Home again 02-14-24

Hope you had a loving/lovely Valentine's Day.   💓  My thoughtful neighbor came with a card and bag of chocolate hearts.   But I spent the day napping and slowly putting things away.  Did  one load of laundry, but must do another load with just the clothes with dye on them. Didn't want tinted undies!   And I must start  washing out the fabric that I printed in class; it is an intensive project of many cold water rinses, several warm/hot water rinses, and, finally, hot water in the  washing machine with Synthrapol.  I have a front loader, so I'm not sure how well it will work, but that is what i  have.  Can't do everything at once, therefore it will probably be an  all day effort.

I left SDiego about 7:45am yesterday to arrive  at Nancy Ota's at  9am.  I thought  I would take KoKo to the quilt guild meeting, but Nancy suggested  we leave him at her house and I ride with her to the meeting.  It worked out fine and after the meeting we drove back to her house, loaded up KoKo's luggage, and I drove home in light afternoon traffic.  After unloading the essentials,  I  just  passed out for a  couple hours until it was time  to take KoKo for his  walk.  We strode along  quickly with my  new pacemaker showing  it's stuff.  Feels GREAT to not be dragging my body along and sitting down sometimes at all five "seats" that I have been  using.  However, I will start soon with a personal trainer to try  to build up strength.

The pictures I couldn't edit and transfer are intact. I will try to edit them and get them posted, but also have the "official" photos from the  guild meeting to edit and forward to the newsletter editor and I need to do those first.  I will talk more about Pat Pauly's workshop in the future. 

Here is KoKo helping Nancy Ota hand quilt.

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Pacemaker #5 01-22-24

Another good day.  I drove!  Not a problem after I figured out how to put on my seatbelt without lifting my left arm over my shoulder.  Did a couple errands and came home for a nap. No walk for KoKo this morning because it was pouring  rain but the weather app showed it wasn't going to rain at Noon, so we went out and walked about 1/3rd of the way when it started sprinkling.  He did his business and we headed for home.  Not too wet.  But it continued to rain off and on all day. Tomorrow morning I'll drive Immanuel to school and maybe try sewing again. The itchies are still with me, verrry distracting.  I see the surgeon at 2:30pm.

Rain pictures from all over the country.

And Nancy Ota somewhere out of the country.

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Ten years ago 2014 BIG bubbles 01-02-24

On New Year's Day 2014 I went to San Clemente to the Ota's Open House  When I arrived Nancy was out in the cul-de-sac helping her grand children make huge bubbles using a home made contraption composed of two dowels, some heavy string and a metal washer.  I wish I had taken a picture of it.

There is a long skinny bubble here that shows just below the car. But the real reason I include this picture is because of the shadows - Nancy's shadow in the middle holding the bubble maker and my shadow in the lower right (with my camera shadow sticking out like a weird nose).  The pan holds the Dawn detergent/glycerin mix for the bubbles.  Google "Giant Bubbles" for information to make your own! 

Here is an irregular bubble ready to be release when it will become more round. 

Two rolling together uphill in the breeze. 

It was such a fun thing to do.  I would still like to try it one day!

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Surfside Quilters Guild 11-16-23

Tuesday was the BIG day for Surfside Quilters  Guild.  November Fest is our semi-annual fund raiser, the finale of 12 months of planning, sewing, organizing, etc..  So many of our almost 200 members were involved in some aspect of the event. It not only provides funds for programs, philanthropy, and operating expenses, it builds new friendships, teaches us new skills, and promotes quilting and knowledge of our guild to the public.  It was a fun day and financially successful.

Since I am the photographer for the guild there are few pictures of me, but someone insisted. Elizabeth Geer is seated at the piano, she is one of three or four  members who play before the meeting and during the break. She is a very active member and chaired the Raffle Basket committee for November Fest.

Susan Ritschel was the Nov Fest Coordinator who worked all year with the various   committees to make it all come together. Behind her is one of the Live Auction quilts made by Cathie Opila.

Another quilt by Cathie Opila.

I had then winning bid for this one.

A bright quilt made by Nancy Ota.

