Today was too long. 07-25-09

Corky woke me up at 4:30 wanting to go out - all he did was come to the guest room d00r and make a little squeak and I was awake. Just like a mommy! I always wondered how mothers learned to do that, but once I started caring for the PPrince I could do it also. Amazing. His mommy took him to All Care Vet Hospital in Fountain Valley at 9am for an MRI, but instead they examined him and took X-rays. I went to the QFestival at 9 to work my 9:30 - 11:30 shift which required me to spend that time at the SAQA table passing out info and answering questions and explaining about the Foot Square Auction. When I left I stopped to look at a few quilts, but I was very tired (before I every arrived in the morning), my back was killing me (who knows why) and I was concerned about Corky. So, I came back to his house. He and Sherry were home and gearing up to go back to the hospital at 2pm for a electrocardiogram. Several doctors examined him and he does have a small problem with his heart which they don't think will interfer with his having an MRI tomorrow morning at 5am!! After the MRI they will know more about what to do, but surgery is up in the air for the time being. It turns out that it isn't his arthritic hip that is doing all of this, but a problem with his lower back. He is taking pain meds and the doctor gave him a pain shot when we left the hospital at 5:30pm. We picked up pizza and salad at California Pizza Kitchen and ate it at home. Corky is not in as much pain so we are having a hard time keeping him from going up/down stairs and not walking around much. When the pain med wears off he cannot walk. The three "caretakers" are all exhausted and this one is going to bed as soon as I can get my clothes off. I am not even going to shower - oh, gross! I'm hoping to get up before Corky leaves for the hospital, but I'm not making any promises. I am simply exhausted and on my last wit. Soon I will just be witless 8>))) I do hope to get to the Festival tomorrow.

Images from Int'l Quilt Festival 07-24-09

But they are not mine. I have yet to visit the Festival, but will be working at the SAQA booth in the morning. See the Quilts, Inc. website for pictures or click on the following URL.....

http://www.quilts.com/lbqf09/enVivo/

I thought I would get over to the Convention Center sometime today or maybe attend the special event this evening. Unfortunately Corky is not well. Last evening I took him to his regular vet for X-rays. Corky's arthritic hip has deteriorated a great deal and he will probably have to have surgery - possibly a hip replacement. He also has some deterioration in his spine. Tomorrow he will go to the special vet clinic in Costa Mesa for an MRI - for which he will have to have anesthesia which is quite risky in a small, old dog. His 13th birthday is next Wednesday.

His mommy flew home this evening so she could be with him at the clinic and I will probably drive over there when my shift is over for SAQA. Today involved running around to pick up X-rays and fill a prescription. Also keeping Corky from going up and down stairs - of course, I have had to carry him up and down!! So, I am very, very tired and so is Sherry. On-the-other-hand, Corky has mostly slept, undoubtedly from the pain pills. Hope he can sleep through the night (which means up about 4am in his book!).

I hope to post some pictures tomorrow evening, but not of the SAQA quilts where photography is not allowed.

F5ber art p6stcard 07-23-09

Th5s new F415ts4 c60p4ter 5s a p5ece 6f 14n2!

I set this post up for 07-23-09, but that is when my computer problem started so it was never posted. I now know that the computer problem was its operator! I had accidentally put the keyboard in "NumLk" which converts certain letters to numbers so the "operator" can use them like a calculator. Who knew? Not I! The computer tech said "You are going to be embarrassed." And I was!

A few years ago when I was making Fiber Postcards for Virginia Spiegel's project to raise money in support of cancer research. This is one that I donated. It is very fun to experiment with different techniques, but I do find that these 6" X 4" creations are very time consuming. I rather like the way this came out. The letters are cut freehand - one of my obscure talents.

Here is a detail, but the color in the full picture above is the true color.

A walk in a different park 07-21/22-09

Oh dear, I'm not doing very well this week. I prepared this post for the 21st, but somehow failed to post it! Sorry. So, it will do for two days.

