Reading 1820 Blogs Daily!


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February 17, 2025
Weekly update: concert, new storage, a flimsy, and reading from With Strings Attached

  Still no walking, but we did get out Sunday afternoon for the Lake County Symphony Orchestra's winter concert at the College of Lake County.  First act:  Bernstein's Chichester Psalms. Second act:  Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.  Ode to Joy in the fourth movement was performed by a combined choir (Northern Illinois University and local chorales).   Wonderful music just fifteen miles from home and $30 per seat.  

It was a full house with open seating, but we had seats in the ADA accessible row.

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In the studio:  Closet Maid wire basket units hold a lot of fabric.  Unfortunately they are ...

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February 10, 2025
Weekly update: SAHRR, Old Town, and reading from With Strings Attached



How nice to get this FB message first thing on Saturday! 

This is the quilt that she won.  (Working title: "Go Scrappy or Go Home.")   


The weather cooperated Saturday morning for the spaghetti dinner delivery.  All our "customers" (neighbors mostly) were appreciative.  We had two of the dinners ourselves -- tasty!  

Saturday afternoon I went to the last hours of an estate sale.  The advertised German nutcrackers were long gone by the time I got there but I got a nice office chair on wheels for $7.00.   The seat-lifter on the Steelcase chair I've had at my sewing machine ...

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February 8, 2025
Friday check in: spaghetti prep, top-along, and a really good book from With Strings Attached

 


Yesterday was spaghetti prep day. Our Rotary Club makes spaghetti dinners (pasta and homemade sauce, green salad and dressing, a roll, and a cookie) to community helpers, shut-ins, and others who would like a home-cooked meal delivered to their doors.  

My job was to buy all the supplies except for the sauce ingredients and the pasta. Chris (upper left center) is in charge of that. He's teaching new member Ted (upper left left).  Harriet and I had salad duty.   Interact Club members helped out.  We used the kitchen at our church (Memorial UMC in Zion). 

Delivery is tomorrow.  Next ...

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February 7, 2025
Weekly update: OMG February, placemats, and the top-along + reading from With Strings Attached

 


My One Monthly Goal for February is to get Old Town to the flimsy stage.  One motivation is to reclaim the design wall. :)  

The Quiltville FB group has photos of many versions of the design with different colorways and different sashings or settings or borders.  I'm going to stick to the sashing as patterned but I may do something other than the checkerboard border.  

I made six placemat flimsies from units in the parts department.  The tan/green/red one has been around since 2007 (gulp!). I always thought I'd piece it into a quilt back.  The one ...

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January 27, 2025
Weekly update: placemats, pink stars + reading from With Strings Attached

 The last Monday of January?!  Slow down, 2025! 

The parts department had two 80" lengths of neutral-squares-neutral (6.5" wide) intended for a border that I didn't use.  I added another strip of squares, then sewed the lengths together, and cut into four 20" pieces.   

I'm using the serpentine stitch to quilt these placemats.   The photo shows the borders sewn on but not yet sewn down. 



The pink Ohio Stars are a basted flimsy.  9" blocks = 36" x 45".  


# # # # # #  The ALA Retired Members Round Table Book Club met by Zoom yesterday.   Instead of reading one book and discussing ...

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January 10, 2025
Friday check in: top-a-long + reading from With Strings Attached

 



Thanks to everyone who's asked for our address for Stevens' birthday card shower. It's not too late--PM me to send the address. 

Quick post this morning.   The Running Doe top-a-long (what is that? read details here) is a flimsy.  

I cut into a few Kaffe prints, including the spashy center flowers.  I used up the large part of several others.  (I'm trying to get over the "can't cut this!" hurdle.) 

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In a small outport town in Nova Scotia in the last months of World War I a dead whale is stranded on the shoreline.  In a ...

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January 7, 2025
Crossroads and Baskets from Fret Not Yourself

Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.
~E.B. White

Quilting

I'm still avoiding BB2 but eventually I'll get to work on it. Currently I chose to work with the red Crossroad border blocks. {No. It's still not the end. Sheesh.} Remember they didn't work well with the orange and brown squares on BB2. Audrey's many baskets inspired me to try one of my own. As usual I thought about appliqué and chickened out.

I designed the baskets to {almost} fit inside the ...

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January 5, 2025
Will that work for you? from Crazy Quilter on a Bike!

Decluttering! A lifelong skill that no one teaches, but they should! Clutter creeps up because we don't have homes for the things we own. And we are notorious for buying MORE. For fun, look at this short video. Need I say more? 

Here's something that I've noticed about myself. Years ago, I would quickly get bored at home. I know -- how could that happen? It wasn't boredom so much as the need to talk to someone. So, who did I talk to? Diane and Susannah at Ruti's Needlebed. I'd go over and chat for ...

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January 3, 2025
Friday check in: a finish + book club selections for January from With Strings Attached

 

I've bundled up for two forest preserve walks this week.  Fortunately the Kicks (S's car that I drive) stays warm so he is comfortable.  

We are at the southern edge of the paper birch range.  Hickory nuts.  The icy snow sparkles. 

All the Christmas decor is put away except for the wreath.  Each year I think about going through the storage boxes and culling decorations that I didn't use this year (or last year or the year before....) Then I think what if I want to change things up next season? So I just close up the ...

