First finish of 2019

It’s finished! And the results are beautiful.

Quilting this was very interesting. I did some ruler work as well as free motion quilting on the star itself.

I outlined the star with an inch wide border, using the ruler. Then I filled in with pearls.

For most of the background I did free-form concentric arcs.

It’s hard to see the quilting in these squares, it’s there. Then Chevron quilting with the walking foot. It was easy on the outer border, I could quilt across the whole quilt. Then I’d go back and starter, without having to worry about turning the quilt.

I love the purple background. It was clear that with all the depth of the Grunge fabric, I’d be wasting my time quilting perfect feathers.

I’ve had this background fabric for years, It felt good using it up. I even had to patch in another color way.

I brought it in to Quilt and Things where it was duly admired.

As well as to the daytime guild, where it also got a lot of love.

While I was in the yard taking artistic shots, I noticed how the colors of the quilt coordinate very well with my ceramic garden sculpture. I wouldn’t say the sculpture influenced the choice of colors, but clearly, this is an esthetic I like.

Now, to gift this to a special person, I know she will be both thrilled and shocked. She has no idea that she is getting this.

Capturing the old valley before it disappears.

There certainly is a need to preserve old buildings, but not everything can be saved. Progress means the old comes down while new buildings get built. Right now old houses are becoming McMansions and old apartment buildings are being torn down for bigger newer ones.

So I take may camera with me to document what I can in my neighborhood.

These old dingbat apartments were built after the war, all over the city and the valley. They took the time to give them fancy names as well as interesting decorations. A simple carport in the front with small apartments on top.

Some of these have been retrofitted and others will meet the wrecking ball. This one doesn’t have a name, but does have the decoration. Two buildings down, a new apartment building is replacing an old dingbat.

I’m not sure how long this house will be here. It is yellow and pretty, but I think it’s unoccupied and will probably be torn down soon.

A lovely Spanish style apartment building. I love all the details and the trim. My guess is the apartments are rather small and don’t have washer/dryers in them. I understand that some people are fine with this, and others want larger apartments with more amenities.

Next door is this lovely Streamline apartment building. That bridge between Art Deco and midcentury modern. Sure this is considered Art Deco, but they the late 30s’ things were streamlined and simplified. I bet the rooms with the rounded corner are quite lovely. And of course, and iconic bird of paradise bush. Something else I don’t see as often as I used to. Like everything else, there are fashions in landscaping, just like everything else.

The valle is not known for Craftsmen houses. Right down the street from me there is this lovely little one. Rock base for the balcony wall. Solid pillars. A window divided into three sections. Yup, pure craftsman. I wonder if there is a lot of dark wood inside or not?

And finally, not in the valley but from downtown.

What a great massive advertisement. Channeling Roy Liechtenstein. This is in the Jewelry district and yet it’s advertising a Mall jewelry chain. Actually, now that I think about it, it does make sense. This is where they get their product, from the wholesale jewelers. Most people don’t know where to go downtown and are more comfortable at the mall. Although there are so many businesses open to the public here. I guess you need to do your homework, just walking in doesn’t mean you will get a better deal.

The joy of grandkids

New Years came and went. But the kids don’t go back to school right away. Saba and Savta to the rescue.

First, fun in the jacuzzi with Saba. Yay for nice hot water. No, I didn’t go in, someone has to stay out and take pictures right?

Dinner at Hometown buffet! A little slice of heaven for kids, we allowed only one dessert. Cameron chose wisely – chocolate cake with frosting.

So good he licked the plate clean.

From the moment I picked them up, they informed me that we have to make pancakes for breakfast. It’s a tradition! To make them special we added oatmeal and blueberries.

Put some sliced bananas and a little bit of real maple syrup and we have silence for 10 minutes while they are busy eating.

Then if was off to have a day of fun with the cousins. We went to one of those massive indoor playgrounds. They had a blast, I got a headache.

Back home, they both napped on the ride home, which is a very good thing. This is what quilts are for right? Building forts and climbing in and out.

I knew when I bought this camel, he’s be used for more than just display, sure enough, the boys had to ride him. Btw, the bandaid on Westley’s cheek. Yup, Cameron threw a toy at him. It didn’t hit the eye, so we’re good, boys will be boys. And these sure had a lot of fun! They stayed through dinner and off home they went. And yes, we slept very well that night and enjoyed a nice quiet day on Saturday.

Goodbye 2018, hello 2019

Our annual New Years Eve party got pushed off to the weekend. We did have Aytan sleep over, which was nice, but New year doesn’t feel special in any way. I didn’t even watch the whole parade. I must be getting old and jaded. The floats are lovely, the bands are nice, the horses regal and yet – two hours is just too much. There is this massive build up to Christmas, then in one day it’s over and done. I’ve even seen people throw their Christmas trees out in the afternoon of Christmas day. So I guess, rather than a massive let down, there is a slow let down, ending with New Years.