Corky was here Saturday/Sunday this past weekend. On Sunday we walked in the morning because it was very hot. Actually, it was almost too hot even in the morning. But we trotted down to the corner, turned left, walked another 200 feet or so and turned into the park. This is Parque Arroyo Verde, the one that is long and skinny and extends all the way to the back of our house. It is used in the mornings by people with children who have lots of energy and by people with dogs in the early evening. There are also the sunbathers and the teenagers who come to neck in the dark. (is it still called 'necking'?). Just as Corky and I were walking to the exit this family came in - papa, mama, two little boys and two white dogs. The dogs were interested in Corky, but they were a little too rambunctious for a nose to nose (or elsewhere) meeting. In the picture the smaller boy is just above the white dog under the jungle gym (or whatever it is called these days). I seem to be very aware of what things were called and what they are called now. How about pedal pushers? Cutoffs, maybe? Christine Thresh is designing a block-a-day - all of them four inch paper pieced blocks and she provides the pattern to download. Among the cute everyday things she has come up with is one depicting pedal pushers - just like in the good old days. Check out her blog at www.winnowings.blogspot.com

I was trying to line up these two pictures to make a whole tree, but couldn't make it work. I'll try again some other time. Many different kinds of trees in the park, some half dead for lack of water. I had a notice that starting the first of August the water company that services this area will start stage 2 of water rationing. There is a long list of do's and don't's; in addition there will be a 6% cut in the water we can use without going into a new (higher) pricing tier. Since I am very frugal with the water I use the 6% cut will be difficult. Unfortunately, there is a law here against using grey water, although I know that some of my neighbors do. It wouldn't do for me to save rinse water from laundry to use on outside plants, because I have a water softener and the salt content would kill the plants.

Quilt Festival -Long Beach will start with the preview this Thursday evening. I will be staying with Corky at his house in LBeach until Sunday. So, perhaps I will be able to post some images from the Festival. On Saturday morning from 9:30 to 11:30 I will be at the SAQA table answering questions and passing out SAQA information. Stop and say hello - I'll be the lady in the hat!

Jan Hirth quilt 07-20-09

At the June meeting of the new daytime guild, Surfside Quilters Guild, Jan Hirth was our speaker. Jan has been a quilting teacher in Orange County (CA) for a number of years and her classes have been very popular - her reputation as a teacher is excellent. As you can see by this quilt which she displayed during her presentation she is a gifted needlewoman . The true color is in the center of the quilt - caused, I suppose, by my flash centered there, but all of the background is the same brilliant red.

Here is a detail of one block, part of the surrounding blocks and part of the border. If you click on the image it will enlarge so you can see her perfect applique technique.

And an even closer look. I don't think this image is focused, but I have been on the computer so long today that I can't really tell. I'll check it out in the morning and correct if necessary.

One of Jan's quilts was in an early post of images at the Beach Cities Show.

http://delquilts.blogspot.com/2008/06/bcqg-qshow-06-14-08.html

Patricia Klem quilt from TCQC 07-19-09

"Triplet" Patricia Klem 1998 24"W x 28"L

Every time I look at this quilt I try to see what it is about it that makes me like it so much. Shape? Piecing? Color? Quilting? It is all the above! I believe that the bottom third is the key - the black/yellow/white with the red "arm" that reaches around the bottom coming to a point. This bottom third is a base for the top two thirds and supports the total design. At least, that is what I see.

I purchased this directly from Patricia Klem in August 1998. Her statement reads:
"This quilt was based on the rhomboid shape which was repeated in several variations. Machine pieced and machine quilted. Cotton fabrics,, cotton batting, cotton and metallic thread."

Patricia lives in Rancho Santa Fe, CA (just north of San Diego) http://www.patriciaklem.com/

Another of Patricia's quilts at: http://delquilts.blogspot.com/2008/11/quilts-from-tcqc-11-02-08.html