JJ Stitches Quilt Shop, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin

Now I knew from reading biographies of Georgia O'Keefe that there was nothing left to see of the fact that she grew up in Sun Prairie, but I still was excited to drive through her home town for the first time.  Here are photos of JJ Stitches, another wonderful shop!  Street view:

The 30s Feedsack section was set up as a baby nursery.  Great idea!  

Wonderful samples high on the walls:

Lots of vintage suitcases, unfortunately NFS.  All kinds of other nice goodies here and I made a very nice haul.

We got an excellent dinner at Market Street Diner while still in Sun Prairie, but also some very important dessert, two pieces of Carl's Cakes.  You'll understand why from the photo of the pastry case :-) :

They had a tiny free lending library inside the entrance: 

Gorgeous Midwestern scenery leaving Sun Prairie, on to the next destination, Primitive Gatherings!!

No photos allowed at Primitive Gatherings!  All I have is the guardian crow of the bathroom light switch!  But you all know about Primitive Gatherings, much more than I do, and it is worth a lot to make time to go visit it.  We even got to go see the 4-space booth all set up in one of their warehouses as it would look at their next show in California, which looked fabulous!  I was good and didn't take a photo there either although I could have sneaked one as I did the Guardian Crow :-) :

Next up are a few shots of the farmstead where the Cedarburg cheddar quilt exhibit was shown and our visit to Ye Olde Schoolhouse, a very special and wonderful shop.  I have been making a kit from Ye Olde, one of Sue Daley's patterns, and hope to have it finished or at least to flimsy stage by next post. 

EQ Slide Show and More Country Sampler

Have you ever used Electric Quilt's EQ6 Slide Show utility as a way to look through your EQ6 and earlier quilts?  It's fabulous!  I always wished there were some simple way to browse through all of my EQ quilts at one time without opening folder after endless folder.  Lots of good ideas hiding back in there!


Okay, let's whisk back to the Country Sampler.  Sorry for the fuzziness of some of the photos:

A pretty scene, just how we want our homes to look at night...

There's that Brown Egg Farm sampler by Notforgotten Farm that I have wanted to stitch.  Somebody went and stitched it!

Delectable textiles for decorative accents:

Soulful lady...

The bed displays, both full and shortened, just made the shop and gave it such a perfect ambience.  Love the bed curtains and dying for the pillow cover:

Gasp!  What a shelf display!

Whoa, back outside again.  We got to check out some quilts in the classroom area at the back.  Scrumptious.

Whoa, back in the shop.  We were darting back and forth, drunk on Primitive.  You don't lose body parts if you're only drinking Primitive.

Wonderful fabric and enticing displays everywhere, all primitive, all suprem-o.

Ai, there's that great bed again!

Back to the classroom.  We are spinning out of control :-) .  Window display:

Cheater cloth so gorgeously quilted that it is looking very un-cheater:

A bed display in the classroom.  The reverse colorway of the pillow cover on the bed inside.  Swoon and die:

Whoa, spinning around outside again.  I could live here in a heartbeat; it faces Country Sampler!

Country Sampler vegetation and gorgeous stone wall:

Okay, next time on to JJ Stitches in Sun Prairie.

A Thundery Saturday

Ah, this economy.  Not the least of the terrible fallout from it is the closing of many museums and the sale of its contents.  If only they could simply close the doors, preserve the collection, and wait for better times.  As a former museum worker (manuscript librarian in the Indiana Historical Society and assistant archivist at Conner Prairie Pioneer Settlement), I can hardly bear to read of these closings and dispersals.  


