Waiting for Gasoline

I don't know if any of you would remember waiting in line for gasoline back in the 70's but I did that today for a very short time.  I arrive to get in line about 12:55pm today for $2.98 a gal. gas but so did everyone else that wasn't at their job.  The police were already there directing traffic.  Now I thought once I got up to the pumps it would be easy.  Nope.  You had to go inside to pay to get the discount.  So that was taking everyone much longer.

Waiting in line for about 20 minutes.





Driving away with full tank, looking back at others still waiting.

Hope you were able to stay cool and hydrated today.  Tank-up tomorrow maybe worst.  Terry

So, Do You Sell Your Quilts? A Conversation with Marianne Fons - QNNtv.com

So, Do You Sell Your Quilts? A Conversation with Marianne Fons - QNNtv.com

Today I was contemplating what to write.  I haven't taken any pictures of my daily adventures but this morning I did happen upon this video.  Since I am in the quiltmaking business, I found this information very interesting.  I do this because I love it but the pay is a benefit.  As you all know, I will not get rich doing this.  The payoff is I get to get up everyday and do something I love.

As you listen to Marianne and Mary Fons, please notice several times in their conversation they mention low-ball pricing.  The cost of fabric is climbing everyday.  So yes, I consider their fabric costs low. For a queen to king size bed quilt the quilt top fabric, batting and backing will easily be over $300, plus labor and the cost of quilting. 

In my opinion, you need to appreciate that quilt given to you is a gift of love.  If you purchase a quilt, then treat it as fine art, and protect it from the elements that might damage it. 
Have a great day and stay cool!  Terry

Blueberry Hill

After posting this morning, Mary Wallis and I headed to Plow Creek Farms in Tiskilwa, IL.  We picked blueberries for about three hours.  If I remember right Mary picked 4.8 lbs and I picked 6.5 lbs.  The good thing is you can take as many home in your tummy as you want. Yum! The berries aren't quite as big as they have been in the past.  I'm sure the shortfall of rain has something to do with it.

Mary and I talked about what to do with the berries.  I contemplated making Rod a pie for our anniversary.  Made a trip to the grocery store and ended up buying the ingredients for blueberry bars.
When I take these bars to a church supper or trail ride, I don't come home with any. 

So here's the picture of the finished product.
Now back to working on my customer's quilt and time to get dinner in the oven.  Terry

So here's the picture of the finished product.

Our 25th Wedding Anniversary

Twenty-five years ago today, I married the love of my life and soul mate.  Sitting here this morning pondering overall the memories as I write.  I called Rod this morning to check on him and wish him a "Happy Anniversary".  Today is one of those extreme heat days that I really worry about him in his Coke truck, the trailer is like an oven.

We are working on putting together a party on June 30th to celebrate our anniversary and my retirement from the State of IL's Dept of Rehabilitation Services.  Monday night we had our pictures taken by Scott Wallis, husband of my fellow quilter and friend, Mary Wallis.  Mary came along on our photo shoot.  Then they went home and burned the pictures to a CD.  Mean while, Rod and I fired up the grill and cooked dinner for them.  We sat down and viewed the pictures after dinner and picked out the one above for the newspapers along with our annoucement.  Please join us in our celebration if you can.  Terry

You are cordially invited to the

Johnson Family Celebration

for our 25^th Anniversary and

Terry's Retirement

on Saturday, June 30^th, 2012

4:30-6:00 p.m. Open House and Picnic Supper

6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Dance with DJ Will

Join us at the Bureau County Metro Center

837 Park Avenue West

Princeton, IL 61356

Courtesy of a RSVP appreciated:

PH: 815-872-0534 or Email: quiltcrazie@msn.com

Walking thru Fulton, Part 2

Villager' home

Here's Sherri checking out the Villager's home.  We were moving pretty fast at this point.  The mosquitoes were out in swarms; swatting and waving our arms to keep them away.  I'm actually pretty excited that the pictures are clear.  It was getting pretty miserable at this point.  Wish we had seen the Off spray in the visitor's center.



Dr. Love's office
Below is the Mill and the bridge.
Crossing the bridge was definitely a walk of faith.

The Cable Bridge

I would definitely recommend a visit to Heritage Canyon.

Walking through the canyon after the rain was a little tricky

with the  mosquitoes pestering us.  We would have lingered

longer without them.

Have a great day.  Terry

Walking through Fulton

Saturday started out with RAIN.  Its been so long since we've seen rain, I just wanted to do a happy dance.  We had a very nice shower in Fulton but called home and no rain at home. Bummer...
Anyway we had granola, yogurt and fruit for breakfast.  That was a good start and felt like a walk next.  Susan suggested we walk down to Heritage Canyon to view the little village.  Cathy, Sherri and started off on our trek.  It was a little steamy after the shower, but we were determined to check out the village.  We arrive at the visitor's hut but no one was available and we found the trail on our own and were off on a self-guided tour. 

Walking to the gate to get started we saw this waterfall.

