#alamw2019: Seattle

Two weeks ago 6,490 librarians and 2,721 vendors were getting down to business at #alamw2019.
I'd been to Seattle twice before (Midwinter 2013 and PLA 2004). It was nice to be back in the Pacific northwest.  The skies were blue all week and the temperatures were mild.

My roommate Pat and I flew out on Thursday, January 24.  We began the conference at dinner that evening with colleagues who served on the ALA Executive Board. (My EB term was 2004-07 and Pat's was 2014-17.) 

I am on several ALA committees which met during the conference.
  I am a representative on the Freedom to Read Foundation board which met all day Friday.  The Retired Members Round Table has a business meeting followed by a book discussion that I host. The prompts this time were "a book you recommend" and "a book you didn't like."  Several of us were in agreement on those we considered clunkers.

There were many book and author events.  Midwinter is when award-winners are announced -- not only the Newbery and Caldecott medalists but also Andrew Carnegie winners (adult fiction/nonfiction) and Notable Books. 

Publishers also promote their spring titles.





Note "Lost Roses" by Martha Hall Kelly. She is second from right on this panel. I reviewed the audio edition of her first novel, "Lilac Girls." The new book is a prequel.  She was in the next seat on the shuttle bus when we went back to our hotel so we got to chat.

Debbie Macomber signed the audio edition of her latest book.











It is always interesting to see how a hotel interprets "high tea." At this Gala Author Tea the food was the best yet -- real cucumber open-faced sandwiches, a variety of tea, and delicious sweets.











My Magpie friend Gina was my guest. It was great to meet her in person at last!   Author Juliet Grames based her first novel on her Italian grandmother's life story.  A nice connection to Gina's Italian heritage.

(I've since finished The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Foruna.  It is great!)

 I was in the second row for Rick Steves' presentation, "Travel as a Political Act."  It was like being in PBS special.

"When we travel history becomes real.  We humanize humanity. We need to carbonate outlook with different passions," he said.  His favorite country is India but his beat is Europe. "Europe is the wading pool for world exploration." He travels four months out of the year -- northern Europe in the hot months and southern Europe in the colder months. "Fear is for people who don't get outside very much. It has never been safer to travel than now."


"Travel with an open heart, open eyes, and a rolled-down window."



He asked us to circle around him -- "a mosh pit of librarians" -- for the book signing.











 Another special event was a screening of the forthcoming movie The Public . Emilo Estevez wrote, directed, and stars in the film which is about a librarian and dealing with the homeless people who come to the downtown library every day.  It has drama, humor, and suspense.

Pat and I had second-row seats for the screening. Estevez and co-star Jena Malone answered questions afterwards.  I asked a question . . . and the next evening when I got on the hotel elevator to go out to dinner, there was Estevez!  He said, "You asked a question last night, didn't you?  And I answered, 'It's only a movie.'"  He got off at the 7th floor and I went down to the lobby. My brush with celebrity!  (Though I was more htan happy just to see/hear Rick Steves.)







There was time time to be tourists, too!  I spent an afternoon at MOHAI, the Museum of History and Industry.  It was easy to get to by streetcar ($2.00 round trip).

The museum is all about Seattle from the Native Americans to the present day.










Pat and I went to the Space Needle and Chihuly Garden and Glass  (They are adjacent and there's a combo ticket package.)

This is as far as my toes would let me go on the glass floor.   MOHAI is at the center of the top left photo.













We had lunch at Collections Cafe which showcases Dale Chihuly's eclectic collections -- lead soldiers, toy irons, shaving brushes, cast iron vases.

The Chihuly museum is spectacular.  There are indoor and outdoor installations.  It turned out that I dressed to match one of them.

We were supposed to return to Chicago on Wednesday, January 30, but that was the day of the polar vortex -- the high temperature was -21. Our flight was cancelled!  We rebooked (no charge) for the same flight the next day. The hotel allowed us to stay at the conference rate.  We spent the bonus day at the Seattle Art Museum, lunch at the Public Market, and at the Seattle Aquarium.  We saw the sea otters and the giant Pacific octopuses being fed (separately, of course).

The flight back to Chicago was uneventful.  The limo was there to meet me and I was home at 9:30 p.m.





The boxes of books and swag that I shipped back arrived on Tuesday.  Here's the haul!  Lots of good reading ahead.













P.S. One last box arrived a week later. :)  

Weekly update: stash report, RSC, Lotto, BOM, and OMG

I've been mentally composing my report on the ALA Midwinter Meeting but until then, here is the quilting news:
Stash report, January:
Fabric IN:   35 yards, $34.81
Fabric OUT: 35 yards
Net:  ZERO    
Yellow is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for February.  My project this year is MonthlyColor + gray/taupe pinwheels, one for each day of that month.  I made these 28 during TV-watching last evening.


