Karen Flamme 01-09-10

"In Memoriam" Karen Flamme 2007 34"W x 51"L

I photographed this quilt at the East Bay Heritage Quilters Quilt Show at the Oakland Convention Center in the April 2007. The accompanying sign had only the info above, but I believe the quilt relates to losses in the Iraq war. The sheer, golden (tulle?) fabric moved as people walked by giving it a ghostly presence. I'm showing this quilt today because Karen, who has survived life threatening illness in the past year, is included in an exhibit that opened today at the Gallery Concord (http://www.ci.concord.ca.us/recreation/thingstodo/gallery.htm). She is the guest fiber artist at this wonderful nonprofit, educational gallery that features the work of members of the California Watercolor Association. The opening reception was last evening and I wish I could have been there for the festivities and to see Karen and her art. The show will run until March 28 and I hope you'll have a chance to see it when you are in the Concord area. www.karenflamme.com

Meyer Lemons 01-08-0

I've lived in Southern California for over fifty years and have never quite adjusted to seeing lemons and oranges ready to pick in January. Both types of citrus can produce a huge crop if the year has been a good one. My neighbor Mark (-to-the-South) has one Meyer lemon tree which provides both of us with lemons. I don't know what he uses them for, but he is very generous and gives me as many as I can use... and sometimes more. He loves lemon bars, so I usually make him some and there are several lemon cookie recipes which make him smile! I think the best thing to do with a bumper crop is to grate off some peel and freeze by the teaspoons full, then squeeze the lemons and freeze by the half cup in baggies. Those portions seem to work for almost anything that I make. One of my favorite lemony treats is lemon curd to eat on biscuits - or anything else that is handy. If there is nothing handy one can always just eat the curd by the spoonful. Curd does not keep well, so better to make it up fresh with the frozen peel and juice. The other day Mark hung a large bag of lemons on my doorknob - guess he has a yearning for lemon bars. So, tomorrow I make lemon bars. Maybe two batches, since I like them as well, as does Corky's daddy.

I may have to work in stages as I still go to sleep unexpectedly. However, I proved today that it is the inhalers that make me drowsy - maybe I can just time them well.

Typo corrected! It is Meyer lemon. Sorry.

Limitations 01-07-10

Your eyes do not deceive you - this is the same image I posted yesterday. Wordless Wednesday posts are especially hard for me to do - I ALWAYS have a story or an explanation. When I went out to the drugstore a few days ago it was a fantastic blue sky day with not a breath of wind, not unusual for this time of year. When I came out of the store, there beside my rear wheel was this huge sycamore leaf on the pavement - a leaf the size of my two hands spread open. I suppose that while I was inside it just got tired of hanging on and dropped exhausted to the ground.

You can look at this image on two levels. Focus on the lower left corner and you will see the tree against the sky. Focus on the odd white shapes in the center and you will see the white cars parked in the lot on the other side of my car. Amazing what our eyes can do.

It has taken me twenty-five minutes to do this blog! I am still doctoring the 'coughing ailment' and saw Dr. Debin this morning. She continues to be concerned about the condition of my lungs and the lingering cough.. as am I. She added another inhaler to my regimen and told me to go home and go to bed and stay there! I did it - arrived home about 9:30 am, flung myself into bed and have been there ever since! I can't read because I just go to sleep, can't compute because I drift off and drool on my keyboard, can't sew because I fear I will slice off my finger or sew it into a seam. I've slept about twenty hours of the last twenty-four and keep drifting away - this is one awesome affliction. Don't catch it. I'm sure the inhalers have something to do with the sleepiness as I am hardly coughing. Perhaps they are doing their job. I haven't done much of anything for a month, but I did manage to get the Surfside QG newsletter to the guild president for posting. You can check it out at http://tinyurl.com/yd3e5mw

Wordless Wednesday 01-06-10

TCQC quilt by Vicki L. Johnson

I purchase quilts from auctions, websites, museums, galleries, and sometimes from the artist directly, which is, by far, my favorite way. I like to know the artists who make the quilts in the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection and now count several among my most treasured friends. For those who feel intimidated by someone whose work they greatly admire, I suggest you just walk up to the artist, say "Hello", give your name and say "I admire your work and am interested in purchasing one of your quilts." If you are not in a position to purchase a quilt at the moment you might say ",,, someday I hope to own one of your quilts." Start a discussion by pointing out something you especially like about a quilt, ask the artist about a technique or their education, inquire which technique they have been using the longest time or the shortest length of time. I find that the more I know about the artist and her art the more I enjoy her quilts.

"Wild Roses II" Vicki L. Johnson 1993 24"W x 33"L

Cotton fabrics, cotton thread, fabric paint. Hand painting, machine piecing, machine applique, machine quilting.

I admire Vickie's unique technique of combining traditional fabric squares with her hand painting and machine applique. I purchased this quilt from her at the 1994 Pajaro Valley Quilt Show at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.

