What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Two weeks in:  Stevens and I are healthy. We've checked in with family and friends and they are fine.  Nearly every activity has come to a screeching halt.  The big cancellation in my world was the ALA Annual Conference at the end of June.  Both the Zion Woman's Club luncheon (May) and the AAUW luncheon (June) have been cancelled. The Rotary Golf Outing is rescheduled for September 25.  I've been to three meetings using Zoom with more to come. 

I've kept my outings to two supermarkets (Aldi and Jewel) and the post office.  I've taken ...

Have you entered the Orphan Adoption yet? See this post -- drawing will be tomorrow, 3/24.

(c) WiseHearts

Rabbit, rabbit! Here's the March Hare to bring in the new month.

(The February 28 Google doodle commemorated Sir John Tenniel's 200th birthday)

The GFWC-IL Tenth District art show/luncheon was Wednesday.   I entered Crown of Thorns in
Category 5 (Embroidery, Quilting, Tatting) (a strange combination, considering that "wall hangings" is a separate category) and won second place.  P.E.O. friends Jeannine and Nancy, both members of the Antioch Woman's Club, won ribbons, as did Regina and Judy who are fellow members of the Zion Woman's Club (the one I belong to).

Stash report for ...

Hello, friends.  My top is done! As a pattern tester for Faith and Fabric I was thrilled to make this Lenten quilt top which was just right for my expanding liturgical series of quilts. It really spoke to me. I'm naming it No Greater Love. The on-point blocks remind me of the hymn "O Sacred Head Surrounded" when we sing "yet angel-hosts adore thee, and tremble as they gaze." If you'd like to hear

Hello, friends.  My top is done! As a pattern tester for Faith and Fabric I was thrilled to make this Lenten quilt top which was just right for my expanding liturgical series of quilts. It really spoke to me. I'm naming it No Greater Love. The on-point blocks remind me of the hymn "O Sacred Head Surrounded" when we sing "yet angel-hosts adore thee, and tremble as they gaze." If you'd like to hear

 On Friday I wrote that I'd made 13 out of 16 tote bags. I am pleased to say that #14-#16 are finished! Now I can work on other projects.

But first, the January stash report:

Fabric OUT: 95-3/4 yards (which includes 61 yards to the quilt guild Raffle Mania)
Fabric IN: 126-3/4 yards (99 won at Raffle Mania, 11-3/4 from an estate sale, 15-1/2 from my Philadelphia trip), $105.  That's still a bargain at .83 per yard.
Net GAIN: 31 yards

Raffle Mania winnings

Philadelphia purchases

"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."  That's a brief version of Isaac Newton's third law.  I learned this week that it applies to quilting -- at least to my stash.

The guild had the annual Raffle Mania at this week's meeting. That's an opportunity for members to fling no-longer-loved quilt-related stuff and, perhaps, get some new-to-them stuff in return.  It's a bucket raffle where each item has a paper bag where you put tickets for what you'd like to win. If you really want it, put in many tickets.  Members get ...

Our Christmas gift to one another was a pair of tickets to today's matinee performance of The Light in the Piazza at the Lyric Opera in Chicago.   Soprano Renee Fleming was magnificent in the starring role. The rest of the cast was great, too.  (Signor Naccarelli was played by Alex Jennings who was the Duke of Windsor in The Crown.)

"Now you're cooking!" was a phrase my mother often used. She'd sometimes add, "with gas."  Since both the houses we lived in when I grew up had mid-century "All Electric!" kitchens, electric stoves were all I knew.   The first gas range I cooked on was in my apartment in Texas -- a post-war 24" Roper. I had to use a kitchen match to light the burners and the oven. (The heat came from a Dearborn gas space heater that also required matchlight ....but I digress.)     HERE is more about the origin of "now you're cooking with gas." 

And ...

The tote bags I made for the school children in Nepal have been delivered.  Margaret, my friend who supports the school and asked if I could help out, sent this photo of the kids.  It was taken by the school's U.S. coordiantor. (The sign says, "Thank you dear Nann Hilyard.")

[For those who are interested in the school and the parent organization: Impact Schools ]







The counter tops were installed Friday.   I had no idea there were so many choices for faucets until I had to choose one.  (The first one I sort of liked was $1400.  The second ...

We had a very pleasant Thanksgiving dinner at our friends' house.  On the way home, about 6 p.m., we passed Wal-Mart and observed that the parking lot was full.   We stayed away from shopping malls and big box stores all weekend!

all the seams are spun open

The cabinets are in.  Counter tops this week  Electrical work this week.

We need to buy a dishwasher to replace the 10-year-old model which wasn't cleaning so well. The refrigerator is newer than that but because of the new location I can consider a bottom-freezer model.  (Any opinions?)

My husband caught a bug last week but seems to be over it. I came down with a cold Saturday evening -- I think the worst of it was Sunday night. We should be healthier by Thanksgiving Day. We've been invited to have dinner with friends.  I bought a turkey anyway ...

The kitchen and dining room walls are now "Gleeful." (The contrast wall at the end of the entry hall is "Lime Rickey," a shade darker.) The base cabinets are in place and the upper cabinets are in the garage.

My November OMG was to make a bookshelf quilt for a former coworker who is retiring this month.  This is the 40th bookshelf quilt I've made since 2004, all using Christine Thresh's pattern (Winnowing.com)  (I have gotten my money's worth!)

I'm linking this post to the  OMG November finish .

I was pleased to get a place ...