Friday Fanny 09-20-13

Hard to get the right angle!  Since the Veranda Sale/Art Walk in San Diego I see more and more of these long dresses.  Usually the bodies are sufficient for the style, but not always.  Gotta be tall and slender to wear something like this.


She kinda blends with the boxes in this Starbuck's cafe.

This lady is really fearless - all those stripes going different ways and then there are the shoes!
 

The lady above was seen when I stopped at the Verizon store to pay my bill before it was overdue.  Imagine my surprise to see a line OUTSIDE the store.  Verizon recently remodeled this store and it is the largest one around.  There was a sales person with a clipboard at the head of the line - he let me go in to use the bill paying machine.  There were quite a few customers inside, but I sure wouldn't stand out in the heat very long.  Guess this is what we get when we live in a megopolis!

Wednesday With Words 09-18-13

I stopped at a shopping strip the other day to return something to Petco - this is really a "strip" as it is sandwiched between the I-5 and the main north-south train tracks.  The stores are all lined up in a row with more than adequate parking.  One must take an odd route to get into the area, every vehicle comes in at a single entrance at the south end and there is no outlet to the north.  I have wondered if there were, so this time I drove all the way to the end and turned around in the deserted parking area surrounding a vacant store.  It was sort of spooky for SCalifornia.. 


There at the bottom of the slope from I-5 is this little pet cemetery tucked into a corner between the building and a cul-de-sac of the parking area.  Including the five crosses shown below, there are about twenty graves here.  I wonder if it has been a secret cemetery for a very long time, or if whoever uses it just has bad luck with their animals.
 

To the right of the gaudy graves shown above are these five plain crosses.  The white line behind them is a water pipe that is part of the freeway landscaping.
  

 
This guy must be the gate keeper.  He scurried out as I took the first image and stayed there until I put the car in gear.  Kinda small to do much actual guarding, but I'll bet he could tell some tales. 

Things I see on the road. 09-17-13

Driving down the hills from Soka University on Sat and Sun I could see the fog out over the ocean, although one cannot actually see the ocean from this point.  But there wasn't a breath of a breeze, so the fog stayed right on the coast and inland it was in the high 90s.

 

Two images from about the same place, the lower one enlarged. 
 

 
On Friday afternoon as I was taking the quilts to the QShow I saw this cargo ahead of me.  I couldn't get over to the side to see exactly what it was.  And when I finally passed the truck it was unsafe to be taking pictures.  (I'm not a complete loony!)

These are the ends of what I think are Styrofoam shapes that are four to five feet long.  They are stacked together in pairs, which is what makes the "eyes".  I will always wonder....

Quilts from Flying Geese QShow 09-16-13

Here are the quilts I photographed at the Flying Geese QShow yesterday morning.  Why these eight quilts?  I'm not sure, except that I have recently been wondering if I can do hand applique now.  The arthritis in my hands makes hand sewing difficult, but I do miss it; it once was my needlework of choice.  I never made a full size applique quilt, but confined myself to small quilts, wall quilts and crafty things.  Since my early experience was pieced bed quilts that seems to be the appropriate technique for large quilts. 

 

 

 

 I couldn't help but notice how much the members of this guild are into wool applique.  I liked this example especially - so colorful and beautifully made. The patterns by Erica Kaprow are very well designed.  Check them out at:  http://patternspot.com/designers/926-erica-kaprow-designs

 

Another fabulous applique, but not wool. Perfect color selection, including the lush red background. .

 This quilt was a prize winner and I could see why - lovely workwomanship. Pearl Periera's designs are delicate and well drawn, she is a popular teacher in the SCalifornia area.

 

Isn't this one fun?  The color is a little too yellow in this image, but it is the whimsical and clever applique images that attracted me.  Good in any color!

 

A  very nice original design - it makes me think of poppy pods, although I see the total as a huge snowflake. 
 

There are hand stitches and lace embellishments and very impressive machine quilting.
 

  

I wish I had taken some closeups of the blocks in this folk art quilt.  Such creative details. 
 

  

I'm not surprised that Micky could come up with this - she is very talented.  The chicken wire all over quilting is the perfect quilting design to set off those great chickens.


The guild had  Laura Nownes for a program and workshop and there were seven completed quilts hung together.  Fascinating how different they are, considering everyone used the same patterns

  

 

  

 

 

 

This one, also shown above, has great quilting.

