>>>>

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Stitching Away on St Paddy’s Day!

20180317_220228
It’s not often that St Patrick’s Day falls in line with National Quilting Day!

But then, isn’t EVERY day International Quilting Day?  It is in my world!

However you spent your day, I hope it was wonderful.

There was a plethora of green-wearing-scrap-loving folks sewing up a storm in yesterday’s Cathedral Stars workshop hosted by the Illinois Valley Quilters in Ottawa, IL!  And we were so happy to have Carolyn and Lisa join us all the way from Arkansas and Missouri.  We tried to figure out how many years it has been since I last saw them, and the best we can come up with is about 5. 

Lisa’s kids have grown – gotten married, life marches on – oh, so quickly!

And our class day did, as well.

I haven’t taught Cathedral Stars in a while, but it was the FIRST quilt that turned me on to the Tri-Recs units and how fun and versatile they are when cut from strips.  We’ve since used this unit in Celtic Solstice and En Provence, both found in the Digital Patterns section of the once again functional Quiltville Store And when students are successful with this unit, their happiness spills over and the possibilities are endless.

20180317_153349


That is until you…well…..it happens! LOL!

(This is how we know we’ve been sewing and laughing too long!)

Seriously, we laughed until we cried with her!

20180317_113647

Working on the Chain Gang!

20180317_215900

Putting the pieces through, webbing all the way!

20180317_144628

Beautiful blocks ready for lay out!

20180317_150005

What a load of blocks made this day!

20180317_145234

Thanks for a wonderful day, everyone -

Click to play:


And the day wasn't over yet!


20180317_165940

Lincoln  debate memorialized!

On this spot in August 21, 1858:

It was dry and dusty, between 10,000 and 12,000 people were in attendance when the debate began at 2:00 p.m. There were no seats or bleachers.

Douglas charged Lincoln with trying to “abolitionize” the Whig and Democratic Parties. He also charged Lincoln had been present when a very radical “abolitionist” type platform had been written by the Republican Party in 1854. Douglas accused Lincoln of taking the side of the common enemy in the Mexican War. Douglas also said Lincoln wanted to make Illinois “a free Negro colony.” Douglas asked Lincoln seven questions.

Lincoln during his turn did not respond to the questions and was on the defensive denying the allegations Douglas had made. Lincoln charged Douglas with trying to nationalize slavery.

In his rebuttal Douglas concentrated on the charge that Lincoln had been present when a very radical “abolitionist” type platform had been written by the Republican Party in 1854.

Source: Neely, Mark E. Jr. 1982. The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, Inc.

You’ll find LOADS of references to Abraham Lincoln in and around Illinois, but only Ottawa can claim their fame as being the location of the first debate between Lincoln and Douglas.

My inner history buff is wishing for more time to explore what happened here!


20180317_170036

Beautiful mural of the debate.

There are wonderful murals all over town, but time was too short to get photos of them all.  But can’t you feel the excitement in this representation?

I snapped it while we were on the way to dinner at the Lone Buffalo Brewery, enjoying a good old Irish meal with the guild girls, including Irish Dancing, a bag piper, and a rainbow that magically came through the window and landed across my dinner plate.  Too funny!  Click to play:


A rainbow.  On my plate.  On St Patrick's Day.  Surely, this HAS to be a good luck sign!

20180317_184323

Bag Piper below us!

It’s a heading home day.  And I am happy to report that after an hour on the phone with India, we got the Quiltville Store back up and running.  It was a quick fix.  I don’t know why it took so l long, but finally getting hold of a real person instead of typing at a chat bubble, and telling them that I would hold the line until it was fixed – it was working by bedtime.

Once again all is right in my world, and I’ll be in my own bed by bedtime.

Thanks for the WONDERFUL week, Illinois!  You were friendly and gracious, we made lots of memories, and I’m going home with a smile on my face and happiness in my heart.

IMG_20180318_063122_480000_wm

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Focus on the real things! Vintage quilt found in La Salle, IL.

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!



5 comments:



  1. She made a broken Catherdal Window.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy the Store is restored. Technology is a crazy thing. Love it or hate it. Somedays it's great. Love the Tri-Recs too. Happy Quilting Weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  3. A magically delicious rainbow... for sure it's a sign of good luck and blessings to come!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks like you all had a GREAT time! Had to laugh at the "misplacement star". That kind of stuff happens to me a lot. I love your final quote as I am a HUGE Laura Ingalls Wilder fan!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I enjoyed the trunk show so much and learned several new things. I was disappointed that Joann and i could not get into the Saturday class, but maybe next time.
    Started on my sewing system 😊.

    ReplyDelete

If you are commenting as "anonymous" please leave your name at the end of your comment.

Did you know that ad space on this blog provides for all of the free patterns and free mysteries and challenges at no cost to you? Without ads, this blog would not be possible.

Thank you for understanding the many hours that go into this blog 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year. :)