Computer is a no-op!

Sorry, my computer is infected so I will be off line fpr an unknown amount of time.  I thought I might be able to do Wordless Wednesday, but I am on Corky's mommy's computer and she doesn't have Picasa.  Amazing!   I hope I will be back soon.  I have the photos from Kalispell all edited, arranged and captioned.  Love, Del-at-the-Beach.

Great Teachers 07-03-12

If we are lucky we have teachers who change our lives and cause us to swing into a different direction in whatever field we are pursuing.  I have taken classes in needlework and textiles most of my life and two teachers stand out for me:  Ruth McDowell and Constance Howard.  They both have a gift for leading students into experimentation and yet they each teach an exacting technique in which they specialize. 

 
Ruth B. McDowell
Ruth's version of traditional piecing where the patches are cut and sewn face to face, the seam opened and pressed, allows a patient and committed quiltmaker to create just about anything she can sew together. Her analytical mind is able to quantify her ideas and translate them into a language that her students understand.  It was very difficult for me to say goodbye to Ruth in Montana where she was teaching her last classes before retiring.  I'll continue to use her methods and turn to her books and my 22 years of notes for inspiration and solutions to the problems I encounter.  I'll miss her lessons and her wit.
 

 
Constance Howard, the doyenne of British embroidery.  1910 - 2000
The British include many different techniques under the heading "embroidery" and Constance was versed in all of them.  She started the textile department at Goldsmith's College in London, serving as Dean for many years.  She also taught all over the world and wrote many books that are still treasured today.  While taking her classes we became friends and she visited me when she was in California on teaching trips.  She died on July 2, 2000, and I have missed her very much over the ensuing years.  

The ability to be a good teacher is a gift that requires hard work and constant learning.  I appreciate all the teachers I have learned from all my life.  I thank them all. 

Monday Browsing 07-02-12

Magazine covers from July 4, 1942, all showing the American flag:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/1942/introduction.html

A Challenge from Havel Sewing:
http://www.havelssewing.com/quilt-contest-2012-rules-entry-form.html?utm_source=Sewing+Contest+2012+%286-25-12%29&utm_campaign=quilt+contest+2012&utm_medium=email

Time lapse photography seems to be a hot item:
Under the Nimibian sky:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM5lM5WEY3Q

Australia Stars like you have never seen:  http://lincolnharrison.com/#/0

Yosemite Time Lapse: : 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/30/yosemite-time-lapse-video-movie-shawn-reeder_n_1466107.html

Art Quilts for Sale http://www.artofthequilt.com/

#   #   #

Lisa Jenni quilt in TCQC 07-01-12

When I first saw this quilt in-the-fabric last year in the display of the Living Color exhibit of quilts at the Association of Pacific West Quilters show in Tacoma it almost leapt off the wall at me.  It is such a striking image and the color is wonderful.  So, for nine months I have thought about bidding in the online auction - which was last week.  As always with auctions I thought about the organization and, like every non-profit these days, its need for funds.  So, I stayed on top of the bidding and this quilt is now a part of the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.
 http://apwq.org/index.php



"Nature's Lace"  Lisa Jenni - Sammamish, WA  36"W x 24"L
Hand dyed cotton fabrics, Misty Fuse, cotton thread. 
 Machine and hand appliqued. Machine quilted.

A postcard from her daughter in north Australia inspired this quilt.  Lisa said, "....a beautiful rainforest palm tree canopy.  The 'gazillion' shades of green in the picture manifest Living Colour for me.  What could be more living than a green forest?"   Lisa's website:   www.thinkquilts.com

The stems were stuffed and then hand appliqued to the quilt.

Such great attention to detail.

Lisa calls this machine quilt pattern "McTavishing".  Notice that the corner miter is stitched down - something that makes quilt judges very happy. 

Great fabric on the back and an appropriate choice for the subject on the front.

This garish label was provided by the organization.  As you see they anticipated that the quilts would be auctioned at a special event in 2010, but somehow that didn't work out.  So, two years later they auctioned the quilts online. 

Twelve by Twelve quilts at Quilt Festival - LBeach 06-30-12

Here is the announcement from the Twelve by Twelve group about their exhibit of 288 quilts from their first two years of making 12" x 12" quilts. I have never seen these quilt "in-the-fabric" and I am very excited that they will be in Long Beach. The quilts were exhibited at Quilt Festival in Houston and Cincinatti and this will be their last venue. I hope you will be able to see them in Long Beach.  I will be there most days, not with this exhibit, but at the Visions Art Museum table. Stop by and say hello.



 

Friday Feet - Kids 06-29-12

Not precisely "feet", but feet and legs and hands and arms and.... !  These little kids, supervised by their parents, were having such fun in this fountain in Orem, Utah, just outside the restaurant where Beverly Hart and I had lunch.  It was a hot day and they were oblivious to anything other than those lovely jets of water.

 

 

 

Dessert 06-28-12

Corky's parents took me out to dinner for our annual Copper River salmon feast.  There is such a short season and we almost missed it as the menu changed today.  It was grilled, no sauce, just the way I like it.  No pictures - it just looks like salmon, maybe a little more red.   Soup, broccoli, baked potato and dessert.  One of the nice things about dining our with Jim and Sherry is that Jim always wants dessert and Sherry will only have a bite. 

 
For Jim - vanilla bean ice cream with a dark chocolate fish and a crispy cookie.  Excellent.

 
For Del - creme brule.  Fabulous.  I'd forgotten how much I love it.

 
For Sherry - Just a bite of ice cream.  She is so good and so skinny!