TCQC - Auction quilt - Canyon Quilters Challenge 05-08-22

I do enjoy a quilt auction and this past week I have participated in two.  SAQA' s Spotlight Auction was held in conjunction with their annual conference which was an online event this year.  The quilts up for auction were tiny - only 4" X 6", or the size of a postcard - but they are presented in a 8" X 10" mat and enclosed in a plastic sleeve.  I have purchased some at previous SAQA conferences, but I remove them from the sleeve/mat and usually have to finish the edge.  This time I was high bidder for four little quilts which I will show you after they arrive here.  The other auction was sponsored by Pokey Bolton and her Craft a Life website and benefited the World Central Kitchen which is providing meals in Ukraine.  These quilts were all different sizes and went for higher bids.  I won one by Jennifer Sampou which is a little different but has trees in it.  I bid high (I thought) for a lovely bouquet by Terry Grant, whose quilts I greatly admire, but at the last minute someone almost doubled the bid and will have that lovely quilt hanging on her wall.  Bummer.  

The quilt I am showing tonight was part of the Canyon Quilters of San Diego Challenge and Auction last fall.  The quilts went on to hang at Visions and were returned at the meeting last week when I was the speaker for the meeting.   Of course, another bird quilt - there wasn't a Toucan in the Collection before.  This one is 14" square.

"You Too Can" Judith Peters - San Diego  2021  14" X 14"

Cotton fabric, Machine pieced and quilted.

The Challenge fabric is in the bottom two corners and appliqued in several places.

The back is one of Kaffe Fassett's fabulous, colorful designs.

A hand lettered label which I can hardly read.  With magnifying glass I see it says:

"Canyon Quilt Challenge 2021

Judith Peters, San Diego, CA

My first Challenge"

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Challenge quilt, Canyon Quilters fund raiser. 11-17-21

Monday evening was the Challenge reveal at the Canyon Quilters meeting in San Diego.  I did not drive down for the meeting, but watched on ZOOM.  There were 33 Challenge quilts with the theme of "Color Me Festive" requiring the use of the challenge fabric in either black background or white background.  I had chosen the black and decided that a wreath is festive, especially at this time of year.   I quilted the background first doing a plaid pattern.  Then I cut out the flowers and some solid red 'berries' and outlined each of them with black fabric marker.  I couldn't make the wreath look round so i fused on a circle using two layers of black nylon netting and arranged the flowers, leaves, and berries, fusing them down.  You can hardly see the circle but it helps create the round shape.  One problem is that the front of the quilt can never be ironed lest the nylon netting melt!  Then I straight stitched around each applique with mono-filament thread.  

                      

"Festive"  Del Thomas 2021  14" X 14"

"Festive" Back  I found this coordinate fabric at Back Porch Fabric in Pacific Grove and was originally going to use it for binding, but that didn't look right and I just used the green.

The quilt did sell at the guild meeting, but I don't know who bought it or the final bid. 

Since I was not there to bid I asked a friend to bid for me and she was successful with a bid of $200 for this piece "You Too-Can" by Judy Peters.  A nice addition to the bird section of TCQC.  Judy used mostly the green foliage of the challenge fabric with one red flower in the lower right corner.  

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SQG Challenge 2021 08-12-21

It was the first face-to-face meeting of the Surfside Quilters Guild in San Clemente and at a new meeting place AND the reveal of the 2021 Challenge quilts.  I believe there were 32, which is an amazing participation during the pandemic isolation.  Under the direction of Jan Hirth, committee chair for several years, everything was organized and beautifully presented. There were mostly original designs and almost every technique you can think of.  The theme was "Bucket List" and every item had to include a bucket somewhere.  Awards were given in about twelve categories, including Viewers Choice.  

The item did not have to be a quilt, but a fabric creation. So, in addition to flat quilts there were dolls, totes, garments, a clock, and even a bucket!  Here are a few pictures of things that I especially liked.

Hiroko Moriwaki made an actual bucket!  Surely the best representation of the theme.  

You can just see the river that goes down to the sea.  

Very clever and original. 

Dawn Johnson is very creative and always meets the Challenge with a unique creation.  This year she made a clock with a different Disney character for each number.  It is an actual working clock, but we weren't able to hang it so the pendulum moved.  As you see it won the award for the Best Non-quilt Entry. 

OOPS!  I did not write down the name of the maker of this lovely quilt which won an award for the Best Original Design.  Very nicely made. 

Debbie Myers received the Best Traditional with this gorgeous Lone Star shining over the ocean and an image of Debbie with her dreamed of red pickup.  See the bucket on the back of the truck.  

This secondhand denim jacket hung in Vicki Janis' closet for years until she hauled it out and created a winning design in memory of her late pouch.  Notice her bucket full of cherries(?) at lower right. 

I will post some more pictures later, need to check for correct names. It was a lovely meeting and sooo nice to see those familiar faces (although some of us wore masks, most did not).  

