Camera Tossing 10-06-15

Have you ever tried camera tossing?  Check it out on Google.  I have tried it several times and find that night time is a colorful time to do it.  You must, of course, hang on tightly to the strap on your camera or you will have a broken camera.  These were all taken with a little Nikon pocket camera in 2009.   These might not be "officially" camera tossed because I held onto the strap - I'm not any good at playing catch, especially with a "loose" camera. 

 

I frequently got "stitches" from some of the lights.

 

I just did it to see what happened, I haven't done anything with the images.  But I find them intriguing.   Here is a page of camera tossing pictures:

https://www.google.com/search?q=camera+tossing&biw=1280&bih=602&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCcQ7AlqFQoTCIf0yfDxr8gCFQHugAodVeAFUQ&dpr=1.25

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Monday Browsing 10-05-15

Here is a tutorial for making a fabric box:

http://seaside-stitches.blogspot.com/2013/03/fabric-box-tutorial.html
And additional tutorial for different edges:
http://www.conniekresin.com/2013/12/merry-christmas-and-fabric-box-tutorial.html

The Alliance for American Quilts will be having their auction in November.  Check out what is on offer:  http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/projects/galleries/Animals%20We%20Love/gallery/

Karen Eckmeier does commissioned church hangings which are quite beautiful:

http://www.kareneckmeier.com/church_quilts.htm

Do check Pinterest for pictures of quilts by your favorite teacher/lecturers.  Just type their name in the search box.  Some great work out there. 

 

 

Revisiting TCQC quilts 10-04-15

I think I will revisit some of the quilts I have posted in the past.  This quilt with parrots was a SAQA Auction quilt in 2010.  The SAQA online auction is going on now.  Check it out at: http://www.saqa.com/auction-quiltviewALL.php

I've added a number of bird quilts to the Collection since 2010, enough to have an exhibit of just birds, including Diane  Wright's crow from section two of this year's auction.
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 Parrots in TCQC 12-12-10

Here is another purchase from the SAQA online 2010 auction. It caught my eye immediately - the images are so crisp and the color is perfectly 'parrot-y'. Sherry likes to watch the large flock of parrots that live in her area, as I like to watch those that live in the city of Orange.

"Treetop Parrots of the Palisades" Sherry Kleinman 2010 12" x 12"

Painted, machine pieced, machine quilted.

Sherry says about her piece: "Treetop Parrots of the Palisades" was inspired by the many free flying parrots (former pets) flying around my neighborhood here in Pacific Palisades. My piece is painted with water-soluble media (crayons and pencils) on raw canvas and then machine stitched."

The tiny red buttons add texture and color.

 

But I'm not so sure about the lady bug and bee buttons. I find them distracting.

Sherry has done dense quilting over the entire design and the piece is very flat.

The backing fabric appears to be a hand dye, but it might be a batik - I can't tell for sure.

This is a great addition to the Collection. I am a bird lover and have made a number of bird quilts in the past. However, I haven't found a lot of bird quilts to add to the Collection, I hope this is the first of many. 

 

The original is at  http://www.delquilts.blogspot.com/2010/12/parrots-on-tcqc-12-12-10.html

 

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Newsletter for Surfside Quilters Guild 10-03-15

I have done newsletters for groups I belong to for quite a few years.  Sometimes I even miss the smell of glue and wax and the clutter of the old fashioned "cut and paste".  Doing a newsletter on the computer is completely different.  Pictures are easy and moving things around takes paying attention, but makes things go quickly.  The Surfside QGuild newsletter runs about twenty pages each month  because of the pictures.  Here are the URLs for September, which has pictures of all forty Challenge quilts, and October, which has ten of the live auction quilts for the November Fest coming up. 

Sep 2015

http://www.surfsidequiltersguild.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Ev2O9f5kmy0%3d&tabid=152&mid=668

 

Oct 2015

http://www.surfsidequiltersguild.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=yTKMxVm5ySo%3d&tabid=152&mid=668

 

The day the newsletter is posted online I start the next month, so now I am working on November.  My eyes give out on me if I spend too much uninterrupted time on line, so it is better to spread the work out.

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The bathroom series 10-02-15

Every now and then I post pictures taken in a bathroom somewhere.  I see a LOT of bathrooms in my life and some are memorable.  When I travel I-5 I usually stop at Harris Ranch just off the highway at state route 198.   Sometimes I eat at their nice country kitchen restaurant, but somehow I'm not usually there at meal time.  But the bathroom is handy! 

 

It is also covered with violets.  It is almost intimidating there are so many.

They are on all the walls

And a variation frames the mirrors and doors.

It is always very clean and even has a fixture for little girls - closer to the floor.

 

This has nothing to do with bathrooms.   It is in the gift shop and looks like a basket.  It took me a minute or so to figure out what it is.  Can you? 

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Fruit Delight 10-01-15

One of the not good things about the "food program" I was on was the lack of fruit.  Until you don't have it you don't realize how much a part of your every day diet it is.  One of my favorite lunches is a mixed fruit salad with a smidgen of mayonnaise.  Of course, just plain fruit is always a good snack.  While I was at Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove the farmers were setting up their Monday evening Farmer's Market in the intersection in front of the Natural History Museum across the street.  So, I walked over to see what looked good.  Everything!  I called Mary, but she couldn't think of anything she needed, so we agreed on blackberries.  I tried a sample and almost swooned away.  So, I bought two baskets to take to Mary.  We had them on vanilla ice cream -  so special.  And the size of the berries was amazing.  I don't think I have ever seen such large ones.

 

This is a regular size teaspoon!

 

By-the-way, I've added a note to yesterday's blog about the puffin box.

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Another "carved" box 09-30-15

When she saw the little fish box I posted last month, http://www.delquilts.blogspot.com/2015/08/three-years-ago-i-took-these-pictures.html 
my friend Mary (who I am visited now) told me she has one of those boxes, only hers is a puffin box titled "In Fine Feather".  Since I am here I took some pictures.  And did some research.  The website is http://www.harmonykingdom.com/ and it gives all info about the way the boxes are made (resin and marble dust) and painted.  It also has pictures and descriptions of the many, many pieces that have been issued over the years.  This puffin box is described at:

http://www.harmonykingdom.com/PiecesSub/PieceInfo.asp?itemno=TJPU

 

You will notice in a few of the images that one of the puffin beaks has been broken.  I don't know if this is repairable or not - thought I would do some more research.  Obviously the color has faded quite a bit, but to me that just enhances the mystique. 

 

Looking down on the top of the box.

The very top puffin is the one with the broken beak.

Notice the inscription at the lower left between the puffin feet:

"NOT MADE IN CHINA". 

And here he is again on the left top.

 

 

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