Change of plans 03-10-12

We didn't go to San Diego today, Carol kindly decided she didn't want to give us her cold, so we postponed for another day.  She probably picked up the germ going to and returning from NCarolina.  Airplanes are dangerous that way.

 
So we didn't see the beautiful blue Pacific - this picture is from 03-09-11 when I was returning from a final visit to the Visions 2010 exhibit.  I imagine it looked just like this today.

No change in Corky's plans.  I picked him up at 4pm for an overnight at Camp Del.  He seems okay with his new pillow in his family room bed.  The bed in this picture is the one he uses in the bedroom.  His mommy thinks he needs to wear his cover up at night while it is cold and he is indifferent, I think!  

Big Rock in LA 03-09-12

Not much happening in my life right now, except that tomorrow I am going with two friends to San Diego to see the exhibits at Visions Art Museum.  http://www.visionsartmuseum.org/  and to have lunch.  And Corky will be at Camp Del tomorrow night.
It was 45F early this morning and 84F this afternoon - a 40 degree range. A big rain maker is promised for next weekend - and snow in the Sierra!

However, in SCalifornia the BIG DEAL is the BIG ROCK!

Levitated Mass 340 Ton rock 2

This huge rock is being moved from the quarry in the Inland Empire to Los Angeles County Museum of Art to become an outdoor exhibit "Levitated Mass".   The moving is taking eleven nights and involves removing overhead wires (and putting them back), signals, lights, ... well everything necessary to make room for the Rock to pass by.  The route goes all over the place to avoid things that aren't movable - overpasses, narrow roadways, etc..  And not interrupt traffic.  The cost estimate is between eight and ten million dollars.

 
This is the rock suspended in the specially built "trailer" which has something like a 100 wheels.

There are lots of videos and other coverage - Google "Big Rock LACMA" if you are interested.  The guys in your life might be interested in the vehicles involved, the caravan is about three traffic lanes wide!  Try:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pegeQLbiuJY&feature=related

International Women's Day 03-08-12

Women hold 17 percent of Senate seats and 16.8 percent of seats in the House of Representatives. (Women of color represent only 4.5 percent of the total members of Congress.) There are six women governors and only two women of color who serve as such. The U.S. ranks #69 in the world in terms of female representation in national legislatures and according to a Catalyst study, we are tied with Turkmenistan!

Wordless Wednesday - Yellow 03-07-12

A "Puppachnio for the Poodle Prince

Here is another "browsing" that I didn't know about last night.  This is a "'virtual" quilt show that someone sent me this afternoon.  I don't know anything more about it than what is on the website.  I did 'register' and had a reply back acknowleging my presence.  It might be interesting.... or not!     http://inspiredtoquiltexpo.com    The dates are March 7 - 12. 

It used to be that Starbuck's would give out dog biscuits for dogs in cars at the drive-thru window, but then there was that scare about poisons in the biscuits that were made in China and a "no biscuit" rule was passed.  Sometime after that someone came up with the "Puppachino", a derivation on the Starbuck's Frappachino.  Not all locations know about this and some are unwilling when they are instructed, but it is worth asking if your four-footed friend needs a special treat.  

It is merely a small sample cup half full of whipped cream.  I don't let Corky eat all of it, a couple Tablespoons is enough.  He would lick out the very last drop if he had his druthers. 

 
I think he gets as much on his beard and face as he does down his throat!  I was trying to take a picture of the mess he makes and objects to me washing off.  I held the cup up so he would look up, but he is very white and the whipped cream equally so and it hardly shows at all.  He expects to have his face washed everyday, but his beard is another matter.   

Monday Browsing 03-05-12

 

Here is a 10 minute video tutorial about making a 3" square book from one piece of paper:

http://srm-stickers.blogspot.com/2011/03/meander-mini-album-video-tutorial.html

http://hongyi.carbonmade.com/projects/4196578  Coffee stain portrait – it is wonderful!  Move your cursor around on the middle right of the picture and an arrow will appear, click on the arrow to advance to the next image.

Longing for the flowers of SPRING? 

http://www.equilter.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?catid=3

Philadelphia Fiber month:

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/34766-01pcfiber

List of galleries: http://www.fiberphiladelphia.org/fiberphiladelphia_exhibitions_2012

Here is an interesting article about Dutch wax prints http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/design/2012/03/african_fabric_where_do_tribal_prints_really_come_from_.single.html#pagebreak_anchor_2

A Triptych by Lisa Yoder in TCQC 03-04-12

In 2009 I took a class with Pamela Allen at Empty Spools Seminars/Asilomar - it was a great class and I would take another Pamela class at the drop of a hat.  My table mate in the class was Lisa Yoder of San Diego and this quilt started out as a class assignment.  It demonstrates Lisa's interpretation of the legendary Pamela whimsy. Now it is the most recent addition to the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.

"Cowville" Lisa Yoder  2012  31"W x 15.75"L 

Cotton fabric, illusion netting, beads, silk ribbon, cotton and metallic threads. 

Hand pieced, hand appliqued, hand beaded, hand quilted.

Lisa likes to do things by hand.  Beautiful beading, and stitching takes long hours of concentrated work.

"Cowville", the title of this piece, is based on the appliqued cows which one must look closely to see.  There are four cows in this picture - I'm not sure how many there are on the quilt, I'm still searching.

The grey space just off center in this image is the space between parts 2 and 3.  Each unit is bound with silk ribbon, hand appliqued over the edge.  Black on the black edges and white on the white edges.

I think it is wonderful that Lisa did not line the back of her work.  It is an interesting look at the hand of the artist, to see the reverse side of her stitching.  The label is minimal, at best.  I think a label should have at least the title, artist name, year of completion, a contact (e-mail, snail address, phone number...something, so the artist can be contacted).  And in the case of multiple pieces, each piece needs a label which includes the position in which it should be hung.  I have seen pieces hung in the wrong order at quilt shows - sometimes it is very obvious.  I have told Lisa that I will make labels for each piece. 

 
Who is this mysterious blue lady calling in the cows? Tiny flower pot is a sweet addition.

Tiny seed beads for distant stars, tiny star beads for closer stars, larger stars (lower left) are cut from fabric, covered with net and metallic thread used for 'radiations'.  The bead dotted crescent moon is cut from a printed fabric with a small border of the black background fabric showing - netting covers the yellow part.

 

The sun is a spiral of yellow stitched down with tiny gold beads.  Lisa chose a perfect background fabric which she then enhanced with her excellent hand quilting stitches.

Thank you, Lisa, I'm enjoying your charming quilt.