At the same time, there are such wonderful exhibits going on this summer and beyond.  The Cheddar Quilt exhibit in Cedarburg.  The quilt exhibit at The Mercer Museum in Pennsylvania.  "Gather Up the Fragments", the Andrews Shaker Collection in Washington D.C.  And also in D.C., an exhibit so gloriously indifferent to the collapsed economy, so beautiful in its distinctive art form, that it takes my breath away: Prêt-à-Papier - Trompe L'Oeil Gowns by Isabelle de Borchgrave, 

"who recreates fabulous iconic historic fashion by simply crumpling bits of paper...".  Here is a link further describing the exhibit:

Also please watch the video below showing a bit of her work process:  

Ah, if there is a way to get to D.C. for these two exhibits....count me in.


Timothy went in to see the Marines this week to see about the latest extension of Emergency Family Leave.  We hope it will be granted once again.  Each time, the Marine in charge says, "well, Marine?  How is your mother?"  and Timothy replies loudly, "Still has cancer, sir!".


The first time he went in to see the local Marines to register himself as being stationed in Atlanta on the Emergency Leave, there was some kind of paperwork saying my newbie Marine son was going to instruct the local Marines in various skills.  Timothy basically had had some tentative emergency medical training only.  The head Marine saw him then.  He was head of the Special Forces Unit stationed there.  Timothy said he had so many stickers over his chest certifying to advanced training proficiency that there was no fabric showing on his shirt.
Head Guy: (looking over his papers) "Marine.  What are you going to teach my Special Forces Men?"
Timmy: "Sir!  Nothing, sir!"
Head Guy: "Go home, Marine, and take care of your mother."


Well, the Emergency Leave continues on while the rest of Timmy's group languishes at the base with nothing to do, since the Marines are downsizing and Timothy's group and others are not getting ready to deploy.  I wonder to myself why they do not take them to the Great Smokies and have them do work there because they are going crazy with nothing to do and that base is not set up as a place to live for a long time.  One fellow in his group lost his leg during the deployment and was issued a prosthetic leg.  Yesterday's conversation:
Timmy: "Mom.  Remember my friend with the prosthetic leg?"
Mom: "Yes."
Timmy: "Well, he lost it."
Mom: "Where did he see it last?"
Timmy: "He doesn't know.  And the Marines won't issue him another one.  So he has to hop around.  All of our friends are trying to help him find part of it.  If they can find even a tiny piece of it, the Marines will issue him another leg."
Mom: [worried about Timmy's habit of drinking] "I'll tell you how this happened.  They were out drinking.  They were drinking too much.  And this is what happens when you drink too much.  You begin to lose body parts."
Timmy: "Duly noted, Mother."


Well, on to Temecula #3.  I don't even want to tell you the trouble I had doing this block.  And yet it is finished!

Guess I'd better start showing you some photos from my personal Wisconsin Shop Hop.  Others have shown photos from the cheddar quilt exhibit in Cedarburg, so let me refer you to those blogs for the cheddar wonders.  The first shop was Country Sampler in Spring Green, wonderful, incredible shop!  Lotsa pictures of this one, will show you part of them in this post.  Close to the shop, a wine bar in an old bank:

Close to the shop:

 In my spare time, I'm hunting for a new home in my price range.  This one fills the bill:

Here is the shop:

This is the very front of the shop, beautiful displays of the yummy primitives we all love shown on beds and trestle tables:

Some of the photos are fuzzy but I'm putting them in anyway.  Have several more shots of Country Sampler; better stop for now and put in next post.  

Sunday Morning

The latest Temecula star.  Notice the two points that are badly off.  Chemo-brain.  Just had a fresh, full-strength (see below) session on Friday.  Might do them over but I will definitely paper piece the stars to follow.

The most extraordinary thing happened last week.  At exactly when I felt best since this chemotherapy began (they had to dial it down a bit the last session because they finally realized they were killing me), the opportunity for a trip arose thanks to a dear friend in the midwest, MJ by name, and I got to see four of the best quilt shops in the country.  You must realize that due to poverty, I have barely gotten out of Georgia in at least 25 years, except for quick trips to the Smokies and whatnot.  I was thrilled to get all the way up to Wisconsin!!  Will show pictures on next post.  


