Monday Browsing 12-31-12

http://terristegmiller.com/pdf/doublesplit.pdf     Tutorial for a scrappy quilt.

http://cabel.me/     “The Basement”   Inspiration for art collage and an interesting story.

http://quiltedtimeposts.blogspot.com/2012/12/fritos-peanut-butter-chocolate-recipe.html

A strange, but delicious sweet treat.

http://aletteraweek2012.blogspot.com/   Inspiration for creating alphabets.

www.ruthbmcdowell.com   New chickens from Ruth McDowell

http://timflach.com/  Fabulous photography.   Click on Portfolio, then on “Dogs Gods”  (dog pictures),  “Equus” (horses),  “More than Human” (different animals)

Giant Bird of Paradise tree  06-18-11

#   #   #

 

Embroidered quilt from Gillian Moss in TCQC 12-30-12

Here is another of the quilts I purchased from the SAQA online auction in October.  This quilt is so different from anything else I have seen lately that I felt it need to be in the Collection.

"Fantastical Garden"  Gillian Moss - La Jolla, CA  2012  12" x 12"
Screen printing, hand embroidered, hand quilted.
Gillian says this piece started out as a pure experiment as she was thinking of doing something for the SAQA online auction. She worked on it in the evening while her husband watched TV and it became a special quilt with the colors and the thoughts that accompanied her stitching.
 

Many different colors of thread used and a signature done with fabric marker.
 

The screened background in green and blue allows areas for the flowers to bloom.
 

Straight stitches, cross stitches, back stitches, stem stitches, running stitches, fly stitches, single chain stitches - done in perle cotton and sewing cotton threads.

Gillian does very even, elegant stitching.
 

And she is not afraid to show the back of her work - hurrah, Gillian.
 

On her label she uses a hand cut stamp of a house resembling her home in Dublin, Ireland and hand prints the information needed - including her website URL.  A way for people interested in her work to contact her.  www.mossartquilts.com

Beagle at VAM 12-29-12

I don't know the rules for service dogs in other states, but in California if the dog is wearing a vest that declares he is a service dog he can go anywhere with his owner.  No questions asked.  Although sometimes our curiosity about what the dog's job actually is can be unbearable.  I believe this dog's responsibility was for his mommy as he always stuck close to her.

This cute little beagle named Dakota (who is 11 years old) was so well behaved.  Sometimes he would lie down and rest whilst his parents examined the quilts, but he made no attempt to wander and was very quiet. 
The quilt here is "Monochrom V - Quest" by Barbara Lange of Freising, Germany.
 

Dakota kept an eye on me and I kept my hands off of him - too cute, isn't he? 

#   #   #

Friday Feet 12-28-12

 

The tops of the shoes are just red with a Nike swoosh.  But the bottoms are very fancy.

It is all over for another year 12-25-12

 

A Christmas Vacation 12-22-12

Not much going on in my world over the next four or five days. I stopped celebrating Christmas a few years ago, so I will be home relaxing and trying to do some sewing. Not much action from viewers because most are busy with the holidays. I'll sign on again later in the week. I hope you all have a fabulous day with those you love and cherish.   Love, Del

Christmas Funny 12-20-12

 

Wordless Wednesday 12-19-12

 

Produce from the Chinese "99 Market" 12-18-12

I drove down to San Clemente this morning for the Surfside QGuild board meeting.  Such a nice group of women.  It rained heavily on the way down, but by the time I was on the road home the sun was peeking through and it was clear and sunny in Placentia.  However, all around the horizon was a ruffle of clouds, mostly fluffy white, but some ominous dark grey to the south - above San Clemente and over the mountains to the north.

A friend kindly corrected me - the 99 Market is Chinese, although they carry food from many different Asian cuisines.
I stopped at the 99 Market, a large Japanese Chinese store in Irvine right off the I-5.  I was seeking the tiny bok choy they carry which I cannot find anywhere else.  Of course, there were other things I couldn't pass up.  I'd show a picture of the sushi tray, but I have already devoured those for dinner, along with some sauteed baby bok choy. 

