Some chuckles 10-06-18

So, you can take it with you!

I don't know who this dog is, but he is the picture of relaxed. 

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Friday Food 10-05-18

Fish in a Bottle restaurant in Placentia, CA., is currently my favorite restaurant.  It is close by, the service is good, the food is delicious, and the cost seems reasonable.  The served food other than sushi and sometimes we give that a try.  The other night it was tempura and it was good.  I don't eat it often anymore because my old stomach doesn't think it is so great.  Have to follow up with some bicarbonate of soda.  

I especially enjoy the seared ahi served with rice and lovely veggies.  

I'm looking forward to dining in Pacific Grove next week.  I'll probably end up at the Red House, my all time favorite, but Il Vecchio is a close second.   I'll report next Friday. 

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PIQF (Pacific Int'l Quilt Festival) 10-04-18

PIQF is October 11 - 14 at the Convention Center in Santa Clara.  I haven't been in several years due to time conflicts, so I am eager to see what they have hanging.  I'm not much on vendors, but I'm sure I will be investigating some.  San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles has a pop-up booth showing log cabin variations.  And the small group I belong to has an exhibit of eight quilts with the theme "Urban Elements".   I'll be hanging them on Wednesday morning  and picking them up on Sunday after the show closes.  If you see me, say hello. 

As a teaser, here is my 24"W x 36"L quilt "Birds in the City".  It wasn't all quilted when I took this picture.  It is fused using mostly scraps and bound in the style of Sue Benner with several layers of zig-zag stitching.  I've used a lot of different threads for the quilting, including some #8 Perle cotton, which works okay in my non-computerized Pfaff. 

And I have utilized double needles along with regular needles.  In the park section there are five birds, a pool, a stream, tree trunks, and lots of bushes and plants.  And there is danger lurking among the leaves.  

The eight quilts will be shown next year in an exhibit at Visions Art Museum along with a companion piece to each one.  Mine will be "Birds in the City #2". 

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Wordless Wednesday 10-03-18

JUNE 2004

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Helping out 10-02-18

I was reminded this evening how hard it is for most of use to ask for help.  And the older one gets the more frequent are the times that it becomes necessary.   Even asking a close friend to run an errand or take care of something is difficult.  I especially know this since I have KoKo as a housemate.  When I need to go away overnight, what happens to KoKo?  There are several friends and acquaintances who are happy to have a loving little doggie for a few days or even a week.  But they also have plans and go on vacations.  I won't put him in a kennel, so if I can't find a KoKo keeper I just have to stay home.  

But even harder than finding a pet sitter is asking someone to aid in caring for a sick husband or wife.  I remember asking a very dear and close friend to stay with my sick husband for a few hours and she declined.  I was shocked because I would have done it for her in the same situation.  She explained that she was afraid he would die while she was alone with him and she couldn't handle that.  He wasn't that close to dying, but I accepted that it was a problem for her and found someone else to stay for a few hours.   However, when I fell apart one night when things were going badly, I didn't call her.  Instead I called someone I hardly knew, but who I liked and admired.  She had always been friendly and had dealt with sickness with her family.  I called her in tears and sobbed out my fear and despair and she drove to my house, sat on the sofa and held me in her arms while I disintegrated.  My husband was sleeping soundly and never knew that I had "lost it".  She was a saving grace in a time of desperation.   Oddly enough, we did not become close friends, but were acquaintances until she moved away.  I cannot at this moment even remember her name, thirty years have passed since that horrible night.  I hold her in my memory for her care and concern when I needed someone.   There was not another crisis and in a few months my husband died and I was able to deal with it and continue on with life.  I wonder sometimes if she ever knew what a tremendous gift she had given me in that dark time.  I hope she has had a lovely life and has found comfort when she needed it. 

So, I am willing to help when I can and I understand when someone cannot.  But don't hesitate to reach out for help when you need it.  It may be a gift that you are giving to your helper also. 

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Monday Browsing 10-01-18

What a great project this is!  Knitted Knockers provides soft, low-weight knockers for breast cancer patients.   I may even take up knitting again, just to make some knockers!  A project we can all get behind and contribute to, if not knitting then make a donation.  https://youtu.be/BWJKEB_tPdU
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And here is an Escondido knitter who has set up her own project, based on the Knitted Knockers original.   
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/north-county/sd-no-boob-busters-20180910-story.html#
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"You may not have even noticed the ridges on the end of your toothpick, but they’re not just there for decoration. The grooves made in the thin wood make it easier to break off, after which the end is meant to be laid on the table, with the pointy part sitting on top. This keeps things hygienic by preventing a used toothpick from touching the surface of the table."

I am not sure I believe this.  

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Here is an online fabric store I have not heard of before.  Lots of unusual prints and some tutorials (see the PIN page).   www.monumentalfabric.com
And check out their list of fabric stores, never heard of some of them either. 

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Viewing the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection 09-30-18

I am frequently asked what I do with the quilts in the Collection.  Mostly they are rolled or stored flat, covered to keep out the dust, and labeled so I can find them - mostly with the help of my dear friend Liz Williams.  I couldn't do it without her!   But I do display the quilts in my house so that I can enjoy them.  There is always one at the end of the hall that I walk down dozens of times a day (and night) and usually that is where I hang the latest addition.  A few are always on display - like Terry Grant's "Yellow Bowl"  and "Blue Threads" by Elizabeth Busch.   Both of which are on stretcher bars, not something I usually buy, but sometimes cannot resist.  

I have a couple walls that are changing galleries, usually every three or four months.  With age I find it more difficult to hang the larger quilts by myself, so frequently hang groups of smaller quilts.  They might be grouped by subject, artist, color, design elements, whatever occurs to me at the time.   Tonight I am posting a "wall of red quilts", chosen just because I wanted to look at them for a while and they read RED.  Two are 80th birthday quilts from two friends, the others are rather recent additions to the Collection.    

  Petite Jungle - Jane Sassaman 2016, Round the Bend - Catherine Kleeman 2014, 
Pomegranates - Rosie Caudillo 2017, Hummingbird - Lenore Crawford 2016, 
Spring Chicken - Bonnie Damron 2018,  Birthday Bird - Patti Brooks  2018 

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