Christmas Lights 12-28-13

I'm not really big on Xmas lights, but I tend to like the more subdued ones best.  The Book Group ladies were talking about where there are spectacular lights in in our area and I happened to pass one of those streets, so I took a look.  Only about a dozen houses in a cul-de-sac and only two did not have decorations. 

I thought this might do as a "Portals" image, but one cannot even see the door. 

Nice reindeer - they have an opaque "skin" with the lights inside.

Lights done like this are more effective when there are many trees of the same kind.  But there is something especially charming about these two rangy specimens.

Friday Feet and Jacaranda tree 12-27-13

Czech women predict on Christmas whether they will marry in the next year by throwing a shoe over their shoulders while standing with their backs to the house door. If the shoe lands with the heel toward the door, the woman will stay single for another year.
(From Huff Post - World  12-24-13)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The pod that I posted yesterday comes from a Jacaranda tree.  The trees bloom in early June and the pods are revealed when the leaves fall in the autumn.

Jacaranda Tree in bloom - Orange, CA  June 2009

Wordless Wednesday 12-25-13

 

The end of the 2013 Xmas cartoons 12-24-13

 

 

 

 

Monday Browsing + Portals 12-23-13

Winners at 2013 Houston Quilt Festival:  http://www.quilts.org/winners.html

Interesting comparison of “-ough”:  http://dictionary.reference.com/?sshow=ough

For dog lovers:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2X3cecTU3w&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PL6FDA762F19FD9F3B

Who is deciding what we read?   I find this more than a little frightening:
 http://mail.aol.com/38236-111/aol-6/en-us/mail/DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true

Crossword Puzzle addicts might appreciate this.  [WA is for the state of Western Australia.]

http://www.watoday.com.au/national/centenary-of-crosswords-word-nerds-pay-tribute-to-puzzle-inventor-arthur-wynne-20131220-2zqyz.html

Now, THIS is a happy dance!

 http://www.edisproduction.de/2013/10/20/man-with-awesome-dance-moves-will-amaze-you/

This blogger talks about speakers who have visited her QGuild in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Interesting.

http://rebecka-rasmataz.blogspot.com/search/label/Quilts

 

A Holiday Portal - San Clemente - 12-17-13

"A Rash of Flamingoes" Ruth B. McDowell 12-22-13

Just a few weeks before the current exhibit was hung at Visions Art Museum an estate auction company in Olympia, WA, contacted Ruth McDowell (using the contact on the quilt label - hint, hint) about this quilt which they found in the possessions of a lady who had recently died. The estate people had never seen anything like it and had no idea of its value.
After talking to the lady, Ruth told her that she might know someone who would be interested in buying the quilt and gave her my number.  Then she called me.  I could hardly wait.  When the call came I told the lady that I could not go to Olympia for an auction, but I was interested in buying the quilt outright.  We came to agreement on the price and I called my credit card company to warn them - my limit isn't very high and wouldn't cover the quilt.  And the estate company wanted either cash or credit card.  They shipped the quilt and I had just enough time to photograph it and get the photo in the gallery guide.  Whew.  Since I was taking it to VAM I didn't hang it in my house, so the first time I ever saw the quilt on the wall was at the gallery.  It looks fabulous!  Thanks to Ruth for making the quilt and for making my connection.


"A Rash of Flamingoes"  2000  Ruth B. McDowell - Colrain, MA  100"W x 52"L
Commercial, hand-dyed, batik cotton fabric; cotton batting, cotton threads.
Machine pieced and quilted.
This quilt appears in Ruth's book "Fabric Journey", publ by C and T 2005. and in "Ruth B. McDowell's Design Workshop" publ by C and T 2007.

Ruth sold this quilt in 2000 to a lady who lived in Alaska, so I'm happy that the Flamingos are finally in the sunshine of sunny Southern California.

Ruth does such amazing things with her fabric choices.  Who else would use one fabric between the legs and others in the background? 

A rather realistic eye staring out at us.

Notice the flowery fabrics (like 30s reproductions) used for feathers.
I think of the silvery ribbon fabric at the bottom left as the water the flamingos are wading in.

The value contrasts make these guys look three dimensional.

This is a quilt I could hang with the back out.  Merimekko is wonderful, isn't it?

A fancy label.  Notice that there is a street address so someone can contact the artist.