inside the house.  What I missed the most was having light in the evening. 

The ravine did not suffer much in the storm.  That makes sense, since its trees are sheltered.  Now in mid-summer it is wonderfully green.  There was no rain this past week so the creek is fairly low.

Dead Dog Creek Ravine, May

The path into the ravine

It's been five weeks since I took ravine photos. What a change from April !

Lots of water after Saturday's downpour

Ranunculus (buttercup)

Podophyllum peltatum (Mayapple)

At home!  Geraniums on the front stoop

Vegetable garden, planted 5/30

Dead Dog Creek Ravine, April

 The Saturday before Easter:  finally, the sun has come out and the temperatures are 'seasonal.'  Here's the April installment of the woods along Kellogg Ravine.

Virginia bluebells (mertensia virginica)



Scilla--beautfiful, but non-native and aggressive



 

Trillium



  

 



Skunk cabbage in leaf (see last month's photo)





Bloodroot

  This oak tree fell about 10:00 a.m. today, according to Lee, whose house is on the edge of the ravine. (He came out as I walked by.)  He was drinking coffee on the porch and saw it happen!  Fortunately it fell to the ravine side and not on the house.



There's an alligator in the woods!