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Sewing, Book Group 07-21-21

After the pandemic shutdown I am just not accustomed to having so much to do!  Yesterday especially, I actually had four things on my calendar, after weeks, months of blankness!  First we had to go for our morning walk about 7:15am because it warms up fast and by 8am it can be over 80F - summertime!  Then there was a QGuild ZOOM Board Meeting at 9:30am, at 11:30am KoKo had an appointment for booster shots and the vet's office was backed up so it took an hour instead of the expected 20 minutes or so.  I sewed all afternoon before taking my friend Dick out for sushi at our favorite place "Fish in a Bottle".  Carol has been in Texas for a week, returning today.  And then I sewed late into the night to finish the Challenge quilt for Surfside QGuild to turn it in today on the very last possible turn-in date!  

The reveal date for the Challenge is the August 10th IN PERSON guild meeting in a new meeting place.  So, I can't show you the finished quilt, but here are some teasers.  I doubt that anyone in the guild actually reads my blog, so it won't be too much of a reveal. 

This is the quilted background.  We had three FQ to include - at least 4" of one and 2" of the other two - and the theme was "Bucket List".  The blue on the left and the orange on the right are two of the fabrics, the other was used in applique.  The quilting suggests the different terrain of California, Oregon, and Washington.  My imaginary travels take me up I-5, Hwy 101, and US395.  

And here we are in the Lexus heading north.  Someday soon, I hope!  Sometime after Aug 10th I will post an image of the whole quilt.  It isn't my favorite I have ever made, but it forced me to sew and it does fulfill all the requirements. 

Dessert at Book Group was a lovely homemade cake at Nancy's house.   I didn't realize how much I missed the welcoming living rooms and tasty desserts  we enjoy each month.  For over 40 years we have met in the evening, but everyone is now retired and we find it is more difficult to drive after dark, so gradually we have switched to 11:30am with everyone bringing a sack lunch and the hostess providing dessert as usual.  What a lovely plate with the white cake, blue napkin showing a bright lemon; we also had lemonade to drink.  It was a lovely meeting.  The book was "Signature of All Things" by Elizabeth Gilbert.  It was a real struggle for me with a very unsympathetic "heroine", but the others seemed to enjoy it and we all learned something about science and research - mosses in particular.  Not a book I will recommend.  And I read it on Kindle which I don't much enjoy, I miss the feeling and sight of a REAL book.  One funny thing is that when I am done reading, my hand automatically reaches out for a bookmark to mark my place!  I guess after 70 years of marking my place, my brain is hard to retrain.  

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Miscellaneous photos 07-16-21

Here are some photo "notations".  They have nothing to do with each other and aren't part of a story.  Just random things I come across. 

While KoKo was having his appointment with Peter, the groomer, I went to Supercuts and had my hair cut.  I was so surprised to look down at my lap and see this white "puff" - a hunk of hair.  But it is WHITE!  I have had some white hair mixed in for a few years, but didn't realize there would be patches of pure white like this.  I have my mother's genes and she had very little grey/white when she died at 65.  My paternal genes are from early white haired people, I never knew my father's mother as anything but white haired.  Her sister, my great aunt Effie, wore her hair hennaed from my earliest memory, so she was also white haired.  One thing I wonder about in my non-connected family is how these genes have been passed on.  Wonder if my sister, who is much like our father's family, has white hair at 85.

 

I went to the nicest local flower shop to chose flowers for the birthday of my friend Liz.  I looked at the flowers in the cold case and could see behind the counter.  Someone had been stripping rose thorns/leaves/outer petals and made this colorful carpet.  I as a little surprised at how the prices have risen, but they were delivered on time and were greatly admired. 

Quite a few of my neighbors have planted milkweed to attract Monarch butterflies and there have been a lot this year.  I have no luck photographing them with their wings wide open, but this is a nice image.  I put a Monarch in a quilt recently, I'll look up a photo and post it one of these days.  

I am trying to finish a small quilt for the Surfside Quilters Guild Challenge with a deadline of Monday!!  Hope to finish the quilting tomorrow.  It would be wise to then start the challenge for Canyon Quilters which is due in October.  I do tend to leave things for the last minute!  

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A Bucket List 02-11-21

Surfside Quilters Guild has a member's Challenge every year and there is a special theme.  This year it is A Bucket List and is to include the image of a bucket on the quilt somewhere.  I immediately thought of what is on the top of my list when the pandemic is under control.  It is, of course, A ROAD TRIP!  Doesn't matter where, just on the road.  I think driving I-15 north through Virgin River Canyon and onward.  Maybe even up to Alberta.  A long lonely, but lovely drive.  I know it looks barren, but to me it is beautiful!

Surfside Quilters Guild Challenge 08-13-19

Every other August our guild has a Challenge Reveal of the challenge quilts members have made starting with the same four fabrics.  It is always amazing the different designs they come up with.  Here are just a few from today's reveal.   

