October 17, 1975 The Real Mess, The Nice Evening, The Bug Quilt, The N.Y. Times and The Nice Fall Weather

Dear Mother,

"Maybe I'll get this mailed a little earlier than I did the one last week. It is cloudy today and looks cold but I don't think it is. The leaves are practically off our trees but they always blow from other yards so it will be awhile before we get them cleaned up. We raked a lot out to the curb last Sunday afternoon and the city trucks came along mid-week and vacuumed them up.

The men have been here all week working on the waterproofing so we are in a real mess. With all the digging and trucks in the yard it will take us a year or more to get the yard back in shape. The men come early so it seems as if I've been up for hours. They are supposed to be finished today and I sure hope so.

I had my hair washed and rolled up before B went to the office so there are some nice things about getting up early.

We had the new University Dean and his family come for supper last night and it was such a nice evening. The children are 9 & 11, I think, and it was fun to have them here. They played the organ and made themselves at home. I was supposed to go to another meeting last night but we had been trying to have these people here since last summer and I thought we'd better do it. Time goes by too fast when you put those things off.

I have the bug quilt all put together now and will have to get started at quilting it before long. It is really pretty but more junior size than baby size. Maybe it will be more useful for a longer time. I've been quilting on the other one and it is going pretty fast. My quilting is getting easier and better but my stitches aren't very even. It sure is hard on the fingers.

Your letter hasn't come yet but we had one from Ann & she said they had been to see you. Before we know it, she & Bob will be all through at M.U. and will be moving off someplace.

Last Sunday was a beautiful day and we went to the Quilt Show at Rossville, Illinois. It is a tiny little town that is nothing much but antique shops. The show was in a big room over some of the stores and looked like it might be a meeting room for lodges or other groups. There were lots of quilts--old & new. Some were for sale and people were buying them. The average price was $95. but others were $200. & up. The quilts were very, very nice and beautifully made--not shoddy like so many I saw while we were on our trip. We got to the show early & stayed about an hour. That was plenty long to see all I wanted to and then we drove back to Champaign to eat dinner. Then we got us a Sunday N.Y. Times and came home. It was a bright, warm day & the leaves were beautiful. We were home in time to rake leaves and work outdoors a while.

We're going to a dinner tonight and sometime today I need to go to Bloomington to get some drapes at Wards. I ordered drapes for the bedroom about 2 months ago and when they came they weren't made right. They re-ordered for me and they are finally at the store. I hope they are right this time. I looked a long time before I found the pale green I wanted to match the walls.

I had a good letter from Beulah yesterday. It won't be long until their little one will be there. She seems so excited about it.

I hope you are fine and that you are having some of this nice fall weather."

                   Love,

                          Bonnie

NOTE:  The baby quilt Mom made, pictured above, is known as the Pretty Bugs pattern. She photographed and documented each quilt she made and kept the information in a quilting notebook. Pictured is one of the snapshots of the quilt when it was finally finished. The red quilt pictured was part of a feature in the Woman's Day magazine.