San Juan Capistrano, CA 11-10-07

I had a lovely lunch yesterday with my friend Nancy Ota. I took my old Pfaff down her way for servicing and I also had some things to deliver to her. She drove up from San Clemente and I drove down from Placentia to meet at Ramos House in the Los Rios Historic District of San Juan Capistrano. It is one of my favorite places for lunch, although I don't go often and haven't been for at least a year - the food is just as delicious as it has always been. It is not a fancy place, the dining 'room' is outdoors with just a roof over the top and the main north-south RR tracks are on the other side of the fence, so that when a train stops at the adjacent depot everyone has to stop talking due to the noise. Hey, I think the food is worth it! I almost always have the fried chicken salad w/hush puppies. The District, basically one street about three blocks long, is old, with three adobe houses built in 1794 - which for California is VERY old.

I didn't take a picture of the restaurant [next time] but this 1890s house is a private residence (see sign on right) just down the street. I'm sure they "fancied it up" so it resembles a place the Clampetts might have lived! I especially like the old wash tub hanging on the left side of the house.

The residents of the house must have some connection with this small "zoo" which is directly next door and smelly. There are several of these Emus, plus turkeys, llamas, alpacas, burros, many exotic birds and some other animals. I suppose children might find it fascinating - as sixty years ago my sister and I enjoyed a visit to Knott's Berry Farm. Which at that time it was very small, with a chicken dinner restaurant, a old west ghost town and what seemed to us like exotic animals (instead of thrill rides). We thought it was the best place on earth to visit.

Across the little private road is a plant nursery with many plants in bloom, one of the joys of autumn in this climate. These are labeled Tacomarie capensis - 5 Gal can is $25. Most of us know them as cape honeysuckle. The Plumbago image on yesterday's post was taken here. Up on the main street are little gift shops, a historical museum, a few tea rooms and what is claimed to be the original jail, a freestanding structure the size of a bathroom made of iron straps on all six sides. Somehow I doubt this.

Blue flowers 11-09-07

I was going to post a picture of a commercial building in Ontario, CA., with a zillion smudge pots on the roof, but I cannot find it in my Picasa files. I may have lost it and will need to look on a disc to find it. Maybe!

So, instead I will post pictures of two different blue flowers - almost my favorite flower color.

Lobelia is such a brilliant blue, the most common color although it comes in different shades of blue and also in pink and white, and blooms here in SCalifornia most of the year. Before digital I was so disappointed that the printed pictures always came back as red-violet - it has to do with the basic colors of the ink used to make the prints. Seeing the first digital pictures on a screen was so exciting, but when they are printed out on my printer they come out red-violet. Again it is the pigments used in the inks. Very frustrating. But the color on my screen is perfect.

This is Plumbago auriculata, a plant that blooms almost all year in our climate. It comes in different shades of blue or in white and has these lovely plum colored tubes that open into four-petaled blue flowers that look a bit like phlox. Originating in Shanghai, China, it is used here extensively on hillsides and on fences (like a vine), and will grow into huge mounds up to about 10' high and as wide. My neighbor has it growing on the other side of the wood fence we share, so it has crawled its way under the fence letting me enjoy it from my kitchen window.

What is this? 11-09-07

Who knows what this contraption is and what it was used for? First one who posts a comment with the right answer will receive a fabric postcard!

Pelicans Part 2 11-07-07

Blogger wouldn't let me post this picture earlier.

American white pelican and American brown pelican on fresh water reservoir.

Pelicans! 11-07-07

I feel fortunate that I live where I can enjoy the antics of both brown and white pelicans. Quite a few of the brown species, who are generally found in salt water areas, spend winters in the marinas, bays and coves in the Long Beach area and I see them on Marine Stadium from the back windows of Corky's (the Poodle Prince) house. White pelicans inhabit fresh water and in the winter a small flock visits the Anaheim Lakes, about two miles from my house, and I see them flying in their long meandering lines while I am driving. Or I can park in the back of Starbuck's parking lot which backs up to one of the lakes to view them while sipping a latte. I have always thought how incongruous it is to sit in heavy traffic at traffic lights and watch long rows of white pelicans with black-tipped wings playing follow the leader just above the waiting vehicles. Their wingspan is about 100 inches.





The protrusion on the bill grows during breeding season and then falls off, to grow again the following year. These birds don't dive for food, instead they stick their heads in the water to capture fish. Sometimes many of them band together, form a circle to 'herd' the fish together and then they all stick their heads in to catch what they can. It is quite amazing to see.


Brown pelicans dive for food. Their method has been described as a full bag of trash being dropped in the water from above! They just fold their wings and drop straight down in the water, catching the fish while their heads are under the surface. Their wingspan is about 75 inches.

(See picture above)
Sometimes both species can be seen on fresh water lakes and reservoirs. There are seven pelican species in the world.


Amazing what you can learn by reading blogs, isn't it?

Small quilt auction 11-06-07

The Alliance for American Quilts has scheduled the auction on eBay for the Put-A-Roof-Over-Our-Head quilts which have been a traveling exhibit for the past eighteen months. There are some real gems among the pieces - including mine, of course, which is *73 "Tree House"! I referred to it in my blog post on September 20, 2007 . All of the quilts come to a point like a roof and measure 19-1/2" x 15". This is a major fund raiser for the Alliance, a very worthy organization, so I hope you will look at the quilts and consider purchasing one. See the quilts and read about the auction at:

http://www.centerforthequilt.org/contest.php

Quilt Card Process #3 11-05-07

The bird seemed a little flat to me, so I fused a strip of red to the bottom edge of the wing before applying. I also gave this bird a golden eye - for no good reason!

"Bird on a Tree #6" ( c )2007 9"W X 12"L

Del Thomas Placentia, CA

An original quilt made for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

I used a torn edge binding, because I don't think a little quilt like this really needs much of a binding. It is a single layer with the torn edge on the top and the back edge folded under to be caught in the stitching, which is done from the top.

On the back I used the Fast Triangles so the owner can insert a flat stick in the top two and hang it on the wall. I usually use four triangles because I like it to be symmetrical. The buyer also has some options if the quilt can be hung with any side up.

Quilt Card Process #2 11-04-07

The next step is mark the cutout shapes on the paper side of the pre-fused fabric and cut out the shapes. I set them aside while I do the next step.

I make the quilt 'sandwich' and quilt all of the background. On this piece I quilted with a green thread.

Detail of background quilting. When I was at PIQF last month I bought a "Sew Slip II" - a plastic sheet that goes on the sewing surface of my machine and has a little rectangle cut out to go around the feed dogs. This is the first time I have used it and what a difference it makes - the fabric slips around so easily while FMQ. Great tool.

When the background is quilted I arrange the cut out pieces of the design on the background and fuse them down - very well. Then I sew around the edge of each piece, about two needles width in from the edge, usually using matching thread. When this is done I quilt around just outside the edge of each piece using thread that matches the background or, in this case, a contrasting thread to make the design more defined. The outlining thread here is black DMC Perle #8, using a #100 Jeans needle. I have only mechanical machines, I understand that most computerized machine will not handle thread this thick.

I'll finish up tomorrow evening.