Friday Feet 11-11-11

If you watch Antiques Roadshow you may have seen these Wedgwood heeled shoes which a lady purchased at a yard sale for $8.  I never look at shoes at garage/yard sales, mostly because decades ago when I did look they were all tiny sizes.  These look like they might fit, only I cannot wear heels these days. It is too bad there isn't more background about the origin of these elegant shoes.  They obviously were not worn much.

 

The appraiser put the price at $400 - $600.   They would probably be worth more if they were worn by a famous person. 

"Purple Passion" raffle basket 11-10-11

There were so many contributors to the basket that I feel the need to post some pictures taken at the Surfside QGuild November Fest '11.  It was a very successful event, thanks to the hard work and donations of members, their families and their friends.  Thanks, everyone.

 

Here is "Purple Passion" waiting on table #1 for tickets to be dropped in the bag pinned on the tablecloth.  I did retrieve the bag to take home and count the tickets - 325!  The tickets sold one for a dollar, six for five dollars, etc..  So, if my math is correct (and it may not be!) the basket brought in from $270 to $325.  And I had great fun collecting all the contents.  

 

Of course, I put some of my favorites on the top - the lovely mola fish pillow next to the roll up fit-in-your-purse shopping bag w/paisley design, the lavender clutch bag, the purple spray bottle. Holly Casey's "Crossword Puzzle" booklet, Havel's Dura-snips plus two pair of their scissors are there, along with all that fabric!  Whatever fabric was donated I put in the basket - even if I didn't think it was purple - so the fabric ranged from pink to almost black with a few pieces that had no purple that I could detect.  I like the basket covered with tulle rather than cellophane because the contents seem more visible. 

 

Michelle Lincoln had the winning ticket and she seemed truly thrilled.  She is a purple lover and was wearing purple that day.  Nice to know that someone who will really enjoy it won this basket.

Wordless Wednesday 11-09-11

Surfside Quilters Guild November Fest '11 11-08-11

The big day finally arrived with sunshine and lots of enthusiastic members and guests.  It was a happy, festive event and the guild will have a chunk of money to add to the bank account.   The eighteen live auction quilts were eagerly sought by determined bidders, egged on by our excellent auctioneer, Lyn Mann, a local and regional teacher/lecturer/designer.  She was great. 

 
Here I am with Nancy Ota who made this beautiful quilt with Ellen Heck, who is a well known, prize winning applique artist.  Personally, I think Nancy is every bit as talented and I am happy to say that I was the high bidder and brought this exquisite piece home with me.  It is already up on the wall where I can enjoy it every day.  I will write more about it at a later time.

I also brought home another auction quilt make by Nancy Gasparotti in the style of Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston.  It is so bright and wild it will cheer up anyone who sees it.  I'll save it for a later post.

Monday Browsing 11-07-11

Red Kangaroo Flower  Simi Valley, CA  March 2008

Here is a lady who needs to learn to quilt:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/teresa-strasser/just-a-mom-talking-trash_b_1005930.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl10%7Csec1_lnk3%7C108960

Luanna's pictures of the Cairo tent makers (about half way down and on page 3)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/luanarubin/page2/

"Do you realize that, in about 40 years, we'll have thousands of old ladies running around with tattoos? And rap music will be the Golden Oldies! " (unknown)

"Bob" on a journey. Be sure to watch until after the credits. http://vimeo.com/25845008

Winners at Quilt Festival - Houston http://www.quilts.com/fqf11/enVivo/   (click on Winners)


 

No pictures tonight

Blogger does not want to post pictures for me tonight.  I'll try again tomorrow after pool therapy.  Del

More Looking Back 11-05-11

Looking at "Last Walk in Autumn" and thinking about when and how it was made jogged my memory about a previous quilt.  This was one I made for the first round of Journal Quilts, a project started by Karey Bresenhan via Quilt Art list.  For me the project was a 'shot in the arm' or a 'kick in the pants', depending on the angle!  Being forced (by my own commitment) to do a little 8.5" X 11" quilt each month made me focus and spend some time in my sewing room.  I had been in a 'dry' spot (as I am now) and unable to concentrate on any one project.  This was truly my first effort at printing on fabric and I wasted half a dozen attempts before this one seemed to work.  One thing I discovered was that over printing was closer to my vision than printing on solid fabrics.  In a similar way I had previously discovered that marbling on color rather than white gave me more usable fabric.  I don't think this imagery is quite successful as the three shapes should be lighter as they recede in the distance.  I worked on that with the images of Floyd in the 2007 piece.  When I looked more closely at this piece I noticed that I quilted the background with hand stitching.  I don't have a clear memory of why I did that, but I suspect that I felt it needed some quilting but machine stitching, which makes a harsher line, was too much.  I haven't done much hand quilting in the last ten years because of arthritis, but I think I will make a note to use it for a softer line. 

 
"Remembering Constance"  Del Thomas 2002  8.5"W x 11"L

This little Journal Quilt is in memory of my friend Constance Howard of Chiswick, London, England,  who died in July 2000.  She was such a treasure to everyone who knew her and a joy on a road trip.  On one trip we spent a night in a tent cabin at White Wolf Lodge in Yosemite and took a long walk in the woods - as any English woman I have ever met she was a great walker.  She always wore a little self made cap and had designed this great black jacket that she practically lived in.  She was a writer and a great teacher - witty and wise - and told hysterical tales about her travels around the world.