Quilt Construction 01-02-09

These two quilts were in the exhibit "My World in Black and White" which was organized by Anne Copeland in 2003. I helped her with some things and designed the way the quilts were hung at the Ontario Museum - the first venue.

"Black and White and Red all Over" Gail Heath

I was fascinated by the construction and wrote to Gail Heath the quilt maker who lives in Australia. This Drunkard's Path version started with a set of black squares with a white circle sewn in the middle of each, plus a set of white squares with a black circle sewn in the middle of each. All of the squares were sandwiched with lovely English prints on the back and then quilted with circles.

Then Gail cut the squares in quarters and arranged them as you see in the first photo. The edges were abutted andthe blocks sewn together with back and forth free motion stitching over each join. Look at the back and see that each backing fabric is seen four times - the quarter cuts Gail made.

Here is another quilt made with the same construction method, only this time Gail cut each square diagonally only once.

So, on the back there are only two triangles of each backing fabric - again those lovely English prints.

I cannot give you the name of this quilt because I cannot find the file I kept for "My World in Black and White". That is what happens when one starts to rearrange their house, nothing is where it where it used to be and sometimes it takes a while to memorize the new location!

Day One 01-01-09

When I looked out the window this morning I could only see about ten feet beyond the glass. A thick fog had rolled in - so much for starting the year out on a "new road"! It dissipated quickly as the sun rose in my area, but clung to the coast all day. You can see it in the pictures I took in San Clemente about three in the afternoon.

Before I drove down the coast I joined the Book Group at Mimi's Cafe in Yorba Linda for breakfast at nine. We have been doing this on New Year's Day for quite a few years now - at least twelve - so it is somewhat of a tradition, as long as someone remembers to organize it. Which merely entails letting everyone know the time and the place, and finding out how many will be there. Mimi's doesn't do reservations, but there are few people there at 9am, allowing us a large enough table without a wait. By the time we leave there is a line waiting outside. There were seven of us today, including a guest from New Jersey who is SIL of one of the members. We didn't discuss resolutions, but we did each tell one project or activity we wanted to do in the next year. And Teresa is requiring each of us to have a report on our progress at our April meeting. She is such a slave driver!!

Later in the afternoon I drove down to San Clemente where a friend was having an Open House, an event that has been held for decades. This was my first invitation and it was fun to go and meet some new people; some darling children who were noisy but seemed well behaved, some cute dogs who cruised the floor looking for tidbits that people (especially the children) may have dropped, some some couch potato husbands watching the Rose Bowl game. I have visited this house before and usually turn green over the fabulous wide angle view of the Pacific, but today the view was a dense grey blanket of fog that obliterated everything. When I left I was struck by the view above and the glowing red umbrellas. With the brilliant green grass in the foreground it is a living example of color theory!

Red umbrellas always make me think of my mother and her admonition to always carry a red or pink umbrella so that one will have a healthy glow when walking in the dreary Portland, OR, weather. Green or blue umbrellas, she would say, make one look bitter and old.

Here is a reminder that the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative online auction for January has opened. This is a disease that touches most of us in some way - wouldn't it be great to find a cure? There are two sites offering some interesting small quilts. Including a few with signatures of some well-known quilt makers.

Quilts 9X12 or smaller http://www.alzquilts.org/quiltauction.html

Little Treasures quilts more than 9X12 http://www.alzquilts.org/ready.html

Starting out... 12-31-08

The images we have in our minds for different unsubstantial things is interesting to me. Time, beginnings, air, wind..... etc. I always think of the passage of time as a circle that is traveled counter clockwise through days/weeks/years and a new year as the beginning of a new road - short or long, rough or smooth, flat or uphill. The nature of the road is unknown until I come to another year and look back. I do love a road trip, but some can be intimidating as can be a new year, a new venture, a new job, a new.... anything. We are already three hours into 2009 and I wonder what is ahead. However I'm not going to start celebrating until January twentieth!

I send you all good wishes for health, happiness and prosperity in 2009 and on into the future.

Looking into the future looks a little like this!

It is I-15 going north toward.............................. !!

