COOL Flowers 06-21-08

I am at Corky's house again tonight. It may be cooler here than in Placentia, but even so it was in the 90s today and now at 11:30pm it is 79F. I was looking at these pictures of cool blue-violet flowers hoping to give myself cool dreams tonight.

Sweet Alyssum - which comes in white, pink and violet.

Wild Radish - it also comes in white, pink and violet.

Ceonothus - also called California Lilac, but it isn't a lilac and has almost no fragrance.

Morning Glory - 0pens one color and fades to pink before the blossom falls.

Heliotrop has an awesome fragrance - belongs to borage family.

I don't know what this is and have not been able to identify it. I think of it as the violet-bunny-with-a white-head-flower!

NOTE: My online friend Joan wrote that this is Salvia leucantha, also known as Mexican Bush Sage. Thanks, Joan. 06-22-08

I'll take Corky for a walk early in the morning - maybe 6am - just in case tomorrow is another scorcher. Tonight's walk was after 8pm and we both were too hot, too fast.

Relief from the heat. 06-20-08

Early morning view from back of house across Marine Stadium.

I am with Corky in Long Beach for two nights. His parents will only be away tomorrow night and I had planned to have Corky at my house. When the temperature on my patio rose to 103.3F around noon I called the Poodle Mommy and asked if I could stay two nights to escape the heat. She said the temp was 75F and yes I could stay. I was out the door!

There is rarely a heat wave here beside Marine Stadium (not to imply NEVER) - light fog in the early morning and an ocean breeze in the afternoon makes life more comfortable. Corky and I will enjoy walking and looking at the flowers. Actually I look at the flowers and Corky marks the bushes!

I'll be home Monday to continue the organizing project with the hope the high temperature will abate.

Another blue-violet flower 06-19-08

A friend sent me this picture of Clematis "Rocguchi" which blooms in Chicago from June through September. A most unusual form of clematis - lovely!

Organizing/Digging Out 06-19-08

My generous friend Liz came today and gave me another six hours of her time and sweat to get my house in order. I'm going to owe her BIG time. I had to stand on a stool to take a photograph so the table didn't block the lower shelves, which makes the bookcases look like they have been working on their upper body strength. Sorry.

I currently have five boxes of books to sell or otherwise dispose of and there are still some books, folders and magazines in a third bookcase which will be incorporated here. Plus we will probably have a few books from the office. Sometimes one must put new books some place even if they don't fit the category on a particular shelf, so they just go in any slot that will take another book. I'm hoping that all the quilting and needlework books will fit in these two cases.

On top of the left bookcase is a nice Raku vase my husband gave me and a picture of my mother when she was about 19 (in 1925). Pictures didn't come in color then, but her job was tinting photos in a photographer's studio. The few pictures we have that she tinted are quite wonderful, showing her talent in this occupation. I have her tinting brushes, porcelain palette and several books of the tinting papers - treasures from the past. I suspect that my father made the frame which hangs by side pivots, a style that was popular back then. It is wood with silver paint and still has the original paint and backing paper (getting a little raggedy).

Fading Fabric 06-18-08

Going through my "Fabric Library" I'm always amazed to find fading on fabrics that have not been exposed to light. I am reminded of the wonderful quilt in the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection that has two black fabrics that have lost their color. I believe the quilt was hung in florescent lighting which is very bad for textiles unless it is the special kind that is used in quilt shops.

On the left is the fabric in the right border of the quilt - it has lightened and become pink! On the right the purple looking fabric (which is actually black, but I used a flash so the color is inaccurate) is from my fabric library and unexposed to light.

On the same quilt, a different border fabric, top left of picture, has also faded from black with off-white print to purple.

I wouldn't dream of doing restoration because I feel that the faded pieces are part of the history of the quilt. If they develop holes then I will take action. Fading on these two pieces doesn't ruin the quilt for me. I still think it is wonderful!

"Tiger, Tiger" Margaret Hunt 41"W x 49"L

Blue Flowers 06-17-08

I've always been fond of blue and blue-violet flowers and there seem to be quite a few that bloom this time of year in SCalifornia.

My neighbor to the south has Plumbago auriculata growing on his side of the wood fence on our property line. It grows through the cracks to my side and I don't trim it until it is finished blooming. In our area it is sometimes planted on hillsides with gazanias or coreopsis. The blue/yellow combination is so 'crisp' just looking at it cools me off. The origin of this plant is South Africa.

Lily-of-the-Nile (agapanthus africanus) blossoms are more blue violet, but also come in a darker shade and in white. They start blooming about the same time as the Jacarandas giving us three levels of blue - the trees, the plants and the fallen petals from both. This is also a South African native.

Here is a detail of a Lily-of-the-Nile blossom.

Lobelia erinus "Crystal Palace" is just one variety of lobelia and just one of many colors. This has always been my favorite color and when I was gardening I always had it growing in planters and in the ground. This picture was taken on my friend Mary's back deck where she grows it in boxes with pansies, marigolds and other colorful flowers.

Fabric Addiction 06-16-08

Sometimes I think I am more of a fabric collector than a quilt maker. My friend Patty and I are both in the process of culling our collections, but I had to laugh at both of us buying more new fabric recently. I think she bought hers at a shop, but since I won't be up to Pacific Grove and my favorite shop "Back Porch Fabrics" for a few more months, I went online to www.eQuilter.com to look for just one bright striped fabric.

This is what I ended up with! Well, diagonal stripes are rare and always great for bindings, especially on quilts for children.

And who could resist this one called "Monster Teeth Stripes"?

As for my 'culled' fabrics, they will go to BCQG for the December sale, silent auction and auction. And some to the Philanthropic committee - they will probably enjoy the fabrics for children's quilts that I have never gotten around to. But I will still have a 'fabric room' with enough fabrics for two lifetimes. Yes, I am a fabric collector!

BCQG QShow 06-15-08

Final pictures of quilts at the BCQG QShow. Some of these have been taken by others and I don't have the labels to show.

Click on picture to enlarge.

"Redwood Glen" Irmgard Terbrack

Irmgard enjoyed a visit to the redwoods so much that when she returned home she designed this large original quilt from her good memories.

"Cats in my Garden" Marcia Kuehl

Patten is Crazy Cats from the Book "That Crazy Thing We Do" http://tinyurl.com/4bysxx

A variety of fabrics for the kitties and a flowered batik border quilted with flower shapes.

I've been doing my poodle nanny job since Saturday after the QShow. His parents are taking various short trips, so I have been able to enjoy Corky all this time. I'll have to return him on Tuesday . Then I will keep waking up at night wondering where he is - it happens after only one night, twelve nights will be 12 times worse.