This quilt is the Viewer's Choice and it is the one I voted for. We choose the same "theme" of "Hang Ten Quilts", but I think Odetta's is a much more successful piece. 

"Hang Ten at the Quilt Show" Del Thomas  2019  26"W x 21"L

Ten little machine quilted quilts plus the guild logo in the top left corner. 

I think the background should have been larger and anything but the stripe for the borders.  

The following piece is one of four non-quilt works.  The tote bag at the bottom is made by a different member.  This mobile is by Dawn Johnson one of our newer members.  Clever.  

Impossible to take a decent picture because there is no solid background available. 

Maybe a dog?

An angel with eyelashes. 

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Sewing on little quilts 07-08-19

The Surfside Quilters Guild in San Clemente, CA. has a challenge every other year and this is the year.  The theme this time around is "Hang Ten" in keeping with our seaside location.  There was a packet of fabric and instructions, which are pretty standard for all challenges.  For this project one must include ten of something, or the numeral 10 or the word ten, etc.  I decided to do "Hang Ten Quilts", using the main fabric as the background - a sort of Quilt Show.   I had forgotten that making a tiny quilt takes a LOT of time including the finishing.  

This is my first quilt.  It is about 6" square and uses 1" "blocks".  I didn't do well on the quilting, but I rather like the rough look; it wasn't intententional .   Originally I thought I would make all the quilts the same size, but that doesn't represent a quilt show very well, so they are all different sizes, colors, techniques,  and either square or rectangular.  

I suppose some of my fellow guild members read this blog so I am spoiling the surprise at the unveiling at the August meeting.  However,  I haven't done much else but work on these little quilts, so haven't anything else to talk about.  The other nine little quilts will be the surprise.

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No browsing this week. 09-04-17

I have been working on the Surfside Quilters Guild newsletter this past week and haven't had time to do much browsing.  It is another 20 pager with the thirty-three challenge quilts pictured.  I wish I could have put in the stories with each quilt, but that would have been at least a 30 page newsletter - more than I care to do or most members care to read!  The quilts are worth a look - 33 quilters started with the same theme and the same three fabrics and every quilt is individual and unlike any other.  It always amazes me.

http://www.surfsidequiltersguild.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=d5jpANc-c14%3d&tabid=179&mid=736

 

The weather has moderated and the high today was only 87F, down from 108F on Friday.  Whew!

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Quilt for the Visions Art Museum Challenge 07-03-15

The Challenge topic due this month is "At The Beach" and this is my entry.

"Moon at Sea"  Del Thomas 2015 14" x14"

Batik and printed cotton fabrics, cotton thread.  Fused, machine applique and quilting.

 

The  heavy machine quilting is done with Valdani variegated thread.

 

The Challenge quilts will be shone at Visions Art Museum from July18 through Oct 5 and they are for sale.

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Getting it Right 03-17-15

Visions Art Museum has challenges at various times of the year.  In the past the criteria called for a 12"X12" size, but this year they are mixing it up with different sizes for different subjects.  Due on April 1st  is "Abstract" - 10"W x 14"L - Portrait orientation.  The art quilt group I belong to, closely associated with Visions, made this our group challenge for March.  I have been doing a "series" of "Color Bowl" quilts for a number of years and decided one would be appropriate.  Unfortunately, I am not happy with the results and have tried various "adjustments" to make it work - to no avail.  As time is disappearing fast, I decided to cut up an unfinished top that has been hanging around for decades (at least one).

 

 

"Color Bowls - Three/Autumn"  Del Thomas 2015 10" x 14"  incomplete

 

This is what I have come up with as a substitute for Color Bowls.  It is all finished except for the binding.

"Yadach" Del Thomas 2015 10" x 14"

Cotton fabric, batting, thread.  Machine pieced and quilted.

 

All of the challenge quilts will be hung at the Museum in connection with the exhibits that run from April 18 through July 5.  Most of them will be for sale. 

 

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Challenges at Visions Art Museum 02-10-15

Members of Visions Art Museum in San Diego may participate in the challenges offered about four times a year.  The last one was "Weather Forecast" which brought quite a few entries - 37.  Different challenges are different sizes, not all are 12" square.  Each artist sets their own price, choosing from Museum guidelines.

 

 

Below are some of those that I enjoyed.

"Sun, Snow, Rain, Wind"  Karen McCarthy

 



"Fire and Ice"  Linda Weaver

This is a map of the USA with weather symbols superimposed over it.

" Winter Memories" Jayne Kratzer

"Frost"  Catherine Zolgatus?

"Sailor's Waves"  Nelda  McComb

"Some People Walk in the Rain, Others Just Get Wet"  Kristine Harman

"Cloudy and Cooler"  Carol Watkins

"Yesterday's Newspaper Forecast: No Rain For Today"  Kathy Piper

 

"Desert Wind"   Del Thomas

You'll notice that all but four of the quilts are horizontal.  That's because four of us didn't read instructions very well!   I thought it was nice of the Museum staff to hang our quilts despite our error. 

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