This is the quilt I wanted most of all and it is mine!!!

I was  high bidder for two more which I will post another day.

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It is a KoKo day! 01-14-21

On a very rainy night we did go out for a short walk.  It isn't cold, 53F right now.  This is the first day of a predicted three day rain.  I hope it comes with breaks in the showers.  There is a slope at the back of our yard and I worry about slippage when the rain is heavy and continuous. 

Not staying up for New Years Eve.  Dec 31st. 

In bed with Froggy.  

When I dropped KoKo off with Nancy Ota on my way to SDiego she had her friendship group meeting there.  When Suzanne Stanton showed her teddy bear KoKo decided he wanted it and Nancy had to restrain him.

 

He was sure the bear was for him.

When she let him down on the floor he was determined to have it. So they put it up where he couldn't see it.  He can be VERY determined.  

You can see he is pretty shaggy in this picture. 

But after his appointment with the new groomer he looks like a puppy!

Look at those tidy little toes! 

And his hair out of his eyes.

What a great doggy he is. 

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Will skip a day~ 01-05-23

KoKo and I went to an open house in San Clemente on Sunday.  This is the old fashioned "open house" which is a get-together with friends for the purpose of visiting and eating and having a good time.  NOT the real estate open house to show a house that is for sale.  I explain this because when I used the term two different people said "Are you looking for a house?"   So, depending, I suppose, on one's age the term has a different meaning. 

This was the annual event hosted by Nancy Ota and family.  It is partially a potluck, but Nancy provides quite a few dishes herself.  I always take a box of See's, but this year I also took an assortment of olives from Whole Foods "Mediterranean Bar".  There are offerings other than olives and I bought some tiny red peppers with a vinegar/sweet flavor.  I thought they would be festive with the various greens of the olives, but they were also delicious!  They are at the center of this picture between the salmon and the spare ribs.  

There were Japanese foods and Anglo foods.  

Sashimi  on ice. 

Many kinds of sushi.

And much, much more.  I ate a little of everything - so delicious. 

Will not write tomorrow night when I am in San Diego.  Trying to travel a little lighter and won't take my laptop.  

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Going to quilt guild meeting 03-08-22

I haven't been blogging because I don't DO anything to blog about.  KoKo and I do our two walks each day, I toss Froggy for him, do some sewing, lots of reading, take naps, and generally just piddle around accomplishing nothing.  I understand this is considered Covid languishing.  Maybe so, or I am just old and worn out!!  But today I drove to San Clemente for the Surfside Quilters Guild meeting, the first  unmasked meeting in a long time.  Our speaker was Jenny Lyons, who, oddly enough, was the last in-person speaker we had in March 2020.  It was actually the week that the Covid "lockdown" happened and Jenny remarked that when she flew home to Northern California the airport was almost deserted.   It was good to see her again and her presentation about imperfection was excellent.  Her point was "don't worry about it" and she showed, with their permission, quilts by four or five well-known master quilters who recognize that their work seems perfect, but has small imperfections that only they know where they are located.  And now we do also!  

I am the "official" guild photographer and use my cell phone for that purpose.  I am ashamed to admit that when I was halfway to San Clemente I realized I had left my phone, and therefore, my camera, at home.  Jan Hirth came to my rescue and loaned me her phone for my photography duty.  After we got home we figured out how to transfer the entire album to my phone and I will do the editing tomorrow.  Here are a few images from a fun morning. 

Jenny Lyons in the front row waiting for her turn to present.  We had a good attendence, about 100, I think.  

We had a special Show & Tell of jackets and vests made by members.  

Nancy Ota in her 1999 silk vest made from silk neckties.  All pieced by hand and lined with large sections of ties pieced together.  

Odette Osantowski took Nancy Ota's Sashiko class some years ago and decided to make a jacket instead of a wall hanging.  

Jan Hirth used a pattern from Threads magazine to make this "chenille" jacket and went on to teach the technique to other guild members.  It is a lovely piece, but she says it is VERY heavy.  Not something that is wearable often in SCalifornia.  

There were several items made from antique/vintage quilts, including these two worn by Joann Bishop and Holly Betz.  

