The first day of autumn and there are quite a few plants blooming. No autumn leaves here for at least another month or so.
Mexican Bird of Paradise.
Crepe Myrtle
Plumeria (Frangipani)
Saturday, September 23, 2023
Autumn in Southern California 09-23-23
Friday, September 22, 2023
Friday Food 09-22-23
I rarely cook from scratch any more and I frequently eat just one thing for dinner - broccoli, a baked potato, watermelon, salad, chicken thigh. Sometimes frozen meals - mac & cheese, meatballs (I like TJoe's cocktail meatballs). Occasionally I go out to dinner, alone or with friends, when I usually choose a fish meal. Infrequently I will cook fish at home - salmon, scallops, shrimp - but I don't do it well, so I leave it to the professionals! These are all at restaurants EXCEPT the sushi was made by Nancy Ota and the Indian meal came from the parents of the boys I drive to school once a week.
Seared Ahi with veggies.
Sushi
India - Tilapia, rice, green beans, vegetable stew
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Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Monday, September 18, 2023
Strange Sky 09-18-23
I don't know how many people live in areas where missile launches can be seen. Here in SCalifornia we are treated to views of launches from Vandenberg Air Force base up the coast near Lompoc, CA. This one was Thursday, Sep 14th, at about 7:15pm, just as the sun set. KoKo and I were on our evening walk so we had a good view. I have seen a number of launches over the years, the first was sometime in the late 1970s and, like many first timers I couldn't figure out what was happening. It is like a crack in the sky. This is the first time I have seen the missile continuing after it has left the contrail behind.
See it at the top left - it was visible for an amazing amount of time.
Up and up with a sort of cone shaped "mist" following it.
Meanwhile the contrail lingers and twists. I suppose the wind moves it.
It is so high in the air that the sun has completely disappeared around the planet.
The longer it lingers the more distortion happens.
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More 12X12 quilts in the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection 8 09-17-23
The SAQA auction continues with the quilts in section one on offer at $750 starting on Monday 09-18-23. The price goes down each day.
Here are four more 12X12 quilts that I added to the Collection in years past. I think the first two are so interesting in their similarity since they were made by two different artists in different years, on opposite sides of the world and using different techniques.They have nice balance and values. They hang nicely together.
"Breaking Through" Polly Bech - Pennsylvania 2008
Cotton fabrics and threads.
Bleaching with leaves and grasses, machine applique and piecing, hand stitching.
Cotton fabrics, thread. Stamping with leaves and grasses, machine applique, machine quilting. Bleaching with leaves and grasses, machine applique and piecing, hand stitching.
"Blue Bird of Happiness" Deb MacKay- California 2014 12X12
Commercial cotton fabric and thread.
Fusing, machine applique, machine quilting, overcast binding. faced back.
In the corners Deb has used Sue Benner's technique of knotting all the threads from the machine overcast binding.
Cotton fabrics, paper, beads, sequins, cotton embroidery floss.
Fusing, machine and hand stitching, stamping.
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Friday, September 15, 2023
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
12X12 Quilts in Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection 7 09-13-23
The annual Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) annual fund raiser starts tomorrow, September 4, 2023. There are almost 400 12"X12" quilts in a reverse auction where the price drops every day. Go to https://www.saqa.com/auction to find out how the auction works. Go to https://www.saqa.com/auctionview to view all the quilts, they are listed by maker's last name.
For the last month of so I have been posting on my blog, images of the pieces I have successfully bid on in years past. Go to www.delquilts.blogpost.com , look in the right sidebar and click on12X12. The TCQC has over a hundred 12X12s from SAQA and other auctions, but I have just posted about 30 or so in this series. This last post below are all bird quilts, which are my favorite subject.
"Two Geese" Els Vereycken - Belgium 2011 12X12
The background appears to be a hand dye. The geese are different white fabrics - bottom one is satin, the middle one is a sheer and the top goose is fine twill. They are all machine appliqued using both straight stitch and machine buttonhole, Machine quilted.
"In the Thicket" Sonia Grasvik - Seattle, WA 2012 11.75" x 11.75" Hand dyed and commercial cottons, silk thread, fabric ink pens. Machine pieced, FMQ.
The lines on the left are narrow strips of fabric, fold and stitched into the seam. The twigs on the right are satin stitch. The bird is machine applique.
"From Above - Crows" K. Velis Turan - 2007 12X12
Cotton fabrics, cotton and rayon threads. Dyed/painted, beads, metal embellishments. Pieced border.
I especially admire the border - two similar sides and two wildly different sides. The crows are applied by machine stitches.
"Tillamook Rooster" Terry Grant - Oregon 2009 12X12
Commercial cottons, Machine applique, Machine quilting.
"Fish Dinner" Sheila Gaquin - Washington 2018 12X12
Commercial cottons. Machine applique, Machine quilted.
And a great back!
Although I usually choose realistic images, sometimes there are a few
"original" birds that appeal. Here are a couple "Wild Birds".
" Nite Song" Nanette Fleischman 2009 12X12
An offset log cabin with a fantasy bird,
Commercial cottons, machine piecing and applique, machine quilting.
"Taking a Break" Lynn Welsch - New Mexico 2012 12X12
Such a happy, colorful quilt. Commercial cotton fabrics. Machine appliqued and quilted. I met Lynn in a Sue Benner workshop. Such a nice person with a whimsical sense and good technical skills.
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