DEL QUILTS

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Apologies

I am sorry I have been silent, but my Dell laptop got sick and I have had a hard time getting the problem solved. The Dell tech is supposed to come on Monday to install a new hard drive. I bought the laptop in April of this year- guess I got a lemon! I came to Verizon where I bought this ipad a year ago,but have not used much. After waiting an hour I was assigned a helper who got me started on how to blog and I decided to sit here and write this in case I have another question. I do!

I hope to be back on line on Monday evening. Check back early on Tuesday. Love, Del

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Revisiting a Libby Lehman quilt from 1995 12-14-14

When I first started collecting in 1985, I didn't buy that many quilts. Maybe three or four a year. I wasn't accustomed to spending money in that way and I wasn't sure exactly what I was doing. During this time I purchased several quilts that were mistakes for one reason or another. But sometimes I would be so captured by a quilt I would just buy it immediately. This quilt by Libby Lehman was one of those quilts that spoke to me and I needed to take it home. She showed it as part of a program she presented at a guild meeting. I approached her after the meeting and asked if it was for sale and I wrote her a check and took the quilt home. When I looked at it on my wall I realized it was a simple one-patch construction. What Libby does with her stitching is create on-point layers that give an impression of depth.

"Silent Partners" Libby Lehman - Texas 1995 35"square
Hand-dyed cotton fabric, rayon, cotton and metallic threads.

This is one of my favorite quilts in the Collection; besides being beautiful and fascinating, I think of it as the quilt that really made me a collector of quilts.

# # #

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Christmas with the Book Group 12-13-14

The Book Group started as an activity of the Faculty Women's Club at Cal State University- Fullerton, where my husband was a professor and associate dean of Engineering. Everyone has a University connection, either their husbands were professors or they worked there, mostly in the library. The group had been going for a number of years before I retired and had the time to participate. I joined in 1979, 44 years ago. Three of the current members were already members and the group was much larger then. Some members dropped out, some moved away, until we are left with nine members who fit nicely into each of our homes. The group is more social that it was originally, but we do read a book each month, always mention it at meetings and sometimes discuss it extensively This month was the writings of Lisa See; I read "China Girls", but I am a fan and have read all of her books.

We try to schedule the December meeting so everyone can attend, but this year it wasn't possible and Verna was entertaining her brother who she seldom sees.

Our potlucks are very simple these days, since we request what we like best. At the top of the table are biscuits (wrapped in a towel) from Ann, pot roast from Teresa (our hostess), Lisa's Carrots from Del, zucchini casserole from JoAnn, Fantastic Potatoes from Nancy, and, in the center of the table, cranberry salad from Kathy. Not shown was the Texas Fruitcake from Marlita and the appetizers from Carol. There was champagne and wine with the appetizers. I made a huge triple recipe of the delicious carrots so there would be leftovers for everyone to take home.

Carol Bednar, Nancy Mastroianni, JoAnn Woodard, Ann Morgan.

Teresa Malinowski, Marlita Bellot, Kathy Frazee

The hit of the evening were these dragonflies as a table favor at each plate, courtesy of Teresa, our hostess. They are hand painted by a Chinese-American lady and each is a bit different. This is mine who I named Marvin, and he balances nicely on his nose on the corner of my laptop. He shows up nicely against my 2015 appointment book.

# # #

Friday, December 12, 2014

Friday Flowers and storm clouds 12-12-14

Mid-winter is heavy bloom time for Bird of Paradise.

In this garden of succulents the aloe flowers are ablaze.

There is a plant called Red Hot Poker that has a similar look, but this is aloe.

They are sort of shaggy.

We had heavy rain and wind in the early morning hours and it took me almost twice as long to reach San Clemente as it normally does - lots of traffic and difficult to see through the pounding rain. But I picked up my two friends and drove on to San Diego, happy that the rain had slackened and there was no noticeable wind. We saw the Visions Biennial exhibit "The Sky's the Limit", ate lunch at Solare and drove home with only a few showers and not very heavy traffic. A lovely day, in fact!

# # #

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Street Signs 12-11-14

I drove down to Oceanside today for a committee meeting for Surfside Quilters Guild. As is my habit when I saw an interesting little residential side street I made a turn and discovered these distinctive curbside addresses. Although house numbers on the curbs are common, I have not seen decorative ones. Most were like the top one, but the bottom one was more personalized - there was no Woodie in the driveway! But I did have to explain to the lady who came out of the house - I just said "I'm a blogger." and she laughed and waved.

We are waiting for the massive storm to hit sometime around midnight. But there are the naysayers who remember past warnings when the storms did not materialize. I just hope it is over by the time I drive to San Diego tomorrow morning about 9am. But for tonight high winds and heavy rain are predicted. Hope it isn't as bad as what hit San Francisco.

# # #