Wild Oats 04-17-10

No, I'm not sowing any wild oats! They just sow themselves on the slope in back of my house. I suspect a lot of them come from the seed eating birds who love them. The oats are beautiful when they are green and the wind ripples through, but they are also beautiful when they have shed their seeds and only the silvery husks remain.

I am having some trouble downloading pictures from the card in the appropriate slot on the front of my laptop. I tried the old Dell laptop and they downloaded just fine, but they I have to send them to myself to get them on the Fujitsu. I imagine the problem is in the Fujitsu. I have a card reader with a USB on the end of a cord, but I cannot locate it. Wonder if I left in a motel somewhere. Guess I will have to visit the shop again and see if they can help. This piece of junk will be a year old in June. Why, oh why, didn't I stick to Dell?

New elegant tote 04-16-10

At Empty Spools I admired a tote bag that my friend Mabel Huseby had made from Judy Robertson hand dyed fabric. And she went home and made one for me! Just like Mabel, so generous. The bottom of the tote is 9" x 11" and it is 13" tall. The hand dyed fabric is lined with the top edge turned to the front to form a binding. There are pockets all the way around and there is a small zippered pocket on the inside. I'm not sure what the black fabric is, but it may be water proof.

This shows the other side of the bag - I don't think my pictures do it justice. Judy's fabric is always so original. I buy a few yards whenever I see her booth at a quilt show, but like many people I am hesitant to cut into it and have a separate fabric storage box, just for her work. You can check out her fabric at http://justimagination.com/

I'm going to need to quickly sew a label inside so everyone will know it belongs to me.

Changes 04-15-10

One of the things I find so difficult to deal with on my computer is changes! Yeah, I know, "life is change". The last time I played with the 'collage' feature on Picasa I could pivot the images after I moved them to the collage page - now I cannot. If that feature is still there it is buried.

"Camera Tossing #5" 04-15-10

"Camera Tossing #4" 04-15-10

I was trying to work with these four almost identical squares, but since I can't flip and pivot this is the best I can currently do. I may have to break down and learn Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. Some advise to just try Elements first, but other say if I am going to do it just go whole hog and learn Photoshop to begin with. Any ideas?

I always read a lot and when I am doing the "rest in bed, drink plenty of fluids, etc." business, I read more than a lot. Fortunately my friends Carol and Dick Bednar are willing to trade books, so I usually have at least two or three new ones waiting on my nightstand. Last month the Book Group read "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford, but I was busy traveling. I just read it this week and I think it is a great read. It is about a small group of people living in Seattle at the beginning of the USA involvement in WWII. The story is told by a twelve year old Chinese American boy and deals with the internment of his Japanese friend. It is sad and shameful and heart wrenching and happy. There are many reader reviews at:

http://www.amazon.com/Hotel-Corner-Bitter-Sweet-Jamie/product-reviews/0345505344/ref=lmf_1_russss0_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

And I agree about the anachronisms and about the level of maturity in the voices of Henry as child and Henry as adult. However, things were very different in 1942 - even just the cultural differences may be partially to blame. ("Life is change"!) But the story itself is gripping and I enjoyed the book very much.

Wordless Wednesday 04-14-10

Bella Bella quilts 04-13-10

This morning the Surfside Quilters Guild had their twelfth meeting in San Clemente (membership is now 245) and our speaker was Norah McMeeking of Santa Barbara who talked about her book "Bella Bella Quilts: Stunning Designs from Italian Mosaics" (C&T Publishers, 2005). Her quilts are stunning and her presentation is professional and thorough and spiced with her subtle humor. If you belong to a guild you should recommend her to your program chair as a speaker, I think any guild would enjoy what she has to offer.

In her Power Point program Norah showed images from Italy, her own quilts and quilts made by her students. The elaborate designs are created using foundation piecing on paper and Norah sells the papers along with her book.

http://www.bellabellaquilts.com/home.html

I don't have a favorite among the quilts she showed, but I do like this one with the sparkling triangles. She has some amazingly complicated designs which she says are not hard to make, they just require lots of sewing. She listens to audio books while sewing and finds the entire process relaxing!

After our meeting those who chose to lunch together went to Carbonara Trattoria Italiana a few blocks from the church where we meet and had a delicious lunch of grilled salmon, perfectly dressed salad, pasta w/broccoli, garlic bread and lovely little miniature pastries. And then I drove home and had a two hour nap! Still trying to get up to speed.

Interesting stuff 04-12-10

Since I don't have children or grandchildren I don't have a very broad view of what is "in" these days. In many ways I lead a sheltered life. But once in a great while I browse about online and discover interesting things. Recently I followed an AOL shopping item and discovered Gelaskins. I suppose they may have been around for years, but I had never encountered them. They are 'protective' covers for electronic devices - laptops, phones, etc. - and some of the art is fascinating. I tried to upload an image, but it didn't work and I am too tired to figure out another way. So, you check out the site if you are interested...

http://tinyurl.com/y7f9maf AOL shopping article

http://www.gelaskins.com/index.php Website

http://blog.gelaskins.com/ Blog

Do you have experience with these Gelaskins or a similar product? I'm just curious.

Sometime ago I talked about the website "Scribbler" and showed a few images I had scribbled. Terry Grant posted on her blog about an even better scribbler which is fascinating. Check it out at:

http://www.zefrank.com/scribbler/scribblertoo/

You can see a couple of Terry's drawings on her blog: http://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/

"Delft Hen" Ruth B. McDowell 04-10-10

"Delft Hen" Ruth B. McDowell 2010 20"W x 24"L

She's really a bit of a tease, isn't she? I think I shall call her Mitzi. Ruth has used a paisley print for those sexy thighs and little white on blue flowers for the wing folding back on the perky tail. "Rooster at Freddy's" is definitely smitten. You can tell how much fun Ruth has had with this flock of chickens, each has such an individual personality - amazing! There is only one hen left "Ikat Hen" who is very lonely on the 'yet to be sold' page. The first of Ruth's chicken quilts (that I remember, anyway) is Madame Blu's Chickens which she made in 2003. This great quilt can still be seen on her website - close to the bottom of the "Other Recent Quilts" page or pull it up at http://www.ruthbmcdowell.com/clients/rbm/ShowQuilt.cfm?Quilt=madamebluschickens . There must now be twenty Ruth McDowell quilts in the Collection. I am REALLY a fan!