Friday Food 08-13-21

Wednesday I met three friends who drove up from San Diego to view a quilt exhibit at the Newport Beach Public Library and to have lunch.  Two of my friends have quilts in this showing of about 30 quilts from the Quilts on the Wall group.  I hope to post some pictures  over the weekend, but I am still quilting on a quilt that has a looming deadline, so I need to work on that most of the time.  

Andrea chose the restaurant because she seems to find restaurants that are good and different.  We went to Cappy's Cafe on Pacific Coast Highway at the north end of Newport Beach.  She told us it was a biker and surfer hangout and I had my doubts.  We ate outside and my seat faced the back of the building which has a fantastic mural of the beach, a big wave and surfers.  I almost felt I was actually looking at the ocean.  There is no real ocean view since the cafe is on the inland side of PCH.  There were barefoot diners, maybe surfers, and the bikers were bicyclists.  Very casual and quiet.  The service was a little spotty, but the food was great. 

Nelda had the Mahi Mahi tacos with a side of beans. 

Andrea enjoyed her Ruben sandwich with a side of onion rings.

Deb and I each ordered the Prime Rib Melt with au jus.  I had a side of excellent coleslaw and Deb chose the onion rings and let me have a taste.  If you go to Cappy's DO have the onion rings, they are excellent.   There are extensive breakfast selections and I imagine the place is packed in the morning, especially on weekends.  Their hours are 7am to 3pm - 7 days a week. 

The day was a break from the pandemic..  We all wore masks except when we ate and I keep hoping that all those other diners were vaccinated and covid free. 

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SQG Challenge 2021 08-12-21

It was the first face-to-face meeting of the Surfside Quilters Guild in San Clemente and at a new meeting place AND the reveal of the 2021 Challenge quilts.  I believe there were 32, which is an amazing participation during the pandemic isolation.  Under the direction of Jan Hirth, committee chair for several years, everything was organized and beautifully presented. There were mostly original designs and almost every technique you can think of.  The theme was "Bucket List" and every item had to include a bucket somewhere.  Awards were given in about twelve categories, including Viewers Choice.  

The item did not have to be a quilt, but a fabric creation. So, in addition to flat quilts there were dolls, totes, garments, a clock, and even a bucket!  Here are a few pictures of things that I especially liked.

Hiroko Moriwaki made an actual bucket!  Surely the best representation of the theme.  

You can just see the river that goes down to the sea.  

Very clever and original. 

Dawn Johnson is very creative and always meets the Challenge with a unique creation.  This year she made a clock with a different Disney character for each number.  It is an actual working clock, but we weren't able to hang it so the pendulum moved.  As you see it won the award for the Best Non-quilt Entry. 

OOPS!  I did not write down the name of the maker of this lovely quilt which won an award for the Best Original Design.  Very nicely made. 

Debbie Myers received the Best Traditional with this gorgeous Lone Star shining over the ocean and an image of Debbie with her dreamed of red pickup.  See the bucket on the back of the truck.  

This secondhand denim jacket hung in Vicki Janis' closet for years until she hauled it out and created a winning design in memory of her late pouch.  Notice her bucket full of cherries(?) at lower right. 

I will post some more pictures later, need to check for correct names. It was a lovely meeting and sooo nice to see those familiar faces (although some of us wore masks, most did not).  

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From TCQC - A quilt from Libby Lehman 08-08-21

Sunday evening and time for another quilt from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection. I consider the Collection started in 1987 after I saw the very first Visions quilt exhibit in San Diego County.  Prior to that I had collected antique and vintage quilts, but didn't have very many.  That first Visions exhibit was thrilling and I never purchased anything other than "contemporary", or "art", quilt.  There are now about 370 quilts in the Collection - I MUST set aside the time and find some helpers and do a complete inventory.  In he last few years I have not been very diligent with record keeping.  This quilt by Libby Lehman was an early purchase, directly from the artist, and I am still charmed by it.  It is a simple one patch quilt composed of 6" squares.  But just look at what Libby did with her color and value choices and her magical stitching and quilting.  This is from the first time I blogged about it - 05-31-08.

 

"Silent Partners" 1995 Libby Lehman 35"W x 35"L

I bought this one from Libby when she was doing a guild program in my area. After the meeting I went up and asked her if any of her quilts were for sale, this one specifically, and she said yes, gave me a price and wrote up a receipt. I took it home, hung it on the wall and stared at it for a long time before I could go to sleep. I think this is such a fascinating quilt. It is just a one-patch quilt made with hand dyed fabrics. But Libby has stitched over the background patches so that it appears to be a pattern on point. No, all the patches are set square and the stitching, using rayon threads, is superimposed over them. Some of the stitching was done just on the top and some goes through the top/batting/backing.

