Friday Feet 04-12-13

If I were doing a sit down author's talk it would not occur to me that my feet would be at the eye level of the audience.    But sitting in the front row, although not directly in front of the author, that is what I kept focusing on.  Since I "came of age" in the 1950's I cannot adjust to wearing shoes, especially high heels, without stockings.  I know it is the acceptable thing now and I even saw a "review" of the clothing worn by actresses at the Oscars that bad mouthed someone because she wore hose.  That certainly put me in the fuddy-duddy class.   We wore anklets through high school and then graduated to hose with seams that had to be kept straight up the back of one's legs and were held up with garter belts. Then in 1959 pantyhose were invented - Hallelujah.  Here is a page that tells that story:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/50-Years-of-Pantyhose.html


Jacqueline Winspear has pretty decent legs and feet and she can wear whatever she likes!  I wear knee highs with my slacks.  Can't help myself.  

On I-5 from San Diego, last week. 04-11-13

When I drove down and back from San Diego there were lots of flowers blooming.  The most vibrant were the slopes covered with ice plant.  Unfortunately, it is a very invasive plant and much of it is being ripped out due to this "side effect".  It has many good features - color, density that keeps weeds from growing, low maintenance, food source for bees, etc..  But once it gets out of restrictions it is a cousin to Kudzu.  It comes in many different colors, but I think this is the most common.


You can see how it grows down into the gutter on this freeway on-ramp.  Most jurisdictions spray the encroaching edge with weed killer to keep it under control.
 

And here it has grown up the embankment beyond the freeway limits.
But it is so lovely with the green hills and the blue California sky.
 

I left the highway at Palomar Mountain Road to see how the flower fields were doing.  They have planted hedges to block the view - thus encouraging people to pay for admittance to walk among the rows or take a tractor pulled wagon all over the acreage.   But I could tell through this break in the edge that the fields were not yet in full bloom.  With the very warm weather we have had this past week this next weekend might be a good time to take a look.  I'd like to see them from above - helicopter, small plane, hot air balloon!  Not going to happen because the Poodle Prince will be at Camp Del and that isn't an activity he would enjoy.   

Wordless Wednesday - Portals 04-10-13

 

Monday Browsing 04-08-13

Here is another worthwhile fundraising project looking for online donations.  The Texas Quilt Museum is in need of a high tech projector and screen to use for educational programs.  They are almost at their goal  and there is only a short time left  to donate.  Any amount is welcome.  Hope you can help out. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/texas-quilt-museum

From Ami Sims newsletter:  MAKE A LEGO SEWING MACHINE
Carrie at SuchDesigns is one smart cookie. While playing with her kids she figured out how to build a sewing machine out of LEGO pieces. It is so cool! If you have LEGOs hanging around the house, here are her directions.
Note that in the directions there is a link to encourage the LEGO Company to kit this design. I think it would be a riot to have Lego sewing machine kits to make.
Please encourage the Lego Company to make the sewing machine into a kit. http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/18230#

Go in through FB so you don't have to create a user account.  Click browse and support other's projects.  Search for "sewing machine".  When the page completely loads you'll see another green SUPPORT box to click in the upper right hand corner.  That's it. My "SUPPORT" click brought the total to 195—pretty pitiful for all us quilters out there. Let's make some noise! Support the LEGO sewing machine, and ask your friends to support it too. Pedal to the metal, quilters.

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Take a close-up look at the Best-of-Show quilt at AQS show in Lancaster, PA:

http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/zoom.php/image_num/150

Time for school proms – here is a look at the past, starting in the 1940’s: http://www.stylelist.com/view/the-story-behind-the-prom-dress/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl35%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D294421#!fullscreen&slide=aol_5791619

Plein-air in the park:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/11/nyregion/bryant-park-hosts-summer-artists-in-residence.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

Prescription costs:  http://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living/shopping-around-brings-steep-prescription-drug-savings-report-finds-4182.aspx?xid=aol_eh-news_6_20130408_&aolcat=HLT&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl8%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D295108