There was a lot of Show and Tell with some very large quilts.  I suspect these reflect the time on our hands during Covid.  If you read the SQG newsletter in early April there will be pictures of those quilts and MORE!

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Art Quilt group in SDiego 12-07-21

Saturday I drove to SDiego for the in-person meeting of the art quilt group I belong to down there.  Everyone was able to attend and we had a great meeting.  There was Show & Tell, including some work from the past, before the group was formed.  It is always interesting to see these earlier pieces and recognize the growth the artist has made.  I had nothing new or in progress, so I took a set of small works purchased at silent auction at the SAQA 2015 conference in Portland, OR.  Including these three.

"Bird"  Kristin Shields 2015  Machine pieced, hand applique and embroidery, machine quilted.

" New Zealand: Pukeko"  Martha Wolfe - Davis, CA  2015

Machine pieced and appliqued, hand embroidery , machine quilted.

"At the Market"  Terry Grant - Beaverton, OR  2015

  Machine Embroidery and applique.  This is done from the back. 

The meeting was at Judy Warren-Tippet's home and I supplied the refreshments.  We had a large fruit plate (which I failed to photograph) with Fuyus, green grapes, oranges, raspberries, dates, and honeyed pecans.  And for dessert after our bring-your-own-lunch we had a fabulous carrot cake from Katella Deli in Los Alamitos, CA.  It is very moist and coarse textured with all the fruits and nuts and not too heavy on the spices.  And then there is the yummy cream cheese frosting.  

It is an eight inch round cake with three layers and it is very rich, so one doesn't need a huge piece.  I brought home enough to share with my neighbor Mark-to-the-South, who takes care of putting out and bringing in my trashcans every week.  What a good neighbor who deserves a large slice of his most favorite cake. 

The traffic wasn't bad either direction and it was easy to drop off KoKo with Nancy Ota and to pick him up on my way home.  She wore him out and he slept almost all the way home.  

Altogether a really enjoyable, memorable day. 

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More PIQF from other sources 10-23-21

To see the winning quilts at PIQF go to:

https://www.quiltfest.com/upcoming-shows-and-events/pacific-international-quilt-festival/httpswww-quiltfest-comupcoming-shows-and-eventspacific-international-quilt-festivalenter-the-quilt-and-wearable-art-competitions-2enter-the-piqf-quilt-competition/enter-the-quilt-and-wearable-art-competitions/

There might be a shorter way, but I don't know it. 

Nancy Ota had three quilts in the exhibits and one with a blue ribbon for best color in the "Modern" category.  Nancy does beautiful work and makes many quilts.  

"Drunkard's Maze  Nancy Ota 2021  58" square

Nancy says: "I was impressed with Susan Maynard Arnold’s “Zebra Dancing in a Rainbow” which appeared in Mary Mashuta’s book “Stripes in Quilts” in 1995.  So I gave it a try. I have many of the same Pointillist and stripe fabrics in my stash for years.  It was a challenge with my color limitations as most of my fabrics were only 8 1/2” wide. My son Chris drafted the pattern on his computer for me."

"Fragmented"  Nancy Ota  2021  

Nancy pieced this during Covid using many batiks given to her by a friend.  She says the hardest part was trying to get it to lay flat.

"Happy Birds"  Nancy Ota 2020  72" square

From a Jen Kingwell design, hand appliqued and machine pieced. Nancy says, "The center medallion portion is hand quilted, the outer areas are machine quilted.  I did the center applique at home, the piecing was done on our 61 day cruise on the Pacific.  I took my Singer Featherweight on the ship.  Bud helped prepare the hexagons on stabilizer fabric and I hand appliqued them.  The parts were pieced together at home and then quilted."

If you want to see more of the quilts shown try Googling PIQF 2021 or any variation you can think up.  There are pictures in other blogs and websites. 

We had rain this morning!  It didn't amount to much, just enough to dampen everything, including KoKo and I when we took our walk.  The large storm that is supposed to move down from the Pacific Northwest is expected Sunday night and Monday.  Hoping for some real rain.

