2013 NewFO Challenge - June Update

I'm following the NewFO Challenge where projects don't have to be finished ... just started each month! Visit Barbara over at Cat Patches and see what everyone else has started this month.

I began Black White Orange All Over.

Even the back is done. 

It is pinned and just needs to be quilted!

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I did make progress on some earlier 2013 projects.

Spring Bouquet is finished! I do love it!

Flannel Snowmen made with the Yellow Brick Road pattern is finished! It is so soft and cuddly.

My BOM square for June:

Crazy Eights is finished! I love the this modern quilt.

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I really don't want to add too much to my UFO pile this year so I am trying to finish things also. My six month update on 2013 projects:

• Everything started in January, except my BOM is completed!
• I still have a QOV to finish from February.
• Everything started in March is completed!
• Everything started in April is completed!
• I need to finish Starry Night from May.
• I need to finish Black White Orange All Over from June.

Not bad - I can live with 3 new UFOs! Especially since I have also completed 4 UFOs which were in my pile January 1, 2013!

Crazy Eights Finished!

This is a "free" quilt - it is made entirely from my stash! But my stash didn't diminish in size???!!! I really like this quilt - it is bright and cheery. It is a little bigger than 50" square.

The whole quilt is machine quilted with feathers except for a wavy line in the small white inner border. I learned LOTS! I did the borders first and my feathers are too skinny. The interior of the quilt is much better. I'm glad I finally decided to just go for it - next time will be even better.

 The back is large scraps in the same colors as the front.

Crazy eights is a donation quilt. I hope it brings joy to some young person.

A dilemma

I watched the Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial about The Big Star Quilt last fall. At the very end, Jenny Doan mentions using two charm packs for the project instead of a layer cake. I liked the quilt and just had to try it. I think I started this in late fall of 2012.

It was one of those projects that keeps getting put aside for other things - that is the only explanation!

This small quilt will be used as a table topper. It is about 30" X 40". I machine quilted it with a large stipple. I think it would have been neat to use gold metallic thread. Of course, you have to have gold metallic thread to be able to use it!

Notice the secondary design - the gold units in between the stars. Don't you just love secondary designs - I do! 
And then I saw a problem! OOPS!

Pretty obvious error!

And then a SECOND problem!

The top triangle on the left is wrong!

The quilt is totally done even laundered. What should I do?  I'm thinking the problems won't show when I use it but I know they are there... a dilemma for sure!

American Players Theater

We went to the American Players Theater in Spring Green, Wisconsin, last night. What fun! 

Yesterday began with strong storms at home and in Spring Green. On our trip north, we saw lots of flooding including water on the highway at times. We wondered if the "show would go on" since the theater is outdoors. We decided not to picnic prior to the performance since we did not know the lay of the land and the weather was so questionable.

We enjoyed dinner at a 50's Diner right across the street from our motel. Then, before heading to the theater, we grabbed the insect spray and our raincoats. 

W. Somerset Maugham's Too Many Husbands was performed in the Up-the-Hill Theater. We hiked up the hill to the theater and passed many patrons picnicking. There is a great picnic area - which we will remember for next time! 

The theater was a pleasant surprise with comfortable padded seats. I think every seat was a good seat! The stage looks much further away than it is. This picture is from the last row - just as you walked into the theater.

The play was wonderful - that great British comedy with many one-liners and a zany plot! And no rain! Except for maybe 10 drops!

We woke up this morning to more heavy rain and storms - ugh! At least there was no rush to do a few errands and head home.

Cooksville Farmhouse Inn

My friends and I have returned to our homes. We are already talking about next year!

Friends!

Our days together were fun. We stayed at the Cooksville Farmhouse Inn in Cooksville, Wisconsin, and were within easy driving distance of several small towns and some larger ones. 

Our hosts, Bob and Martha were really nice. They live in a barn that they converted into a house and they gave us a tour - wow!

Let's have a tour of the farmhouse. First is the sunroom. It was so relaxing to look out the windows to the west.

This isn't the best photo (a lot of bright light is coming through the windows) of the huge fireplace in the living room. We spent a lot of time in this room. There is also a couch and chairs.

Most meals that we ate at the house were eaten in the dining room.

The game room has table shuffleboard. Notice the dart board (closed) on the wall. There is a futon behind where I'm standing and taking photo. 

The kitchen was very sufficient for our needs. We had everything we needed and more.

Standing at the end of the kitchen, you can see the kitchen table and that huge fireplace with the sunroom on the left and the living room on the right.

The master bedroom was also on the first floor.

Up a steep set of stairs that are original to the house, were three bedrooms and a large bathroom. My room had a queen bed, a desk, a rocking chair, and a wing chair.

The bedroom we did not use had three twin beds (one with a trundle)...

and a wall of books!

The other bedroom also had three beds; the one you can't see is a twin mattress on the floor. 

You've probably noticed that all of the beds have quilts. Not all are handmade but all are lovely. This quilt hung in the stairwell. It was quite old and very nice.

And right outside my room were all of these animals!

Old Friends

It takes a long time to grow an old friend. 

- John Leonard

We are having a great time and lots of laughs! We are staying in a farmhouse in southern Wisconsin. I'll show you pictures of the house one day soon.

Colleen doesn't get around too easily - she's had both hips replaced in the last couple of years and is recovering. Bonnie and I enjoy our morning walks on the farm and around this small village.

Community Center  was originally school in 1850s

We have been touring some of the small towns and cities that surround us - visiting small shops, spending money, eating ...

At Cherry Berry - very, very good!

