Happy New Year 12-31-19

Oh dear, Now my fingers have to learn a new year AND a new decade.  Each year it is harder for me to re-train them.  

I am struggling to not get sick, but tonight my thread is sore and I am just wiped out.   Hope to be up to driving to San Clemente for the annual open house.  Even KoKo will go since he spent his first couple years at Nancy Ota's house. She is the one who taught him his good manners. 

Thanks for checking in with me throughout the year, I hope to make it through another with lots of useless news to post. 

Wishing you each a special 2020. 

Love, Del and KoKo

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The last of this year's Christmas decor 12-30-19

There weren't quite as many outdoor decorations this year, but more of the blow-up images - Santa, Snowmen, reindeer, dogs in colorful "clothing", and a repeat of the Christmas blow-up dragon.  There is one house with a variety of blow-ups, old fashioned wire figures, and this really peculiar dog "statue".

Winter Blooms 12-29-19

Autumn, Winter, and Spring sort of flow into each other here in Southern California.  And plants from all over the planet keep their 'schedule" from their native land.  So, some plants bloom in mid-winter.  Here are a couple in my neighborhood. 

Just one of many varieties of narcissus.

Lovely fragrance. 

And now it is covered with seed pods. 

But we still have autumn leaves.  Liquidamber or sweet gum. 

Bradford Pear. 

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Learning to sew 12-28-19

KoKo does seem to want to sew.  Now he is closely observing Froggy's operations.  Maybe he will be able to do it himself one day. 

See the needle just to the right of his ear.

Sticking his nose in wherever he can. 

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Friday Food 12-27-19

 One of my idiosyncrasies is drawing faces on hard boiled eggs.  I have done it at least since 1957 when I moved to California.  Don't remember before that when I lived in my childhood home.  My mother put an X on hers. 

It is, of course, just a way of indicating that they are hard boiled.  No other reason!

  

These are the current style. 

These are from a few years ago and somehow also required a date.  I suspect I took them on a road trip.  

I use a Sharpie to do the drawing.

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Stormy weather 12-26-19

Well, maybe I should just say wet weather as we did not have thunder and lightning, just rain.  I think it must have rained for about nine hours, but not always very heavy.  Seems that locally we had almost two inches.  These pictures were taken from the same spot in the backyard in the space of about three minutes around 3pm on Christmas day.  The rain started around 7pm.

Looking out to the east over the park. 

Turn slightly to the northwest. The very deep flood contral channel is diagonal across the bottom of the image. 

Turn slightly further to face north. 

Directly over the house, facing west. 

On Chirstmas Day the weather bureau issued a tornado warning for Santa Barbara Co, and parts of Orange Co., but it was cancelled soon after.    Strangely, statistics show that there are more tornadoes in Southern California than anywhere on the west coast.  I have witnessed two in the sixty years I have lived here.  Didn't like them!! 

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It is Christmas Eve! 12-24-19

It is hard for some people to understand, but I just don't do Christmas anymore.  It is okay!  My choice, for many reasons.  But it is impossible to actually avoid the holiday, it is everywhere.  So, I do gifts for several groups I belong to and I hang a wreath on my door (mostly for the mail lady).   And I have several Christmas quilts that I love, so I usually hang one of them at the end of the hall so I see it multiple times a day.  

Usually I have a red bow, but made this lovely white/silver one this year, just to be different. 

"Santa with Frogs"  Jan Hirth - Laguna Niguel, CA

29"W x 21"L    2016

Machine pieced, appliqued, quilted.

Jan donated this to the Surfside QGuild auction and I was the lucky bidder.  It makes me smile! 

I hope Santa has made it to your house tonight and brought you comfort and joy. Love, Del & KoKo

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Christmas Cartoons 12-23-19

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KoKo visits Santa 12-22-19

We braved the crowds again this year so KoKo could visit Santa at PetSmart in Brea, CA. 

Santa is a dog trainer and a rather large guy. 

KoKo is very small in comparison.  I gave him a brush up before we went in, but had to wait in line with a bunch of scary big dogs, so KoKo got a bit mussed up.

Santa invited me in for a shot, I think he just wanted to put his arm around me!

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Christmas Cartoons 12-21-19

I don't know why, but I especially enjoy snowman cartoons.

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Friday Food 12-20-19

My friend invited me to stop by for gelato and cookies.  I'm not sure how good a friend she is, because now I am addicted.  I can hear it calling to me from the freezer.  And I think I hear it faintly when I drive by a super market.  It calls to me in my sleep.  It is wickedly delicious. 

