A trip to souther Illinois Part 2 of 4

We traveled south from Arthur and  stopped in Effingham at The Wooden Spool. When we arrived, we met the owner who had just stopped in for a few minutes. She was great and showed me around the store. I was very impressed with this shop.

I found backs for the last three on my list of quilts. 

The quilt is navy with dots and red.
Can you see it to the left of the navy?

I loved the store but found that they cut instead of tear wide backs. (Tearing insures that the  piece of fabric is square when straightened on grain.) I had the lady checking me out tear some off each piece so I kind of knew what I needed to buy to have enough for each quilt. (I paid for the pieces torn off.) She said the long armers in the area just bought an extra 8" and they never complained. I usually want an extra 10 inches and I want the fabric on the straight of grain. The owner was gone by the time I checked out - I wish I could have asked her to tear my fabric. They had a wonderful selection of wide backs.

We stopped at Flora's Diner in Flora for lunch. I thought shrimp sounded good but I didn't know what Ayce Popcorn Shrimp was. Do you?

Maybe I don't eat out enough - it means all you can eat. I might have figured out AYCE. Anyway it was good and the hushpuppies were wonderful! I couldn't eat all of the first serving!

We arrived at our rental near Junction, IL and the Shawnee National Forest. Our home for the week was out in the country on 20 acres bordering the National Forest. We had a great cabin which was close to but private from our hosts' home. Our hosts were great too! I thought of this as our backyard but it was actually our front yard. Past the seating area was a deep ravine with a stream. We did hike across it one day.    

Off to the left in the above photo, we had bird feeders. I caught this red-bellied woodpecker eating one day. Ray captured a photo of a pileated woodpecker! 

One day we went to the Garden of the Gods. We hiked the observation trail. I just took photos and let Ray worry about the iconic shots of the area.

This part of the trail was a little narrow!

We had a gorgeous day.

An Amish youth (teenage) group was there that day. We talked with some of the young men and they said they take a bus trip every year on Ascension Day. One of the chaperones began talking with me and said there were 30 some youth in the group. She then explained that they were actually Old Order Mennonites and that there are a few differences between the Amish and the Old Order Mennonites with the most obvious being that married men do not grow beards. 

This scenery shot has the older chaperones enjoying the view. The teenagers were enjoying the rocks so they appear in some of our pictures. 

Some things we've observed: there aren't many if any stores or gas stations around, the roads, except for the major highways are narrow, there isn't much traffic, people are very friendly, cell phone service isn't always available, things seem to be a little slower and more quiet around here. It was all very relaxing.

On our way 'home', we came across the Garden of the Gods Outpost. They had souvenirs, hotdogs, and ice cream. We were able to get root beer floats which tasted so good.

Following our GPS, we turned onto Sparks Hill Road. As we turned onto the road, it was downhill and we could not see the road ahead. When we'd driven a few feet, and could see the road, we realized we were on a path and then it hit us. Our host told us about this road. So glad we knew where this would take us ('home') because there was no way we could turn around. This photo was taken when the road leveled out some, there weren't deep ruts or mud, and  I could hold my phone steady for a second. We were extremely grateful not to meet an oncoming vehicle. It sure was pretty in those woods though! 

We only drove Sparks Hill road once,

More adventures coming...

A trip to Southern Illinois Part 1 of 4

A while back, we planned a trip even though Ray was dealing with some back issues and not feeling his best. After I gave ChatGPT a few details and asked for a destination suggestion, it recommended the Shawnee National Forest and Garden of the Gods in southern Illinois. Driving the interstates from our home in northwest Illinois would have taken 6.5 to 7 hours, but we prefer to avoid interstate travel and long stretches in the car. 

We decided to go through Pontiac, Illinois, to visit some Route 66 attractions. This most legendary highway, is celebrating 100 years this year (2026),

then continue to Arthur to explore the Amish businesses. Our plan was to arrive at our rental near Junction, Illinois, next to Shawnee National Forest, on the third day. On the way back, we planned to spend two nights in Springfield, Illinois, before returning home.

On day one, we ate lunch at the Edinger's Filling Station in Pontiac. This nostalgic service station themed restaurant blends Route 66 history with classic dining.

The food was good too! We both had breakfast food (me - bacon and eggs, Ray - sausage and biscuits) and shared an order of their famous fried macaroni. Our waitress said people usually love it or hate it. I loved it, Ray not so much. The macaroni had onions and smoked gouda cheese.

We walked around downtown and enjoyed the murals. It took us quite a while to find the iconic one. It's actually on the back of a building and is fenced off for some work being done. 

A merchant told us how to maneuver around the fence and we found these murals in the same area.

The merchant told us that people often ask where
the ice cream shop is because they want to eat there.

There is a nice quilt shop in Pontiac but it is closed on Monday (when we were there). Our rental the first evening was in Fairbury, IL. I decided we didn't need to  back track to the quilt shop the next day when I found the Lost Arts Fabric Store was less then a block from our rental. I was looking for backing for a few donation quilts and I found the first two backs on sale at this nice shop. I have a habit of taking a photo of my fabric pieces on top of the selected fabric so I know what's what when I get home.

