Sonia Grasvik quilt from SAQA online auction 12-16-12

This lovely little quilt from Sonia Grasvik is so evocative of  flocks of little birds in winter - even in SCalifornia.  They are so much more visible when the branches are bare - I watch them in the rose bushes outside my kitchen window. 
 

"In the Thicket"  Sonia Grasvik - Seattle, WA 2012  11.75" x 11.75"
 Hand dyed and commercial cottons, silk thread, fabric ink pens.
Machine pieced, FMQ.
Sonia wrote to tell me that all of the fabric in this piece is commercial cotton.
 

 
The bird and the briers are inked on the background and then the outline is sewn in black thread.  Or maybe the outline was sewn and then inked to fill in the black silhouettes.  The hand dyed background presents a hazy, damp, cold winter day.
Sonia  advises that the inking was done first and then outlined with YLI silk thread.

 
The tiny stripes are folds - like piping - and the background looks like those damp leaves and twigs that cover the wintry ground.
 

 
A nice matching label with all the necessary information.
 

 
Faced rather than bound, Sonia has rounded the inside corners of the facing to make it lay flat and easier to sew.   I love having this 12x12 gem in TCQC. 

A Quilt for the Guild President 12-15-12

Like many guilds (at least in SCalifornia) Surfside Quilters Guild members create a quilt for the outgoing president every year. The Past President is in charge and determines what the current president would like in the way of motif, color, style, whatever. All members are encouraged to create a block, which finishes at 4"W x 6"L, the blocks are assembled by a volunteer committee, and the quilt is hand quilted at quilting bees held at member’s homes.   I have always enjoyed participating  in this project and sometimes even put in some hand quilting stitches (tho’ my arthritis prevents me from doing very much).  This year President Jan Hirth asked for a people quilt, one of my favorites, and the blocks are being shown at guild meetings, instead of being kept a secret.  Maybe this will inspire more members to contribute blocks.  Here is a picture of the very beginning of the project at the December meeting with blocks mostly made by board members.  I will try to keep you posted as the months go by.   

The two blocks on the left are pasted up samples showing the block assembly.  We don't have any male members, but many of us wear pants most of the time, while others wear skirts or dresses.  Or a member can design their own original block or do a flower block.  It will be a beautiful quilt.

Friday Feet 12-14-12

Someone who is really in love with shoes would probably love to find this in their Xmas stocking.  But I think it is over-the-top.  I had gone to Office Depot to buy an appointment book for 2014 and found this display for tape dispensers.  The open toe with the strap has the tape in the heel while the zebra striped pump has the tape in the toe.  There were a few other colors available. 

 

Happy Christmas shopping!

Collecting the Alphabet 12-13-12

Last summer when Ruth Powers and I were traveling to Kalispell she talked about a blog where the writer collected letters of the alphabet.  We decided we might try it, but the pickings were slim.  Since then I have collected a few more letters.  On Sunday at Liberty Station, just across the street from Visions Art Museum, the lawn has been reseeded with rye grass which was brilliant green in the sunlight - see yesterday's Wordless Wednesday post.  Along the edge of the parking lot there is a row of long needle pines which drop their bundles of three needles to blow all over the grass and the blacktop.  I've discovered a couple letters for my alphabet collection there and Sunday I found another.


Capitol "J" - pine needles on grass.  12-09-12

I suppose it is a silly thing to do, but sometimes silliness is a good thing.

A good online source for identifying pines is http://www.icogitate.com/~tree/pine.name.ac25.htm

Wordless Wednesday 12-12-12

 

License plates - again. 12-11-12

I am addicted to reading license plates.  When I was not the driver on any trip I made lists of plates from other states, just to see how many different states I could see.  I think people from every state and country drive in SCalifornia, so anything within the LA Basin were "off limits".  I do notice them however - in the small parking lot at VAM on Sunday there were three from Alaska (perhaps they were meeting hometown friends for lunch!), one from Illinois and one from Ohio.  Probably snowbirds.
   
Pennsylvania was the first state to issue personalized/vanity plates way back in 1931, but they did not become popular across the country for another thirty years. As the economy flourished more people had the money to display their vanity. In the last few years as the economy tanked there have been fewer of these plates sold. There is lots of info online about the plates, just Google Vanity License Plates or Personalized License Plates.


I wouldn't have been able to figure this one out with out the additional "hints".
 

 
Who knew?   Notice that the frame is for the San Diego Chargers football team.  Could one really scan this using a cell phone?
 

 
Sometimes at quilt shows or meetings someone will seek me out because they see my car in the parking lot.  I took this picture in Oceanside last week because of my lousy parking.  For some reason I sometimes have trouble parking the Lexus - another black mark on its record.   Can't be anything wrong with me!
 

Pamela Allen quilt new to TCQC 12-10-12

Sorry I missed last night's post.  I spent the day doing docent duty at Visions Art Museum, showing people around the "Brainstorms" exhibit.  I hope you all will have a chance to see this fascinating collection of art quilts.  I'll talk more about them some other day. 

Here are newly acquired quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.  I bought them online at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles online sale last month.  I am showing them together because I plan to hang (and show) them together as a diptych. 

 
"The Right Side of the Tracks" Pamela Allen - Canada  2012 12"W x 11.5"L
Cotton fabrics, cotton threads.  Hand applique, hand quilting.
 

 
"The Right Side of the Tracks II"  Pamela Allen - Canada  2012  12"W x 11.5"L
Cotton fabrics, cotton threads. Hand applique, hand quilting.
 

 
And this is the way they will hang.
 

Look at that even background stitching, it doesn't go through to the backing.  I am always amazed at the creativity that Pamela puts into her quilts - lots of imaginative stitching using different threads and various colors of threads.  The eye image is one of many that Pamela has printed on fabric and integrates into her work.
 

 
Pamela doesn't use fusibles, but holds the applique fabrics down with hand stitching. 
 

 
Stitches and more stitches - so much texture.
 

 
A wonderful, whimsical label with all the information a buyer could need.
 

 
Nice backs, nice sleeves. 
 
I'd love to have another class with Pamela.  Since she can't teach in the US again I hope she will let us know where she is teaching in Canada.  I drive up there!!