Wordless Wednesday 07-15-15

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Rude Awakening 07-14-15

I woke up this morning to the sound of chainsaws, a noise that turns my stomach.  I looked out front and saw "men in trees"!  The owners had recently had the pine trees trimmed, but the house has been sold and the first thing new owners seem to do is cut down all the big trees.  Trees are "messy" and required regular pruning.  But they are beautiful.

 

Thirty years ago this view was full of tall trees, but only these three remain. 

It looked like they were cutting too low to be decapitating trees.

And it turned out they were only trimming the street tree, a crape myrtle which is about 22 feet tall.  They left the stack of trimmings and their warning sign all day until finally the chipper came and went off with the sign.  Whew! 

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Martha Wolfe quilt from Fiberlandia auction 07-12-15

Sorry I have missed a few days.  I had to have an emergency root canal and things didn't go so well.  I am better now and hope to stop the pain meds at the same time I stop the antibiotics.

Martha  Wolfe does wonderful bird quilts, including this one with the New Zealand bird, Pukeko. Martha was in NZ early this year for a Quilt Symposium and enjoyed some sightseeing. She says that the wildlife was elusive, but the pukeko could sometimes be spotted scavenging in the fields.  This bird is in the same family as our coot (sometimes called mud hen) and the purple gallinule found in Florida. 

"New Zealand: Pukeko"  Martha Wolfe - Davis, CA 2015  8"W x 6"L

Hand painted and printed fabric made on a visit to New Zealand, strip-pieced  cottons, painted organza and hand-dyed silk charmeuse. 

Fused, raw-edge applique, machine and hand-stitched.  

Great feet! 

Colorful label with all the pertinent information.

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Wordless Wednesday 07-09-15

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Mimosa trees in bloom 07-07-15

The mimosa trees are blooming again - right on schedule.

They are so beautiful, but messy, so best to plant them away from walks and driveways.

 

A few seed pods hanging on from last year.

 

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Monday Browsing 07-06-15

Kennel quilts for stressed cats:

http://weallsew.com/2015/06/13/help-our-animal-friends-in-times-of-need-by-doing-what-we-love/

Here is a technique I thought I had invented years ago until I learned it is a tailoring tip.

http://weallsew.com/2015/06/09/how-to-bury-your-thread-ends-on-a-quilting-project/

And another tip from www.weallsew.com

http://weallsew.com/2015/06/19/how-to-keep-thread-spools-from-tangling/
 

Here is the tutorial for fabric twine, again:

http://mypoppet.com.au/2014/04/scrapbusting-handmade-scrap-fabric-twine.html

 This fascinating idea has been around for a while.  Wouldn’t it be fun to have one at Visions Art Museum? Maybe we could locate a retired vending machine repairman. http://andthenwesetitonfire.blogspot.com/2015/06/smokin-art.html

 

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A birdy from SAQA Fiberlandia auction 07-05-15

Kristen holds a Master's degree in Avian Sciences and has worked as a Bird Banding Biologist.  She is particularly fond of corvids and has done quilts depicting crows and ravens.  This little black bird came about organically and was decorated by drawing free hand on the appliqued bird and then embroidering over the lines.  She has a little bird quilt in the SAQA online auction this fall. http://kristinshieldsart.com/bio/

 

"Fanciful Blackbird"  Kristin Shields - Bend, OR 2015 8"W x 6"L

Machine pieced, hand appliqued and embroidered, hand and machine quilted.

I love the background fabrics and the embroidered eye!

Kind of an "egg-y" fabric on the back, but no label.  Of course, the artists weren't told to put on a label and probably expected the little quilts would stay in the matting frame.  Each one has a label on the back of the mat.

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