Meanwhile, here is the vintage cardboard suitcase I bought to use as a carry-on on the return trip.  I had most of what I purchased in it, except for a yardage piece, four FQs, and a little kit:

I think Rembrandt wants me to convert this to a kitty bed, which is actually a pretty good idea:

Looking forward to showing you pictures of the shops next time!

Insomnia ergo Quilt

It's fun to get treated to another Temecula Sew Along...

Rembrandt!  You get off my pretty fabrics right now!

Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July to all; I have several salads in the fridge (three bean salad, kidney bean salad, olive and pasta salad, deviled eggs) along with watermelon, ears of corn, and makings for burgers.  Hope you have lots of picnic goodies ready, too.


Here is a lovely Civil War display at Deb's Cats 'n Quilts in Franklin TN.  My friend Kathy N. took me for a drive out of town, which I can tell you I totally appreciated, although I was unknowingly coming down with flu at the time, which was followed by bronchitis, all of which overlaid the most recent chemotherapy treatment, I mean for heaven's sakes.

This most recent chemotherapy session went much better.  I am wondering and hoping if the next one might be the last one. No way to know, the doctor is playing it by ear, seeing how long the chemotherapy will continue to kill.  


Rembrandt the Unreal continues to shove around and pull fabric stacks out to make a nice sleeping alcove for herself.  Back to charm school.  Or reform school.  

I was going to wait to show this until I got it quilted, but oh well, here it is now.  Recognize it?  I got permission from Kathie of Inspired by Antique Quilts to show my version of the quilt she borrowed from her friend Lorre, posted about on June 22nd.  Had to drop everything and make this one.

Last and definitely least, here is my first attempt to make an Izannah Walker doll.  Lord.  Well, I drafted her body pattern, which is fairly good (legs need to be chunkier, noted on pattern for next try), her applied thumbs are very good, and her "second skin", typical of the Izannah dolls, is fairly good (needs some revisions, noted for next try), but the modeling of the head (paperclay over a fabric-stuffed head) is awful and the painting job is marionette-ish.  At least she no longer looks like Winston Churchill as she did at the beginning.  At one point, she also looked like a boulder in a stream.  I suppose I shall make the silly thing a dress, but I'm looking forward to making a second doll at some point.  I didn't even get to the stockinette look that is typical of an Izannah, or the aged look.  

  

 I'm not sure right now where I got the two photos of Izannah's sweet face, so let me mention that Dixie Redmond has an enormous amount of information on Izannah on various websites, just google if you would like to drop off into Izannah Research Land, as I did these past few weeks.  I wish I could see an original one in person, but I believe the closest one is in Ohio.


Have a good day, everybody.  

Barbara Brackman Civil War Quilt is Quilted

Okay, who knows better than I that Timothy is my Treasured Only Child.  And as such deserves to be showered with gifts and love.  I gave him the Barbara Brackman Civil War quilt last Christmas as a flimsy.  Now it is quilted a la Baptist Fan, again by Ms. Dena the Longarmer.

Minus only the binding, it is practically ready to turn over to him.  But it's going to be very hard to let it go; it's one of my favorite quilts ever.  Oh well, his life needs to coalesce into some sort of ongoing pattern first, anyway, so I still have some time before I must deliver on my generous (apparently not very well developed) instincts :-).


Also got this little quilt quilted:

 These are four vintage Kewpie quilt blocks; aren't they adorable.  I don't know which is the cutest, the one about to jump off the diving board or the one whose foot is about to get touched by a butterfly, or the one dancing to the radio, or the one playing the musical instrument.  I built out the blocks with feedsack fabrics, then sashed it with vintage plain feedsacks.


Lifetime is filming part of a TV movie about June Carter Cash entitled "Ring of Fire" across the street from me!  In one of our midcentury modern homes.  Their particular home has some really cute retro touches, like floor-to-ceiling windows around an interior courtyard and of course the wooden ceilings and beams.