It was a little slippery from the rain and moss on the walkways.  We picked our way into the valley of the village.  The village is built in an old quarry.  There is a log cabin, covered bridge, church, mill, stable, blacksmith shop, doctor's office and villager's home to view.  I don't have pictures of everything but here's the highlights of our walk.

Cathy and Sherri in the Covered Bridge

Stable and Blacksmith Shop

Sanctuary

Adorable little Church

This church holds about 25 guests.
Its just adorable and even with
cloudy skies the inside was illuminated and the stained glass windows were beautiful. Can't you just imagine a storybook wedding here?

From the church we moved on to the mill, villager's home and doctor's office.  Notice the doctor's name, Dr. Love.  I will do another post to show the rest of the pictures as they seem to bump in and rearrange what I already have posted here.   So stay tuned....

Terry

Retreat Time

This morning I'm up and packing.  I don't know about you but I always pack too much, that includes everything but the kitchen sink.  I will mostly be working but working on a customer's quilt trying to get it done and back to her. I also have several other projects that are started and I hope to finish them up also.

My friend, Cathy, is coming to my house and we will drive to Fulton from here.  We will be headed for Susan's Calico Creations.  Susan May will be our hostess for the weekend.  We are excited that this time I'm retired and can go earlier on Friday.  Many times I have arrived about 7pm in the evening, missing dinner and getting a late start.  One of the things I always wanted to do is stop at the junk barn on Rt. 136.  So we did just that.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture.  You will have to close your eyes and imagine a big ole' red barn.  Out in front of that barn are piles of many items, there are wooden benches, garden tools, enamelware, bikes, washtubs, windows, and screens. There were paths thru this collection of old stuff.  Cathy and I walked the paths trying to see it all.  We didn't buy anything this time.

One the best things about going to the retreats is the great food.  Most of the time, we take turns cooking meals while we are there.  This group was a little smaller and Susan was having a fat quarter sale at the store.  Sue and Barb drove down from Mt. Horeb for the sale and we got to have lunch together.We walked over to the Golden Wok and enjoyed a wonderful meal.



Jean's quilt

One of our fellow retreater's , Carol Riley, taught this class on Friday and the students were working on their projects when we arrived.  They were using the Twister ruler to make Twisted Posies.


Rayann's Halloween center



To the right is Jean's quilt in
progress.  She was adding the
posies.  To the left is one of two
quilt's Rayann was working on.

To the right is Rayann's second quilt in Spring colors.
Below is the finished quilt top.





Several others were working on this quilt with Christmas fabrics which was also a very attractive combination.  Congratulations to Carol and her students!
Have a great weekend!  Terry

Class Reunion

A great time was had at our mini class reunion last night. Vicki Cabral, Tracy Brenneman, Lex Poppens and myself. Chef Rodney grilled up burgers and cheddar brats for us along with potato salad, chips, baked beans and watermelon. We topped it off with cheesecake. MMMMmmmmm.....good.

Vicki Cabral and Lex Poppens

The weather was perfect last night, so we just sat on the deck and caught up on what was going on in each others' lives.

Well, today is my last day back at the office for this week.  I'm back at working helping out since all clerical staff  retired on May 31st.   This will only last until August 2nd.

This weekend I am headed to Fulton to a retreat at Susan's Calico Creations.  I have a customer's quilt that I am working on that needs to be enlarged to fit a day bed.  Hopefully, I can get everything but the handwork done.
Have a great Thursday!  Stay positive.  Terry

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

I don't want to brag or make anyone jealous or anything,

but I can still fit into the earrings I wore in high school.

 

 My life long friend and classmate is back visiting.  Many times people say, "why didn't you call me so we could all get together?"  So I posted on Facebook that we are having a last minute cook-out at our house this evening.  Just a very casual, thrown-together-at-the-last-minute cook-out.  I'm back working part-time, so it will be store bought food, MMMmmmm good!  Remember its the thought that counts, right. 

This is the quilt that I made for my classmate.  It is an Edyta Sitar pattern from her book Friendship Triangles. 


This is my family, son-Aaron, myself, and husband-Rod.

Have a great day everyone.  Each day is a gift.  Terry

Queen Sue's Shop Hop

Our minister and his wife, Marvin and Sue Claassen, have given their resignation as of July 1, 2012.
To celebrate their retirement, we wanted to do something special for our friend, Sue.  We, the quilting friends, had talked many times of creating a shop hop.  So now was the the time to celebrate our friendships with Sue and combine it with shopping.  The invitation was sent out in the church bulletin and by word-of-mouth of our plan. 

Sue was made Queen of the Day along with a tiara and scepter.  The rest of us traveling with her were her princesses wearing our royal rings crusted with diamonds.  Each member of our party received a parting gift of a water bottle to parch their thirst and a Shop Hop Survival Kit (chocolate, pretzels, and a Rice Krispie treat) to keep their shopping energy up!

We embarked on our journey at 7am meeting at the Road Ranger Truck Stop in Princeton.  Heading north we ventured to our first stop of the day at Uniquely Yours Quilt Shop, Orangeville, IL.  We were greeted by Ann who explained the store's layout and the discounts.  Gene, the owner, also dropped in to greet us and explain the Northern Illinois Shop Hop.

