Mixed Bouquets 04-03-18

A bit of Spring for all who live in colder climes.  Some of these are mixed plantings, rather than mixed bouquets, but spring color is the idea.  Enjoy. 

Coupeville, Washington 

Hospitality Table  Surfside Quilters Guild

Hospitality Table  Surfside Quilters Guild

A bouquet for the baristas at Starbuck's. 

Poster for organ transplant campaign. 

A mixed bouquet pin cushion. 

Deck box at Mary's. 

Lummi Island, Washington

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I read a lot 04-02-18

(I previously wrote about reading in one of my Saturday Stories.)

  http://delquilts.blogspot.com/2016/08/saturday-stories-about-reading-08-06-16.html

Born a reader, I guess.  My mother always claimed I could read long before anyone knew I could. One day before I was four I read a cereal box and astounded everyone.  Naturally, I couldn't read a book then, but I have made up for that in the last 76 years.  A constant in my childhood was "Put that book away and go out and play."  Which resulted in my finding places outside, or in the garage, to stash my books out of the rain and, with luck, a place to hide so I could read in peace.   During WWII when my sister and I lived with our paternal grandparents in Los Angeles, I would sneak onto the terraced level in the front yard which was planted with Lantana bushes and recline on a battered rug I found in the back alley.  I remember the Lantana because of the fragrance, which is still the smell of California to me.  

I'm not as avid as my friend Dick, who reads a book a day, I think.  He is a speed, speed reader, but I am just an average speed reader.  I can only read one book at a time, unlike another friend who always had a book in every room and in the car.  

I always feel fortunate to have a stack of books available when I go through my almost annual bronchitis.  This past month I have been reading Ian Rankin's detective series about Inspector Rebus, the entire set given to me when a friend had to clear out her bookshelves for interior painting.  Thank you, Carol.  The last time I was laid up I re-read all of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum adventures - she cracks me up.  Some books I just keep for reading again and again.  Ivan Doig is one of my favorites and he died this past year, so there will be no new wonders from his pen.  It is sad, I will miss his voice.  

Right now I am reading "The Worst Hard Time" by Timothy Egan, a non-fiction book about the great dust bowl of the 1930s and the people who survived and continued their struggles with the land and the weather.  It won the National Book Award in 2006.   The book is giving me an entirely different view of Dahlhart, OK, which I drive through on US Hwy 54 from Carrizozo, NM, to Wichita, KS.  And I am seeing what a short span of time the Indians and cowboys reigned.  To think of all the western movies that come from that brief period in the history of the West.  Amazing.

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Revisiting a quilt by Karin Franzen 04-01-18

This quilt was part of an exhibit of Karin Franzen's work at the La Conner Quilt Museum in La Conner, Washington, in April 2013.  It was very difficult to choose a favorite quilt and I left Washington without one.  But once I was home again and looked at the pictures, this quilt stood out and I had to call the museum to give them my credit card number.  When the exhibit came down they sent the quilt to me and I was so glad I had made the decision to add it to the Collection.  It is so much more wonderful "in the fabric" than in the pictures. 

It is currently part of the "Birds from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection" at Back Porch Fabric in Pacific Grove, CA., through April 30th.  

Karin generally bases her work on Alaskan birds and plants. There were about twenty quilts on the walls at La Conner, each was beautifully made using her unique techniques.

 This quilt has great balance and a lovely subtle color scheme.  The bird is a Northern shrike. 

"Flowers Come in Stony Places"  Karin Franzen - Alaska  2012 32"W x 46"L

Various fabrics (cotton, brocade, sheers, hand-dyes.  Piecing, fusing, applique, layering, printing, stamping, whatever is necessary!

Label at La Conner Quilt Museum in La Conner, WA.  2013

Karin beautifully blends color, value and texture using many different types of fabric.

Her quilting defines this fern frond.

An irregular piece of sheer fabric is laid over a brocade fabric and accented with machine quilting following the lines of the brocade. 

Pictures originally posted on this blog 05-09-13.

Check these sites for more info on Karin's work":

www.karinfranzen.com 

http://www.cfqgalaska.org/Karin_Franzin.pdf

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Friday Feet 03-30-18 (on Saturday!)

Kitten on a glass table. 

I have another view like this of a white cat, I'll try to find it in my pictures.

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Wordless Wednesday 03-28-18

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TCQC - Revisiting a Quilt by Charlotte Patera 03-25-18

This quilt "spoke to me" at Pacific International Quilt Festival in 2008.  I have been attracted to Charlotte's work since I purchased her book "The Applique Book" in 1974 and even more so after the 1984 publication of "Mola Making" which I read almost like a novel.  Great book!  She made this quilt in the tradition of the Kuna ladies using a motif from her everyday life, just as they did.  And it happens to also be something in my everyday life since I also do Jigzone puzzles and find the lizard cut one of the most challenging.  

"Lizard Lock"  Charlotte Patera - Grass Valley, CA  2008  29"W x 25.5"L

Cotton fabrics, hand appliqued and quilted.
I especially appreciate that Charlotte's used the ombre fabrics with the dark portion of the applique laid on the dark portion of the background - very subtle.  I'm sorry that the color in this image is not true to the quilt which doesn't have as much of a blue cast. 

This is the sign at PIQF that accompanied the quilt which was shown as part of the special exhibit "New Quilts of Northern California", an annual juried exhibit. 

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Visiting quilts from the past 03-24-18

The screen on my lap top is still broken and I have not ordered a new one.  Procrastination is me!  One reason I keep putting it off is the length of time it will take to download all the files I have backed up.  I need to go through and delete about half of them.  But it is an extremely boring job and I have not made a lot of progress.  Recently I was looking through some picture files on Picasa (which is no longer supported by Microsoft) and came upon some treasures from years past.   One quilt I found is by Jan Hirth who I have gotten to know in the past ten years.  Especially since the beginning of Surfside Quilters Guild in May 2009.  Jan is an expert quilt maker, both hand and machine work, and I greatly admire her talent.  When I took these pictures at the 2008 Pacific International Quilt Festival I did not know her well although we were both members of Beach Cities Quilt Guild in San Juan Capistrano.  I love this quilt.  It is so inventive, bright, and fun.  So, I am showing it again after all these years.  There is no KoKo here, but I'll bet he would love it too.

"Puppy Picks"  Jan Hirth - Laguna Niguel, CA  39" L X 32.5" W

Commercial cotton prints.  Machine pieced and quilted.

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