Busy, busy

It always seems that when I'm busiest, I pick up a new project to do. This half doll and pattern were in the pile of things I tried to sell at June's guild sale and August's House of Stitches sale-- they didn't sell. Then I bought all that lovely perle cotton. And then I found a piece of linen in my stash that went with the colors of the doll.
And found I had a lovely little box to keep it all in. And away I went. Part of my problem had been that I didn't like the verse, so I charted a new one.
Each year Deep River County Park shares a pattern for a quilt square and then collects completed squares for a quilt they make. This year it's a bumble bee quilt square. Here are my fabrics, all washed, pressed and ready to be marked and cut out. I got the pieces cut out later on and they're in a baggie with a spool of thread, waiting for me to have some time and energy. If you want to make this square, below is the submission form for Deep River County Park in Indiana.The pattern page below should measure 8-1/2 x 11. If you go to print from here and it's not the correct size, e-mail me and I'll send you the .jpg directly.I also spent a lot of time working to get ready for upcoming shows. Last Saturday I went to the "Quilts from Grandma's Clothesline" show by Pieces 'n Patches quilt guild in Steger, IL. (I never made it down to the Renegade Crafts Fair.) The quilt show was lovely and in one of their shops I found a white Clover marking pen. It's amazing. You can see above the lovely fine white line it made as I traced acorns to teach needlework (backstitch) at our upcoming show.It's startling because the line starts our nearly clear and then gets whiter as it dries. The instructions say it comes out when washed or ironed. It's fine enough, though, that it's easily covered in stitching. I made the darker tracings with a fine brown Sharpie.I also began prepping materials for a class I'll teach at the Great Lakes Regional meeting on Oct. 2d. I cut more (endless) needlebook covers and wool-felt inserts.

Today (September 18) is our 34th Wedding Anniversary. We don't have plans now but do have tickets to see B.B. King in January at the Paramount in Aurora. I am sooo excited.

And my next post will be my 500th post! I'm trying to think of something fun to do to celebrate. If you have any ideas, let me know. Right now I'm blank (so there might be a lag before the next post while I wrack my brain!) . I sure do talk a lot.

Busy week

The long weekend and graduation were loads of fun. I'm paying for the days off work now. It'll let up a bit next week.

Before we left I took a long look at our yard--the catalpa tree was in full bloom and it doesn't last long at all. It was glorious! I was right, it was all gone upon our return.

As I was walking to the car to leave, I noticed this fallen blossom--a perfect skirt for a fairy.

We drove through some of the flooded areas but our destination was north of the worst of it. We didn't see much from the expressways, but many of the alternate routes and county roads were closed due to flooding (which was why we were on expressways). It seems never ending this year. Now it's flooding over on the Mississippi!

Appleton is on the Fox River and our big dinner was in an old mill right on the river. The water was really rushing and pretty high and later that night on the news we learned that the restaurant and next-door apartment building were put on alert for high water and possible flooding.

This isn't flooding, it's the north end of Lake Winnebago from a tower at High Cliff State Park. We had a lovely stroll there.

We were enthralled by this baby bunny who inhabited the yard next to the building on campus where we parked each day. He (or she) was busy comping away each day, mostly sprawled in the grass so only the ears peeped up.

I did get in a little stitching and a trip to a really cool bead shop while we were gone. Oh, and a little antiquing, too, in and amongst the festivities. (Thanks to Terry and all of her suggestions.

At the hotel in the evenings, I made my quilt square for Deep River County Park's annual quilt. Leila's are here. I still need to get out a rotary cutter and mat and trim it up.

I also continued to work on the needlepoint pincushion kit from Jenny. It's easy to see and simple needlepoint with enough going on so it's not boring. That's all I've been working on since I've been home. At the end of the day, I just don't want to think anymore!