"Campaign Trail" finished!

I named my version of Old Tobacco Road <http://quiltville.com/oldtobaccoroad1.shtml> "Campaign Trail" because that's the season we're in....and a long and scrappy trail it's been. I must admit that I wasn't wild about this pattern while I was slogging along with all those little HSTs for the pinwheels. I had to chart out all rows in the center to keep the assembly straight. By the time I got the center together I wasn't going to do those big Flying Geese for the border. But I did . . . and it all came together! Now I'm smiling....and I will be happy to move onto another project.

Style from the Stacks

ZBPL design team: Henny, who crocheted; Rosemary, who chauffeured; Sara, who modeled; Jean, who designed and stitched; and me, who networked.
"Style from the Stacks" premiered at the Illinois Library Association annual conference last week. The 40+ entries were made from library "stuff." Sara was our library's model. Her silvery shantung dress is embellished with videotape and ribbon (to simulate a barcode), with fussy-cut library cards (with the library's initials) that are themselves embellished with rhinestones. Her earrings are also rhinestone-adorned library cards. Her purse and the rosettes on her shoes and headband are crocheted from videotape. An award-winning local manicurist created press-on nails featuring audiotape and cut-out words, and another local styliest donated the hairdo. (Thank you, Chelli and Krissy!)

Other entries included a necktie embellished with coins from that library's fountain; a cocktail dress made from microfilm (with microfilm-trimmed shoes); two versions of Book Jackets; a vest made from CDs (like chain mail!); a scarf knit from newspaper bags; and a wedding dress made from romance novels.

Sheree took great photos. Here's the link to her Flickr stream:
www.flickr.com/photos/sheree11/sets/72157607525433065

It was a great evening and there is already talk of "next year"!

"Day of Discovery" in Chicago

Last Thursday DH and I enjoyed a one-day Elderhostel program in Chicago. "The Devil in the White City Tour" was named for the book by Erik Larson that contrasted the glorious "White City" of the Columbian Exhibition of 1893, the economic boosterism and rivalries of the fair's planners (among them Daniel Burnham, Frederick Law Olmstead, and Mrs. Potter Palmer), and the sordid, horrific H. H. Holmes who ran a boardinghouse into which young women went, and did not return.

Our tour was coordinated by the Museum of Science and Industry, where the group (there were about 40) gathered. We saw a computer simulation of the fairgrounds, which included reclaimed shoreline and the broad strip called the Midway Plaisance. At the time the area was "suburban" -- Hyde Park was 7 miles south of the Loop. The fair was a "White City" because most of the buildings were constructed of "staff," a mixture of plaster and cement on burlap, painted white. None of the structures was intended to last for more than the six-month season of the fair. Much has been written about the fair itself, and you can look it up .

What interested me: how MSI can be an original fair building when everything was temporary. The answer: MSI, the Fine Arts building, had a masonry core and bronze fire doors to make it fireproof. Parts of the exterior were made of stone.....It operated as the Columbian Field Museum for 30 years, until the Stanley Field Museum of Natural History opened. Julius Rosenwald, the Sears & Roebuck magnate and Chicago philanthropist, gave $2m in cash and Sears stock to create a science museum. He did not want it named after him, partly to encourage others to give, and also because of anti-Semitism, though for a while it was called the Rosenwald Industrial Museum. It became the MSI in 1933. Generations of Chicago kids (myself among them) remember the submarine, the coal mine, the larger-than-life-sized heart, the "pickled babies" (fetal development)....but I digress.

Our MSI tour included a walk on the grounds. The photo here is of two of the 7-foot-tall karyatids, a classical architectural feature (and another memory from those childhood field trips).

We then got on a coach bus and headed north to Lawry's The Prime Rib restaurant. I've walked past it often en route to ALA headquarters, but had never gone inside. It's the Leander McCormick mansion, built in 1894, said to be haunted by Mrs. McC. It was a casino and speakeasy in the 30's; then Kungsholm marionnette opera theatre, and became Lawry's in 1976. Our lunch replicated the Great Midway Ball Luncheon of 1893, as described in Larson's book: hash, beef stew soup, chicken fricasees with mashed potatoes, and raspberry sorbet....imagine having such hearty fare routinely! It was delicious.