This month's Block Lotto is "alternating nine-patch." The nine-patches are maker's choice with light squares and inky-dark squares.  These were a snap because I used nine-patches from my Block Swappers stash.

Our guild BOM this year is wonky paper-pieced houses.  I'm using all polka dots for mine. This is the February block. 

Here is the neighborhood.

It's time to declare the One Monthly Goal for February.  I need to make four tote bags. I will fill them with advance reader copies of forthcoming books and donate two to the Lake County Women's Coalition and two to the Zion Woman's Club/Zion Conservatory of Music for their March fundraisers.








I left for Seattle with the design wall like this.





Now it looks like this.  The upper left and upper center units are sewn. The Chinese Puzzle blocks are those I made for the 2018 RSC.

Linking up with
OMG 2019
RSC 2019
Oh Scrap!
 Design Wall Monday
Monday Making
Moving It Forward 

It's a finish!

The photo doesn't look much different from the one I posted yesterday, but if you look closely you can see the blue binding. 

I used leftover bow ties on the back.

I am low on big pieces of 30's fabric. The green/pink print on the left and the blue/black print on the right are genuine vintage pieces--36" wide.




















My 30's stash is down to one shelf.












I have two boxes of genuine vintage fabric . . . but if they haven't been sewn for 50+ years, what's the rush? 

P.E.O. is 150!

The P.E.O. Sisterhood was founded on January 21, 1869, at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.  The seven founders were Mary Allen (Stafford), Ella Stewart, Alice Bird (Babb), Hattie Briggs (Bousquet), Franc Roads (Elliott), Alice Virginia Coffin, and Suela Pearson (Penfield).

Earlier that school year a chapter of I.C. Sorosis was established at IWC.  Some of the seven were invited, but not all of them, so they decided to start "a society of our own."  As members graduated they continued their fellowship in community-based chapters.  In the 1890's the collegiate chapters were closed. Ever since, P.E.O. has been a community organization.


P.E.O. has grown and prospered.  There are over 200,000 members in more than 5,500 chapters across the U.S. and Canada.  P.E.O. is a Philanthropic Educational Organization that promotes educational opportunities for women through its projects:  Cottey College, a four-year institution for women in Nevada, MO;  International Peace Scholarship; Educational Loan Fund; Program for Continuing Education; Scholar Award; Star Scholarship.
P.E.O. projects have helped thousands of women attain higher education.


My paternal grandmother was a P.E.O.  My mother was a P.E.O. I was initiated into Chapter D, Maine, in 1985. I was a charter member of Chapter G, Maine; transferred to Chapter V, North Dakota; and since 1998 I've belonged to Chapter MY, Illinois (now HV-MY). 

The determination of seven young women at a small rural college to perpetuate their friendship has made a tremendous difference to an untold number of people -- P.E.O. members, their families, recipients of grants and loans.  The star shines brightly!

For more about P.E.O.:  here
My friend (and P.E.O. sister) Fran has many posts about P.E.O. on her blog: here
And click the label on the sidebar for my own P.E.O. posts.

Weekly update: eclipse and OMG progress

The skies were clear Sunday night making the lunar eclipse easy to see, but the 6-degree temperature meant I viewed it very briefly from our front steps.








It's much warmer in the studio!
I'm pleased to report that I have completed both parts of my One Monthly Goal for January.

OMG Part One:  assemble the blocks for the Good Fortune mystery.  Last week I posted the photo and the story of my travails.  I haven't done anything to rectify the make-do corners on the outer border.

Instead, I worked on OMG Part Two: assembling the 30's bow tie blocks.  Here's the flimsy.  It's 70 x 70.


I missed the OMG link up due to my travel schedule--I got home late 1/31 and didn't realize the link up closed a midnight --  but all the other finishes are  HERE

I pieced the back.  It's under the needle with the center quilted.  Hopefully I can finish it before I leave for the ALA Midwinter Meeting on Thursday.

Linking up with
Oh Scrap
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday
Moving It Forward

Midweek: EQTAS, Rockin' Robin, and a flimsy

Yesterday I presented Every Quilt Tells a Story, my quilt history program, for another P.E.O.  chapter. I knew several of the members from our county round table (and one is an AAUW friend).  I give a trunk show of quilts I've made and quilts I've collected. I ask people to share quilts they've inherited, received as gifts, or made themselves.

Jody's grandmother made this.  Isn't it super?