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Out and About 09-24-21

I drove to San Diego again yesterday with Nancy Ota.  We both wanted to see the current exhibits at Visions Art Museum, she needed to pick up two dining room chairs she had reupholstered, we both had scraps to drop with Salvation Army, and I needed to pick up something from my friend Judy in north San Diego - right off I-5.  KoKo stayed home alone for about eight hours, poor guy, but he seems to do okay as long as I don't leave him like that very often.  He couldn't stay with Nancy because she was with me!  He needed extra loving and extra play time last night so he recovered nicely.

The main exhibit at VAM is "Raw and Reassembled", quilts made by Paula Kovarik.  I have long admired her work and hope to add a piece to the Collection.  She does wonderful free motion stitching with heavy black thread on white or white thread on black - whimsical creatures, swirls and squares, thick and thin, houses and waves, and.... well, anything that comes to her mind.  I do wonder if she has nightmares!!  VERY inventive.  She also cuts up quilts she has made previously, combines them with pieces of other quilts and creates fascinating juxtapositions of shapes, colors, motifs, and great visual depth.  Here is a picture of "Unmapped" made in 2017 and measures about 30"W X 40"L.She describes it as 'Reassembled quilt pieces, overstitched."  

And a DETAIL.

Another gallery shows "Expressive Liberations" colorful quilts from San Diego People of Color Quilt Guild.  And in the small gallery are four quilts from the permanent collection. 

These exhibits are up until October3rd.

Today is the one year anniversary of the death of my friend Mabel Huseby in Washington State.  Not a day I wanted to stay home and mourn (something I have done every day for a year) and my friend Carol joined me for lunch at Cedar Creek in Brea.  Carol is always good company and we both enjoy the food at Cedar Creek.  It is in a Republican area, but our table was nicely separated and we masked up going in and out and the wait staff was all masked.

Carol had the Brown Derby style Cobb Salad which is finely chopped and delicious.

I had the fish tacos which came with rice and beans. Also delicious and enough food that I didn't need dinner tonight.

The plate was so colorful I took this close up.

I had a yen for dessert (when don't I?) so we shared a lemon tart which was topped by three huge raspberries.  Fabulous, but it would have been easier to eat with a spoon.

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Surfside Quilters Guild meeting 09-14-21

This morning I drove down to San Clemente for the second in person meeting of the Surfside Quilters Guild since the pandemic started - in our second new meeting place.  Our speaker today was the witty, talented David Walker.  His appliqued pieces are amazing.   If you click on his name in the sidebar you can see the hummingbird quilt I purchased from him back in 2013.

Our president kept reminding the members to wear their masks, but not everyone did.  I hope there were no Covid molecules in the group.  I wore my mask and tried not stand too close to anyone, but it was  almost a full house, so who knows.  I am the official photographer so needed to be all around taking pictures.  Below are pictures of two president's quilts - one for Mary Arter, our current president who is serving a second term, and one for Monica Shafer who is the previous president and received her quilt at home since Covid had shut down our meetings.  This is the first time the guild members had seen these quilts in-the-fabric.  For those of you are are not familiar with this custom...   Every year the past president organizes the membership to make 6" blocks with a theme of the president's choice and a committee puts the blocks together so that it can be hand quilted at various members' homes.  The banner is always the same and the back has great back art including the names of everyone who helped to make it.  

Mary Arter had requested all stars and bright color batiks. 

The previous year Monica had asked for beachy things and we all used a blue background. 

Here is my hat block that I piece for most of the quilts.  And the blocks around it - there are several of the clever folded Hawaiian shirts in the quilt and quite a few machine embroidered flowers and sea critters. 

After the meeting four of us went out for an old lady's lunch for my 83rd birthday, Nancy's 80th birthday, and Charlotte's 90th birthday.  Mary's birthday is in mid October and I don't know how old she is, maybe early 80s.  Cedar Creek in San Juan Capistrano has a large patio, which was packed, so we ate inside and we were the only diners there.  It was a little eerie, but very quiet and nice.  The food is always tasty and the service excellent.  

When I got home I needed a nap!

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