Joining us at lunch was a guide from the Chicago Architecture Foundation (http://www.architecture.org/)

He provided us with more information about fin de siecle Chicago. We took the bus to Prairie Avenue, where the wealthiest people in the city lived--the Fields, the Armours, and others. (http://www.cityofchicago.org/Landmarks/P/PrairieAveDistrict.html) With the recent redevelopment of the South Loop, Prairie Avenue is once again an attractive place to live. The Marshall Field, Jr., mansion has been divided into condominiums. Which one has the parlor in which Field died? That story is one of the tales in "Sin in the Second City," http://www.sininthesecondcity.com/, just blocks from Prairie Avenue (but not on our tour).

Finally, back to MSI for a walk to the Japanese Garden on Northerly Island in Jackson Park. It, too, is a remnant of the Fair. (http://www.hydepark.org/parks/osaka2.htm#history) Our group was large and it had already been a long day, so we couldn't really enjoy the serenity of the garden.

It was a most enjoyable way to spend a beautiful September day! This was our fifth EH "Day of Discovery" and we look forward to future Discoveries!

Finished!

I have acquired a nice collection of black-and-white fabrics. I began this quilt Labor Day weekend and finished it -- quilted and bound -- this evening!! (I took advantage of three free evenings this past week.) Though most of my quilts use many more different fabrics, this design would not be as effective with more than the six that it has. The backing is red/white/black print that I bought in tremendous quantity in the Red Tag section of JoAnn's a couple of years ago. (Can't beat good quality when it's just $1/yard!) My Magpie friends provided advice for the border which is a flap of white-on-white, then black-on-black, and the wider red. The finished size is 89 x89. I don't know its destination.

Quilting update

(1) A bookshelf wallhanging for a coworker who has just received her MLS. The pattern is by Christine Thresh (winnowing.com). I've made it many times, though of course no two wallhangings are alike because of all the novelty fabrics and embellishments.
(2) Our guild had an orphan block challenge. We were invited to bring in orphan blocks (I took in a big stack) and then take some. I took just one, made four more, and created this 50 x 50 quilt. We are to bring the completed projects to the September 3 meeting. They'll be given to charity. I really like the autumn colors!
(3) This is what 366 Heartstrings blocks look like! I made one-a-day. This being leap year, that's 366. They busted 60 yards of stash. Seven 48-block quilts and one 3o-block quilt will use them all.

The 19th Amendment: 88 years ago today

(image from www.nwhp.org) There are areas where women and men aren't equal, but winning the vote certainly help to narrow the gap. Hooray for Harry Burn!

This is the way Garrison Keiller reported it in today's edition of "The Writer's Almanac":

"It was on this day in 1920 that the 19th Amendment was formally incorporated into the U.S. Constitution. It proclaimed, 'The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.' It ended more than 70 years of struggle by the suffragist movement.
"It had passed through the House and Senate. At first, it looked like the amendment was not going to make it. And then, a 24-year-old legislator from Tennessee, Harry Burn, decided to vote for the amendment at the last minute because his mother wanted him to. And Tennessee became the 36th state to approve suffrage for women.
"They sent the certified record of the Tennessee vote to Washington, D.C., and it arrived on August 26, 1920. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed the proclamation that morning at 8 a.m. at his home. There was no ceremony of any kind, and no photographers were there to capture the moment. And none of the leaders of the woman suffrage movement were present to see him do it. Colby just finished his cup of coffee and signed the document with a regular, steel pen. Then he said, 'I turn to the women of America and say: 'You may now fire when you are ready. You have been enfranchised.'"

What it was, was Base Ball

.....vintage base ball, that is, spelled in two words and played by 1860's rules.

DH and I were in the stands on the grounds of the Wade House in Greenbush (http://www.wadehouse.wisconsinhistory.org/). The home team: the Greenbush Dead Citys. The visiting team: the Milwaukee Cream Citys (http://milwaukeecreamcitys.org/).