 
On the left are two Jonagold apples, one of my favorites that is available for a very limited time in the early winter.  The smaller one came from Albertson's few days ago and the huge one came from "99".  It is big enough to make four servings for me.  Then there is a Fuerte avacado, which has a flavor that I like better than the Haas, but it has poor shelf life due to the thin skin.   It is becoming rare as a commercial product.   On the right rear is an apple new to me called "Pinata" which the sign told me has "undertones of citrus". Wine-speak applied to fruits!   Front right are four Fuyu persimmons, another fruit that is available for only a short time in late fall/early winter.  They are delicious eaten raw, skin and all, and make a great addition to a green salad with oil/lemon dressing.  And, finally, the baby bok choy which they only sell in a fairly large cello wrapped bunch.  I'll either find someone who would like some of it, or I will be eating bok choy for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I just slice it lengthwise and saute it with some chopped garlic or shallot.  Sometimes when I make soup I drop some slices in during the last few minutes, but I eat them all in the first bowl because I don't like the flavor after the soup has been refrigerated. 
I have some lamb shoulder to make into soup tomorrow and also enough spinach to make another pot of spinach soup - it is really potato soup with spinach added.
 

http://bettereats.com/recipes/view/2290719/spinach-soup-with-rosemary-croutons

#   #   #

Monday Browsing 12-17-12

 

Poinsettias on my porch  12-05

http://artquiltsaz.blogspot.com/  Current exhibit at Chandler Center for the Arts in Arizona (click images for information about each quilt).

http://hoffmanfabrics.com/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=187

Hoffman Fabrics catalog of all their current fabrics.

http://www.hoffmanfabrics.com/EDocs/Site10/Slight%20variations%20page.pdf

Shows a method of dealing with varying strip sizes on Hoffman Bali Pops which are hand cut in Bali.

 http://www.judycoatesperez.com/?p=6374   Tutorial for felted wool ball ornaments

http://stegart.blogspot.com/2012/12/stenciled-fabric-surfaces.html  Video tutorial for using stencils

http://curioroad.tumblr.com/post/37641832936/artist-spotlight-emily-mcdowell  Article about the elder daughter of Ruth B. McDowell and her creative endeavors.

Sonia Grasvik quilt from SAQA online auction 12-16-12

This lovely little quilt from Sonia Grasvik is so evocative of  flocks of little birds in winter - even in SCalifornia.  They are so much more visible when the branches are bare - I watch them in the rose bushes outside my kitchen window. 
 

"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.
Sonia wrote to tell me that all of the fabric in this piece is commercial cotton.
 

 
The bird and the briers are inked on the background and then the outline is sewn in black thread.  Or maybe the outline was sewn and then inked to fill in the black silhouettes.  The hand dyed background presents a hazy, damp, cold winter day.
Sonia  advises that the inking was done first and then outlined with YLI silk thread.

 
The tiny stripes are folds - like piping - and the background looks like those damp leaves and twigs that cover the wintry ground.
 

 
A nice matching label with all the necessary information.
 

 
Faced rather than bound, Sonia has rounded the inside corners of the facing to make it lay flat and easier to sew.   I love having this 12x12 gem in TCQC. 

A Quilt for the Guild President 12-15-12

Like many guilds (at least in SCalifornia) Surfside Quilters Guild members create a quilt for the outgoing president every year. The Past President is in charge and determines what the current president would like in the way of motif, color, style, whatever. All members are encouraged to create a block, which finishes at 4"W x 6"L, the blocks are assembled by a volunteer committee, and the quilt is hand quilted at quilting bees held at member’s homes.   I have always enjoyed participating  in this project and sometimes even put in some hand quilting stitches (tho’ my arthritis prevents me from doing very much).  This year President Jan Hirth asked for a people quilt, one of my favorites, and the blocks are being shown at guild meetings, instead of being kept a secret.  Maybe this will inspire more members to contribute blocks.  Here is a picture of the very beginning of the project at the December meeting with blocks mostly made by board members.  I will try to keep you posted as the months go by.   