Fair warning!

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Friday Feet 12-20-19

I don't know who this guy is, but he has great socks!  

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Wordless Wednesday 12-19-19

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Book Group Christmas 12-18-19

Today was our annual Christmas Lunch and we didn't take a picture!  We usually forget because we are so busy talking, eating, exchanging gifts, and just generally having a great time. 

So, here is a somewhat formal image from March 2019 taken at Placentia Library. 

Book Group  March 2019

Teresa, Nancy, Carol, Verna, Ann

Del, Marlita, Kathy, Joann

Book Group Christmas 2010

Marlita,  Carol, Nancy, Verna, Del

Kathy, Teresa

[I did a typo and had the wrong date here, this image is from December 2010 not 2019.  Sorry]

Book Group Spring Tea  Circa 1990s

Teresa, Verna, Carol, Del, Ann, Kathy

KoKo again tonight 12-17-19

Does KoKo do a great otter imitation, or what?

Trouble is he isn't interested in swimming. 

But walking is good, twice a day. 

The wind has been strong for a couple days so there aren't many leaves that aren't completely dried up and piled on porches and gutters.  One day there were lovely pools of color under the liquid ambers and crepe myrtles and now all trees are bare and the color is gone.  Rain predicted for Christmas, unusual for SCalifornia. 
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Interesting quilt story 12-16-19

You may have seen this item somewhere on the web.  It is a touching story about a UFO that has become a very large group project.  Lovely. 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/surprising-complexity-unfinished-american-quilt

https://abc7chicago.com/hobbies/chicago-activist-organizes-global-quilting-project-through-ritasquilt/5744327/

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New quilts in TCQC 12-15-19

I am a fan of the African Fabric Shop in Holmfirth, England, although I haven't actually purchased much, I just like to admire their supply of fabrics, beads, and baskets from Africa.  One of their suppliers is a man named Musa who is an expert dyer.  He started a medical clinic in his village and the Fabric Shop has supported that by doing some fund raising.  A couple years ago I purchased a great quilt from their online auction and now they are having another auction.  So, I bought three little quilts, all using the great African fabrics carried in the shop, but made by English quilt makers.  

"Take me Back" Magie Relph - England  2019  11"W x 20"L

Cotton African prints and hand dyes, cotton and metallic threads, cotton batting, machine pieced and quilted. 

On the back another wonderful African print. 

"African Improv II"  Kate Dowty - England 2019

  15.5"W x 15"L  Cotton African prints, Chenille yarn, cotton thread and batting.  Machine pieced and quilted.  Hand appliqued.  

A striped  double batik on the back.

"African Improv I"  Kate Dowty - England  2019 

 23.5"W X 18.5"L  Cotton African prints, Chenille yarn, beads, cotton thread and batting.  Machine pieced and quilted.  Hand embroidered.  

On the right side about 1/3 in there are three strands of chenille yarn with beads at the ends.  These hang free from the top of the quilt. 

The rings are dyed into the fabric and Kate has hand stitched over them.

More African prints on the back. 

Nice label, but no contact!  How do I send her a Thank You?

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Christmas Cartoons 12-14-19

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The last full moon of the decade 12-13-19

I don't understand why some sources made such a big deal about this last full moon of the decade.  Isn't there always a last full moon in every decade?  Odd.  Anyway, I like the picture. 

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TCQC quilts at Surfside QGuild 12-12-19

On Tuesday morning I presented a program at the meeting of Surfside Quilters Guild in San Clemente, CA, showing some of the quilts in the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection. The Collection contains about 365 quilts, but, of course, I could only show about 35 in the hour of the program.  When the guild started in 2009 I did the first program and a subsequent one in 2011, so I tried to only show quilts that weren't in either of those programs.  The members seemed to enjoy the presentation, it is always exciting to see a quilt "in the fabric" made by one of the "stars" in our quilting world.

On the stage to the left are "Rialto Tree" by Denise Oyama Miller and "Eleven 3 Thirteen" by Marianne Burr (which is all hand appliqued and quilted).  And on the right is Ruth B. McDowell's quilt "A Rash of Flamingos" (one of the larger quilts in the Collection at 100"W and 52"L).  

If any of you have pictures you took at the meeting I would enjoy having copies of them.  Can't give a program and take pictures at the same time!  

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