What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

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The weather cooperated yesterday with sunshine and 45 degrees.  We enjoyed a forest preserve walk at McDonald Woods (2 miles)   

I've been working on the homespun quilt.  There's a piece of green tape to mark the misplaced unit (fourth row, second column).  

The fabric for the setting triangles was a serendipitous find on the shelf.   I haven't decided whether or not there will be a border.  

 Thank you, all who commented on my cataract surgery.  Post-op yesterday concluded all is well, with another bottle of eyedrops and a chart to remind me when to use which.  If I put my glasses on, with the trifocal lens on the left and nothing on the right, I see at two levels.  Today I'm not wearing eyeglasses at all.  My right eye is doing the seeing and my left eye is providing binocular balance (it's too nearsighted to see anything clearly).   

 Here is the cobblestones flimsy.  3-7/8" yards used.  The ...

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 ...

Moss on fungus at Lyons Woods on Wednesday. 

Queen Anne's lace is still lacy at Sun Lake on Thursday.

After all that walking (the Sun Lake trail is 2.5 miles) I allowed myself generous portions for Thanksgiving dinner.  

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.  

 I'm getting accustomed to wearing eyeglasses rather than contact lenses but I still don't like it!  I had an appointment with the retina specialist yesterday and will have an in-office procedure next week to repair a small hole.  (Unexpected exchange between the doctor and the  assistant:  "What's the best Nirvana song to start with?")  DH had a neuropsychiatric evaluation Wednesday; results to come. I was relieved that he was perfectly willing to go through the two-hour testing. 

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It's been hazy because of the smoke from the Canadian wild fires, but we haven't had any adverse reactions to the air quality.   We do enjoy our afternoon outings.

Here is a wildflower you don't expect to see in northern Illinois.  Prickly pear cactus grows at Illinois Beach State Park.  Each flower petal is tipped with a spine.

Wood lilies are also in bloom at IBSP.   (Both photos taken yesterday.)

I didn't post to the One Monthly Goal link up at the beginning of June but I did have goals in mind and I achieved them ...

Top: Yellow sweet clover, meadow rose, false Solomon's seal.  Middle: Virginia waterleaf (also Shawnee salad), ox-eye daisy, dame's rocket.   Bottom:  Meadow buttercup, false white indigo, common nipplewort (really).

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The schedule has been rearranged to accommodate some unexpected in-patient medical tests for my husband.  So far things are okay and I hope he'll be home tomorrow.

In the studio:  it's been a while since I made a waffle stamps quilt.  I began with 2" strips cut to 8" or ...

 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 ...