I'll have to try harder! 02-06-21

It is really difficult to think of anything to blog about.  As for many of us, my days are so much the same.  I'm not even motivated to take many pictures when we go for our walks.  I know I am not alone in this problem.  I belong to a Facebook Group "Elder Orphans" which I enjoy and learn a lot from people who are dealing with the same sorts of things I am dealing with.  Today there was a post with many comments from members who are having the same Covid-19 problem - nothing of interest in their lives.   This evening I looked back through pictures from years past.  And found these taken on February 5, 2020, when the boys in the cul de sac and I went to a local ice cream shop after I picked them up from school.  We did go a few times after this, but the pandemic curtailed our "Ice Cream Explorations".   And they stopped going to school, staying home with their dad who had to work from home.  

This is at Rich Farms Ice Cream in Placentia.  It is a large space and did a good business.  They have dozens of different flavors.

Emmanuel had mint flavor.

Julian had something blue - don't remember the flavor. 

Julian is actually sitting still for a minute.  He is a wiggle worm and likes to make faces. 

I do see them occasionally.  Isolation is a bitch, isn't it?

#   #   #

 

A KoKo Night 02-04-21

Poor doggy needs more rest!  And more company.  Dick Bednar came by this evening to drop something off and KoKo just had a fit - jumping on him, barking, whirling around his legs.  Part of it was because KoKo loves guys!  But he also doesn't see a lot of people, except me.  When we are walking and some guy stops to give him a pet he is just thrilled.  I think KoKo needs a visit at a house where there is a guy he can sit on. 

How is this for relaxed?  As usual he is hanging on to Froggy. 

This time of year the only sun that shines in is in the afternoon through the window in the front hall.  KoKo usually sits on this box and looks out, but when there is a patch of sun he enjoys it.  In the foreground is the bed he would never sleep in, it is full of his unappreciated toys. 

#   #   #

 

A Finished Project - Hurrah! 02-03-21

 But it is very small - only 8" X 7".  And it is a Mug Mat.  But it is actually complete and it makes me feel that I may start being creative again.  If you look back at my post for 01-19-21 you will read the beginning of this story.  I wasn't pleased by the light green fabric so I over-fused it.  The color in this picture is all screwed up, it is much brighter than this, and greener.  I will try to "fix" it, but I have discovered that what I see on my screen is not necessarily what you see on yours!  

Commercial cotton fabrics, hand-dyed fabric, cotton thread and batting.  Fused, machine quilted, hand embroidered, overcast binding.

It needed some details and also some lightness in the bottom 1/4, so I hand embroidered some leaves using #8 perle.  The white on the bird is also hand embroidery, but using #12 perle.  

I hope the lady I am sending this to will enjoy it.  She celebrated her 87th birthday in January, but I didn't finish this in time.  I do think at our age we should celebrate for at least a week and maybe even a whole month.  Especially this year when we have been so repressed for the past eleven months.  

#   #   #

1From the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection - Dianne Firth 01-31-21

 For many years I always posted a quilt from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection on Sunday's blog.  But I have gotten away from that the last year or so.  So, I will start going through old posts and showing them here on Sundays.   If I keep this up I can do it for years since there are currently about 370 quilts in the Collection! 

"Red Wave" Dianne Firth 2005 44"W x 57"L (111.8cm X 144.8cm)

Cotton, polyester batting, torn-strip appliqued, machine quilting.

In the QN catalog she states: "The inspiration for this quilt came from the bulbous form and sinuous orange-red markings of a fresh supply of galangal (Alpinia galanga), a spicy vegetable root, closely related to ginger and turmeric. The quilt is also a memory of warm weather and summer holidays."

I purchased this quilt at the Quilt National 2007 opening in Athens, Ohio, and then it toured the country with the rest of the Quilt National works. Although it is difficult waiting for two years, I know that if a quilt appeals to me the only way I can add it to the Collection is to "strike while the iron is hot", as the saying goes! I'm thinking of posting a series of 'the quilts that got away' to show those that I did not decide soon enough or speak up quickly enough!

Dianne's work has always appealed to me when I have seen it in exhibits, books or magazines. There is something about the way she refines and pares down the extraneous parts of an image and leaves the clear 'bones' of it in her quilts. Other than that, I suppose one of the attractions of this quilt is the color - I do enjoy bright clear colors.

The dark stripes are actually brown, but my camera cannot take the accurate color, nor could I adjust it enough with my editing program.

It is easier to see the quilting lines on the back of the quilt.

The instructions for washing the quilt are on the labels - one on each of the four pieces.

Dianne lives in Turner, Canberra, Australia, where her work includes teaching landscape design, history and theory as head of the Landscape Architecture Department at the University of Canberra Australia. You can see more of her work at these websites: http://tactilequilts.com/ and http://www.ozquiltnetwork.org.au/dianne-firth.html

If you look at the work of the other quilters who belong to the tACTile group you will see quilts by Beth Miller whose "Kimberley Sunset" was the featured quilt on 09-28-09. [The ACT in capital letters stands for Australia Capital Territory - similar to our District of Columbia]