Saturday, September 13, 2014

Fund Raiser at Visions Art Museum 09-13-14

Would you believe that both of the camera batteries I carry were dead?  So, there is only one picture of this event.  And then the battery gave out!
 
Starting to call the winning numbers for the raffle baskets.   On the left in the background is Karen Cunagin, museum member.  Center is Beth Smith, Museum Director, and on the right is Kim Egeland, Board Secretary.
 
The event is called "Sip, Savor, and Stroll" and it is the major fund raiser of the year.  There were about 30 raffle baskets (tickets were sold to attendees and we dropped half of each ticket in the bags connected to the baskets we wanted to win - this is sometimes called a Chinese Raffle, I haven't a clue why).   Several people won more than one basket, in fact, I believe one lucky lady won either four or five baskets.  I won one that I had selected because it has a yard of a great red and dark blue fabric.  Also three large chocolate bars, a teapot,  a jar of Scandinavian Orange Marmalade from Denmark, and some machine appliqued coasters.  I traded the coasters with one of my table mates for some note cards with the initial D in fancy script.  She loved the coasters and has no "D"s in her family. 
 
 
There were also 12X12 quilts in a silent auction - maybe twenty - all of which were from VAM challenges in the past year that failed to sell during the months they were shown in the museum gift shop.  I liked four of them and I guess nobody else wanted them, so I added them to TCQC.  They will appear on this blog some Sunday in the future.  Maybe even tomorrow!
 
It is excessively hot here and I found the 81F in San Diego rather refreshing!  There was a nice breeze off the water and the humidity was reasonable.   Placentia had 99F and now at 12:45am it is 76F.  Supposed to be even hotter tomorrow.   And hotter yet on Monday and Tuesday.  Blessed Air Conditioning will save me from melting away.  The fire in Silverado Canyon is about eight miles away and the wind is the other direction, so we haven't had any ash or smoke smell. 
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Friday, September 12, 2014

Friday Flowers 09-12-14

Mexican  Bird of Paradise - Lake Havasu City, AZ.

    Mexican  Bird of Paradise  -  Lake Havasu City, AZ.

Brandy rose - Placentia, CA.

Santolina - Placentia, CA.
 
Coreopsis - Placentia, CA.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Words and comments 09-11-14

Okay, I'll give it up!  Yesterday's image is of door knobs in the Arabia Steamboat Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.  The rectangular items on the left are stacks of hinges.  These are some of the few displays they had of things retrieved from the ship and not yet cleaned.  I imagine that some of the debris between the knobs is the packing material used to pack them in boxes or crates.  One wonders how many years it will take to clean everything and restore what needs to be restored. You can see other artifacts in my previous posts about the museum at:
It is a most fascinating place - if you go give yourself lots of time!
 
Thank you for all the Birthday wishes, both via the Internet and Snail mail.  76 isn't that important as a milestone, but in only four more years I'll be 80!  THEN I will have a big event to celebrate - or not!  When my 75th birthday rolled around I went out to dinner with San Diego friends and was presented with these cool dice to hang on my rear view mirror.  I thought they might work as earrings, but I guess not.  Currently they hang on the corner of my TV screen, since it is illegal to drive with them on the rear view mirror. 
 
 
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Wordless Wednesday 09-10-14


Wednesday, September 10, 2014

A Halloween Decoration 09-09-14

At the Surfside Quilters Guild meeting today this Halloween decoration was the Monthly Mini offering.  Monthly Mini's are items donate by one member who signs up for a specific month.  Tickets are sold, only at the meeting, for $1 or 6 for $5; at the end of the meeting one ticket is drawn for the winner.    Member Tatiana Owens made this charming piece using her embroidery machine.  The winner is Jhone Hardesty. 
 
"Haunted House"  2014  Tatiana Owens  Approximately 9" high by 7" square.
Notice the little bumps along the roof ridge and on the sides - it can be unfastened and collapsed for storage.  The machine stitched mat and a battery operated candle are included.

Although the color is not true, it is all black, I put this photo in so you can see the fine embroidery used in the embellishment.

 
There is a spooky image on most sides - a ghost, a bat, a black cat, a pumpkin and, of course, lots of spider webs.
 
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Monday, September 8, 2014

Monday Browsing 09-08-14


Monday Browsing  09-08-14
Quilt binding tutorials - there are hundreds.  One lady has a Pinterest collection of different  tutorials:
The Missouri Star has a good one – thorough and easy to follow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vCWpxBRs20
And there is always the dependable Fons & Porter: 
http://www.fonsandporter.com/articles/How_to_Bind_A_Quilt

Nice patterns for quilts, embroidery, wool work: http://www.primitivegatherings.us/shop/
And Lisa’s blog: http://lisabongean.com/
[This lady will be the speaker for Surfside Quilters Guild on January 13, 2015]

Interesting online art quilt group:  http://viewpoints9-2.blogspot.com/
Looking for critter or buggy fabric?  www.bugfabric.com

 

 

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Rebecca Douglas quilt in Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection 09-07-14

"June Bugs in the Roses" Rebecca Douglas - Columbia, MO  2013  12" X 12"
This 12 X 12 quilt is from the SAQA 2013 online auction, it is full of Rebecca's ideas on cutting and sewing the elements of her quilts that depict the world around her.  The only website I can find that shows her work is:
But there is an article about her at
These little blue bits, which remind me of Forget-me-nots, appear to be cut with either pinking shears or a pinking rotary cutter.  Placing them on a darker blue scrap with a yellow center gives that look she needed.  The larger flowers resembles a blue Columbine.
 
Look at the variety of color she has put in her "red" rose.  The fabric choice for the tall thin flowers is inspired - maybe Astilbe?  Don't know about the orange flowers  - perhaps they represent Gaillardia or Gazanias.  Look under the rose on the left and you will see the winged green June bug.

At first I couldn't  find any June bugs on this quilt, except on the very nice hand drawn label.  Too bad she didn't put a contact on the label so I could inquire about availability of her other quilts.

The back doesn't show any quilting lines, so Rebecca must have covered it when the quilt was finished.
 
This charming little quilt is from the SAQA-2013 online auction and part one of the 2014 auction is coming up next week.  Check it out at
I have made a list and will be hot off the mark when the bidding opens at 11am PDT on Monday, Sep 15th.
 
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