Robert's Sewing Center in Joliet spending the evening at their Midnight Madness which was part of the I80 Shop Hop. I squared up all my blocks for my Delectable Mountains project which was a Midday Madness class from two years ago. I picked this project because I felt like I needed group help to tackle this job. I am not good at this part of the quilt process but after doing these blocks I feel like I understand the step a little better. (This quilt, Eleanor Burns, Delectable Mountains, challenged me to push the quilted envelope. I was dutifully going to follow Eleanor's directions but then decided it was too complicated and not my style. So I CHANGED IT and did it my way. When the borders go on I will post the picture so stay tuned.) Anyway back to Roberts: What a beautful store they have! They put 
on a new addition which really opened up the store and gave them the ability to highlight the inventory so much more. They had cool stuff that I know they had in the shop before but I swear I'd never noticed it until that night. I must say I managed to put a dent in their inventory. I bought a kit (I'm queen of kits!) for the pattern called Forget Me Knot (see Maureen's World Blog for the fabric she bought). My quilt guild will be teaching this project as a Midday Madness. It seemed really easy but what caught my eye was the rick-rack they incorporated into the design. Everyone fell in love with the rick-rack! When we weren't shopping we were enjoying the store, eating, talking, laughing and sewing. You can see from the pictures that the store is very bright and colorful. I was able to cut out all my blocks because the store was set up so well for it's Midnight Madness. When our sewing night came to an end we were very sorry to leave Robert's but we came away refreshed and filled with wonderful memories and finished projects! We then headed for our hotel. We filled our trolleys to the top and rolled into the room - 5 ladies in a room for 4! Now with any other group that might be cause for concern but with us it just means more laughs. Of course we"decorate" with quilts and battery operated candles. Once we are all settled in everyone starts hauling out "show and tell" projects. We ooohh and aaahhh and give kudos and suggestions. We are always an appreciative audience. Eventually we all fall asleep! Next morning we are off to see the quilt exhibit at the Lockport Gallery. We were excited about this display because we would be viewing 3 quilts by Albert Small. Albert was a contemporary of Grace Snyder - we saw her fabulous quilt on the Kansas trip. For Albert's exhibit I played tour guide and read the catalog description out loud to the group. The big reason I did this 
was to keep us all "moving along smartly" so we didn't get off schedule. Albert's quilts were AMAZING!!!!!!! This quilt picutre shows the beginning of his hexagon designs. He stopped working on this quilt top because he felt the hexagons were TOO BIG! The quilt later became a gift to the lady in the denim, his granddaughter! Geri, Gail and I went back to the museum on Sunday to hear a lecture on Men in Fiber Arts that's where we met Albert's family and took some great pictures of his wonderful work. Albert Small was truly a Renaissance Man. His career was in explosives -
he was a dynamite expert but he also did tatoos, quilted, painted and collected. Here is a picture of a painting he did. Isn't it extraordinary?! What a cool guy! After this inspiring display. We went to the Landings, in downtown Lockport for lunch. It was delcious and the site was beautiful! Next, onto Thimbles for SHOPPING! This store is within walking distance from the museum but the store is so cute and the owners (Jane and Tammy) are so nice that I think you should RUN to the store! The group stormed in and caused quite a fuss because we were flying around the store picking up stuff and screaming to each other to look, look, look! They even had the big rick-rack so we all scooped that up! I alsobought a wool pincushion kit that was from Thimbleberries BOM (and guess what, I changed it a little bit and finished it!). Now it's back to the car for the 2 hour ride to Princeton, Illinois. This town was hosting a lecture and book signing by Marianne Fons followed by a Chocolate Dessert Buffet. The lecture started at 7PM so I guess I went into this feeling - this better be good because I am investing a lot of time and effort into a lecture! I was supposed 
to have sent in money for a ticket but being the procrastinator my plan was to buy one at the high school. Luckily the Thimbles owners had two extra tickets so when they heard my sad story they were kind enough to give me their store tickets. Wasn't that nice! Anyway the lecture was great - Marianne did a 25 year retrospective look at the quilts they've designed! Here's a look at some of the quilts 
on display and a sighting of a Chocolate Moose! We had a super good time and then we were back into the car and off into the night. We arrived home at 10:30! The next morning we were back in the car by 11AM and on the road to see Top Shelf Quilts store in Frankfort and the lecture at the Lockport museum on Men in Fiber Arts. A good time was had by all!
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