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Sampler Quilts from Crazy Quilter on a Bike!

I know that I shouldn't be reading all these old magazines. I'm above that - toss them and be done with it. Buy no more than you can read. However, I have to say that I LOVE reading them. They are almost more entertaining than reading the current ones, which tend to be filled with patterns I'll never make. 

Here's what I learned from a quilting magazine that is over 25 years old! The magazine is called Sampler Quilts by Quilt and has a copyright date 1999. 

Sampler Quilt magazine


Didn't everyone make a sampler quilt ...

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December 31, 2024
Remarkable Books: My 5-Star Picks of the Year from Sew French

This year has been a record-breaker for me—156 books read, with 25 earning a perfect 5-star rating. Hours spent researching new releases, rediscovering classics, following recommendations, and tackling my ever-growing TBR list paid off with an incredible collection of memorable … Continue reading

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December 24, 2024
2024 Ends from Fret Not Yourself

My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: Loving others.
~Bob Hope

Quilting

It’s been a long year. Not the toughest one I’ve experienced but my resiliency wanes. Less energy to “move mountains” but more remembrance of loved ones who’ve passed and more visits with those still here. Quilt finishes slowed significantly. I have a mental list of ones I’d still like to make. One resolution is to work only on those… Well, mostly on those. 

Blogger frequently fights me. I have trouble adding photos, commenting, and formatting. it. I started this blog ...

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December 23, 2024
LOOK in the box! from Crazy Quilter on a Bike!

 Are you moving during the day? I confess I did something I hadn't done for a long time yesterday: I read almost an entire book in one day. However, I can no longer sit in a comfy chair for long with this silly leg issue. By comfy, I mean the chairs in our living room. Even stretched out, they don't work. Although I sat there long enough to attract the girls, and they put on a show for me. 

MOM - can you see us? 


They are the silliest two dogs ever. They love each other, and yet they ...

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December 18, 2024
Midweek: table runner + reading from With Strings Attached

 

The two Waukegan-based P.E.O. chapters had their joint holiday party yesterday afternoon.  Though neither is my chapter, I knew most everyone there.   Just desserts, and delicious!


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I finished the table runner for the gift exchange at tomorrow's Rotary meeting.  I searched the stash and eventually found just the right fabric.   (I realize that I mispieced the Air Castle block at the bottom so it looks a little clunky. Too late!) 


Now I'm working on the coral HSTs for the Old Town mystery. I made 5 sets Tuesday evening.  Many more to come.

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This book is a ...

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December 14, 2024
Friday check in: grayscale, something new + reading from With Strings Attached

 I got this far with the black/white/gray blocks . . . 




And then at Rotary yesterday the president said we'll have a gift exchange at next week's meeting.  $25 value.  (Gender observation: the president is a woman. Would any group of men even think about a gift exchange?)  Of course I'll need to provide Stevens' contribution as well as my own.  



So here's what's on the cutting table. Two table runners coming up! 


The AAUW luncheon is today, we're going to a dinner tonight, the P.E.O. luncheon is tomorrow, and we're going ...

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December 2, 2024
Weekly update: the stash report, Old Town, OMG + reading from With Strings Attached


 



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 ...

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November 26, 2024
Bramble Blooms 2 Again from Fret Not Yourself

Life is like writing with a pen. You can cross out your past but you can’t erase it.
~E.B. White

Quilting


Yes, I started BB2 and it progressed into some very light blues… which are not in the original fabric pull. That doesn’t matter except the fabric is still pulled and taking up floor space. Now I’m trying to use a few of the orange and red squares I cut so profligately. 

First, a simple alternate diagonal. Nah.

\

Trip Around the World was another, “No.”


Finally set them randomly with alternate dark browns. No photo of ...

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November 25, 2024
Weekly update: placemats + reading from With Strings Attached




On Friday I showed a photo of nine-patch blocks that I made out of the border fabric from the bingo board blocks.  I said I had no plan for them.  Well, they had plans for me -- and here is what happened.  The placemats will be donated to the guild for one of the agencies it supports.

Speaking of the guild, this week I need to make an ornament for the exchange at next week's holiday party. I also need to fill the gift box for which I made this runner.   

Our Thanksgiving will be the two of us which ...

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November 12, 2024
REST Baby Quilt from Fret Not Yourself

Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts. 
~E.B. White


 Quilting


The previous quilt used the medium green sets but there's still a bunch of dark green ones. They only seem to work with these dark browns. I like the combination although it's pretty old-fashioned. My stash also contained these pastel tan and green solids. That's how this quilt came about. 


The back came from a LQS closing sale. While it's exciting to get the fabric so cheaply, it means fewer choices in the future. I have ...

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November 3, 2024
It's all about the numbers! from Crazy Quilter on a Bike!

OH! I'm so confused now. 

I went back TWO months with the online data and in my Fitbit. I entered them into a spreadsheet, which didn't take too long. 

We get a summary from The Conquer monthly that gives us our monthly KMs and the running total for the year. 

In September, I was shorted by 52 KM, which is a lot. The number on the left is the number on the website, and the number on the right is the FitBit Number. 





And this was the summary from September. 

September summary

That number exactly matches what was ...

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