I don’t show a lot of my cooking here, but I do love to cook. One of my favorite tools is the Instant Pot. I use it all the time. So on New Years Eve I went to the market, hoping to buy some Israeli salads, specifically, Babaganuche, the kind made with Tehina, not mayonnaise. There was only one woman behind the deli counter and she didn’t really appear to want to help much. So I bought eggplants, cooked them for about 7 minutes in the pot – so they’d be cooked through. Then I burned them on the stove top!

The deli just lost a customer. Not a lot of work and amazingly good! The burnt flavor, adding a lot of garlic, lemon juice and Tehina. OMG! It was superb!

I have been knitting. I bought a kit, it’s odds and ends of stripped yarn. The intention is to make exactly what I did – two socks that are a pair but don’t match. I even have enough leftover to make fingerless mitts.

I knit this back in the summer-fall. I wasn’t happy with the result at all. Sure it looks fine here, but that is because you can’t see how awkward the cap of the left sleeve is. Also, a little short. Here I knit a whole sweater and I’m not happy.

You know what’s nice about yarn? (unlike fabric). I can frog the whole sweater and save most of the yarn. Which is exactly what I did. So here I am, knitting myself a shawl.

It will be a repeat of this shawl. The yarn is thinner, so it might be a little smaller. I am adding some rows. We’ll see. This shawl went to a friend in Texas.

Look what I got in return. She crocheted this beautiful delicate scarf, as well as sending a mug and chocolate. Life is good!

Indian Star

That is what I am calling this quilt right now, not sure the name will stick.

Here I go, adding the background. Yes, the instructions were to cut the square in half. Being obstinate, I didn’t, and I will pay the price, this doesn’t lie perfectly flat.

Loving this star against the background.

Adding a border, this is going to be a large quilt.

Trying to get a picture of the guilt top in the wind. I included a border of the background purple all around.

Next try. I really like how before I quilt, the light shines through like stained glass.

Onto my least part of the process, glue basting the quilt. Luckily the wind did die down! As I was doing this I discovered that I am going to have some big problems quilting. I think I mentioned that this top isn’t flat, it really isn’t. Somehow I will need to ease in a fair amount of fabric.

I snapped this picture completely by accident. I was about to delete it and yet there is something about this. There is movement and most of the image is out of focus. I like it!

Quilting the star, one thing I can say about quilting, it adds dimension. The Spines will have the same quilt pattern, the rest of the blade is a simple orange peel.

This is a better image of the quilting. Simple yet effective. I am dreading the background, I can already see that I will have plenty of fabric to ease in. I was thinking of some walking foot quilting… now I’m not so sure that will work. Oh well, on to finish the star!

Birdhouse in Paradise

William Mellenthin built over 3000 homes in the LA area, mostly in the San Fernando Valley. The one story ranch house was king. He put a special twist on his – a cupola facing the street with Dovecotes, or bird houses.

Some are falling into disrepair or being torn down to make way for McMansions. So now, when I’m out and about, I’m busy taking pictures of them.

The cupola isn’t always in the same location, and on this house, it appears there is room for more birds.

People get creative by putting birds in the bird houses.

Or putting a weathervane with a bird on top.

Here is a very well loved Birdhouse ranch style home. Look at the stained-glass ‘shutters’. Very much in the Frank Lloyd Wright tradition, as well as the planters underneath. I wonder if the shingles are new, many of these homes are simply stucco.

Right down the street there is such a home that is already behind the tall green fence – that means one thing. It’s getting torn down.

I don’t know if I’ve shared this teardrop trailer before. It sits outside a home. I was very pleased to see that it merits it’s own Christmas decorations.

Speaking of Christmas – which is now over for the year.

I made this quilt back in the spring. I’m selfish with my quilts, if I don’t keep them myself, they go to people I really care about. Michael has been a dear friend for many years, I love that he loves the gift.

Palm Desert

I went to visit a friend in the desert. Had a lovely lovely time.

She lives in Sun City, we went out early enough in the morning to walk by the golf course. We saw golfers in the distance, somehow a ball managed to land right near us…..

Somehow This area manages to recycle and use water for all this grass. I’m not a desert lover, I’m ok with the desert plants but I do love the green.

Last time I was here, Sunnylands was closed. I’m happy to say that this time we were able to visit. Sunny lands . Only the public gardens, for the house tour one needs to order tickets far in Advance. This was the CA home of the Annenbergs, in keeping with the midcentury modern home – the visitor center at the gardens is in a similar style.

Here is the view from the back. Most of the gardens are desert and native plants. Once again, I do love this large expanse of grass. I did see families enjoying the grass with their kids. Green is so soothing.

This is more like it, barrel cacti and Palo Verde trees. As well as a few reflecting pools. It didn’t take long for me to take off my jacket, although in the desert, nights and mornings can get cold.

We walked through the maze, no they will not have large hedges growing here. This is for meditative purposes, to be honest, we walked through to the center, then stepped over the greenery to get out.

A lot of the garden looks like this. Cacti and succulents come in many sizes shape and colors. Standing back brings forth a very pleasing image. Beyond the fence and the trees is the largest portion of the estate. That is where conferences happen. One of these days, I’ll arrange to take a tour.