Carrying the colors of the center focus image to the edge of the quilt using squares which include the same colors expands the visual impact of the scene. Notice how the dark green squares extend the horizon line and the rose print fabrics pull the fence line out to the binding. In keeping with the rustic setting depicted the folded pieces of fabric form a sort of echo of the fence. Each of these folded fabrics are included in the border squares.

The trees and bushes are painted while the fence and the piles of roses are machine appliqued in a sort of broidery pers effect. The roof, steeple and front wall of the building are also machine appliqued. Two techniques that started being commonly used about this time are the folded inner piping insert and the use of the backs of fabrics in order to achieve the values needed. These were not entirely new techniques at the time, but they had not been used extensively before the early 1990s.

I think this is a charming quilt and it visits various rooms in my house and also in Corky's houses. This quilt taught me a valuable lesson about collecting. I had not thought about quilts being duplicated until I saw an almost identical work elsewhere. I learned that Vicki uses the basic pattern as a demo quilt when she is teaching, so who knows how many similar quilts there are around. Since that time I remember to verify that the quilts I buy are "one off" and will not be reproduced as quilts, or depicted on beer can covers, tote bags, etc. However, the artist always retains the copyright and it is her right to use the design as she chooses.

http://www.vntgraphics.com The Pajaro Valley Quilt show will be held Feb 27 and 28, 2010.

Rachel Maus I.D.M. Part 2 01-02-10

I made my first little doll quilt just after the end of WWII, sometime in 1946 and though years might go by between finished quilts, I always have something "in the works" (also known as UFOs). Sometimes I forget that everyone doesn't have all those years of learning (and forgetting) and I will leave out a step or two when explaining how to make a certain quilt. Please don't ever hesitate to call me on my lapses, I'm happy to share what I know or help you find an answer. One of the readers of this blog asked "where do you start making the blocks with scraps, strips, etc....? Basically, I just start sewing things together. I'll give you a few examples out of the dozens you might use.

These blocks can be called "threesies" and are made by sewing two squares together ("twosies") and then adding a strip of fabric along one side.

These two blocks are "foursies". The top one started with a solid 2.5" square, a 1.5" light colored flowered strip was added to the right side, then a large flowered piece with a black background was added to the bottom. The final strip is the multi color flower print on a black background on the left. The lower block was started with a square cut from a pieced scrap (a bunch of 1.5" strips sewn together like "Chinese Coins") - a strip was sewn to the left and trimmed, then a strip on the bottom and trimmed, then a strip on the right and trimmed. The resulting "foursie" was increased in size by sewing a 2.5" strip to the bottom and then a 2.5" strip to the left side. I suppose that would make it a "sixie", but after four pieces I think of it as an individual block rather than a component of a block-to-be.

Another way to work might start like this. When I have scraps and time to "play" I cut scraps into squares ( 1.5", 2", 2.5", 3" and 3.5") or strips depending on how big the scrap is! I have a box for each size square/strip that I can dip into - my thanks to Sharyn Craig for this idea. In this example I took used a 2.5" strip of little flowers on a black background, a selection of 2.5" squares that would sort of go with the colors in the strip and a selection of 2.5" squares in tints/shades of greens. Placing each multicolored square face down on the strip I sewed them with a 1/4" seam, opened them up and sewed one of the green squares to each of the print squares. Rachel calls them "threesies". Then I pressed the pieces open and flat. Working on my cutting table I used my 6.5" square ruler to trim the pieced strips to 2.5" x 6.5". I might make piles of this size before going on to making something to sew on to them.

On the left side of the image you can see one of those 2.5" x 6.5" strips with 2" strip attached to one side - a type of "foursie". And on the right side of the image is another type of 'foursie" sewn together the way one would begin a log cabin block. I will sew these two pieced blocks together, press and then add strips to whichever side needs to be wider.

Stripes and polka dots add motion and 'excitement' to a scrap quilt. Here I have pieced a stripe onto the 2.5" x 6.5" strip. Next I will sew these two "blocks" together - press and trim. Notice the bunny eye on the right block. No matter how "serious" the quilt top will be, a little surprise is always something extra for people to discover in the life of the quilt.

More stripes, dots and a star to add interest. At this point I intend for all these blocks to go into the same quilt, but the joy of I.D.M. is that it DOESN'T matter! When I have a goodly pile of blocks of the same size I will start playing with them on the design board to see what works together. Then I will sew them together and quilt the results.

How will I know when the quilt top is ready to sew together? Part of that depends on how large I want the quilt to be. Another part is when I get tired of working with these blocks. And yet another is if/when I run out of more blocks to add. The quilt maker could always make a few more blocks, but whenever I have done that in the past anyone could immediately pick out the 'invaders' - so I choose to finish with what I have and to toss any extras in a box with other orphans for a future scrap quilt.