Quilt from Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection 06-14-21

I have such a hard time keeping track of what day it is and when I have things scheduled.  I had set up all the connections I need to make before going to SDiego for the meeting of the art quilt group.  But then I talked to a member of that group and discovered that the meeting is the 27th!  NOT the 20th.  So, I had to contact those people I had notified and change the date.  I think I have it all straight now.  I will be going down on Saturday and spending the night before the group meets on Sunday.  And then struggle with the traffic coming home.  Now that the pandemic is receding everyone is on the road again so it will be a slow Sunday grind on the I-5 North, just as it has been for years before 2020 came along. 

And in the same vein, I thought last night that it was Saturday again and failed to post a quilt from the Collection.  These are two of Ruth B. McDowell's fabulous fowl.  I like to hang the two duck quilts together although all they have in common is the duck.  Such amazing choices she makes for backgrounds - always colorful and "in motion".   And such feet! 

"Duck at the Crossroads"   Ruth B. McDowell (Minnesota)  2014  25.5"L X 20"W 

Commercial cotton fabrics, cotton batting, cotton threads.

Machine pieced, machine quilted.  

"Duck Weeding"  Ruth B. McDowell  (Minnesota) 2012  20.5"L X 18"W

Commercial cotton fabrics, cotton batting, cotton threads.

Machine pieced, machine quilted. 

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Sewing some 06-13-21

Just sewing another scrap strip background.  This one will require lots of thread color changes.  There is no deadline, but I hope it won't take me another five months to complete.  Probably appliqued birds. 

Hard to decide what color to use on the striped fabric - white?  light blue?  more beige?   I am really struggling with being indecisive since I have been a decider all my life.  I have even had to actually write down many possibilities before choosing one.  Strange, but don't know if it is old age or something else.  Guess it goes along with forgetting things.  

These are all strips cut to even out yardage for precise cuts or they are cut from the edges of quilts before binding.  So all the edges are raw and somewhat uneven.  They are fused to a backing fabric (a worn out pillowcase) and not very tightly fused.  So, I need to be accurate in catching the edges.  Of course, it will be a wall quilt and won't be handled very much.

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More Food 06-12-21

Food again.  After viewing my refrigerator I decided to eat out tonight and took KoKo with me to the Fitness Grill Kitchen in Yorba Linda.  We went early, about 4:30pm and there was only one other table occupied on the patio.

Here is view from our tabler just before we left to return home.  The waiters were setting up a table for eight behind us, so I was glad we were ready to go. It is so interesting to observe other people without masks, although all the waiters wore them.  The four ladies on the left were celebrating one of their birthdays and they were very animated and happy.  My "doggy box" is on my table.  Thinly slices of grilled sirloin with Bastamanti rice, grilled tomatoes with parmesan and two grilled green chili peppers which I tried a tiny bite and then moved to the far edge of the plate.  

This is their version of carrot cake which is more frosting than cake, but it had a nice flavor.  I wanted to lick the leftover caramel off the plate, but decided it was too un-cool.  

KoKo was very good, perhaps because he has been there several times before.  I take a long flat pad - like a very flat pillow - and put it near my feet under the table.  After he has checked everything out he will patiently lay on the pad until I am done eating.  As long as somebody doesn't stop and squeal, "Oh, a doggy."  which prompts him to get up and try to lick that person to death.  I wish people would apply the same rules that are in place for seeing-eye dogs - don't touch, don't talk to them, don't step on them!  KoKo does love people so he always has to respond to any attention anyone offers.  

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Friday Food 06-11-21

I used to love to cook and was considered a very good cook, but now I have lived alone for over 30 years and cooking for one is just boring.  I doubt if I could even make up a menu now.  I go to the market and buy what I have put on my list - the basics.  Then I wander around a bit and pick up some other things that look like they might be good.  When meal time rolls around I open the refrigerator and stare at what is there.  Sometimes I come up with odd combinations.  Here is one: a perfect Bartlett pear (and the second one to show how perfect they were), a slice of bread with a little mayo and two halves of sliced deli ham.  Along with my usual glass of milk.  Not much, but enough for this evening.  I have taken to eating a little something in the middle of the day, 3pm or so, then I am not very hungry at dinner time which comes about 8pm.  Many dinners are just veggies, I am fond of broccoli, carrots, spinach, and chopped salad.  Celery is a constant for me - raw, in something, or just braised.  My late husband asked me once if we could have something that didn't have celery in it.  It was a little surprising, since I like it I thought he did!  I avoid kale and green peas.  And liver!  If I want a REAL meal, I go out, but that has been difficult this past year.  I hope to go some place soon for my once a year steak.  I stick to chicken and fish and eggs and cheese, so a steak is a very special treat.  Anyway, food is not a very interesting part of my life these days.  Sorry to go on about it ,

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New small quilt 06-10-21

Yes, I actually completed a little 12X12 quilt.  I started it in January, so it was in progress for five months.  Hard to believe it could take me so long.  But then I have UFOs from maybe 30 years ago!  Guess I am an accomplished procrastinator.  Anyway, this one was going to the SAQA auction in October, but it has already been claimed.  I will have to make something else for SAQA or just participate as a buyer this year.  

"Scrap Trees"  Del Thomas (California) 2021  12" X 12"

Commercial cotton fabrics, cotton batting, cotton thread, ink.

Raw edge fusing, inking, machine applique, machine quilting, bound edge. 

 

Back without label or sleeve. 

Detail with bird in fabric.

Detail with bird in fabric.

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Wordless Wednesday 06-09-21

                                  

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Looking back 10 years 06-08-21

Today friend Carol and I shopped at Tiddlywinks children's store near the Circle of Orange, following it up with lunch at Rutabegorz, about a block further north.  If you are looking for children's gifts that don't require batteries and will give the kids some education while they are playing, Tiddlywinks is the place to go.   With the help of a knowledgeable sales lady (maybe her name was Jean) Carol has some great gifts for grands and grands of a friend.  Rutabegorz lunch was delicious, but it was too crowded on the wrap around patio so we ate inside - very quiet and peaceful.  If we had gone before shopping or waited until about 1pm we could have dined among the gorgeous flowers.  Next time. The menu is extensive and everything I have ever eaten there has been excellent.

I was thinking about years past and wondered where I was ten years ago on June 8, 2011, so I looked in my picture files.  So nice to have pictures on the computer and can find them by date, even if there are no captions.  I had just returned from a trip to Denver for that year's SAQA conference and the closest I could come to the date was June 3rd and I found images taken when Carol and I went on a bird walk at the Fullerton Arboretum.  I only managed one bird image and it is too poor to post, but there were lots of blooms and critters. It was a terrific day, not too hot, and only about ten people on the walk along with the guide.  I don't know why we have never done it again, I'm sure the Arboretum still offers them, probably not this past year though. 

The jacarandas were blooming then, as they are now.  I can never get quite the right color with my cell phone, the flowers are more violet than this shows. 

The Arboretum has many exotic plants and trees.  This large bloom is from a Monkey Hand tree (Chiranthodendron pentadactylon), a medium sized tree native to Guatemala and southern Mexico.  This shows the size of the bloom in the hand of the guide. 

And growing in the tree.  The flowers are not profuse and sort of hide under the large lobed leaves.  This image shows the "hand". 

There is a nice size pond edged by rocks and lots of water loving plants.  There were many turtles and baby turtles sunning themselves and ignoring a couple of mallards floating around.  

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