And just like that we are near the end of July!

Wow - the month of July passed really fast! I don't have much to show for my time but I've really kept busy. Physical Therapy takes up a lot of my time. My body is stronger but the pain isn't much better. I think that I'm adapting better though. We've also enjoyed some of our grandsons' baseball games and soccer matches. I've put up a lot of produce - both freezing and dehydrating. The sewing room hasn't seen much action but I do have two quilts ready for binding.

The husband of the dear friend I lost in May called me a while ago. Colleen had purchased a Baby Lock Evolution last year. It was brand new and still in the box. Her husband offered it to me for an extremely reasonable price. The machine is discontinued and I'm thinking Colleen purchased it at a good price so I didn't feel like I was taking advantage. Anyway we went to pick up the machine and her husband also had lots of fabric for me to go through. He said he was just beginning to clean out her sewing room and he would be calling me as he worked his way through more fabric. 

I came home with the following:

I love this panel.

And I loved this one too!

These 5 two-yard pieces came with a pattern - it was a mystery quilt.

These little Moda kits were each in a cute tin.

The quilts I make with this fabric, will be donated in Colleen's name.

As for the new serger, it is fantastic!

I spent a little time each day for about a week getting to know it. It is an amazing machine and I love it!

My old serger (which is encroaching on the left side of the  picture above) is on its way to our oldest granddaughter and we are transporting it! We are on our way to see our oldest son and his family - we'll meet them in Virginia again and spend a week together. Ray and I enjoy traveling and seldom go directly to destinations anymore. We are taking our time and seeing some new things and enjoying some of our old favorites along the way. 

We are stopping at fabric stores but I am trying to control my purchases - I don't have much room for more fabric!

Time goes on ...

I'm not sure where the time goes and most days fly by.

Among other things, I've been busy quilting,

A donation quilt

doing a little shopping for a special quilt,

We are expecting a great niece and great nephew.
The adoption of the 8 year old and 5 year old should be soon.

delivering quilts to the Ronald McDonald House in Madison, WI (the Children's Hospital is not taking quilts at the time),

They would only take up to 20 due to space limitations.
I took 19.

spending a little road time with Ray, my favorite photographer,

enjoying out of town friends,

With the oldest daughter living a little over an hour away now,
we hope to see all of them more often.

relaxing at a snowy retreat with friends,

and seeing the last hockey games of the season for three of our grandsons. This 3-on-3 tournament, ended with a championship!

DS2 is the coach and GS2 is next to his dad.

The quilt retreat was this past weekend. We arrived on Thursday morning before the snow began so we were able to enjoy the snow and watching someone else deal with it while we visited, quilted, ate, and enjoyed ourselves.

I did finish The Chunky Turquoise quilt at the retreat. It is 58" by 64".

This donation quilt is quilted with 40 wt Glide #10877 Sterling (gray) thread. I free-motioned lazy eights on the first two rows, horizontal stippling on the next two rows, and continued in this way ending with two rows of lazy eights.

The backing is a tone-on-tone coral, a color seen on the front in a few blocks.

It's taking me some time to recover from the weekend; guess I overdid a little. I have more stamina than I did and it is slowly improving. I'll rest for a couple days and then all should be okay. I'm hoping to sew tomorrow.

Wisconsin Quilt Expo 2019

On Thursday, my friend Sandy and I went to the Wisconsin Quilt Expo 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. Oh, the people! We arrived 17 minutes after the doors opened and felt lucky to get a parking space. The place was mobbed with thousands of quilters! I was so happy and grateful that Sandy had bought our tickets ahead of time - one less line.

We worked our way through the crowds all morning and also through lunch. At 1:00, we attended Lori Kennedy's lecture. Although I'd never met Lori, I've followed her blog for years. I was greeted as a long lost friend. She is so warm and friendly.

Sandy and I both enjoyed Lori's class and learned some new things about free motion quilting. There is always more to learn! We attempted more shopping in the afternoon and both left with minimal purchases. I did get the ruler foot for my Juki but it was next to impossible to get photos of anything. Overall it was a fun day!

Honoring Trooper Brooke Jones-Story

Note: Some of these photos are not mine - they are from various sources.

There were hundreds of flags near the school and all around our village.

These 12 flags represent her years of service as a trooper.

Brooke's services were held at our school - which is also her school. She graduated from here in 2003.

There were many signs honoring her.

C.O.P. S. came in and helped with all of the arrangements. What an organization! With the help of MANY others, we were all able to truly honor Brooke.

Hundreds of officers came from more than 30 states and Canada to honor Brooke, both at the visitation on Tuesday and the funeral on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, we stood in line for a couple of hours before getting into the gym. We were the last two people to make it in before the Officer Walk-through which began with some of Brooke's fellow Illinois State Troopers from District 16. Next came the K9s - so many. I didn't get a good picture of the dogs.

