Friday, January 15, 2021

Friday Food 01-15-21


Most of you know that I am a Starbuck's "groupie", or maybe "addict" would be more apt.  Since the Pandemic KoKo and I go to the drive-thru at least twice a week.  I figure I don't drink, or smoke, or go to movies, or concerts, or out to dinner, or use gas to travel!  So, Starbuck's coffee is my great extravagance.  I have saved all my Christmas cups to make this pyramid just to post on my blog.  All are Venti with one "pupachino" cup on the top.  KoKo rarely gets a "pupachino" because whipped cream has lots of calories.  But once in a blue moon is okay.  

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Thursday, January 14, 2021

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Just a year ago. 01-12-21

Just a year ago today I was finishing this quilt "Palms" for an exhibit at Oceanside Museum of Art; an exhibit that is still hanging even though the museum is closed to visitors.  It is a very nice exhibit and it is sad that so few people have been able to enjoy it.  
"Palms"  Del Thomas  2019  39"W X 58"L
Cotton fabrics, batting, and thread.
Fused applique.  

These pictures are not in any order because I am unable to move them now.  Every use of Blogger is an adventure these days.  Change, change, change. 

Naturally, KoKo was a big help!  Keeping his ears from the needle going up and down kept me alert.  I guess it is just a demand for attention and I have to restrict him to his chair at times. 


I might have cut larger pieces for the fused fronds, but I wanted them to be many different fabrics.  Some came from my tray of pre-fused fabrics from previous projects, but I had to fuse and cut more.  Now I have  an overflowing tray of pre-fused greenish fabrics. 

I was surprised that I didn't need to prepare many additional brown fabrics.  When have I used brown fabrics before?  Can't remember.  

In contrast with the front I used a very busy tropical print with birds on the back. 
When the quilt comes home I will replace the red sleeve.  I was amazed that when the quilt is hanging on a white wall the red actually shows through to the front. 

Here the layers are laid out for basting.  I still use the basting "gun" that puts little plastic hooks through all the layers.  I know few people use it these days and I suppose I will some day run out of those little plastic bits and will not be able to buy any more.  Guess I will need to go back to either thread or safety pin basting.  

I have done very little quilt making during the pandemic.  I do have three finished tops that need to be basted and quilted, but don't seem to be able to find the get-up-and-go it takes to start them.  Maybe next week!  

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Sunday, January 10, 2021

Elizabeth Barton quilt in TCQC 01-10-21

Over the years I have tried to post a quilt from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection (TCQC) on Sundays.  But I've let that slide recently.  So, maybe I need to take up that practice again.  This Elizabeth Barton quilt is one of half a dozen of her works in the Collection and I currently have it hanging in the family room where I see it from my recliner.  It is a calm quilt, something I need in my life these days.  

 THE GATEHOUSE Elizabeth Barton - Athens, Georgia 37” W x 27” L ©2005

Using photographs and memories of her childhood in England, Elizabeth created this image which suggests the gatehouse of a great estate. The fabrics she dyes, paints, screens, stamps and discharges, give the scene a dreamlike elegance and the yellow trees mark the time as autumn. This piece started out as a much larger quilt which Elizabeth felt needed cropping and it works as a more intimate view of a timeless English estate. Hand dyed, painted, stamped, screened, discharged fabrics. Cotton, silk, rayon, wool, furnishing fabrics. Machine raw edge and turned applique, machine piecing and quilting.

One special thing about this quilt is the fence, which Elizabeth has used in several quilts. It is, I believe, a silk screen and lends itself to many different applications, but it is especially nice as the fence in this quilt.
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