The field was the same size (90 feet between bases) though this particular field had a definite upward slope from 2nd to 3rd. No gloves, a variety of bats (some homemade, some reproductions), homemade balls (comparable to today's regulation size). An out could be either a fly ball OR catching after one bounce. Strikes were counted only for swings, not for pitching, and there were no balls (e.g. a player could not be walked). The game was 9 "rounds." "Well struck, sir," was the comment after a hit. The final score: Cream Citys 26, Dead Citys 7.

Christmas in July (well, early August)

I finished piecing "Christmas Ramble" this weekend.

Each block has 20 2.5" HSTs. (Doing the math: 600 HSTs in the 30 blocks plus 16 HSTs in the corners.)

The blocks finished to 11.5" and the entire top is 87 x 76. It used 8 yards of fabric, though I had to buy the red border since none of the reds I had on hand was just right.

The Friends of the Library will raffle this as a fundraiser this fall. I'm contributing the top and they'll reimburse me for the professional quilting. It feels good to have something completed in advance!

Recent stitching

Poinsettia Baskets. Pattern from APQ. Approx. 24 x 32.
This will likely be my contribution at our AAUW holiday party in December.









Birds in the Air. A wedding gift for Cherie and Justin (he's the son of my college friends Alex and Randy). Cherie wanted black and white. Justin is a Navy pilot, hence the block pattern. This was quilted by Wendy Maston.





(It really is black and white, despite the greenish cast in the photo.)









Maple Leaves. Blocks from an exchange last year. The setting is from a back issue of Fons &Porter. The square-in-a-square border adds interest.

ALA Annual Conference with Disney and Quilts

(1) Log Cabin Stars; (2) in hot water again (51 years later); (3) Sterling Touch (Jill P. and me); (4) Carol N. and me at M&L Fabrics with the huge conference tote bag; (5) M&L; (6) Jewel Box in batiks

I don't intend to be a twice-a-month blogger, but it seems to work out that way. I took the laptop with me to the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. I had internet access for one day, then managed to screw up the settings and there went connectivity. (Yesterday, thanks to my patient coworker Tara, the settings were restored so here I am.)

The conference itself has been blogged and photographed and reported on, such as here:

http://link.ixs1.net/s/ve?eli=n222790&si=o98441117&cfc=3html

Since 1984 I've missed only one Annual Conference (and two Midwinter Meetings). Committee work has kept me busy (especially when I was on the Executive Board) but this time I was able to go to several programs, each of which was very good. It is always nice to reconnect with colleagues and friends--virtual conversations are fine, but in-person is often better.

Disney, you say? The Saturday Scholarship Bash tickets were "twilight passes" to Disneyland. It wasn't exclusive; ALA attendees shared the park with the thousands of other people, but it was no problem. The only previous time I'd been to Disneyland was *1957*. My sister and I both remembered the Mad Hatter's Tea Party ride in Fantasyland -- so I had to go on that one again!

Quilts? But of course! The ALA BiblioQuilters had three quilts in the scholarship silent auction. Several of us took time to go shopping at M&L Fabrics. WOW!! Name brands (Kaufman, Hoffman, Moda, etc.). First run $7.98 and $8.98/yd. Slightly older fabrics $2.98 and $3.98/yd. My mind went blank when I walked in the store: what projects did I want to buy fabric for? How much could I fit in my suitcase? In the end I spent $56 for 14-3/4 yds. Not bad!

Cream Crush

Here is a rather crooked picture of my Cream Crush quilt top. I used only two of the fabrics I bought in England (the green in the spinning stars and the orange circles in the album blocks). The border fabric was purchased with another project in mind. I think it works very well here (and there is lots left over to use in that other project.)
When I put the blocks on the design wall I wasn't wild about the effect. Now the assembled top reminds me of an elaborate tile floor. This was great fun to do!

Friendship and Quilting

(I didn't bring my Featherweight for nothing!)