David Taylor quilt in TCQC 03-24-13

I thought I had posted this on 03-31-13, but it did not appear.  I hope that it will "take" this time so you can enjoy the amazing workmanship.  Del
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This quilt is the latest addition to the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.  David Taylor spoke to Surfside Quilters Guild this month, showing a Power Point program and a few quilts.  This one spoke to me in a serious way, but I had to check my bank account to see if I could pay for it.  Fortunately, there was enough to cover the cost and I called David where he was staying and asked if I could pick it up at his workshop the next day.  SOLD!  I'm not fond of the name "Hidden Treasurers" and I expect it will just be the 'hummer quilt'. 


"Hidden Treasures"  David Taylor - Steamboat Springs, CO - 2011  32"x24.25"

Hand applique. Machine quilting.  

http://www.davidtaylorquilts.com/
 

David has a good eye for color and value.  And his hand applique and machine quilting are outstanding - no wonder he has won so many prizes in all the big shows in the country. 
 

He searches through his fabrics to find just the right color or print or even just the shading on the fabric. 

Those little white dots that make the eye sparkle are part of the fabric, not stitched on!
 

This photo is just under the beak on the hummer on the left.  The black lines defining the feathers are not stitches, each little feather is hand applique. 
 

David's machine quilting adds wonderful texture to the leaves - well, to the entire quilt.
 

When he changes the thread color on the front , he also changes the bobbin thread to match.  The resulting image on the black backing is a tracing of the front.
 

Here is a detail of the back of the hummers.
 

A nice computer printed label with adequate information for contacting the artist. 

Author Jacqueline Winspear 04-06-13

Yorba Linda, which adjoins Placentia to the northeast, participates in the One Book, One City program and the current book is "Maisie Dobbs" by Jacqueline Winspear.  I have read all nine of the series and now own the latest, published last week, " Leaving Everything Most Loved".  Today Jacqueline did a "Meet the Author" program at the Yorba Linda Library and had a full house.  Liz and I went early because I have heard that these events are popular.  Since we were early we had front row seats which is a good place to sit and not have distractions from other members of the audience. 


The current book was for sale, thanks to Barnes and Noble, although it is only hardback.  Soft cover will take a few months.
 

The librarian had a list of questions and Jacqueline was very good at answering them, and those submitted by audience members.

She didn't talk much about her private life, but was very articulate about the way she does research and about what she has learned about the era the books are set it - immediately after the" Great War" - 1918 and continuing. We think of it as WWI, but the British have an entirely different take on that event and the resulting massive changes in their society. The "Great War" is still a part of the curriculum in their schools, whereas I doubt that there is more than a sentence or two in schools here in the USA.
 

I especially enjoyed her story about the first time she decided she would be a writer, when she was about six years old and already an avid reader.  With her mother she regularly rode a double decked bus along the same route.  Sitting so high she could look down into the houses along the way.  One in particular was near a bus stop and the room she could see was lined with books and had a black manual typewriter on a table, along with paper and books and sometimes a cup and saucer.  She asked her mother who lived in that house and her mother suggested it might be a writer.  Jacquelyn decided she wanted a room like that so she would have to become a writer.  She didn't start writing until later in her life after a career in education.  And then it was because she was recuperating from an injury and couldn't be active.  She is a good story teller and a good story writer.  Her character Maisie Dobbs is someone I have gotten to know and like, almost like a friend I can visit only every year or so.   Some of you may have also met her in your reading journey.

Friday Feet 04-05-13

Sometimes I ask people if I can take a picture of their feet, telling them I do a Blog with a "Friday Feet" feature.  I've not had anyone say no, but most think I am very strange!  However, most of the time I don't ask, but have a hard time getting a focused shot because the feet keep moving! 


These are wonderful boots on a lady wearing a fringed-all-over coat, but she was on the move all the time. 
 

Here you can see the side of one boot - cool, eh?  But just as I hit the button she turned away from me and moved on.  Two other pictures were just blurs.  She looked great, but I was hesitant to ask her to "Please, stand still for a minute."  Guess I need a paparazzi camera.