Going to quilt guild meeting 03-08-22

I haven't been blogging because I don't DO anything to blog about.  KoKo and I do our two walks each day, I toss Froggy for him, do some sewing, lots of reading, take naps, and generally just piddle around accomplishing nothing.  I understand this is considered Covid languishing.  Maybe so, or I am just old and worn out!!  But today I drove to San Clemente for the Surfside Quilters Guild meeting, the first  unmasked meeting in a long time.  Our speaker was Jenny Lyons, who, oddly enough, was the last in-person speaker we had in March 2020.  It was actually the week that the Covid "lockdown" happened and Jenny remarked that when she flew home to Northern California the airport was almost deserted.   It was good to see her again and her presentation about imperfection was excellent.  Her point was "don't worry about it" and she showed, with their permission, quilts by four or five well-known master quilters who recognize that their work seems perfect, but has small imperfections that only they know where they are located.  And now we do also!  

I am the "official" guild photographer and use my cell phone for that purpose.  I am ashamed to admit that when I was halfway to San Clemente I realized I had left my phone, and therefore, my camera, at home.  Jan Hirth came to my rescue and loaned me her phone for my photography duty.  After we got home we figured out how to transfer the entire album to my phone and I will do the editing tomorrow.  Here are a few images from a fun morning. 

Jenny Lyons in the front row waiting for her turn to present.  We had a good attendence, about 100, I think.  

We had a special Show & Tell of jackets and vests made by members.  

Nancy Ota in her 1999 silk vest made from silk neckties.  All pieced by hand and lined with large sections of ties pieced together.  

Odette Osantowski took Nancy Ota's Sashiko class some years ago and decided to make a jacket instead of a wall hanging.  

Jan Hirth used a pattern from Threads magazine to make this "chenille" jacket and went on to teach the technique to other guild members.  It is a lovely piece, but she says it is VERY heavy.  Not something that is wearable often in SCalifornia.  

There were several items made from antique/vintage quilts, including these two worn by Joann Bishop and Holly Betz.  

There was a lot of Show and Tell with some very large quilts.  I suspect these reflect the time on our hands during Covid.  If you read the SQG newsletter in early April there will be pictures of those quilts and MORE!

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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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Christmas decorations 12-23-20

As some of you may know, I don't do Christmas any more.  I do hang a wreath on my front door and usually a couple quilts in the house.  But this year I just hung one.  It was made by Jan Hirth, who donated it to the Surfside Quilters Guild November Fest live auction in 2016.  She does very precise work, but it is not her original design.  Don't know what company published it.  It is 29"W X 21.5"L.  Fused, Machine pieced and quilted.  Neither Jan or I have any idea why there are frogs!  

Hope you have the best Christmas you can manage in this dreadful year.  

Be safe.  Keep well. Love, Del and KoKo  

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It is Christmas Eve! 12-24-19

It is hard for some people to understand, but I just don't do Christmas anymore.  It is okay!  My choice, for many reasons.  But it is impossible to actually avoid the holiday, it is everywhere.  So, I do gifts for several groups I belong to and I hang a wreath on my door (mostly for the mail lady).   And I have several Christmas quilts that I love, so I usually hang one of them at the end of the hall so I see it multiple times a day.  

Usually I have a red bow, but made this lovely white/silver one this year, just to be different. 

"Santa with Frogs"  Jan Hirth - Laguna Niguel, CA

29"W x 21"L    2016

Machine pieced, appliqued, quilted.

Jan donated this to the Surfside QGuild auction and I was the lucky bidder.  It makes me smile! 

I hope Santa has made it to your house tonight and brought you comfort and joy. Love, Del & KoKo

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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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Using selvedges 11-20-14

In the Surfside Quilt Guild it is a tradttion for the outgoing president to give each of her board members a gift.  Sometimes these are handmade.  Jan Hirth, who was President in 2012-2013 made each officer a little quilt using selvedges that she saved.  I was surprised to see that the one she gave me is personalized.  Other than the section that has the guild masthead, my name and my job (done on her printer) she has included other words that refer to my interests: "On the Road", "Dogs Spotted Everywhere", and "Quilt Diva".  Pretty clever. 

On the back there is a rainbow stripe and a Dresden Plate rainbow with the logo in the middle. 

Our logo represents our location in San Clemente with the western sunset to the right of Catalina Island and palm trees waving on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.  

I save my selvedges for whoever wants them and have a small box full to give to Jan.  Thanks Jan for all you do. And again for the clever little quilt.   

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Road to California Part 2 01-26-14

I have six quilts to show you this evening.  I did not take as many pictures as I usually do, I just didn't see that many quilts that "grabbed" me. Each of these has something that did.

 

Maybe a hot house on a hot day! This is such a fun quilt, I especially like the very tall flowers.

 

Wonderful idea to make negative space to show quilting designs.  This is something our foremothers knew about, leaving large solid fabric blocks to show the quilting.  The perky little bluebirds are charming. 

 

Colorful, well balanced, interesting from a distance and also up close - something I always look for in a quilt or a painting. .

 

I love Bird of Paradise quilts - they are such an expression of the individual quiltmaker.  This one is particularly colorful against the white background.

And look what she has done in the background - awesome and perfect.

Very effective - it truly looks three dimensional.  What a lot of thought and work she has put into this one.  And it isn't a very large piece - maybe 36"wide and 30"long.

Amazing detail - look at the pampas grass on the left and those tiny stones.

I agree that this is a "modern" sampler - the coloring and the festive colors.  It was made by my friend Jan Hirth, whose quilts are always exquisitely made with hand applique and beautifully finished.

 

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Lunch at Ramos House 08-20-13

Lunch out - again!  And at one of my favorite spots - Ramos House in San Juan Capistrano, across the tracks from the Amtrak station.   It currently is a "Road Warriors" job to drive from the I-5 into SJCapistrano, due to the complete reconstruction of the overpass and all the ramps.  Leaving to come home it took me almost 20 minutes to get through one signal.  I think I'll try the back way when I go again, although I have only taken that route once.  "lost forever......"


My lunch partner had the Pan Perdu with peaches, which is her frequent choice.  I have eaten it here and it is very, very good.
 

After watching Liz devour a serving a few weeks ago, I couldn't pass up a chance to try the hash with fried poached eggs.  Today the hash was vegetable hash with tasty and interesting veggies.  I did not eat all of it and brought it home in a box along with the biscuit and applesauce.  But this is a dish I will order again.  And I won't mind if I can't eat it all, I'll ask for a box.  Tonight for dinner I warmed the hash in a frying pan, stirred in a beaten egg, put it on a plate and topped it with half an avocado chopped.   Delish!
 

The two fried poached eggs are amazing.  Liz and I learned last time that the eggs are poached, crumbed and finished in the deep fat cooker.  The yolks were perfect - how come they weren't hard after all that cooking?