The Quilted Steeple Open House

This is just the neatest new retreat center in northwest Iowa.  The Quilted Steeple is, of course, a church with a parsonage next door to house lots of quilters & scrap bookers coming for days of sewing, quilting, or scrapbooking.  Just look at this beautiful place in the quiet Iowa countryside.  Wish you could go?  Well, you can!

This Saturday, the 27th is their Open House.  You can read all about it on their website.    Hope to see you there!

Lakes Area Quilt Guild, Clear Lake - such a lovely group!

It's been a perfect time to get out & visit some of the guilds, now before winter sets in & makes it difficult to travel.  So here are some pictures of our evening with the quilt guild in Clear Lake, Iowa.

 We always begin the battles presentation with Ft. Sumter & continue through Atlanta, so when it works out, we lay the quilts on a table in that order.

Here you can see parts of all 12 of the battle quilts.  Too bad we can't always use the walls to display, but we make do with what we have.

 Here we are admiring one of the wonderful pictorials on the back of a quilt -

by Windham Fabrics, if my memory serves me correctly. 

And the quilt hanging is the large size Chattanooga in blue & browns.

Next to me are samples of Windham Sampler in brown & blue, Union Sampler in red & black, & you can see a small part of the red & white Hide & Seek Stars!

And last, but not least, I couldn't leave without showing the gals the new Little Dresdens!

 

Many thanks to the Clear Lake Guild for having us &

to Marian Lenz for helping with the display & April Sherwood for sharing her pictures.

My new socks!

My new socks!

I'm so excited about getting back to knitting!  And this is the first pair of socks I have ever knit - aren't they sweet!  My grandmother taught me very young to knit by sitting behind me & holding her hands over the top of mine while I held the knitting needles - it worked!  So I have used that method with my own granddaughters, too.

Knitting socks is a new challenge for me; they are definitely more difficult to knit than a scarf or a dishcloth.  So I am very proud of my first pair - can you tell?? !!  I love the high tops & how they fold & scrunch down.

The yarn is ONline Supersocke 100, color Saturn - cotton, virgin wool, & polyester.  The wool makes them soft & warm, with no itchiness! 

Yarn shop at Erica's, South Bend, IN

Driving on I-90 heading to Pittsburgh market back in May, we found ourselves just north of Erica's  in South Bend, Indiana, so, of course, we had to detour for shopping.  Their yarn department equaled their fabric & wool departments; it was wonderful !

Have a great Monday, Everyone!





September is National Sewing Month!

Hot, humid days moved in when the kids returned to school, so it feels extra good spending these days indoors enjoying some sewing time during National Sewing Month!  Of course, many other responsibilities continue to pull us from our sewing time - but fight it off, be strong!  Enjoy your time at the sewing machine!

Today I am packing the Battle Series quilts & getting ready to head to Clear Lake, Iowa, to present the Civil War talk to the guild there tomorrow.  I am anxious to meet new quilting friends east of us!

"Memories"

I am still amazed how quickly the summer flew by.  The 100th year celebration of our Midway Country Club is all over - done - but we are still basking in the memories of our August gathering.  With over 60 attending, young & old sharing, we all truly enjoyed the evening.  Thank-you's & reminders of times gone by continue to arrive.  Sons, daughters & grand-daughters of past members continue to share their memories of the past with us.  We are thankful to have celebrated with so many & relived the many memories.  I must say that if you have these opportunities to reminisce, please do because you will never regret that you did.  But you may regret it, if you don't.

We read through the minutes from the 100 years & learned that these women organized the club simply to socialize & support one another here in the country.  Through the years they donated many dollars to orphanages & children's homes in Iowa even during the great depression & the world war years.  There was not one word of "poor, pitiful me" even during those years.  They simply gathered for the joy of being together; they played made-up games & contests, such as who could carry a bean on a knife the farthest or who could put the most beans in a cup on top of her head with a spoon!  Yes, they knew how to entertain themselves. 

Quilt given to guest's grandmother in 1935 

It was also fun to learn that in the 1930's members made quilt blocks for the hostess each month.  The block they made for one another was a very simple 9-patch, however they put half square triangles in each corner.  They named it "Lucky 13" because it became 13 patches instead of 9.  Today that same block has many other names.  They embroidered their name in the center of the block.  Two guests shared their mother's or grandmother's quilts with the group at the gathering.

Back to cooking dinner!  Have a great evening!