Too tired tonight 01-21-19

It has been a very long day, starting with the KoKo walk at 7am; then I delivered him to Dee, who will keep him until Tuesday morning.  Showered, stuffed some emergency things in a bag, and hit I-5 south about 10:45am.  I met friends for lunch at a new Japanese place in Laguna Hills, Sushi Ramen.  My poke bowl was a bit spicier than I usually have, but tasted wonderful.  After that I headed south again to stop at Crate & Barrel at the Carlsbad outlet mall, they don't have Marimekko fabric anymore, but I was curious what they are selling these days.  I was tempted, but didn't buy anything.  Then further south to find the Salvation Army location where tonight's meeting was to be held, followed by further miles to a Salvation Army donation place to drop off the big box of fabric and batting scraps.  Somewhere along the way I stopped for a latte to give my energy a boost.  Then I met friends at an interesting restaurant named Khan's Cave for dinner of mostly Chinese style food.  And the final stop was at the meeting of Canyon Quilters where Kathy Nida was the speaker.  I have been a member of this guild for several years, but rarely go because of the four hour round trip drive.  Kathy did a great program and I am glad I finally understand her method better.  I think it is too complex for my brain or my skills, but her work is quite amazing.  I left from the Salvation Army location at 9:10pm and arrived home at 10:50pm.  Moderate traffic and not so bad driving the route at night because I am very familiar with it.  No KoKo to keep me warm tonight and it is a little chilly - 43F, which isn't cold for most of you, but it is for this neck of the country.  

Do you see the red underline in the paragraph above?  What did I hit that did that?  Can't figure out how to remove it without typing the whole thing over again and I am too tired.  Sorry. 

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Challenge quilts at Canyon Quilters 11-18-14

Here are all of the challenge quilts from last evening's meeting of Canyon Quilters.  There were four hanging racks with black drapes to which the quilts were pinned.  I hope you can enlarge and read the names of the makers.  I can't tell if that is possible until I finish the blog post and can try it myself.

The Challenge was "My Secret Garden"  and the size was limited to no more than 100" perimeter - so they came in many sizes.  There was some discussion about the pros and cons of quilts the same size and quilts limited to a perimeter, so that they were all different.  No conclusion.  But I like the varied sizes.  

The bidding sheets are out for the silent auction.  Starting bid ranged from $100 to $125.

For size comparison my quilt, second from left, 

is 14" wide and 11" long. 

And here are quilts that I like: 

"My Secret Water Garden"  Deb Mackay

The top section is one of her spectacular marbled pieces.  The flowers are Kaffe's Gloxinia.  

"3-D Garden"  Terry Seaberg

with folded flowers and appliqued leaves and stems. 

"Springtime"  Marty Gigler.  Surely made in or after a class with Laura Wasilowski.  It is beautifully done and has a great composition.   

 

"I Love to Bee in my Garden"  Carol Neely

This is done in the style of Barbara McKie and is nicely quilted.  

"Bee Happy"  Kay Laboda

Gorgeous quilt and awesome quilting.   This quilt won the viewer's choice award. 

"Poppies Worthy of Sorella"  Judy Warren-Tippets

These are Matilija poppies with blossoms about 6" in diameter.  Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida was an early 20th Century painter - an exhibit of his work was in San Diego in July and August.  

 

 And here, again, is my humble offering. I remembered the fabric having larger buildings and was surprised when I dug it out of my fabric library and found that the buildings were only 10 to 12 inches tall.  I had to size the garden to go a little better with the building size, but made the the flowers and leaves large enough to show the fecundity and how they take up too much space to be contained in a "secret" garden.     

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Canyon Quilters meeting in San Diego 11-17-14

I drove down to San Diego this afternoon to attend the evening meeting of the Canyon Quilters.  It was a celebration of their thirty years of existence, presentation/voting/bidding on the Challenge quilts and a fabulous potluck.   It was a fun meeting and it seemed that everyone had a good time.  They have some fantastic cooks!  

I did finish my little challenge quilt and it sold, so I was glad I made the effort.  However, it was a long slog back home and I arrived about 10:15pm.  I am very sleepy, so I will go to bed early tonight and post the challenge quilts tomorrow night. 

"My Secret Garden is no Secret Anymore."  Del Thomas  2014 

Commercial cotton fabric, illusion netting, fusing, machine piecing and quilting.  (Thread knotted in corners the way Sue Benner does her quilts.)

If the phrasing sounds a little odd, just think back a number of decades to when there was a popular song called "Secret Love" - that song claimed her "secret love was no secret anymore".  I think it was Doris Day.  

I haven't done much quilt making the the past few years and seem to have lost some of my technical skills.  The satin stitch edge on this quilt is not the best - one of the things I will need to practice if I am going to do it again.  

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Program for Canyon QGuild 06-16-14

I drove to San Diego yesterday (Monday) with Liz to do a program for Canyon Quilters in San Diego.  It was a lovely day and the blue Pacific was, indeed, BLUE.   Here are two views of what one sees from a car on I-5 South.

 

 

As you can see, even this close to the ocean things are very, very dry.  This is south of Camp Pendleton. 

 

"Getting my Ducks in a Row"  Pamela Allen  and "Middlesex Fells"  Ruth B. McDowell

 

I showed forty quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection and talked for just an hour.  The Guild elected their new officers and there was Show & Tell, along with committee reports.  It was just like every guild I have ever attended.  Just like home! 

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Now that the Surfside Quilters Guild newsletter is finished and posted, I am hard at work getting quilts ready to ship to Texas Quilt Museum and the Quilters Hall of Fame in Marion, Indiana.  Two different exhibits covering about the same time span - July through September.  Since this is something I have never done before (ship more than two or three quilts from TCQC) it is a sharp learning curve for me.  I have new boxes and very large plastic bags; Liz will come tomorrow to help me make three stacks of quilts: Ruth McDowell quilts for Indiana on the bottom (since they ship later), a stack of quilts for the program I will give at Canyon Quilters in San Diego next Monday evening, and a stack of 46 quilts to go to Texas this week.  I know I will be tired tomorrow night, as I am tonight, and may not have the energy to blog.   Right now I am going to bed!

 

"Summer Lily"  2002  58"W x 70"L

 

This is one of the quilts that will hang in Marion, Indiana, at the Quilters Hall of Fame when Ruth is inducted into that institution.  The exhibit runs from July 17th through September.

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