What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Today is the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.   The Celts called it Imbolc.   German-Americans created Groundhog Day (in Germany they observed badgers rather than groundhogs).   It is also Candlemas, which "celebrates three occasions according to Christian belief: the presentation of the child Jesus; Jesus’ first entry into the temple; and it celebrates the Virgin Mary’s purification."    

Time and Date adds, "Snowdrops (galanthas nivalis) are known as Candlemas Bells because they often bloom early in the year, even before Candlemas. Some varieties bloom all winter (in the northern hemisphere). The superstitious used to believe that ...

 The fifth installment of Barb M's estate sale was Tuesday afternoon.  (See here, here, here, and here for the previous sales.)  A quick recap:  Barb passed away in 2018 and left a LOT of sewing stuff -- machines, thread, notions, patterns, kits, and FABRIC.  Barb's husband and family finally needed closure but couldn't deal with it all.  

Enter Paula who enlisted a group of her friends.  Since September they've had monthly sales, the first in Paula's garage and the others in a hotel meeting room.  It took until December to get everything out of the house ...

There was lasagna left over for Stevens to enjoy the next day (and more in the freezer).   

The gift card "tree" was actually a picture frame with $300 worth of gift cards.  Judy and Dottie are holding it. Dottie's niece was the winner.  

We chose "festive food" for the gift exchange.  I got a gift certificate to a local bakery cleverly packaged in a holiday mug.

Wednesday:  Northern Lake County Quilters Guild holiday dinner.   The meal was catered ...

I've signed up for Audrey's Bramble Blooms QAL.  More accurately it is a DAL -- design along -- and I look forward to the exercise in creativity.  

I started with light green, then went to pink, and finally purple.

They are similar but distinct from one another.

I learned to make pieced backgrounds in a  workshop with Pat Sloan and I've made them several ...

With the brisk northeast breeze I was glad I brought my windbreaker.

Bull thistle, cutleaf coneflower (also called green-headed coneflower), ironweed, scarlet lobelia.

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My quilting month was ...

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What about sashing?   Nothing in the Aussie fabric box worked (mostly F8ths and FQs in that collection)  My stash yielded a Stonehenge print that was just right.  Alas, I was a few sashes short.  I found another tone-on-tone yellow-gold that blends nicely and I'm going to go with it.

Yellow is the RSC color for August so there's a goal achieved.

My entry for the guild challenge is quilted, bound, and labeled.   

This is all I will show you because it's a surprise. The reveal is at the September 6 guild meeting. 

At the PieFest in 2008 I made a lot of red/black/white flying geese.  They are 3" x 5-1/2" unfinished.   I used five in this project.  

 Car update:  the right control arm had failed.  I had never heard of that part and looked it up.  The control arms are one of the core components of a suspension system and serve as the direct connection points between the front wheel assemblies and the vehicle's frame. The control arms allow a driver to steer a car while also guiding the wheels up and down with the road surface. Although they are simplistic in appearance, control arms have a vital role in a vehicle's overall stability and drivability.    $943.95.  

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Washing and ironing all of it took some time. Then I finished the wall hanging.  Quilted, bound, labeled.     

 I used a random number generator to pick the giveaway winner:  KAWeed  (Though her post came as "anonymous" she included her email, per the giveaway qualifications.)   

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 I tried on-point.  I cut setting triangles and ...

I've admired Lynn's work since I began reading her blog way back when she and Bonnie Hunter were among the "Quilt Mavericks."  

Two members of the McHenry County quilt guild came to sell tickets for their annual raffle.  One of them was Sue Daurio, who blogs at Sue Daurio's Quilting Adventures.  We've been meaning to meet up for several ...

I finished the daisy wall hanging.  I adapted a design from a pattern in the National Quilting Assn. magazine.  20" x 20".

It will be presented to the outgoing president of the P.E.O. Lake County  Round Table in appreciation for her six years in office.  The P.E.O. flower is the marguerite, or daisy, and there were seven founders.

I've made crumb-pieced backgrounds for several projects and I like the effect.

This is one of my OMGs for February.

Linking up with  Alycia's Finished or Not Friday  and Wendy's Peacock Party  and Sarah's ...

Wow!  My husband was impressed, too.  

Her grandfather and grandmother.

Her grandmother made the quilt on the lower right with polyester pieces appliqued onto a red and white sheet.  She had severe arthritis and sewing was difficult.  

Left:  Is That You? 2020.  Top center: Everything But the Kitchen Sink, 2000-2009. Top right: You Are Here.  Center: Star Storm Explosion, 2021. Center right: Ignition, 2021.  Lower center: Color Study H1, 2017.  Lower right: Garden Delights ...

Our Rotary program (Zoom) on Thursdas was about Quilts of Valor. The presenter is a quilting friend who is an active QOV volunteer (and a veteran herself).  Rotary members were impressed.  I learned a lot more, too. 

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My OMG for November is to quilt three flimsies.  I've done that!  I showed  photo of the first on Monday.  Here are the other two.  The backings for both are ...

Rabbit, rabbit!  (Here is the explanation of the good-luck legend.) 

We get our Pfizer booster shots this morning --another good luck token.

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Here's a collage of Michaelmas daisies for Michaelmas Day, September 29. (It's also Archangels Day but the other archangels don't have fall wildflowers named after them.)  

According to Wikipedia the traditional meal features goose . We're not High Church so we had chicken.  Maybe next year I'll remember to bake a version of St. Michael's bannock.  

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 Our church's summer rummage sale begins today.  I helped set up on Wednesday afternoon and will take a shift this morning.  The perk for helpers is getting to shop early and paying half price.  At previous sales I've scored some yardage -- not much, but such a bargain!  (In May I got 8 yards for $1.50 which provided the backing for Grassy Creek.)

Well, the only FABRIC this time was a fat quarter.   

But I got all of these (plus that fat quarter, plus five packages of unopened Christmas-letter paper, plus two rolls of clear Contact paper) for ...

 Barn Quilts was the topic at the Zoom quilt guild meeting on Wednesday. Suzi Parron has traveled across the country to document these bold outdoor art installations.  She says there are at least 16,000 barn quilts and the list keeps growing.  

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I made a significant design change on the wedding quilt that required  three evenings with the seam ripper.  I'll show you the details in the Weekly Update next Monday.

To keep my spirits from flagging I took a break and made and finished a quick project.  Here are the 16 ...

Yesterday I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to go to the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo at the Schaumburg convention center.  The Expo has been held in the Chicago area many times. I've only been once before (when the Quilt Festival was not at Rosemont). The last time I attended an event at this venue was  in 2016.  

It appeared that for most of the attendees this was among the first major outings in our vaccinated world. Some people wore masks, some didn't. (I went back and forth.)  

The exhibits weren't extensive.  That had the benefit of not being ...