(All of us)

(Stage set for Prairie Home Companion)

(Sunrise over the Organ Mountains)

Two weeks ago I was hurriedly preparing for PieFiesta Dos in Las Cruces, New Mexico. This was the biennial gathering of the Magpies, who met on the internet newsgroup rec.crafts.textiles.quilting in the late 1990's. This was our fifth large-group meetup since the first PieFiesta in 1999. There were 15 of us this time, some new to the gathering, with a 40-year age span, coming from east, west, south (and four of us from Illinois). We talk online every day so seeing one another in person just continues the conversation of a few hours before.

We laughed. We ate (yumm) and drank (margaritas!). We toured (some went to White Sands, some went to the NM Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum). Three of us went to see A Prairie Home Companion (conveniently at NMSU that Saturday). Some of us sewed. We all shopped!! And, all in all, we had a wonderful time enjoying one another's company.

Holiday Weekend

It was a pleasant weekend, both at DH's and at my house. We had our first long rambling walk of the season though the riverside park. (No mosquitoes yet.) I put in some tomatoes and basil. I am so not a vegetable gardener but maybe this year I'll get a crop. It was nice to sit out on the patio yesterday afternoon! (What a contrast today: it's 38 as I type this, going up to 60. Brrr.)

A half-step forward, a couple of steps sideways, and a leap back . . . that's my stash story. I spent much of last week working on a quilt that will be a wedding gift. After I got the blocks assembled I realized I didn't have the "right" border fabric. Joann Fabrics had a holiday sale with 10% off the entire purchase so I got fabric for the border and the back AND 10 yards of quilt batting (also on sale) AND just a few other yards. But it was all on sale!

I used up a stack of 3" squares making mini 9-patch blocks. I have discovered that these are fun to have on hand when "just sew something!" urge strikes. 200 mini 9's uses 1-5/8 yards of fabric.

Here is Step 5 of the Crush mystery. The orangey fabric is one of my purchases from England specifically for this project. The purple just looked right, and I used the same purple in all the blocks (rather than a variety of purples). I'm not going to try to figure out how the entire quilt is set--I'll wait until Bonnie tells us!

P.S. As for that border fabric (see second paragraph): it did not pass the audition. I'll have to ponder the design, and my stash, some more.

Gifties

Next weekend is the long-anticipated PieFiesta Dos in Las Cruces, New Mexico! This morning I finished the favors I'm going to give to my fellow Magpies. These little pouches are made from neckties, of which I have a few hundred (vbg). They were easy to make and they are sooooo cute!

Caught up on the mystery

Here are my "Cream Crush" blocks!   

Pentecost, and this week's sewing accomplishments

I'm not a mother so I don't get all worked up over Mother's Day. This year it coincided with Pentecost. DH acknowledged the former but emphasized the latter, using Acts 2 as his preaching text. (We also observed, privately, that the sentiment "God could not be everywhere so He created mothers" is inaccurate, bordering on the blasphemous: God can be anywhere God wants to be. God IS omnipresent.)

My lawnmower is still at the shop awaiting its annual tuneup. (Every March I remind myself to take it in early, and every April I eventually do.) Meanwhile the grass is getting high, more so because I fertilized it last week. But without the mower and in this chilly, blustery weather, I've done more sewing!

(I don't know how these got lined up this way. If I try to move them I will surely lose them.)

(1) Seven 5-1/2" basket blocks (two are reversed). These were presented at the

annual staff anniversary reception last week. The pocket on the back held a cash card (which we give rather than a plaque or a crystal bowl).

(2) Summer tote bag, adapting the "Newport" tote by Lazy Girl.

(3) "Nine Patch Cross," using 125 of the 3" 9- patches from the BlockSwappers . Both the cheddar/red-brown print for the setting and the larger cheddar/brown border fabric came from my stash. It's 56 x 56.

48 of these 4" bowtie blocks came from a SewManySwaps exchange. I made more blocks (they are soooo cute and so easy!) to create this 44 x 52 top. (I did this at the beginning of last week but didn't photograph it until today.)

....And I did NOT buy any fabric this weekend!

