Elm Creek news ....

News!!
If you are making Sylvia's Bridal Quilt, I read on Jennifer Chiaverini's blog that she is taking down the patterns on 3/31. Quickly, go to the site & save the pdf files!!
Did anybody get their next in the series book yet? I'm on the request list at the public libraryHope this is a GREAT read!

Happy Easter!

Buddy, without his bandage. DH & I struggled to remove his bandage. So far, so good.

Call for Quilt Blocks

Deep River County Park
9410 Old Lincoln Highway
Hobart, IN 46342
219.947.1958

For 20+ years, The staff at Wood's Historic Grist Mill (located in Deep River County Park) have collected quilt blocks for an annual Friendship Quilt.

The 2008 Friendship Quilt block is titled, "Lotsa Potsa Flowers". Deadline is July 27, 2008. To obtain a pattern, just call 219.947.1958.

During the year, they display the completed Friendship Quilts in the Grist Mill. The collected blocks are sewn together creating the quilt top, sandwiched with batting, put on a large frame, and hand quilted by volunteers during monthly Quilting Bees.

I have participated in recent years. With the pattern, I make TWO blocks and submit the best one!! These are pictures of quilt blocks from past friendship quilts:

The "Goodie Jars in Grandma's Pantry" block. There were enough blocks submitted to create TWO quilts. 2004 & 2005.
Shoo-Fly Quilt Block, 2001 Friendship Quilt
1998 Friendship Quilt block "CORN"

Japanese Prints

I enjoyed a recent visit to the Brauer Museum of Art. There was an exhibition of the Japanese Prints from their Permanent Collection.
Of the many prints in the exhibit, I think this one was my favorite. Noah's Ark, Sadao Watanabe (1913-1996)
There were several prints of Last Supper, by Sadao Watanabe. Each unique and interesting! I found this web site which has several pictures of prints ... AND this web site provides more information on Sadao Watanabe.

I was thrilled to see the Keisuke Serizawa (1895-1984) 1947 Calendar. The colors were bright - the motifs and numbers were brilliant!!! I wasn't able to find a photo (on-line); however, I did find this web site which shows several of the calendar folios.

I was drawn to this print, too. It is Quiet Rain by Kaoru Kawano (1916-1965). The title, the print, something about it just moved me.

The exhibit closes on March 23rd. Well worth the trip to Valparaiso University : )

Art-O-Mat + exhibits

I visited the Brauer Museum of Art earlier this afternoon. They have had an exhibit of Japanese Prints on display since December 7, 2007 -- and it is a 10-15 minute drove from my house -- and I decided I wanted to see the prints BEFORE they closed the exhibit down on March 23rd.

When I came home, I realized, my post about Chicago -- in February was in DRAFT form. I never finished it -- or published the post!

Can we pretend it is February? Here is the post:

- - - - - - - -

This is a picture of the Art-O-Mat machine I visited in Chicago, IL
The Cultural Affairs Department of Chicago78 East Washington StreetChicago, IL

What fun to find a cigarette machine - stocked with ART!!! I bought a $5.00 token from the Gift Shop & selected:

"Lively, multi-media creations with patterns, textures, and metallics."
by Paula Yardley Griffin

More Art-O-Mat Photos: LINK HERE

Maybe next time I visit Chicago, I'll have to stop by again and see what new & exciting pocket art is available : ) I'm thinking my visit into the city may have been the cause of the relapse in this cold ... I thought I was pretty much ok & on the mend ... and may have over-done it. I visited Millenium Park, during the sleet & rain storm, yeah, of course - typical February weather in Chicago -- because I just HAD TO SEE the Ice Museum. Yes, well worth it. A wall of ice in different colors. And the weather just enhanced the beauty. Tons of photographs HERE.

I did enjoy the The E. M. Bakwin Collection of Indonesian Textiles exhibit PLUS, had a ticket to view the Homer & Hopper Exhibits at the Art Institute of Chicago.

I hope to get back into the city to see the The Keiskamma Altarpiece, March 27 - May 11, 2008. Maybe visit City Stitcher, a needlepoint store. And, would like to see the Embroidered Myths and Everyday Stories exhibit. Big plans ... looking forward to another trek : )

Art Doll Project for Charity

If you are a quilter, mixed-media artist, polymer clay artist, painter, doodler, felting guru, pastel artist, doll artist, beader, collage artist, abstract artist,stitching queen, yarn goddess, paper artist, rubber stamper, photographer, digital junky, rusted ART connoisseur, crayon/marker
enthusiast, journal-ER, poet... you get the idea, We need YOUR participation!More Information at girl gone thread wild

Flowers from DH : )

A beautiful floral arrangement!
I'm gobsmacked!

Honey

Some favourite photos of DH's cat : ) I really should try to get a new pic!

Our guest

Photos by Alex

snow day

As far as the eye can see ...
snow ... snow ...
snow ...

book list

I copied this from Inside Number 20

Look at the list of (100) books below. Bold the ones you’ve read. Italicize the ones you want to read. Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in. (Movies don’t count.)

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
I read a couple of the Harry Potter books, don't remember which ones!!!
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25 . Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
Read the entire Narnia collection to the children ... more than once!
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
Actually, I read all of the Earth's Children series of novels
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible ... Like cover-to-cover? No.
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)???? Not sure which Atwood books I've read
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)---maybe I read this ... not sure
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
Have read the first section ... about 50 pages
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
Have read some of it ...
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)??? Maybe, perhaps I"m thinking of The Pearl
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
Have read about 1/2 the book ...
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
Read all of them!!!
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Chilly Cold Outside ...

Nikki [front] & Honey [back]
Too sweet!
Maybe I need a larger rug in front of the sliding glass