From Rt to Lft:  Kathy Allen, Doris Nerhring, Sue Claassen, Lou Tuntland, Mary Wallis, Kathy Closen, Cathy Keiser, Susie McAllister, and Karen Meisenheimer in the front row.  Back Row from Rt. to Lft: Deanna Rockos, Kathy Olson, Lisa Kay, and Terry Johnson

I had a very special visit from my BFF Kelly Bartels, who only lives about 6 miles from the store.

Next stop was Yellow Creek Quilt Designs in Pearl City.  Mmmm...those Civil War fabrics were calling my name.  Ate my Rice Krispie treat on the way there to fortify myself.   Found some delicious fabrics to add to my small quilt stash.  We had a "cool" lunch at the Yellow Creek Inn across the street before heading to Susan's Calico Creations in Fulton.  We were greeted by Susan May, owner and her staff of many.  Susan offers three stories of fabric and furniture.  We shopped our little hearts out and Kathy A. went down the street to check out the other shops. Susan, thanks for the refreshing punch and cookies!

Our final destination was LeClaire, IA.  We had about two and half hours to visit the shops before dinner at Crane and Pelican overlooking the Mississippi River.  We were graciously welcomed by Pam Hughes and staff at Expressions in Thread.  They have their All Iowa Shop Hop going on and were open until 6pm.  Let me tell you, I was getting a little worried how were going to get all the bags home.... :),

We had to stop and see the famous American Pickers. Can you imagine a Queen biker?

We visited Danielle's store across the street, 4 Miles 2 Memphis (named after her children, Miles & Memphis).
Look at these lonely
Singer machines needing
adoption.

This dress was hanging  over the mantel, great way to use up buttons, but pretty heavy to wear.

We finished off the day having dinner at the Crane and Pelican Restaurant overlooking the mighty Mississippi River.  A few of us enjoyed frozen custard at Culver's in Geneseo on the way home.

Thanks to Queen Sue and her court, a good time was had by all.  So....when's the next trip, Girls?

Yours in quilting, Terry



Hornbaker Gardens, A Little Slice of Heaven

On Friday, one of the first days I was really starting to feel like I might be retired, I received a call from quilting friend, Nancy Boomgarden.  She and two friends were headed down to Hornbaker Gardens to purchase shade plants to go between her new garage and the house.

 They asked me to join them for lunch and wanted to know where we could enjoy a glass of wine with lunch.  After a short discussion, I came up with the idea that it would be so peaceful to enjoy a glass a wine in the gazebo and listen to the babbling brook at Hornbaker's.  So the plan was made.  The girls brought cheese and crackers and I arrived with the wine.  With their shopping finished, we just sat back and relaxed in the gazebo.  Nancy and friends told me about their past and future travel plans.

We cleaned up the table from our picnic lunch.  Then they loaded the plants up in the SUV and the girls headed north to their homes.  I stayed awhile longer to take in Hornbaker Gardens and all it has to offer.

How about this display with the chummy frog sunning himself?

As I walked about the yard and displays, it just makes your troubles
fade.  Its just a little slice of green heaven.
They have statues, fountains, Pottery Row, hosts, irises, and every perennial in between.

New to me are the fairy gardens.  Tiny little displays of miniature items.  Study the pictures closely.  Can you find the bird houses made of gourds? See the fairy with her face turned up to the sun?




This was a "Calgon take me away" type of experience.

Enjoy the rest of  your day and come back to visit soon.

Terry

Travel to Indiana

Have you ever had one of those days that just didn't turn out like you thought it would.  Today was one of those days.  Got up and checked my cell phone for texts and emails, to find out that I needed to be on the road by 8am to head to Michigan City, IN.   Packed a bag, showered, hugged the dogs and son, then hit the road. Got to Kedzie Ave., the last exit in Illinois, and got off there for a potty stop.  The signage didn't warn you that you couldn't get back on I-80 there.  Spent 45 minutes lost, garmin didn't, and stopped to ask directions, but the faith ole' map worked the best.  Finally, ended up in Michigan City at 11:30am.  Very Late!

I was welcomed with warm smiles and the Handi Quilter educator saying, " I know you".  It just continued to get better.  I listened in on the tailend of the Pro Stitcher class and then met everyone.
Peg, the owner of Threadbenders, order us lunch from the restaurant next door.  Mary Beth, the educator and I then buckled down to learning Art & Stitch. 

The store closed at 4pm and Peg invited me to go home with her.  Look what I arrived to see from my guest room window...

Yes, a cool breeze in my face and Lake Michigan stretching out before me.  Peg invited me to walk the beach with her so first we walked "Moose", the cute little dog of the house.  Then we tucked him back inside and headed down the beach for a good workout in the sand.  Got a 2 mile hike in before heading to dinner. Can't beat that view, such a change of pace from farmland.

Had a scrumptious cheeseburger in Michigan at Redemak's and back to Peg's for relaxation.

Good Night, tomorrow's another day, another adventure.  Terry