                Here is a detail showing the variety of stitches that she used.

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Miscellaneous 08-06-21

 

These are last week's tomatoes!  Long gone.  But true and generous friends Carol and  Dick left another bag on my porch mid week.  I am enjoying them sooo much - juicy, but meaty, not too acidy, and such a luscious color.   Just tomato and mayo on whole wheat bread makes me happy and full.  

I have a hard time blogging these days because I don't do anything to write about.  We go for our walks twice a day and talk to neighbors.  I sometimes talk on the phone, do you have my number?   seven one four -315-9526  My PTherapy lady is on vacation, as is friend Liz with her husband on their annual month at Silver Lake on the June Loop near Mammoth Lake in the Eastern Sierra.  I am sooo envious!   KoKo had his monthly grooming on Thursday.  I arranged to have a little body work on my car where someone scraped my right rear bumper.  I hope next week the shop can buff it out and maybe spot paint and not have to replace the entire bumper for $800+!   I am machine quilting a quilt for the art quilt group in San Diego, but cannot share until our September meeting "reveal".  We are sending six quilts as a special exhibit at Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara in October.  Surfside Quilters Guild is having their in-the-flesh meeting this coming  Tuesday morning in San Clemente; the first since February 2020 and the reveal of the Challenge quilts for this year.  It is always so fascinating to see what others have created, there will be 31 pieces - quilts, handbags, toys, and I hear there is even a clock!  The theme is Bucket List and mine is about traveling again.  

I will try to be more regular with my blogging, but, as you can see, I don't DO anything much to write about. 

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Quilt from 2011 in TCQC 08-01-21

I enjoy the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) online auction each year and usually bid on half a dozen or more pieces.  There are now over 100 of the 12"X12" auction quilts in TCQC. Sometimes I just love the quilt, but sometimes I find something with a different technique or style.  And I always look at anything with a bird in it to add to the special 12"X12" bird collection.  The quilt below attracted me with the soft linear lines and the reflection.  I expected strips of fabric and was surprised that it was printed by Spoonflower and is basically a whole cloth quilt with a little beading.   I purchased this quilt from the SAQA online auction in 2011.and posted it on 06-24-12.  Below is a copy of that post. 

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  "Lake in the Woods" by Sandra Hart - Los Gatos, CA.   2011 12" x 12" 

Created digitally with Photoshop Elements.  Cotton fabric, beads.

This is a whole cloth quilt, printed on fabric with the row of stitched beads to indicate the water line. I almost didn't believe it until the quilt came in the mail.  The color in this image is off - it should be more green. 

Big label.  But no contact information.  Fortunately, Sandra has a website.

http://gudnyc.home.comcast.net/~gudnyc/sgallery.html

There is another Sandra Hart quilt on my Blog, one she showed in 2009 at Quilt Festival - Long Beach. 
http://www.delquilts.blogspot.com/2009/07/quilt-festival-lbeach-2-posted-07-28-09.html

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Friday Food 07-30-21

This watermelon salad is one of my summer favorites.  But I can't make just a little bit, so I eat it several days in a row.  I suppose I could share some with one of my neighbors, but some how I don't manage to do that.  

The recipe, such as it is, came from a blog friend in Australia.  Maybe some of you know Meg Messervy.  She shared it with me in July 2009 and I have been making it every summer since. She told me then that she had the recipe from a friend who received it from a restaurant in America.  What she sent me all those years ago was:

"I made a lovely saled for my tea, using watermelon, orange, radishes & mixed green leaves, with olives and a light dressing of fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil."  

We talked back and forth about prep.  We agree that slicing the radishes a bit thick was best and using small greens was better than cut up romaine.  I don't mix in the greens because they tend to wilt in the leftovers, so I just mix them in when I serve up a bowl..  We both buy sliced black olives in cans.  As for how much of each, it is dependent on what is available, I guess.  I use a "personal" watermelon and only half of that, cut into about one inch chunks. (Dolcinea is the best brand, I think).  One large orange and a bunch of radishes, which is usually about six good sized ones.  Radishes are not always available, but they are a necessary ingredient.  I add a couple stalks of celery because I like celery and it adds a little more crunch.  This picture shows my largest mixing bowl and I have removed one cereal bowl full for my dinner.  So you can see it makes a lot.  Mixing the olive oil and fresh lemon juice seems to make a better dressing than just pouring them in individually.  

It is hard to believe that twelve years have gone by since Meg sent me the recipe.  We don't hear from each other often anymore.   I don't know if she still checks my blog.  But I will send this post to her so she can know how much I am still enjoying her special salad.  I have posted about this salad three previous times. 08-10-09, 06-25-14, 07-20-18.

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Southern California 07-29-21

This is a typical parking lot in Orange County, California, although there isn't a Tesla.  White dogs are also popular!

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