 

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More on Flying Geese QGuild QShow 09-15-13

This morning I spent a couple hours at the Flying Geese Quilt Show, talking to visitors and greeting friends, some of whom I haven't seen for a long time.  That is one of the nicest things about quilt shows - besides the quilts - seeing friends.  I was there early because I wasn't sure how long the drive would take.  So, I took some pictures before anyone much arrived.  There are more images of the member's quilts, but I will have to post them tomorrow - and go to bed tonight.

 
A view of the TCQC "booth" from one back corner.  On the left you can see my comfortable chair - brought from her home by Linda Smith.  I wanted to put my stuff underneath, but it looked rather tacky.  I went to one of the venders and purchased a yard of a nice acidy green with white dots and three fat quarters ($1 each) and arranged a skirt.
 

A view from the other back corner shows the chair and the easel with sign.  In the center of the picture across the aisle you can see a few of the quilts in a special exhibit of antique quilts from the collection of Sandy Sutton. 
 

 
Sandy Sutton in front of the oldest quilt she was showing.  See the label below.
This is a wonderful hand printed indigo fabric which may have been bed or wall drapes before it was used in this quilt.
 

 

In the other direction from the TCQC booth I could see this vendor's booth and was intrigued by the cover.  At first I thought it was one large cover with the corners cut out, but when I moved the side I could see it is two covers with rounded corners.  A clever way to decrease the bulk at the corners of the table. 
 

This quilt really wowed me.  1588 tiny four-patches that must measure 2" square.

Great border and edge.

Heavily quilted with a arch in each square.  WOW!
 

Right across the aisle was this quilt with a very original layout.

More tomorrow - but not many!

TCQC at Flying Geese QGuild QShow 09-14-13

Two sets of these pictures are posted because I think Blogger will block the link on the first set I was able to post.  And maybe even the second.  They don't seem to have an answer for me and I guess I will have to try for some help on the "community board".  Meanwhile, I hope one of these sets of six images "sticks" so you can see them.

Today was day one of the two day QShow of Flying Geese QGuild at Soka University in Aliso Viejo.  It was another very hot day and when I came out of the building at 4pm it staggered me!  I had expected there to be a sea breeze from the Pacific two - three miles west, but not so much.

There were many viewers that stopped by my corner, some breezed through, some stayed and even read some labels, some stood around looking like they were in a daze and some came back again to look more closely.  After being on my feet so that I was on a level with the viewers, my hip would start aching and I would have to sit down for a short time, in a comfortable chair that Linda Smith (my "keeper and helper") brought from her house just so I could sit comfortably.  Sure makes me feel special.  I do love to share the quilts and selected as many quilts as I could fit in the space with labels (not pinned to the quilt) and showing a variety of styles, techniques and geographic origins.  

 

As viewers came in to the "booth" they could turn left and go around to their right to see the quilts on the seven panels  allotted to TCQC. 

 

Starting on the left, top-to-bottom;

"Sea Leaves" - Nancy Ota, "Cowville" - Lisa Yoder, "Fantastical Garden" - Gillian Moss, "Don't Piss Off The Fairies" - Ruth Powers, "Hot Water, Dead Sea" - Jenny Bowker, "Hollyhocks on Black & White" - Ruth B. McDowell.  

"Cross the Road" - Karen Cunegin, "Lunar Season" - Rebecca Rohrkaste.

"Not Even Solomon" - Ruth de Vos, "Copper Tree" - Joan Colvin.

"Middlesex Fells - Late Fall" (also known as "The Plaid Forest") - Ruth B. McDowell.

Top row across:

"Black Spruce I" - Ree Nancarrow, "Judith's Garden" - Terry Grant, "Quenching Rain" - Melody Johnson.  Bottom row across:  "Flowers Grow in Stony Places" - Karin Franzen, "Rooster at Freddy's" - Ruth B. McDowell,  "Allegro" - Carol Ann Waugh.

"Walks in the Woods" - Frieda Anderson.  Top: "Feather Study #19" - Carol Bryer Fallert,

Bottom (clockwise from top left):  "A Little Birdy Told Me" - Terri Stegmiller, "Aussie Birds" - Kirsten Duncan,  "Another Collector" - Diane M. Wright, "Steller's Jay" - Terry Grant.

"Red Gate" - Elizabeth Barton.  Top: "Durban Dreams" - Rosalie Dace.

Bottom: "Nature's Lace" - Lisa Jenni

 

Here is the sign they have put on an easel at the opening to the TCQC "gallery".  I knew which picture it would be, so I wore the same hat and scarf today, thinking that people would make the connection - some did. 

 

I will be going back to the show for the morning and then on to San Diego. Be sure to let me know if the pictures do not show. Thanks, Del

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