Donna remembers that this was always on her grandparents' bed. Her grandfather was a draftsman and created the templates for the appliques that her grandmother sewed. The green edging is worn-out applique.

The green leaves haven't survived but the green cornucopias have.

I suggested to both Jody and Donna that their quilts should be professionally appraised.

Mickey and Dorie are quiltmakers. Here are their recent projects.


# # # # # # #













The guild 2019 Round Robin began at the January meeting.  LM's starter block is 10".  I added the brown/turquoise borders.  The The strips and squares were cut 1-1/4" and finish at 3/4". I used a couple of can't-cut-this! fabrics that I have had for a long time. 


And, hurrah!  X Marks the Block is a flimsy!  6-1/2 yards.

Linking up with Midweek Makers

Weekly update: Mis-Fortune?, RSC red, and something new!

 Rip, rip, rip.  I wrote last week that I sewed half the red/orange blocks the wrong way around. But in this case half was better than all. I ripped, pressed, and resewed.

I attached Border #1.  

I attached two of Border #2.  

I discovered that Border #1 was upside down. 

I ripped one of Border #2 -- and then I found out that only one of Border #1 was upside down; the other three were okay. But the wrong Border #1 was *not* the one that I'd ripped apart from Border #2.  (Are you with me?) 

Then I sewed on the four Border #4.  They fit perfectly.  

Then I looked at the illustration.  I had forgotten Border #3. 

I ripped off all four Border #4.  I sewed on all four Border #3.  

Then I reattached Border #4.  All four sides are too short.   

I added inserts at the corners. I think they are clunky  but I was so fed up by then that I took the photo and folded up the flimsy.  I will fiddle with the border later on. I counted the square inches of all the units and calculate that the flimsy uses 7-3/4 yards in all.

Less frustrating and more productive sewing followed.

For the first three years that I played along with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge  I made the same block in each month's color on a white background. (See them here: 2017 Daisies, 2016 Crossroads, 2015 Log Cabin.)  Last year I got away from white backgrounds but stayed very scrappy with Chinese Puzzle -- each block had 34 different fabrics.  

For RSC 2019 I'm making things easier.  I will make pinwheels out of the monthly color and gray or taupe or off-white -- one pinwheel out of a different print for each day of the month.  The HSTs are 3.5" unfin and the pinwheels are 6.5" unfin.  I don't know how I'll set them but I will have fun making them.  (RSC is January-October, so I'll have 304 pinwheels. Enough for two quilts. Maybe three.)   

One of the Facebook quilting groups had a reference to a string block design by Teresa Rawson.  Here is the link: 

X Marks the Block
I had to try one.  And that led to all of these.

They are 9.5" unfin. and are foundation-free (no paper, no fabric).  I will make 48 for a 54" x 72" quilt.

The black strings use up six different black-with-white dots prints from my stash.

Weekly link ups:
RSC Scrap Happy Saturday
Quiltville Mystery Monday
Monday Making
Oh, Scrap!
Design Wall Monday
 Moving It Forward

Weekly Update: winnings, fireballs, dots, and Good Fortune

Raffle Mania was the main event at Wednesday's guild meeting.  Members bring quilt-related stuff they no longer love. Raffle tickets are distributed based on the previous year's attendance (1 ticket per month, 1 ticket for wearing a name tag). Additional tickets are .50 each.  I got 17 free tickets and bought 20 more.  I contributed 10 5-lb bags of fabric sorted by color (20 yards per bag), two smaller ziploc bags with fabric, and four bundles of 10 books each.  (I was ruthless when I selected the fabric to donate. How many years have I had this? Does this really go with anything?  Will I ever use this?) (You need to remember that in 2018 I was *given* 470 yards in addition to what I bought.)

I did not return empty-handed.   There were a dozen big bundles of books and magazines donated by the family of a guild member who passed away last month.  I won three of those stacks.  I also won two ziploc bags with, yes, more fabric -- just 27 yards!

In the studio this week:

Nine 6" fireball blocks for the January Block Lotto.



This month's wonky house for the guild BOM.









I have assembled the rows (shown here as columns) for Good Fortune.  Borders to come!  I really like the design and when the four borders are added it will look smashing.
Thanks to Barbara in Germany who noted the two four-patches the wrong way (second in, third up from the bottom). I managed to sew half the 4p-orange units the wrong way around. I ripped them out and re-sewed them -- but I missed that unit. I've corrected it (as of 2 p.m. Monday).


Monday link ups:
Design Wall Monday
Monday Making
Oh Scrap!
Quiltville Mystery Monday 

OMG for January: get ready, get set . . .

. . . and go!