The two blocks on the left are pasted up samples showing the block assembly.  We don't have any male members, but many of us wear pants most of the time, while others wear skirts or dresses.  Or a member can design their own original block or do a flower block.  It will be a beautiful quilt.

Friday Feet 12-14-12

Someone who is really in love with shoes would probably love to find this in their Xmas stocking.  But I think it is over-the-top.  I had gone to Office Depot to buy an appointment book for 2014 and found this display for tape dispensers.  The open toe with the strap has the tape in the heel while the zebra striped pump has the tape in the toe.  There were a few other colors available. 

 

Happy Christmas shopping!

Collecting the Alphabet 12-13-12

Last summer when Ruth Powers and I were traveling to Kalispell she talked about a blog where the writer collected letters of the alphabet.  We decided we might try it, but the pickings were slim.  Since then I have collected a few more letters.  On Sunday at Liberty Station, just across the street from Visions Art Museum, the lawn has been reseeded with rye grass which was brilliant green in the sunlight - see yesterday's Wordless Wednesday post.  Along the edge of the parking lot there is a row of long needle pines which drop their bundles of three needles to blow all over the grass and the blacktop.  I've discovered a couple letters for my alphabet collection there and Sunday I found another.


Capitol "J" - pine needles on grass.  12-09-12

I suppose it is a silly thing to do, but sometimes silliness is a good thing.

A good online source for identifying pines is http://www.icogitate.com/~tree/pine.name.ac25.htm

Wordless Wednesday 12-12-12

 

License plates - again. 12-11-12

I am addicted to reading license plates.  When I was not the driver on any trip I made lists of plates from other states, just to see how many different states I could see.  I think people from every state and country drive in SCalifornia, so anything within the LA Basin were "off limits".  I do notice them however - in the small parking lot at VAM on Sunday there were three from Alaska (perhaps they were meeting hometown friends for lunch!), one from Illinois and one from Ohio.  Probably snowbirds.
   
Pennsylvania was the first state to issue personalized/vanity plates way back in 1931, but they did not become popular across the country for another thirty years. As the economy flourished more people had the money to display their vanity. In the last few years as the economy tanked there have been fewer of these plates sold. There is lots of info online about the plates, just Google Vanity License Plates or Personalized License Plates.


I wouldn't have been able to figure this one out with out the additional "hints".
 

 
Who knew?   Notice that the frame is for the San Diego Chargers football team.  Could one really scan this using a cell phone?
 

 
Sometimes at quilt shows or meetings someone will seek me out because they see my car in the parking lot.  I took this picture in Oceanside last week because of my lousy parking.  For some reason I sometimes have trouble parking the Lexus - another black mark on its record.   Can't be anything wrong with me!
 

Pamela Allen quilt new to TCQC 12-10-12

Sorry I missed last night's post.  I spent the day doing docent duty at Visions Art Museum, showing people around the "Brainstorms" exhibit.  I hope you all will have a chance to see this fascinating collection of art quilts.  I'll talk more about them some other day. 

Here are newly acquired quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.  I bought them online at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles online sale last month.  I am showing them together because I plan to hang (and show) them together as a diptych. 

 
"The Right Side of the Tracks" Pamela Allen - Canada  2012 12"W x 11.5"L
Cotton fabrics, cotton threads.  Hand applique, hand quilting.
 

 
"The Right Side of the Tracks II"  Pamela Allen - Canada  2012  12"W x 11.5"L
Cotton fabrics, cotton threads. Hand applique, hand quilting.
 

 
And this is the way they will hang.
 

Look at that even background stitching, it doesn't go through to the backing.  I am always amazed at the creativity that Pamela puts into her quilts - lots of imaginative stitching using different threads and various colors of threads.  The eye image is one of many that Pamela has printed on fabric and integrates into her work.
 

 
Pamela doesn't use fusibles, but holds the applique fabrics down with hand stitching. 
 

 
Stitches and more stitches - so much texture.
 

 
A wonderful, whimsical label with all the information a buyer could need.
 

 
Nice backs, nice sleeves. 
 
I'd love to have another class with Pamela.  Since she can't teach in the US again I hope she will let us know where she is teaching in Canada.  I drive up there!!