We drove to Arthur the next day and arrived in time for lunch. My brother told me they love Yoder's Kitchen and we planned to eat there for lunch but... they had a broccoli casserole on the buffet so that meant I couldn't eat anything that was near it on the buffet. (I have a severe allergy to broccoli). Anyway we headed to Pauly's BBQ and had a great lunch. I loved the menu for the non smoker.

Guess we were both smokers! I enjoyed ribs and Ray had pulled pork.

We stopped at a few of the Amish businesses in the country. At one fabric shop, I found some cotton to go with a piece of flannel. I needed the backing and also something to put with the flannel. Not sure how I'll make this quilt yet.

 

We visited a couple of Amish grocery stores and found some treats and food for the days ahead. In town, we visited Stitch and Sew Fabrics. I found backs for four more quilts. And they were all on sale!

Two quilts will have this backing.

Our rental the second night was in Arthur and we enjoyed a quiet evening as we listened to the clip clop of the horses pulling the buggies by our house.

Stay tuned for more...

A Few More donation Quilts

When I was pulling fabrics for the Simply Square Series, I came across some bright colored fabrics that weren't large enough for a Simply Square Quilt. I eventually realized I could use some of the smaller pieces with the Take Five pattern. A new series! 

For Take Five - Tie Dye, I pulled 'solid' fabrics to go with the tie-dye fabric. It is really bright and fun.

I used a large double loop motif to quilt this.

The colors in this backing, from my stash, just seemed to be right for this quilt.

Size:         48" by 60"

Thread:    Glide 50-wt, Lemon Ice #80607

Batting:    Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:   Large Double Loop

The second Take Five quilt, Take Five - Cars, Trucks, and Fish, has child friendly fabrics - cars, trucks, and fish. The fabric scraps seemed to go together so I pulled a couple solids from my stash to complete the quilt.

I quilted this with a meander stitch.

The back, from my stash, has paw prints in all the right colors.

Size:         48" by 60"

Thread:    Glide 50-wt, top - Battleship #10430

                 back - Bone #17443

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    Meander 

Block Steps is a quilt I started quite a while ago. I thought I would like the pale blue background with all of the scrappy fabrics. Another color might have been better but it is what it is. To help tame the scrappiness, I decided to put color families together.

The quilting is a large meander.

The back is a blue/purple/turquoise print from my stash.

Size:         62" square

Thread:    Glide 50-wt, top - Sterling #10877

                 back - Lt Turquoise #32975

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    Meander 

I wanted to make a Double Irish Chain quilt and one day, while looking through my stash, I came across two fabrics, red and red/black, and decided "Why not?". Double Irish Chain uses a traditional pattern but the fabrics/colors are not the traditional light and dark. It was fun to make.

Oops - you can see where this quilt was folded.

The quilting, done on the longarm, is a controlled wavy line - but I don't think I had very good control.

The back, from my stash, is black with flecks of color.

Size:         60" square

Thread:    Glide 50-wt, top - Ruby #70187

                 back - Shadow #1BLK3

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    Controlled Wavy Lines

With these four quilts added to this pile of 16, I am halfway to my goal of 40 quilt donations this year. 

At last, I can see that my stash is slowly diminishing. Very slowly but it's happening!

Flannel Quilt Series Finishes

At the March quilting retreat, K gifted me some flannel to use in donation quilts. One of her friends received this flannel from someone and K thought I would use it. There are 8 pieces, enough for 9 quilts. Eight of the tops are finished. I need additional fabric for the ninth. Three of the eight tops are now quilted and bound! So far, everything I've used is from my stash.

I numbered the quilts for identification and I'm evidently not finishing them in order. 

Flannel #2 (flannel daisies with blue dot cotton) finished at 42" by 50". The size of this quilt was definitely affected by the amount of blue dot fabric that I had.  

I quilted a lazy eight or wishbone, on the blue dot pieces and meandering on the daisy flannel. 

The back is a blue cotton.

Size:         42" by 50"

Thread:    Glide 50-wt, top - Bone #17443

                 back - Battleship #10430

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    Meander and Lazy Eights

Flannel #3 (pink, purple, and teal) finished at 43" by 45". I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to do with this piece - I really didn't want to cut it up. I finally left it as one piece of fabric and just quilted it. 

I used wavy lines, straight lines, lazy eights, and string of loops motifs for the quilting.

The back is turquoise recently leftover backing from another quilt.

Size:         43" by 45"

Thread:    Glide 50-wt, top - Lt Turquoise #32975

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    Lazy eights, string of loops, wavy lines, straight lines

Flannel #7 (blue perfume girl with yellow gold cotton) finished at 43" by 43". I cut this flannel in large squares so I could use all of it. 

The fabric is cute - you can almost smell the perfume. While I was making this, I might have referred to it, lovingly, as Stinky Girl.

The back is pink. You can really see the quilting on the back - the motif is string of loops.

Size:         43" by 43"

Thread:    Glide 50-wt, top - Baby Blue #30290

                 back - Bone #17443

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    String of Loops

Most of the flannel quilts are smaller than I usually make due to the fabric available. They will be used for infants so the size will be fine. I love the flannel - it feels and looks so nice and soft!

We'll be doing a little traveling in a few weeks and I might be able to finish a binding or two. There is a pile of quilts needing the binding hand sewn. A few more finishes will put me halfway to that 40 donation quilt goal. Twenty is my normal number of donations for the last few years. I will definitely meet that.