Stitching Away on St Paddy’s Day!

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.

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!

Working on the Chain Gang!

Putting the pieces through, webbing all the way!

Beautiful blocks ready for lay out!

What a load of blocks made this day!

Thanks for a wonderful day, everyone -

Click to play:

And the day wasn't over yet!

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!

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 post shared by Bonnie K Hunter (@quiltville_bonnie) on Mar 17, 2018 at 5:03pm PDT

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

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.

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

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

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!