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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 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 18, 2024
Weekly update: bingo finish from With Strings Attached

 

It's been unusually warm this fall.  We haven't had a freeze yet, let alone a frost.  (I just looked up the definitions:   A frost is when ice crystals form on the outside of your plant. Frost can occur when the temperature is above 32F.....It’s a short event (usually happens right around dawn). A light frost happens when the ground is still warm enough to give off heat. A hard frost (also known as a killing frost) can occur when the ground temperature drops below 32F. A freeze, on the other hand, occurs when the temperature drops ...

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November 11, 2024
Weekly update: a finish and a start from With Strings Attached

 


Saturday afternoon I walked along this path.  It's part of a bike route that goes through Illinois Beach State Park and then connects with Zion parks and the forest preserves.  

When Zion City was begun in 1901 the prospective residents took the train up from Chicago.   A tower near the train station allowed them to climb up and spot their house lots.  These chunks of concrete are the remaining footings for the tower.  




  

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In the studio:   the homespun half-logs quilt is finished! 






 The back uses an Alexander Henry print from Barb M's garage sale.  It's nostalgic for ...

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November 7, 2024
Weekly update: quilt show from With Strings Attached




We went to the Chicago Botanic Garden Sunday morning to see  the  Fine Art of Fiber.  It's an annual collaboration of Illinois Quilters, Inc., North Suburban Needlearts Guild, and the Weaver's Guild of the North Shore.  

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 ...

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November 4, 2024
Weekly update: lots going on but not sewing! from With Strings Attached


The Zion Woman's Club held its annual ladies' night bunco party Friday evening.  64 women (some girls, too) came out to play.   Most of them were first-timers though there were some who come every year.  Great fun was had by all! 

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 ...

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October 28, 2024
Weekly update: more blue-sky days, another concert, and that homespun rescue from With Strings Attached


 I neglected to mention that we voted last week.  We got mail-in ballots and I dropped them in the box inside the early voting location at Zion City Hall.   There were about 30 people in line to vote in person.  I walked in, and out, with a woman I sort of recognized.  As we exited the building I said in a low voice, "May the best woman win!" to which she said, "You've got that right!"

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




We enjoyed walks at McDonald Woods,  Ray Lake, and Van Patten Woods ...

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October 27, 2024
Weekly update: sunny days, a concert, more homespun + reading from With Strings Attached


 Oh, such glorious fall weather!  


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). 





Saturday evening we went to the College of Lake County (our community college) to hear the Blind Boys of Alabama . They were great!   And with the senior discount ...

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October 14, 2024
Weekly update: homespuns + reading from With Strings Attached

 



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 ...

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October 7, 2024
Weekly update: glorious days, caught up already!, twenty blocks + recent reading from With Strings Attached

 

Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine!  

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.  


This is the final month for the guild round robin.  I got right to work and added borders to CB's quilt.  I can't show you the entire flimsy until next month's reveal, but you can see one of the Tula Pink owls that AK added.  






We got the pattern for block ...

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September 16, 2024
Weekly update: golf, "fringed" benefits, and project at random from With Strings Attached



The 24th annual Jack McElmurry/Jake Zappa Memorial Golf Tournament on Friday was a great success.   





The weather was beautiful and all the golfers (36 foursomes, a full course) had a good time.




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 ...

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September 13, 2024
Weekly update, part 2: wildflowers, challenge reveal, and neckties from With Strings Attached

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


I discovered bottle gentian last year at Spring Bluff Forest Preserve.  I have not seen it anywhere else.

The blossoms grow in tiers along the stem.

 






Bumblebees are the only pollinators strong enough to pry open the flowers.    A bumblebee happened along to do just that.  

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 ...

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September 9, 2024
Weekly update, part 1: the Wisconsin Quilt Show from With Strings Attached


 The 20th Wisconsin Quilt Show (formerly 'expo,' hence my blog label) was held September 5-7 at the Alliant Center on the south side of Madison. This was the sixth time I've gone, and the fifth time on a one-day bus trip chartered by a LQS.   We met at the Kenosha County administration complex and boarded the bus to depart promptly at 7 a.m.  We arrived at 9 a.m. just as the doors opened.  


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


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

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September 2, 2024
Weekly update: HLC complete, stash report, and reading from With Strings Attached

 


Rabbit, rabbit!   Welcome to September.   I caught this cottontail bounding across the path at Lyons Woods last week.







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.  

Saturday morning we went to Ryerson.  It's 27 miles away and I ...

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August 28, 2024
Weekly update: hikes, Equality Day, rummage sale, a bunch of blocks, and 44 years! from With Strings Attached


 We checked three more forest preserves off the Hike Lake County list.  Wednesday:  Lake Carina is a reclaimed gravel pit  quarried to build the Illinois Tollway, traffic on which can be heard though not seen from the one-mile trail around the lake.  Friday:  Capt. Daniel Wright Woods and Half Day are adjacent but divided by the Des Plaines River.   Though there's a bridge to cross the river it wasn't on the marked trails this year so we drove from one to the other.  

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

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August 21, 2024
Weekly update: three hikes and a finish from With Strings Attached

 

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 ...

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August 12, 2024
Weekly update: beautiful weather from With Strings Attached


 The weather was glorious this weekend -- temperatures in the mid-70's, low humidity, and lots of sunshine.   We went out both Saturday and Sunday afternoon.


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!   


We've visited Volo Bog when we've had enough time for the 26 not-very-direct-mile-drive.  Today was one of those days.  I hiked the entire trail -- 2.75 miles -- which took so long that I didn't take the boardwalk through the bog ...

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August 6, 2024
Weekly update: goal #1, some experimenting, and some good books from With Strings Attached

 


Wonderful wildflowers at Ethel's Woods Forest Preserve this afternoon.  

Clockwise from upper right: coneflower, teasel, false sunflower, rattlesnake master, ironweed, and a mass of monarda and more false sunflowers.

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I received notice that one of my quilts was accepted into the Wisconsin Quilt Expo!  



The quilt is named Antipodes because the word means "polar opposite." For the British that was Australia and southeast Asia -- fitting for the Australian prints and Indonesian batiks that I used.

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In the studio:  I tried again to make a container for Wonder Clips. (See Friday's post for the less-successful first try.) This time ...

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July 29, 2024
Weekly update: log cabins + reading from With Strings Attached

 


Some of this week's wildflowers and other flora:

Top: smooth false foxglove, chokecherry, sand cherry.  Middle: few-leaf sunflower, limestone calamine (teeny flowers!), white flat-topped goldenrod (new one to me). Bottom:  sky-blue aster, mountain mint (it does smell minty when it's crushed), whole leaf rosinweed.

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We watched the first season of Joe Pickett.  We've both enjoyed the series by C. J. Box.  This season combined two of the books. They took other liberties, not the least of which was that Nate Romanowski was cast as a Black man (in the books he's a blond) and Mary Beth ...

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July 25, 2024
Weekly update: it's a flimsy + a new start from With Strings Attached

 
After last week's storms it's easy to see why the French explorers called the river "eau pleine," or "water-full."  Eau pleine became Des Plaines (a river and a city) and O'Plaine (a road).  

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


That was Saturday's walk at the Des Plaines River Canoe Launch.  Sunday was closer to home at Sand Pond.  


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 ...

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  • weekly update
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