Friday Feet - Mary Lou Weidman 04-20-18

Mary Lou Weidman had a new pair of shoes in March.  Don't they just look like what she would wear.  Bet the sales clerk saw her coming! 

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Wordless Wednesday 04-18-18

Ten years ago 04-17-18

Sometimes I like to look back at the pictures I took in past years.  This one is from almost ten years ago, although it doesn't seem that long!  I drove up to Tehachapi to see my friend Mabel who was visiting her daughter and family.  Mabel and her husband Mac had driven down from Washington State.   I still have the hat and the necklace and the pink shirt, which I just wore yesterday.  Didn't realize I had worn it for so long - it still looks good! 

Mabel and I write e-mails to each other every day.  We just talk about our day and I always have to talk about the weather - I'm just that way!  I hope to drive up to see her in May or June.  And maybe I will take KoKo along, she says he is welcome.  What a friend.  

Del Thomas and Mabel Huseby 

Tehachapi, CA  05-07-08

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Not much to blog about 04-16-18

I am working on my very last newsletter for the Surfside Quilters Guild.  I have been doing it for about nine years and it is time for me to retire.  We have a volunteer to take over and I think she is very conscientious and organized, so she should do well.  We will meet after the board meeting to exchange information and paperwork.  Although, since it is an online newsletter there isn't much paper to exchange.  The archives are on the guild website, so there isn't a box of back copies to pass on.   I know I will miss doing it, but I would like to get back to making quilts and taking trips without the additional job of working on the newsletter as I travel.   And I need to get this newsletter posted before I drive up to Pacific Grove to pick up the quilts from the "Birds" exhibit, which comes down on April 30th.  

I won't be seeing any almond trees in bloom.  This image was from March 2005.

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Re-visiting a Pamela Allen quilt from 2010 04-15-18

This wonderful, witty quilt was part of the 2010 online auction of the Alliance for American Quilts.  

"Can't Piece Geese. Can Do A Loose Goose." Pamela Allen 2010 16" x 16"
Recycled and commercial fabric. Raw edge, hand applique.
Pamela had this to say about this quilt:
 "I confess I was stumped at this year’s theme as I know almost nothing about traditional quilting and certainly have no fragments from early patterns. I hardly know the names of patterns! However, I DID know the flying geese one which requires piecing triangles . . . thus my title as I couldn’t piece anything to save my life! I have adapted a goose from Inuit imagery that I admire for its quirky shape and humorous distortions."

And I admired the quirkiness also and bid on the quilt.

Pamela uses a lot of recycled/preused/reused fabric and has a great eye for putting the fabrics together. She uses a collage technique rather than piecing and doesn't pre-plan her designs.

She does a great deal of hand stitching using embroidery thread, perle cotton or whatever she feels will work best to stitch the applique pieces to the background.

She has developed a great talent for machine quilting

The plain back shows the quilting very well. 

The label Pamela applied.

The label the Alliance applied. 

I admire Pamela's work and there are now eight of her quilts in the TCQC. Since I carry quilts around to show at different venues I must avoid quilts that have heavy or thick embellishments, or I would have more Pamela quilts. I took a class with her in winter 2008 at Empty Spools at Asilomar and found she is an excellent teacher. I may never make a "Pamela Allen" type quilt, but the lessons I learned have become a part of my library of techniques which will serve me well as long as I can make quilts. I recommend her classes and her teaching skills. 
http://pamelart2.homestead.com/newquilts.html

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