Friday Food 09-20-19

Two kinds of food tonight.  This first one was dessert at the Book Group meeting on Wednesday at Teresa's.

A lovely perfect homemade cheese cake with fruit - strawberries and red grapes. 

So refreshing as summer continues, 

Nice presentation.

The book, by the way, was Alice Hoffman's "The Marriage of Opposites", another of Hoffman's fantastic historical fiction novels.  We all loved it, but didn't especially like the "heroine".   

Neighbors in the cul de sac across the street are originally from India and Mariam shared some exotic food with me.  I LOVE trying different foods and homemade is the best. She brought me an elegant vegetarian dinner.  I cannot tell you what all the dishes are, but I liked most of them. 

In the center is a tall metal "glass" of yogurt that was VERY salty.  Starting at 12 o'clock there was (maybe) tasty, spiced mashed squash, then yogurt with something which was one of the dishes I couldn't eat, next (obviously) is ground beets that was so sour it made my eyelids wrinkle - that is the other one I couldn't eat.  But then we have sautéed veggies including carrots, okra, celery, beans, etc. which was very tasty.  And next to that (in the 10 o'clock position) was a lovely finely chopped veggie combo which I could only tell had cabbage - gobbled that one up.  I had yogurt in the frig so I put some in a dish and used it to calm the spiciness.  There were so many different flavors, but I think cumin was dominate. 

On the side was this bowl of what tasted like a good beef stew, but there was no beef.  Potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and.....?  I gobbled this up also.  Delicious.  

She also brought a large container of a different kind of rice and I asked her later about it.  She says they buy it parboiled and it is a brown rice.  Not any kind I have eaten previously, but very good and there was enough for three meals!  

It was a special treat and I hope she will think of me again in the future.  I don't cook much, but I may take them a container of the great apple salad that Mabel shared while I was in Washington state.  I have made it three times since I came home and bought some more apples today!  It isn't a diet food, for sure, but it is delicious.  

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Wordless Wednesday 09-18-19

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That KoKo dog again. 09-17-19

I think Froggie is more of a pal than a toy, KoKo always keeps him close.  But sometimes he roots around in his toy box and pulls out something to play with.  One of his favorites is Ducky who has been with him for at least four years.  Of course, he has needed surgery and even had his squeaker replaced.  KoKo will throw him up in the air and then pounce on him wherever he lands.  His inner terrier comes out and he shakes Ducky almost to pieces. 

KoKo sleeping in his "don't let Del move away" position wedged between the table and my chair leg. 

How does he know when he is asleep that I am taking his picture?

Sometimes he even sleeps with Ducky, but Froggie is somewhere on the chair with him. 

KoKo is such a good companion and a well behaved dog.  He lights up my life!  And he forces me to walk about an hour every day. 

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There are days like this. 09-15-19

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A little more Show & Tell - SQG 09-14-19

These are all the pictures I managed of the Show & Tell at Surfside Quilters Guild meeting on Tuesday morning.  It is hard to take pictures from the back of the room - I was spoiled by being the photographer and sitting center front.  But I am enjoying sitting in the back row now and doing some hand stitching when I don't need to look at the stage. 

President Monica Shafer calling the meeting to order.

Behind her is a quilt from our speakers Linda and Carl Sullivan of Colourwerx.

This is another quilt by Linda and Carl Sullivan.

Embroidered bunny blocks with pieced borders. 

Embroidered blocks showing travels across the country.  Patty Mayer

A completed UFO - after many years.

What do you do with long skinny scraps?  Make a string quilt, of course. 

Charlotte Spere

Colorful blocks in a sampler quilt. 

A little red wagon sampler for the seasons.  

This top was made by our late member Sally Edwards and purchased at the November Fest.  The purchaser quilted it and brought it back to show it finished.  Sally did lovely work. 

 An appliqued sewing machine cover - the front. 

 And the back.

Ready for Day of the Dead or Halloween. 

A pieced fairy tale quilt.  Notice Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf at the bottom. On the left side, mostly out of the picture, is Jack's Beanstalk and on the right, completely out of the picture, is Rapunzel's tower.

And a ghostly quilt for Halloween. 

Here are five fabric, machine quilted rugs made by a group of ladies.   Don't know if it was a class or a retreat, but they made some awesome rugs.  

If you can put names to the makers of any of these quilts, please let me know so I can add them. 