Now you see it, the monarch butterfly, not the tree stump.

Now you don’t. Nature is amazing at both disguise as well as bright scary warnings.

A fan palm.

A giant asparagus stalk reaching to the sky! Well really the flower stalk of an agave.

A river bed, created out of plants. Kudos to the designer of this garden, so much to see, so many different types of settings. What a gift, the garden is free to the public. You know that maintaining this takes a lot of time, work and effort. Kudos!

Hearts and Love!!!

Two quilts at the same time

You know I’m working on my red and white quilt.

I’m pleased with this as a frame for the compass.

I started building the white background. Once again, using Deb Tuckers’ rulers as a guide to get those angles right.

I think this will work!!

So far so good with the hand appliqué, sure if you look closely there are some wrinkles. This is where the quilting will come in and smooth everything out.

Meanwhile, I needed a simpler project for my Tuesday sew day at Quilts n Things.  

Something simple, like a Lone star made from a jelly roll.

Jordan Fabrics  has wonderful tutorials on YouTube as well as a print out. I recently bought the 2.5″ strip cutter for the accuquilt, so I got busy diminishing my stash – just a little.

Strips cut and put into bundles.  Next at the shop I sewed groups of three together and cut diamonds.

I started sewing them together.

I’m noticing that my diamonds aren’t as random. At some point I re-watch the video. For now, I’m very happy with this result. Oh, and the seam ripper got a real work out. Of course it did, most used tool in my sewing room.

Since it is such a scrappy star, I actually like that the colors aren’t that random.

Very nice looking and now for background.

I chose this purple grunge. Lana immediately said it looks very Indian to her. She is so right, I am getting a very Indian vibe not only from the purple but from the other colors. 

It will be three weeks before I get back to the store, so I am going to concentrate on this and finish at home. The Red and white will just have to wait. I have a recipient in mind and I want this done sooner rather than latter.

Hanukkah oh Hanukkah!

We got Hanukkah out of the way early this year, now I can enjoy other people getting ready for Christmas while my shopping and decorating are all done.

We got together on the last night with the whole family. This is before the mayhem. Gifts all in order and wrapped. Grandkids having fun with markers and sticker. Boy do I love Dollar tree!

Just look how busy they all are. I understand that some of those markers got on the table instead of the paper. Which is why I am very careful to only buy the washable kind.

We enjoyed a great meal, Yishai actually made a massive amount of potato latkes. Of course we didn’t finish them all, he had plenty to take to work.

Eyal got a little squirmy, he just wanted to get to the gifts.

Gathering together to light the candles.

Lighting the candles. Yishai found the perfect ugly Hanukkah sweater, it’s got those two sided sequins, so the lights can light up.

The fun begins, opening the gifts.

Everyone was very excited.

Aytan and Shira got some great toys.

This was the year that Eyal really enjoyed opening the gifts. I’m sure he’ll enjoy the toys, but this year, it’s all about tearing off that paper.

These two love lego. It was fun finding a basic lego kit, nowadays everything is geared to build a specific item, rather than just handing them blocks and just letting them be creative.

Our adult gift exchange included a lot of games, something the older kids really enjoy. They need to get together to play all these games. Joel got a lava lamp!

Janet told us that a relative of ours had the original distribution rights. Which explains why I never heard of him. He must have made a fortune and didn’t want relatives coming out of the woodwork after his money.

This is what I got, a hybrid of coloring books and diamond painting. I’ve already started, relaxing and fun.

I wish I could say that I’m over all those holiday carbs, but I’m not. I guess I’ll have to wait until after the new year for that to happen.

Creativity in process

So here is a peak into how I design a quilt. I showed you the inspiration, I created the center, this will be a medallion style quilt.

Next up, based on the Alaska blocks I started recreating blocks in different sizes.

I understand why people like buying patterns, I feel that way about sweater patterns. Let someone else do all the hard work. But with quilting, I love the ‘reverse engineering’. Figuring out on my own how to design blocks. Btw, don’t Google (or in my case use Duck Duck Go) to figure out how to make an octagon.  I’m sure I can do it with my compass. The first post I saw said divide the square in 3 and connect all dots. Wrong!  That isn’t what I did here, but whatever I did, didn’t work out.

I’m sure there is an easier way, but I pulled out Deb Tuckers rulers and arrived here. So It’s all good. This is a 12″ block, which I think might be too big. Back to the cutting board.

I decided to use colors close to my final red and white, just so it would look better next to the center compass.  10″ isn’t a standard size, once again, fiddling with Deb Tuckers rulers, I think I have it down.

Why I love the design wall, it makes a difference.

I like the size of the 10″ block, I feel it works well, not too small, not over powering.

This is called designing on the fly. I like what I have here, I have no idea how I will fill in the sides. I haven’t even measured that open space. I’ll figure something out, that is part of the fun. Putting a puzzle together, one that provides warmth and comfort.

Meanwhile:

Honey bear was gifted to mom to be Masha. Along with some adorable dresses. Yup, the bear was a hit.

Look what Maria made, that is all cross stitch. I love having talented friends!