Northern view 11-17-07

Mary and Joe live up in the hills out of San Juan Bautista. I am amazed every time I stay here that it can be so quiet. At my house in Placentia there is traffic noise from two freeways, each between two and three miles away, trains tooting at the grade level crossings, ambulances going into the hospital about two blocks behind the house and dogs barking in joyful release as they run in the park. I don't notice most of these noises until I return from a visit up here.

From the deck in the back of the house this is the view to the north. The far hill is light or dark according to the time of day and the hill this side of it always seems to have a contrasting value. The brightly colored trees are dying Pacific madrones. They have a short life span, but there are always new little trees sprouting up to take the place of their elders. The dark tree to the left is a California Live Oak. The ornamental grass in the foreground is planted in the backyard which ends at the top of a steep downward slope. Over everything is a blanket of quiet.

A Special Day 11-16-07

What a special day! Mary and I drove over to Pacific Grove, had lunch at Pepper's and visited Back Porch Fabrics. I made my "monthly donation" and brought home a bag of wonderful fabrics, a Quilting Arts 2008 calendar and a book I have been coveting. Unfortunately the day was dreary and cold, not unusual this time of year. I always have a hard time adjusting to the switch from 90+ days in Placentia to the 50s and 60s I encounter here. But it does feel like real autumn, unlike SCalifornia where it is summer again! Hope it doesn't burn up before I return.

To access Highway 101 (a freeway at this location) we drive past a park several blocks long and there are always lots of ducks, geese, seagulls, herons, and cormorants on and around the lake and stream. I thought it was very strange to see so many Canadian Geese collected in this upstream pond. When I first saw them they were all facing one way as though they were an audience awaiting an entrance. But by the time I fumbled my camera out of my purse and pointed it in the right direction they had started to chat among themselves and turn all different ways. But it still makes a nice image.

Driving the I-5 again! 11-15-07

Yes, I drove north again - sometimes it seems like a monthly commute. This time I need to be in San Jose on Saturday for a presentation at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles. You can read about it here at the bottom of the page:

http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/calendar.html

It was an easy drive, not much traffic. And not much growing in the fields right now. The cotton has been picked and bailed, ready for the big flatbed trucks to haul it away. To the cotton gin? Rice has been planted in fields with raised edges to keep the water in, but no water as yet. The rice comes up a wonderful clear emerald green, in high contrast to the very dark brown soil in which it grows. Unfortunately, all I saw was on the west side of the highway and I couldn't take a picture directly into the sun.

I got away from Placentia late, so I ran out of daylight at least two hours before I reached San Juan Bautista. The sunset was very soft and serene. The dark cloud on the right side of the image is actually fog rolling over the coastal hills. It can be very dense and dangerous in the morning hours.

"She's The One" 11-14-07

"She's the One" 2003 14-1/2" x 22 1/2" Del Thomas

A self portrait showing features I only dream about - a long slender neck, naturally curly blonde hair, turquoise blue eyes, a nice round bosom and the guts to wear green lipstick! Far from reality, a real fantasy!

Fused commercial Cottons w/pieced border.

This quilt was part of the Kansas Art Quilters touring exhibit "Upon Reflection" and was one of three quilts selected by a Missouri gallery to reproduce on a banner for the side of their building. "Layers" was another KAQ traveling exhibit that overlapped, so the gallery asked for both to show jointly. Needless to say having my quilt enlarged and hung on the side of a building was a big thrill. I asked what would happen to the banner after the exhibit, but the gallery said that it belonged to the sponsoring bank. I wasn't successful in contacting anyone who would sell it to me. I thought I would hang it in my garage to prod me to make more quilts than I do. See the rest of the exhibit at http://tinyurl.com/3yuxl2 There are some very nice pieces. I especially like Shin-hee Chin's double sided yoyo quilt - very imaginative.

"Calm in Chaos" 11-13-07

"Calm in Chaos" 24"W x 32"L 2005 Del Thomas

I went to the Quilts on the Wall art quilt group on Saturday. I'm gone so much on weekends that I rarely am able to go the every-other-month meetings. But I try to participate as much as I am able. I have usually done the annual challenge which becomes a touring exhibit. I always send quilts off feeling that they don't live up to my expectations and once gone they are out-of-sight, out-of-mind. The Self Portrait Challenge quilts, having toured for two years, were returned to us Saturday and, as usual, I was surprised that I now actually like mine!! This quilt was made with the idea that I am usually calm in almost any circumstance, no matter what is going on around me. There I am with my arms folded (which people tell me I shouldn't do because it is intimidating), with my crooked shoulders and my old yellow hat, while everything is swirling about me. The Kansas Art Quilters to which I belong did a self portrait challenge several years ago, but that quilt depicts a different aspect of my character. I'll find a picture of that one to post one day soon.

A Quilt Card 11-12-07

"A Blue bird for Karen" Del Thomas 02-11-07 10"W x 7"L

Here is a Quilt Card that I made for Karen Kowalchuk on her birthday . I've never quite gotten the feet right on birds, but I keep trying.

Parrot Percussion 11-11-07

Blogger would not let me post last night and I finally got so disgusted that I just logged out. That post has disappeared! So, here is a picture of a quilt I made waaaaay back in 1995 - it is one of my favorites. It can be hung either vertical or horizontal - at the end of the hall or over the yellow sofa. It was shown at PIQF when it was held one year in Palm Springs, at several different guild shows and as part of "One Quiltmaker, Many Visions", a display of my work earlier this year at Back Porch Quilt Shop and Gallery in Pacific Grove, CA.