"We ARE AAUW" and $375!

The Twist 'n' Turn Stars were one of the Blockswappers' exchanges last year. I contributed the finished quilt to my AAUW branch to raffle, with the proceeds going to AAUW's Legal Advocacy Foundation (http://www.aauw.org/advocacy/laf/). The AAUW-Illinois state convention was yesterday and today. Ticket sales were brisk! The final tally was $375 and the winner was delighted.

This year's convention theme was "We ARE AAUW." A=Advocacy, R=Research, E=Education, which summarizes what AAUW has been about since its founding in 1881. I've gone to enough state events that I know many AAUW members from other parts of the state, so convention is a time for renewing friendships. Eight women from our branch attended this year, several of whom were first-time attendees.

The keynote speaker was AAUW's public policy director, Lisa Maatz. "We know the world can be changed by one person," she said, "but it's so much more fun to do it in groups." Legislative success requires perseverance, she told us. An example: it took 14 years (7 congresses) to get the Violence Against Women Act passed. "You never know if it is your call or letter that tips the balance for your legislator." Lisa said that AAUW has a reputation as a progressive and moderate organization. AAUW is reasonable in what it seeks; its members are multipartisan. The AAUW Capitol Hill Lobby Corps is the only women's group that lobbies weekly when Congress is in session. Often AAUW is the only gender lens at the table for federal issues: we talk about education in the women's issues committees and we talk about women in the education committees. AAUW's Public Policy Program is determined by the members, who approve the program at the association convention (odd-numbered years).

The Women's Global Education Project was featured in today's breakout session. (http://www.womensglobal.org/) The speaker, Joan Sherman, is a board member of this project. She said that in the developing world 150 million children do not complete primary school; of that, 100 million are girls. Secondary education is a key factor in women's and family success: smaller families, less domestic violence, higher income. She said that these countries have ministries of education and have schools but resources (particularly in rural areas) are scarce, families often undervalue girls' education, etc. The Virginia Gildersleeve Fund (which I mentioned in an earlier blogpost) has given the WGEP grants. Obviously there is more that can be done.

AAUW-IL was instrumental in having December 10 be designated Jane Addams Day in Illinois.
http://www.aauw-il.org/jane.html Watch for an upcoming quilt featuring a block called the Jane Addams Star!

Another finish

This is "Bright Chevrons."

A couple of months ago I cut a large quantity of 2" x 9" strips from my stash of bright fabrics. I sewed five strips together and trimmed them to 8" square. I cut the square diagonally and then pieced the resulting triangles.

I quilted it this weekend with simple in-the-ditch outlining the squares. It measures 64 x 82. It will be one of the items in the silent auction at our Rotary Golf Outing on May 16.

[P.S. The quilt brought $150. The successful bidder has purchased a half-dozen of my quilts at previous Golf Outings. I've asked her if she'd like to specify a colorway or pattern, to which she replies that she'll take potluck.]

A couple of other photos....

Our Falmouth hostess took me to Truro on the train to go fabric shopping. This was the outlet store for Truro Fabrics.
L3 & L5 per meter here!






I purchased fabric for "Devon Cream Crush," my version of the Quiltville mystery project.

The Falmouth Library. Built in 1894 with the library on the ground floor and the municipal offices above. The library is still there; upstairs is the municipal art gallery.

Rotary International "Shelter Boxes" provide tents and cooking equipment all in a box, for people displaced by natural disaster.

They are assembled and distribted from a town in Cornwall. This photo is of a display in a shop window in Falmouth.

Exmouth Library (a former school)

Oh, to be in England

(This post was begun April 2, but I'm finishing it on April 20.)

Suffice it to say, our first trip to England will not be our last. I've been home for a week; my husband will return April 28. Our hosts were (and his continue to be) most accommodating, taking us to see many sites in Cornwall and Devon. I took many pictures of beautiful countryside, rugged-down-to-the-sea cliffs, churches, and libraries. They'd clog the blog, so I'll spare you all of them.

