Never Ending Sampler Stitch Along Panel 1 Band 11

Today I have Band #11 for those of stitching the Never Ending Sampler or working the bands as seam treatments on your crazy quilts.

This is the whole sampler so far:

And here is Band #11 by itself:

And here it is with the Band #10 overlap:

Work the fans with straight stitches.  The little stars are double cross stitch aka Smyrna Cross.

If you need help working the Smyrna Cross or any other stitch, please hop over to Sharon B's stitch dictionary for the instructions.

McHenry Crazy Quilt Block 3 Update

Today I have an update on Block 3 of my McHenry Crazy Quilt:

And here's closeups of some of the embroidery:

Thanks to our McHenry historian, Patrick Wirtz, I learned that new brick Train Station replaced the old wooden depot somewhere around 1922.

For reference purposes, here is a map of McHenry Illinois from the 1872 McHenry County Atlas:

McHenry Illinois is located way up north, about 50 miles north of Chicago.  We're on the Wisconsin border.

Tomorrow, I'll use the map to show ya'll where all these historic buildings are.

McHenry Crazy Quilt Block #3

I pieced Block #3 of my McHenry Crazy Quilt this morning:

This is the McHenry Train Depot.  The Railroad came to McHenry, Illinois in 1854 thanks to a man named George Gage.  He owned much of land on the West side of McHenry.  Back then it was called Gagetown. 

The original Train Depot, according to my research, was built in 1856.

In 1908, the worst train wreck to ever happen in McHenry County Illinois happened on March 30th.  There is a curve just south of the depot.  The train hit the curve to fast and jumped the tracks.  The wooden platform was destroyed but the depot didn't suffer any major damage.  The trains fireman was killed by scalding hot water but everyone else was okay.

This photo is courtesy of the McHenry Public Library. Click here if you're interested in reading more about the McHenry Train Wreck of 1908.

This is our train station today:

I don't know how much if any of the original depot is still there.  I haven't done enough research yet to find out but once I find the info, I'll let ya'll know.

So that's the story behind this block.  One more photo for you:

This is a very old piece of lace.  I've been saving it for something special and I believe this quilt will be very special.  Why?  I've pretty decided, upon it's completion to donate it to our McHenry Public Library where everyone can enjoy it. 

I started this project to take my mind off of worrying so much about my husband and his cancer treatment.  I already feel that it belongs to the city of McHenry.  But first, I have to finish it and that's going to take awhile!

Update On Scott

Just a quick update for today everyone. It's been a really rough weekend for Scott. He's been so sick. He hasn't been able to eat solid food in 3 days but we're going to try some rice and some applesauce today. I just made him some iced tea (he's not big on hot tea). He's going to try to take a quick shower this afternoon. I told him that would make him feel better. He just doesn't have much energy.

The side effects of the chemo should start to lighten up now. I think tomorrow will be better. I'll keep ya'll posted on his progress.

Thank you again for your support, your kindness and your generosity!! 

 

https://www.gofundme.com/scotts-cancer-treatment 

Love to all,

Pam

McHenry Illinois Crazy Quilt Block 2 Complete

Since Scott's been dealing with the chemo, I haven't been sleeping really well.  I've always had one eye open for the kitties but now I have the other eye, ear really, open for Scott.  I've been waking up at 2:30 or so, can't go back to sleep so I just get up and stitch.

I finished Block #2 of my McHenry Illinois Crazy Quilt, The Riverside House:

I use a combination of my waste canvas technique, Sharon B's templates and then a few motifs from this old Ann Orr book by Dover:

The little cross stitch cat and the butterfly are from this book:

This little vine was worked with Sharon B's templates:

And finally, my little spider:

I used vintage Mother Of Pearl buttons to make the spider.

When I finish up on the computer, I'll start piecing Block #3.