More Fish in a Bottle 12-30-08

This pretty young woman is our favorite waitress at Fish in a Bottle, our favorite restaurant. Her name is Kwan (although I am not sure of the spelling) and we are always delighted to be seated at one of her tables. Recently she has been working some evenings at the new Fish in a Bottle in Cypress, CA, and we don't see her as often as we would like.

I took a picture of her in July, but she had closed her eyes, so I had her pose again in early August. Cute.

She was not working tonight when Carol and Dick Bednar and I had our last FiaB meal of 2008. As usual, it was delicious. But we did try something we had not tried before and, though it was tasty, we won't put it on our list of favorites. In the center is a plate of "lobster and avocado spring rolls". They were just okay and besides they are fried (just like all spring rolls) and the three of us generally avoid fried food. On the left is a plate of "Golden Dragon" roll and on the right a plate of "Tiger" roll. I keep thinking I should ask if I might have a list of their sushi rolls so that I can tell you what is inside. I'll make that a resolution for the New Year!

Tri-Cities Park 12-29-08

If I had considered how dull my life is I might not have started this blog. Many of the high points have to do with being a Poodle Nanny to Corky the Poodle Prince. He was with me this weekend and I returned him to his parents today.

On Saturday we discovered the 'back way' into Tri-Cities Park where we like to walk. I was trying to find good locations to take pictures of the mountains with their snow coats and drove down a street I have never been on before. And there at the dead end is a entrance to the park. So, we parked and started out for our walk. We can always see the mountains in the distance, but they are much easier to see when they are white against the blue sky.

Lots of ducks, geese, seagulls - all the usual suspects. I tried for a picture of the cormorants roosting in the top of a eucalyptus tree, but they were too far up for my camera. However the resident egret was there - he always seems to be looking at his reflection!

At the end of the day, here is the Prince curled up in one of his beds. I have never seen him actually arrange the pillow, but he must know just how he wants it and moves it around at night. I sure do love this little guy.

Quilt from TCQC 12-28-08

As you may have figured out, I am very fond of Ruth McDowell's work. The first pieces I saw were six small herb quilts in QNM March 1982 illustrating an article about Ruth written by Nancy Halpern (whose work also grabs me). Also in that issue was an article about members of the "The Quilter's Connection", including a picture of Ruth's amazing "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" quilt which measures 102"W x 140"L and was subsequently included as one of the "Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts", published in 1990. The quilt I am showing this week was the second Ruth McDowell quilt I purchased.

"Dressing Up" Ruth B. McDowell 1994

Showing Ruth's two daughters and a friend playing dress up. Ruth doesn't usually put features on people in her quilts, instead using plaids or printed cottons. I think it is a great idea because it focuses on the people and what they are doing. Besides, if the quilt owner doesn't even know the person there is no point in making it a "portrait". The plaid faces are one of the special touches in this quilt. Another special thing is that some of the fabrics were designed by Ruth for Kona Bay in 1993. The binding is the one of her fabrics that I never found, it must have been really popular. The center of the umbrella is from a print of trees with dots representing the leaves/fruit. The ruffled blouse on the left and the garment being held up by the girl on the right are both Ruth's designs. Of course, I was attracted by the hats - aren't they wonderful? The beret on the left is shaded just right, and the tulip hat in the middle is much like one I wore in the late 50s. But the best of all is the "Cat in the Hat" hat on the right - I would have worn one of those if I wasn't so conservative at the time. The jacket looks Chinese and reminds me of a Chinese robe in my Aunt Teff's dress up box - I loved wearing that exotic garment, but only inside Aunt Teff's house, of course.

Ruth's sense of body language always makes her 'people' quilts very special. She made a quilt for Doreen Speckman which shows her teaching students at Asilomar how to do the Electric Slide. Anyone who knew Doreen could recognize her image by the body language Ruth has shown. If you look on Ruth's website you will find several people quilts.

www.ruthbmcdowell.com

"Dressing Up", "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" and the Herb quilts are in Ruth's book "Art & Inspirations - Ruth B. McDowell". The Doreen Speckman quilt is in her book "A Fabric Journey".

Both were published by C&T Publishers