(1) Stonehenge, on our first day (March 31). No, it's not in Devon or Cornwall, but it's on the way. That's as close as people can get (obviously they don't want people taking chips as souvenirs).

(2) Gwennap Pit,

(3) Come to Good, a Quaker meeting house

(4) Gorse. It's prickery, it's a weed, and at this time of year the moors are full of it. Beautiful yellow flowers.

(5) Merlin's Cave at Tintagel, the legendary birthplace of King Arthur.

Places we saw, all of which are google-able if you'd like to know more:
· Stonehenge
· National Marine Museum in Falmouth
· Come-to-Good Friends meeting house (built 1710)
· Trelissick Gardens
· Tintagel (reputed to be birthplace of King Arthur)
· Gwennap Pit (where John Wesley preached in the 1780’s—a terraced former mine pit that held as many as 2000 people)--we forget what a radical he was!
· Land’s End (farthest west point in Britain, 865 miles to John O’Groats in Scotland, now a big tourist trap….saw Dr. Who’s telephone booth)
· The Lizard (southernmost point in Britain, a National Trust site, fr. Cornish meaning “high place”)
· King Harry Ferry to Portscatho for church service
· The Eden Project (reclaimed china clay pit, now the world’s largest conservatory)
· Plymouth (from which the Pilgrims left)
· Buckfast Abbey
· A La Ronde (the Parminter sisters’ 16-sided house) and Point in View (their chapel and cottages
· Exeter Cathedral
· Exeter quayside
· Sidmouth shingle beach, lined with Victorian-era hotels

And
· Public libraries in Falmouth, Truro, Exmouth, and Exeter (the first three very like New England libraries, all built in the 1890’s)
· Truro Fabric Shop and its outlet, Yellow Patchwork Shop (fabric there a bargain at L3 and L5/meter)
· Train from Falmouth to Truro
· Bus from Exmouth to Exeter
· Bus from Exeter to Heathrow
· Meals included pasties at a local bakery in Falmouth; several old English inns; a converted mill (Otterton St. Mary).
· Cream tea in Cornwall: cream first, then jam; in Devon: jam first, then cream (or is it the other way around??)…..”chudleighs” are a variation of scones, but made with yeast (I can’t find a recipe, though)

Impressions
· Yards are small. Some are not so well-tended, but most are beautiful.
· No basements. (Parsonage in Falmouth built in the 50’s; house in Exmouth built in the 1920’s)
· Kitchen fixtures (stove, dishwasher, fridge) are smaller than in the U.S.
· Parsonage had a heat-water-as-you-go shower.
· Season three weeks farther along than Chicago. The south coast is warmed by the Gulf Stream so there are magnolias, camellias, and even palm trees in gardens.
· Gorse is a weed, but it’s pretty. (Yellow flowers.)
· English robins are soooo cute. (I got within 3 feet of a young one at the Eden Project.)
· NARROW streets. Parking allowed in either direction on either side, unless there’s a double yellow line along the curb.
· NARROW country roads, with hedges and stone walls on either side. If you meet someone coming the other direction the person who got there second must back up to the next turnout.
· Many places will take cheques but not credit/debit cards. (Cash, too, of course.)
· Lots of children! (It was half-term holiday in both Cornwall and Devon.)
· No Spanish-speakers/Latinos. Mostly Caucasians, a few Indians.
· Older women wearing mid-calf skirts, beautifully wool.
· Most people carrying shopping bags, everywhere.
· THRIFT SHOPS!! For all manner of charities (“Mare and Foal Association”)
· Emphasis on organic and Fair Trade food products (coffee, tea, more).
· Temperature is metric, but distance is imperial (miles). Fabric sold by both yard and meter.

National Trust and National Heritage are two different (competing??) organizations.
The Rotary Club that we visited (Penryn Club) had no women members.
We went to a public meeting about a Tesco (supermarket) expansion that would affect one of the churches in the Exmouth parish. (Tesco would build an entirely new building to replace the drab 1955 structure.) It was just like public meetings in the U.S.
ASDA/Wal-Mart wants to open a superstore in Exmouth. It’s very controversial.