What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

The amaryllis will bloom while I'm away so I took it (and some produce) to Mike and Jen, the neighbors who will watch the house.  Not only do they have the house key but they also have the car keys because if the house is burning the cars need to get out of the garage. 

I was determined to finish The West Wing before the trip.  I watched four episodes Wednesday night (got through Matt Santos' election) which left me with five episodes for Thursday.   All that TV time meant sewing time. 

←This is Patience she measures in right now, before borders, at 64" X 78". She has all but emptied out my bin of 3.5" square scraps. Hallelujah! This was a great stash/scrap buster! Fifty 8" squares of every shade and hue. Im glad that I stuck with this one, it makes me happy. Patience has a baby sister, too:This is Prudence↑. She's made with the leftover HSTs from her big sister; she

←This is Patience she measures in right now, before borders, at 64" X 78". She has all but emptied out my bin of 3.5" square scraps. Hallelujah! This was a great stash/scrap buster! Fifty 8" squares of every shade and hue. Im glad that I stuck with this one, it makes me happy. Patience has a baby sister, too:This is Prudence↑. She's made with the leftover HSTs from her big sister; she

 I left for Florida (see Monday's post) with 18 9-1/2" crumb blocks on the design wall. By the time I got home on Friday I had a good idea what I'd do with them.  (Surely I am not the only quilter who mentally designs quilts as a way to fall asleep.)  

The supermoon as seen from the back yard Thursday at 5 p.m.  

Tuesday:   Zion Woman's Club luncheon at a local restaurant.  We exchanged "festive food" -- a useful alternative to white elephants which are too often a way to get rid of one "dustable" and in turn take home someone else's dustable.   I brought some of my Christmas tablecloths to set the table. 

The boys are back! 

The nutcracker collection began with a gift from my mother shortly after we were married.  She gave us two or three more.   I've acquired the rest at TJ Maxx, estate/rummage/garage sales, and thrift shops.   They're all German.  

I made Good Cheer in 2013 from swap blocks.

Just as forecast, it began snowing at noon Saturday and continued all night long.  This was the view from the front door this morning.  9" accumulation.  

I shoveled the front stoop and ...

There wasn't much left when I went to Stiles, the produce/flower stand just over the border in Wisconsin. Susan will close up next Sunday.  She takes the holidays off and will get back to the greenhouse in January.   

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In ...

The back yard at 5:30 a.m.  Monday.  See the shed?  That's where the snow shovels were.   I put on my boots and retrieved them.

It warmed up and here's the same scene this morning.   The temps will reach 60 by Friday so all the snow will be gone.

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I'm awake early in the morning but I'm not always dressed and sufficiently caffeinated to go down to the lakefront.

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The Village Quilters held their biennial show at the College of Lake County on Friday and Saturday.  Irene and I went on Friday.  We saw many friends from our guild and others.  Here are some of the quilts on display. 

Local shows are great, aren't they?  

There were more than a dozen vendors.  

I made a contribution at the Quilts of Valor booth and in return got to choose fabric ...

It is incredible what technology can do, and YOU are amazing as well. 

Do you remember the pictures I posted from the McNally Robinson bookstore? Here is the first one—the double wedding ring quilt. 

Double Wedding Ring quilt

Soon after posting the picture, I got an email from Tammy, who did a Google Image search and found that the pattern came from the American Quilter Magazine in July 2015. The link she saw was on Etsy. Of course, this got me thinking about why someone was selling this pattern when it wasn't theirs, but when I clicked the ...

OH -- I'm a scammer! I did NOT dust any teapots yesterday! 

I arrived at the apartment and decided to work on the binding (edge) of that hexagon quilt while I finished drinking my tea. I'm a slow drinker. 

Well, then, we got a call that someone (the lady who used to rent the farm) was coming to visit, so that preempted any teapot dusting. Once she and her new beau left (her husband has passed away), it was time to head out to visit one more aunt, and well, there just wasn't time to dust those teapots ...

It's been a while since I walked the trail at Sedge Meadow.  74 degrees and sunshine made it most pleasant. 

I saw three bottle gentians!  (The third one is at the lower right.)

 This circle of little heart-shaped leaves came into view just as I was telling Stevens how much I missed him.  

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In the studio: 

I quilted the September RSC Ohio Stars flimsy (light green and light blue)  on Monday evening.  

These are ...

I got up bright and early (OK—the usual time) and prepped to come to a quilting retreat. I know—the timing wasn't the best, so soon after Quilt Canada, but it is what it is. I had an opportunity to visit a brand new retreat house, and well, when opportunity knocks, you need to take advantage of the situation. 

I used those packing skills I learned at Quilt Canada to put everything into the car. 

A few things for the retreat

I have probably brought the least amount of stuff ever to a retreat. A sewing machine, two ...

I had a GREAT day. What's more important is knowing what makes me happy and what doesn't. The trick is having fewer moments that make me unhappy and more that make me happy!

What makes me happy? Well, it's finishing things and then having the time to tidy up before moving to the next project! I love tidying up! What drives me mad is when I can only complete something as much as necessary, and then I have to move on to the next without finishing the first thing. Oh my—that never bothered me, but it ...