Then more D16 officers followed by so many other officers. The walk-through lasted about 35 minutes and consisted of officers walking at a brisk rate past Brooke's ashes and the family. 

We had at least 3 city/county officers in attendance from across the Midwest that went to school here; two of them were classmates of our son who is a Trooper. 

So many, many came to pay their respects. While waiting in line, I stood by a retired Chicago Police Department detective. He was interesting to talk with. At one point, he told me his wife passed away in early January and this is the 10th or 11th funeral he's attended since her funeral. All of them were police related. How very kind of him to attend.

The following photos are from Wednesday. 

The black curtain has blue lights projecting up.
The two officers in front are guarding her ashes. This honor guard changed every 15 minutes.

There were so many officers I'm told over 1300 ...

This was taken from my seat high on the bleachers.

This was taken from near the back of the gym.

We were told to 'Hold on tight to those awesome memories.'  

After the inside part of the funeral, we all went outside to stand in and around the high school parking lot. I did not get a photo of the fly-over; I was too busy watching it and the 21 gun salute and the echo taps. 

The final call for Brooke from the dispatcher really did me in. There weren't many dry eyes. 16-42, you will be remembered.

About one-fourth of our streets were closed for police squad car parking and those streets were all made into one-way streets for 30 hours. You can see the cars are parked 3 abreast on this street ready for the procession.

The procession went out into the country. I'm told 599 cars were in the procession. There were still squad cars left in our village.

Helen Keller's words: What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us. 

#PleaseMoveOver

A Sad Time

It has been a very difficult time here. Three days ago on Thursday, March 28, we lost an Illinois State Trooper. She was inspecting a semi truck on the side of the road. Another semi veered into the Trooper's car and the stopped semi. It was a huge fiery crash. Brooke was outside of her car and did not survive. The trucker that veered violated Scott's Law. That's the law in Illinois while it is called the Move Over Law in other states. We are beyond heartbroken.

Trooper Brooke Jones-Story, 34, grew up in our area. She attended the school in our village. Ray was her school counselor. She was an athlete. Ray was one of her high school volleyball coaches. She spent time in our home. She was fun to be around and she was funny. Ray recalls the day she was accepted into a college Criminal Justice program. She was SO EXCITED! Being a law enforcement officer was what she wanted to do. She lived her dream for almost 12 years.

As we mourn with her family, her police family, and her friends, we must also remember how this is affecting others. Her family and colleagues are devastated as are we. One of our sons worked with Brooke. He is an Illinois State Trooper also; he is a command officer. So we have some grandchildren that are in a law enforcement family. We had the grands for a couple of days while their parents dealt with some of the tragedy. These children, like other law enforcement officers' children, have questions - some are voiced while others aren't. They are afraid. They don't want to lose either of their parents. I certainly can see why they may not think this is a good job anymore. Brooke was the 15th Illinois State Trooper to have her squad car hit this year with a Scott's Law violation. She is the second Illinois State Trooper to lose her life due to Scott's Law violation this year. 

Is it really that hard to MOVE OVER for an emergency vehicle with lights flashing on the side of the road? If you can't move over, then SLOW DOWN. What is wrong with people? How many people have to be hit for people to learn? The people being hit are husbands, wives, moms, dads, sons, daughters. They are real people who have dedicated themselves to a life of service. 

I guess I have a lot of questions too. 

And just so you know, less than 48 hours after Brooke was hit, Illinois State Trouper Gerald Ellis, 35, was hit head on while driving in his squad. He stopped a person going the wrong way and saved the lives of the people in the cars behind him. He leaves a wife and two young children. Trooper Ellis was in a neighboring District. 

The last three days have been a long week and I am very sad. This week we have a visitation and a funeral. It will be another sad week.

Another Great Spring Retreat

We had great retreat at Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Center. The best part may be that we did not have any medical emergencies like last year.

One morning, I was the first one in the building where we sew and eat. This is the area where we sew. I sit on the left way in the back by the windows.

This is my table. I enjoyed seeing all of the deer and wild turkeys out of 'my' windows. We didn't see any coyotes but we heard a pack of them howling Saturday evening when we were outside. 

This is our cutting area. In the background, you can see where we eat.

Speaking of eating, this was our snack/treat table. When I took the picture, none of the refrigerated items were out for the day yet. We did not go hungry!

We also had a few drinks on tap - juices, water, hot chocolate, cappuccinos, and coffees. 

I did not get many pictures of projects - I was enjoying the visiting too much! Here is what I have:

And my projects, which I photographed after getting home:

baseball quilt still needs borders

close up of baseball quilt

ice cream cone quilt

This is a wonderful group of women. I enjoy and treasure the time I get to spend with them.

Lucky Charmers