My DIL Emily came Wednesday morning and did a Norwex party for us. We all use Norwex but none of us has ever been to a party. It was fun and we learned lots! Watching Emily clean the oven door, part of a granite surface, and the rust off of a sink was quite impressive. Now we can't wait for our orders to arrive. When Emily was demonstrating how the dust mitt worked, she had a hard time finding dust - our rental house is clean!

We play table shuffleboard, a new game to me, and darts. Table shuffleboard is fun and the strategy reminds me of curling. I even won a few games! I'm not very good at darts but at least I hit the board sometimes! Bonnie and Colleen are much better players at both shuffleboard and darts! 

Bonnie was interested in my knitting - I was working on a donation hat. Colleen and I decided that crocheting was easier to learn so one day we went in search of yarn and the lessons began. The first lesson was one night after some wine and just resulted in giggles. The second try was more productive!

I seldom drink wine but these two usually find something that is pretty good so I join them.

Every so often I like to ride the giraffe - it's something I never get to do at home!

True Friends

A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked. 

-John Leonard

The three of us are having a wonderful time! Yesterday we stopped at an Amish grocery store. That was a new experience for one of us and a fun time for all of us. The shop keeper started playing his harmonica for us - he was quite good! Anyway, I asked how many harmonicas he had and he played each of the five in his drawer for us!

After lunch, we had some time to kill before we could get into our rental house. So we went in search of a quilt shop (two of us are quilters and the third follows us without complaint). We were told to go down the highway and we would see the sign - the shop was down the lane at the house. We found the sign, went down the lane, found the house and the building nearby with another sign. There were lots of pickup trucks which we thought was a little odd but we walked into the shop. There were about 8 men sitting around the table. One stood and I said we were looking for a quilt shop - he said we had found a long arm quilting shop. He told us where the quilt shop was, another man repeated his directions rather harshly and we left. Not being very perceptive - I saw 8 men probably finishing up lunch. Colleen saw 8 men having some kind of serious meeting. Bonnie saw 8 men with Bibles. We had just interrupted a prayer meeting! The three of us had been together less than three hours and were already causing problems. There are some old college administrators who would say that was normal for us! That guy who repeated the directions could have added some blessing rather than the "get out of here" feeling he gave us!

When we were teaching, we would actively search out conferences/workshops/classes that we could all attend. It was just more fun to go when we could all go. We didn't all serve under the same dean and we developed a little bit of a reputation with our deans. They were always trying to figure out what we were up to! They never figured it out and it was so simple - we loved to learn and we loved sharing time with friends! 

Friends!

“It is by chance that we met, 

by choice that we became friends.” 

- John Leonard

I am spending a few days with some 'old' friends. I met Colleen when I started teaching at the college in 1979. When Bonnie started at the college in 1984, she also became a good friend. There weren't many female instructors so we just naturally gravitated toward each other.

Roughly the same age, we were all mothers with two children close to the same ages. We shared the joys and stresses of all working moms. We often met for lunch on Fridays. When first semester finals were over, we usually went Christmas shopping in Rockford, Illinois. We would each drive, shop all morning, and then meet for lunch. We would compare notes about bargains and ideas. Then we would each go our separate ways and try to complete our shopping in the afternoon. Not much happened in our lives that the other two didn't know about. 

Our areas were different. Colleen taught Psychology; Bonnie was a nOffice Technology instructor and the lab supervisor; I taught Computer Science. We all encouraged each other in our efforts to take advanced graduate courses. We knew it was the best way to enrich our teaching and to advance on the salary schedule. Each of us has a Masters Degree and many hours - more than most PhDs have! One year all three of us and my dear husband took graduate classes at Disney University - we had a great time living at Disney World and enjoyed some of the best classes ever! 

Now that we are all retired, we try to get together every few years. Two of us live in Illinois and one in Florida so it takes a little planning to spend time together.

We picked Bonnie up at the airport this morning and our newest adventure has begun!

A Stunning Japanese Garden

We spent Thursday night in Rockford, Illinois. Isn't that the destination everyone chooses for their 43rd anniversary?!! Actually it is where we spent the first two days of our married life prior to out 3-year honeymoon in Florida. Ray has always called our time living in Florida, our 3-year honeymoon.

On Friday morning we went to Anderson Japanese Gardens. The day was absolutely gorgeous and the gardens are stunning!

Their website says "In our hectic and stressful world, Anderson Japanese Gardens opens minds to a different culture while offering guests a place of peace and tranquility where they will find healing, renewal, inspiration, and a re-energized soul." What a perfect description!

One can spend hours - there are many places to sit and the views in every direction are serene and gorgeous. Notice the reflections in the water.

We met a docent, Michael, and he shared some interesting facts about the garden. We found that the trees and plants are not labeled because this would then be considered a Botanical Garden. He said Anderson Japanese Garden is the top-rated Japanese Garden in North America! 

There weren't many people in the garden - it had just opened - so Docent Michael offered to walk with us. He gave us plenty of time to take the photos we wanted and he even suggested certain shots. He shared his knowledge of the gardens and really enhanced our visit.

We loved the waterfalls.

Docent Michael was kind enough to take out picture.

Here is my favorite photographer taking a picture of the raked gravel.

We had a wonderful visit and hope to return to the gardens in the fall. 

Green Knit Hat

I finished the green hat. I know  it doesn't look straight across the bottom but it is! I just moved it to the corner of the blocking mat and must have skewed it a bit. The pattern is Man Hat by Haven Leavitt. I used Encore Chunky Plymouth Yarn. 

The hat along with the green scarf I made earlier are for the church bazaar. The hat above is much closer to the true color of both.

I am making one more hat and scarf set that I just began. So it will be a while before it is done.