Friday Feet 09-16-11

Yes, that is my foot in a stirrup!  In all the years of gynecological exams I have never seen this special stirrup treatment.  Can you guess what was used to cover those cold, hard things? 


 
I did ask the doctor and she said the covers came from her favorite store - Target.

Yes, they are pot holders (oven mitts).  I find it very amusing.

Familiar Views 09-15-11

Several years ago I took some pictures of old Spanish style buildings at the junction of CA 152 & 156, east of Gilroy and San Juan Bautista.  The next time I drove that way the buildings were mostly gone - removed to build an overpass from one highway to the other to avoid the terrible accidents that happened when frustrated drivers tried to make it across in front of speeding cars and trucks.  So, the rerouting is a good thing, but I still miss that small group of buildings.  Their absence makes me more aware of places I drive all the time and barely notice anymore.  These views along Highway 101 in Long Beach have hardly changed (in my mind) since the first time I drove this route in about 1959.   I KNOW things are different now - fifty years ago there were still forests of oil pumpers in this area and maybe only one power generation facility instead of four.  I could do some research, but the point is actually what is there now and the possibility that it will be gone someday and most of us will never notice.  There have been many proposals over the years for building on the land between Pacific Coast Highway (101) and the power plants, but the cost of cleaning up the soil from years of oil exploration and pumping is prohibitive.  Several places along the coast have been carefully revived as wetlands, which all of this was before oil and before WWII and the population boom.  But it is an ongoing war between the preservationists and those who see open land as an opportunity to make big bucks by building houses, strip malls, shops and vast parking lots.  I hope the preservationists continue to win their battles - I like seeing undeveloped land with plants both wild and opportunistic, with birds and wildlife, and with a view of what is beyond the curb of the roadway.

Oil pumpers and power plants with wild palm trees. 

A long shot of the power plants with the early evening (6pm or so) light reflection off the metal panels.

 

While I was in Ralph's Market parking lot taking the above pictures I attracted some attention from the local guys - I wonder if someone comes to feed them there.  There were half a dozen walking and flying around me, but this guy was very brazen.  Handsome fellow.  I've never been very good at identifying gulls, the Herring and the California are very alike, but these pink legs make me think he is a Herring Gull.  

Wordless Wednesday 09-14-11

Red, White, Blue at SQG 09-13-11

Surfside Quilters Guild - San Clemente held their September meeting today and there were quite a few quilts donated by members for the Wounded Warriors Project.  These quilts go to cover wounded service personnel when they are shipped out of a combat area to hospitals.

A really scrappy quilt with both printed and pieced blocks.   Shown by Sue Butsko, but I'm not sure she is the maker.  Members at the meeting were just picking up the quilts and walking around the room so that everyone could see the quilts better.

This is a panel simply bordered with a blue print and machine quilted.

Simple blocks - four-patch and one-patch combined with five stars set with one-patch - nice quilt.

Two quilts with some of the same fabrics.  On the left quilt the "arches" on a yellow ground are red,white.blue bunting, but to my eye they give a sort of Egyptian note - I like the blue on white grid print in some of the half-square triangle patches.

This idea is from a workshop called "It Doesn't Matter" given by Rachel Maus in December 2009.  It is a great way to use up scrap strips and the quiltmaker can coordinate her colors or not - it doesn't matter.

Simple, simple simple - just using red,white, blue fabric strips.  The more the "merrier".

 

Here is one that took a lot of time and effort.  The shape will not fit nicely onto a stretcher or gurney, but I'm sure the wounded warrior won't mind!  It is a lovely quilt. 

It seems to me to be a great philanthropic effort.  What better way to warm someone who is suffering than to cover them with a soft quilt?   Say "Thank You" by making a quilt for Wounded Warriors. 

Monday Browsing 09-12-11

After being gone for three weeks and not reading any Blogs or "digests" I spent part of today trying to catch up.  I only save a backlog of a week on the digests since I know I will never be able to go back and read hundreds of messages, but just two days worth gave me a lot of interesting information.  Below are some that I found especially interesting.  But first here are "46 Seconds of Tranquility".

http://www.kvet.com/pages/joelburke.html?article=9096496

http://www.designerann.blogspot.com/   Interesting to see a survey of her work over several years.  And don't miss her favorite videos in the side bar under Favorite Sites
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdolce/5889863850/  Silk ribbons to make your heart ache.
http://shiborigirl.wordpress.com/  The lady who creates those ribbons.  Many fascinating pages.
http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/spirit_cloth/home-base-patchwork.html  Interesting thoughts on improvisational designing
http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/spirit_cloth/   Gentle words and thoughts and a magic feather project.
http://cynthia-stcharles.blogspot.com/search/label/Mail%20Art%20Project   Fiber Postcards
http://www.denacrain.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/How-Patchwork-Quilting-Changes-Womens-Lives.pdf
Dena explains, "As partial requirement for my quilt judge certification through the South African Quilt Guild, I wrote a scholarly paper on 'How Patchwork Changes Women’s Lives.' ” 
I printed it out to read later - it runs about 50 pages! 

From a Lummi Island, WA, garden.  August 2011

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A Day of Rememberance and Silence 09-11-11