Yes, it’s already the third day of August and where have I been?
We started July with a trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama where the sun was shining and the company was lovely…
We joined Jonathan and family for a few days at the beach. Lily and Lucy made sand castles.
I booked us a room with a view and it didn’t disappoint.
Just the dunes between us and the Gulf.
Very convenient for the celebrations on the 4th!
I can’t remember being quite so close to the fireworks in a long time. They were very loud!!
One last pics of the girls… and their dad.
Fun times!
Some of my friends have been doing the Northern Illinois Quilt Shop Hop and I invited myself along for the last few shops on their list. I drove, so I added a couple of extra places. We called in at Benzie Design in Plainfield. They are best known for their online store but we are close enough to shop in person. I added a few felted creatures to my collection and bought a most excellent stuffing tool. I have already used it and it works very well for stuffing fiddly Yorkshire buttons.
I also added in a trip to The Quilter’s Trunk in Beverly. I had never been there before but it sounded interesting and there was off street parking… so why not?
I made several purchases, including a jelly roll of African wax print fabrics which I have already used… stay tuned for pictures!!
Chicago has lots of museums. After almost 29 years we might have our favorites?
Julia and family came to town and we set off bright and early for a full day of fun.
We started at the Art Institute. Ruby and Benjamin keep growing but they are not too old for a picture by the lions!
We got there at opening time so we could take advantage of our membership and get in to see the Georgia O’Keefe exhibit before it got busy. I took lots of picture. Most of the paintings were from her earlier years in New York but there were a few flower paintings.
This quote was on the wall. If you have ever been in my Language of Flowers lecture it might sound familiar?
And here is White Flower, painted in 1929.
I bought the fridge magnet!
We also visited the textile gallery where Threaded Visions: Contemporary Weavings from the Collection was on display.
This is White Dwarf by Maria Davila and Eduardo Portillo. There is an article about it here.
Here’s a close-up.
The museum was beginning to get busy. We drove south to the Museum of Science and Industry!
After lunch in the museum cafe we had some fun in the James Bond exhibit … lots of cars and gadgets from the movies… and then stood in line to try out the new Notes to Neurons multimedia experience. We turned blue!!
We returned home to watch Casino Royale! A very educational day.
Time to go to work. I just had a short drive to visit the Prairie Star Quilt Guild in St. Charles (Illinois)
The evening crowd has shrunk over the years but the ladies gave me a very warm welcome for Lessons Learned While Quilting.
Show and Tell included this super Tula Butterfly!
I stayed in town overnight and was back in the morning for a much bigger crowd and The Language of Flowers.
There was more Show and Tell.
A wonderful t-shirt quilt,
and then one all ready for Christmas. There’s a different pieced block in each tree in this Joyful Gathering quilt from Primitive Gatherings.
We had a full class of aspiring buttoners to make Yorkshire buttons in the afternoon. No pictures except this beautiful piece brought in by one of the members. Yorkshire buttons make great cacti
And that’s about it for where has Catherine been in July! I have spent lots of time at home. I have been making a few things and getting ready for future adventures. I will be posting more in July part 2… coming soon.
