Saturday at Camp Del 10-06-12

Corky is at Camp Del this weekend and again next weekend.  I feel so fortunate to have this little guy in my life.  At 16 years he is slow to get up and down and in and out of his bed, but, hey, so am I!  We did go for a walk this evening after the temperature dropped below 80F, but he wasn't very interested so we didn't walk very far.  We both have bad hips so we make a good walking pair!

 
When he curls up in this bed he disappears, except for the bow the groomer always puts on his collar.

 
As we were leaving to walk, this gorgeous sky materialized in the west.  The TV weather guy says we will have rain sometime in the next few days.  I am so thankful that the temperature is dropping and supposed to be in the mid 70's all this coming week.   I've had to wear a sweater to take Corky out at 6am and at first I couldn't remember where to find one.  Something that I don't think I have needed since I returned from Montana in June.

Friday Feet 10-05-12

Viviane Deroover attended the European Patchwork Show last month and made this collage of the feet of viewers.   I wrote to ask permission to use it for Friday Feet - just to show that someone else notices feet. Not a high heel in sight.  Those Europeans know to be comfortable at a quilt show.    


http://vidertextil.skynetblogs.be/      vivianederoover@skynet.be

Much of Viviane's blog is in French, but some is in English and she shows some lovely quilts.  Especially at the Belgian Patchwork show this past week. 

Early quilt collections 10-04-12

A friend reminded me of the Esprit Quilt Collection which originated in the 1970's in San Francisco.  The main focus was fabulous Amish quilts from the first half of the 20th Century.  I used to spend time in San Francisco every year and one of the highlights of these visits was to go to see the quilts and shop at the nearby Esprit clothing outlet.   The quilts are now housed in the Quilt & Textile Museum in Lancaster, PA., if you are in that area do go to see them, pictures cannot do them justice.   Here are a few websites of interest:

http://atn2002.tripod.com/intersections/id11.html

http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php/blog_id/1869

http://sallyjanevintage.blogspot.com/2012/03/esprit-quilt-collection.html

Another collection that includes some wonderful quilts was the Nutrogena Collection once housed at the Nutrogena Corporate Headquarters in Pasadena where it could be visited by groups with prior reservations.  Like the Esprit Collection the pieces were displayed in lobbies, offices, shipping areas - anywhere they would fit.  The 2500 (or so) pieces are now at the Nutrogena Wing of the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  There are many early quilts by 20th Century art quiltmakers - go for a visit and allow lots of time! 

www.internationalfolkart.org/

Wordless Wednesday 10-03-12

 

 

Monday Browsing 10-01-12

All the members of the Twelve by Twelve group have posted their creations for their latest challenge “Maverick”. Check them out at http://twelveby12.blogspot.com/

Here is another imaginative quilt from the incomparable Judy Mathieson (she made this about 20 years ago): http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php/blog_id/5102  See her other quilts, including many quilts with dog images:  http://www.judymathieson.com/Judy_Mathieson/Welcome.html

Superior Threads now sells a conductive thread made from stainless steel! Here is a video about one young man’s experiment .  This appeared in their latest newsletter.  http://www.superiorthreads.com/videos/tutorials/conductive/

Ruth Powers, my friend who lives in Kansas, was advised she has won one of the big prizes in Houston – of course, she won’t know which one until the awards night at QFestival the end of October. Suspense!  www.ruthpowersartquilts.com/
A guild she belongs to is doing a program on studios, so a photographer visited Ruth and photographed a bit of her studio. See it here:
http://www.thecuriouskansasquilter.blogspot.com/2012/09/ruth-powers-fantastic-quilter-artist-in.html

Brugmansia  and Bougainvillea  09-29-05

Ruth McDowell quilt in TCQC 09-30-12

"Chickens in the Poppy Patch"  Ruth B. McDowell  2012  27"W x 25.5"L
Machine Pieced using commercial fabrics.  Machine quilted. 

Ruth has such a great eye for choosing fabrics that all work together to interpret her designs, but they often surprise us when we look at them individually.   

 
This beak is cut from the middle of a flower where the yellow lines radiate from the center.

 
This hen's eye is also cut from the middle of a flower with the tiny blue dot at the center.  Notice in the body of the hen the variety of light prints with different textures and in different colors. 

 
Great puffy tail for the rooster.

 
Ruth seems to find the best fabric for chicken legs. 

 
And a great Marimekko fabric on the back where you can see the excellent FMQ.
 

 
Ruth has signed the quilt on the front with hand embroidery.

 
And created a handsome label on the back which includes a contact for the artist.

Things I see on I-5 09-29-12

Those of you who have been reading my Blog in the past you know that I am always wondering about things I see on the highway.  Sometimes I can take pictures, but sometimes it doesn't work.  This post has two images of a strange cargo and one picture of a "village" that doesn't work.

 
What can this be?  It was in view off and on for quite a few miles when I was driving to San Diego last week.   Do any of you have a idea?

 
I suppose one clue could be those fancy gizmos here and there on the tubes.  Tie downs?  He did have the thing well tied down, always nice to see.  But not tied to the gizmos.

 
I've taken several pictures of this installation between I-5 and the ocean (which you can see just behind the houses), but my camera is inadequate.  I'm  hesitant to pull over on the shoulder and get out of my car to take a better picture, because this is within the boundary of Camp Pendleton.   Anyway, this is where marines train in a simulated village such as they will find in Iraq or Afghanistan.  I've never seen any people there, but others tell me they have.  It seems an unlikely place to construct such a facility - in full view of the hundreds of thousands of commuters on I-5.