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Lots of Show & Tell this week 09-13-19

Sometimes everything seems to fall in one week and this past week was that week for me.  I attended two guild meetings in one day!  Surfside Quilters Guild in the morning in San Clemente and Orange County Quilters Guild in the evening in Anaheim.  Both meetings were full of lovely quilts made by members and shared at Show & Tell.  I don't like to show quilts without attribution, but I will this time because I couldn't get all the names.  If you see your quilt, or that of someone you know, please let me know so I can add the names.

All of these quilts are from the OCQG meeting where Nancy Ota was the speaker. 

Nancy Ota, the evening's speaker, folding up her quilts.

Six of Nancy's quilts on display.  These are all from Challenges in which she participated.

Two more of Nancy's quilts on display.  On the left is her grandson and on the right a replica of her quilt that was a winner at Paducah.  The original is at the Paducah museum - the prize is a purchase prize, the artist can keep the quilt or she can take the prize money and give them the quilt.  So, Nancy took the money and made a replica for her own enjoyment. 

A great, colorful quilt. Don't know the pattern or the name of the maker. 

Red, White, and Blue.   Maker??

Another Red, White and Blue.  Again, maker??

Katie Purvis with two sashiko quilts she made in classes with Kitty Pippen (on left) and Nancy Ota (on right).  It was nice to see Katie again after many years, we both belonged to OCQG at one time. 

Stunning quilt that is basically a Rail Fence set on point.  The fabric makes the difference.

I believe this quilt was made by Becky Sproal, guild president. 

NOTE:  I am advised that this was a Bonnie Hunter challenge in 2017 see:

https://quiltville.blogspot.com/2018/03/checkerboard-railsa-quilting-finish.html

Can you pick out the block?  It is a six rail. 

And here is another quilt made from the same pattern - Rail Fence - but not on point.  Maker??

Again - pick out the block, it is a four rail. . 

A spooky one for Halloween made from panels.  Maker ??

This lovely vintage looking quilt uses embroidered bird blocks inherited from the maker's mother or grandmother.  The maker designed the layout to accentuate the vintage feel.  The quilt won a prize at either the Orange County or LA County Fair.  Great quilt.  Maker ??

Here is a really poor picture showing some of the embroidered blocks. 

At least 35 years ago Orange County Quilters Guild started making quilts for the special fund-raising auction of the International Guiding Eyes, Inc. organization. Here is this year's quilt with appliqued doggies and lettering. .  

Maker ??

Maker ??  I remember that her comment was that it is a difficult pattern. 

And machine quilted with the traditional Baptist Fan.

This was one of several quilts shown that started in a workshop with Leah Zieber, titled "History Repeated / Orphans and Aliens - Creating Quilts From Space Junk".

For the workshop the student collects all the odds and ends of blocks she has collected over the years and Leah helps everyone create a creative sampler type quilt.  Sounds like an interesting class and the workshop results shown were charming. 

I have a few pictures from the Surfside Quilters Guild meeting that I will show tomorrow. 

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Re-visiting a Ruth McDowell quilt from 2004 09-08-19

It has been 15 years since Ruth made this quilt.  She designed it from a picture she took at the Pacific Grove, CA, "Good Old Days" event.  It is a powerful illustration of Ruth's ability to use straight seam piecing to create body shapes and express personality.  

"The Street Corner"  Ruth B. McDowell - Massachusetts  2004  55"W x 41"L  

Commercial and hand-dyed cottons, cotton batting, cotton thread. 

Machine pieced and quilted.  

The central figure, a cutie in a blue striped drop shoulder shirt, has attracted a half dozen young guys.  A couple of the guys have turned away from the "honey'" - one on the right to see what else is going on and the one on the far left to (a) drink a coke or (b) talk on his cell phone.  [Were cell phones all that common in 15 years ago?]   Meanwhile cutie's friend is somewhat a wallflower standing half concealed off to the left of the frame with her blue shoulder bag held close.  Notice the different body attitudes - slumped shoulders, cutie's perky hips, hands in pockets, etc.  How does Ruth give all these expressions with straight seams?  She is just an amazing artist and a very precise piecer. . 

All of the Ruth McDowell quilts in TCQC will be shown in a three month exhibit at Visions Art Museum in San Diego, January through March 2020.  Hope you can make a visit during that time.  

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