The operative word is "set."  My two-part OMG for this month:

#1    Set the 30's bow tie blocks.  I showed a picture on Monday and said that I've come up with yet another setting.  Here it is -- still X's and O's but not as pronounced as the previous version.  All of these bow ties are sewn into blocks of nine.   I've made enough additional bow ties for the remaining four spaces.



#2  Set Good Fortune.  Bonnie posted the reveal today -- here if for some reason you missed it!

OMG and Good Fortune go together -- I won the December OMG prize -- a $50 gift certificate to Amy Bradley Designs !

Linking up at Elm Street Quilts here:  OMG 2019 . 

Welcome, 2019: the Annual Reckoning

Vintage greeting card from my collection 

2018 was the 21st year I have tracked fabric in and out.  (My definitions:"in" is acquired, whether bought or received as a gift or won; "out" is sewn, sold, given away, or otherwise disposed of.  I usually measure the square inches in units or blocks -- 1512 sq. in. per yard -- but sometimes I use a postal scale and go by weight -- 4 yards to a pound.) 

Here is the reckoning in black and white.

I received two significant windfalls.  In October a local crafter gave me fabric she no longer wanted.  I kept 198 yards of that and gave 150 to the guild's charity committee.  In December I got 272 yards via a former guild member who got the fabric from the family of a woman who had a stroke and can no longer quilt.  I also got good deals at estate sales and bargains at thrift shops. And, yes, I bought new fabric.

BUT 
I used a lot, too!  The "Flimsy Completion" tab shows that I completed 32 projects this year.  That included 18 quilts, 8 tote bags, 30 mug rugs, 8 runners/wall hangings, 10 hot pads.  I added 6 flimsies to the box.
AND
I filled 10 jumbo ziploc bags with fabric for the January 2 Raffle Mania at the guild meeting.  A jumbo bag holds 5 lbs. which is 20 yards -- so that's 200 yards OUT.  I'm counting it for 2018 because (a) my game, my rules and (b) I sorted and bagged it all in 2018.

What's in store for 2019? 
To say "use more than I acquire" is a perpetual goal, like "lose 30 pounds." Maybe this year I will accomplish both.   More specifically:
(1)  Download EQ 8 and learn to use it.  I've had EQ since v. 4 but I haven't used it very much.
(2)  Learn how to do ruler work. (I used some of DH's Christmas gift to order Westalee Rulers and an instruction book.)
(3)  Make something that has a zipper and buttonholes.   I've had my new machine for almost a year but I haven't tried either of these basic sewing features.
(4)   Make a garment.  I still have boxes of fashion fabric. I have patterns.  I know what a 5/8" seam looks like.
(5)   Participate in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, One Monthly Goal, and Block Lotto.
(6)   Have fun!

Thanks for reading my posts and taking time to comment. I look forward to hearing from you in 2019.

Weekly update: somewhat biased, Good Fortune, something old, something new

I hope you and those you love had a merry Christmas.  We did -- candlelight service at 5 p.m. Monday, Christmas Day brunch at M.G.'s house with mutual friends.  I spent some of DH's generous Christmas check on fabric but still have enough to indulge at post-holiday sales (not just fabric but at other stores).  The weather has been relatively mild and snow-less.  The winner of the AAUW holiday raffle quilt couldn't attend the luncheon. When I offered to deliver the quilt to her she invited me to brunch on Friday. We had a lovely visit.

Somewhat biased:  I love homespun plaids but I admit that the 50+ yards I got from the quilter's estate early in December filled the shelves. (There's another shelf with larger lengths besides this unit.)

What could I do but make another quilt?  The nine-patches began with 2" strips and squares and are 4.5" finished.  There are several different homespuns in the hourglass units, though they're all similarly-colored.

The side setting triangles are actually half-hourglasses (two quarter triangles each). And that's where the bias
comes in.  Though I didn't over-handle those edges, they stretched just enough that the borders are rippled in a couple of places.  I decided that I will fix that when I get around to quilting it.  The flimsy is 66 x 74 and used 6-1/2 yards.

BTW, I weighed all the homespun: 60 lbs. That's 240 yards!

Good Fortune:  Clue 6 was easy!   

















Something old:  quite a while I ago I sewed a bunch of  30's repros into bow ties.  I got them out and made some more.  I auditioned two possible settings but now I'm considering a third.  Stay tuned!












Something new:   a new round robin will start at the January 2 guild meeting. Here's my starter block.  I repurposed a library conference tote bag to hold my entry.









I will post the annual reckoning and my 2019 goals on New Year's Day.   Meanwhile, here are the Monday link ups:

Oh Scrap!
 Monday Making
Design Wall Monday
and
  Quiltville Mystery Monday