What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

The tree is up.  

The boys are back.  (The big one never went away....)  

My mother started our nutcracker collection in the mid-1980's with one of the twins on the mantel (#2 or #10) and later with #5, #6, and #8. The others came from estate/garage sales and TJMaxx.   They're all German. 

 I try not to acquire more Christmas decorations, but if I come across German nutcrackers at good prices I will indulge.

The November stash report shows that I didn't indulge much compared to earlier this year.    Fabric IN:   60-1/4 yards, $80, average $1 ...

I have artists' statements for most of these if you'd like to know more.  

The theme for this year's Explorations in Fiber was "Inspiration."  Here are some of the selections. 

We went into one of the greenhouses.  Upper right:  cacao pods.

Outside:  roses are still in bloom. 

Work crews were setting up for Lightscape, the holiday light show that opens ...

The Moose Lodge gives us a great deal on the room--$100.  The other benefit is that their bar/restaurant are open so those who want an alcoholic drink can purchase at the bar and bring it upstairs.  

My friend Suzanne won the 50/50 cash raffle ($173 to her, $173 to the club).  My P.E.O ...

Here is the backstory of our county's I Voted sticker.

We revisited Illinois Beach State Park, Rollins Savanna, and the Des Plaines River Canoe Launch.

Left:  ground cherry (in husks).  Oak leaves, compass plant seed head, prickly pear with fruit, a determined chicory flower, aster, and ground cherries (sans husks).

A friend told me about this trail adjacent to the Rec Plex in Pleasant Prairie, just over the state line.  We checked it out this afternoon (Sunday). 

Cranes at Sand Pond this afternoon.  My walk was shortened because this strange wet stuff fell from the sky.  Oh, that was rain!   There hasn't been any around here for six weeks.  (And an hour afterward the sun was out again.) 

In my post Friday I alluded to an adventure.  We drove 65 miles to Westmont and took our friend Pat out to lunch.  

Pat was my long-time ALA conference roommate. She lives in a retirement/assisted living community now, and no longer drives. Though we chat by phone often it's been nearly two years since we've ...

Swans at Hastings Lake on Saturday.

Herons at Nippersink on Sunday.

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Natalie Doan of Missouri Star was the guest speaker at the guild meeting Wednesday.  I didn't get any good pictures!   It was fun to hear her side of the family business.  

We got the pattern for block ...

I helped with set up and brought Stevens to the banquet.  It was great to see some long-time friends. 

The old guys: Nate, Phil, Stevens

Jack was a charter member of the club and an avid golfer. He came up with the idea of the golf outing that has become our signature fundraiser.  He passed away in 2003.  His widow and their four daughters and their families ...

Be sure to read the previous post about the Wisconsin Quilt Show.

The blossoms grow in tiers along the stem.

 

In the left photo you can see its rear poking out of the flower.  

Fringed gentian are also in bloom now.  These are behind a dune at Illinois Beach State Park.   I'll have to go back to get a better close ...

Bucky Badger and the University of Wisconsin Pep Band rallied the quilters.  

I like to do the exhibits first and save the shopping for ...

Hike Lake County 2024 is a wrap!  They allow a wild card, meaning a 2-mile hike at any forest preserve not on the list.  On Friday afternoon we went to Van Patten Woods which is close to home. To change things up I went in the opposite direction from usual.  

There were many monarchs and other butterflies flitting about.  One of them stayed still long enough for a photo.  

Top: water lilies at Half Day, thistles, Jack-in-the-Pulpit seed bundle. Middle:  burning bush seeds, river ...

I planned to do the Hike Lake County trails systematically, starting with those farthest away and ending with those closer to home.   That didn't quite work out -- the most-farthest is yet to come -- but we did go to the next-to-farthest as well as two others sort-of-far.  Two on Friday:  Cuba Marsh and Heron Creek.  

Ripe blackberries at Heron Creek.  I left my cap in the car.  If I'd had it I would have harvested more than a handful. 

One on Sunday:   Fourth Lake/Millennium Trail.  This was something of a cop-out because it was mostly an asphalt path ...

These are scarlet lobelia or cardinal flower.  I've found them in only two forest preserves (here, Sedge Meadow Canoe Launch)  though surely they grow in others.  The red is really red!   

I ignored the sign and walked through the puddle on my heels. 

Clockwise from left:  coneflower + monarda, mullein, pinnate coneflower, nightshade, betony, primrose, swamp milkweekd. Center: American germander.

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Our friend Mary Lou invited me to harvest a second batch of rhubarb.   Our only freezer ...

The library is the starting point for the Illinois Dunesland Garden Club annual tour. 

This year's sites included the Garden of Faith at Memorial UMC (our church).  People can rent raised garden plots -- 20 this year with room to develop more -- for vegetables and flowers.  

Other gardens on view were in Winthrop Harbor, Carol Beach, and Pleasant Prairie.  

We've had good rainfall this season and the wildflowers are abundant. 

Illinois Beach/Hosah Park (89 degrees on Sunday). Clockwise from left: chokecherry, mullein, nodding onion ...

Black raspberries were ripe at Lake Carina Forest Preserve on Friday afternoon.  Lake Carina was a gravel pit that was quarried to build the tollway (I-94) in the late 1950's.  That road and a high-voltage transmission line are the eastern boundary.  

The lake and the stream that flows into it.

The Home Forum feature  in this week's Christian Science monitor  further identified the raspberries as black caps.   I picked a handful and ...