I know, the holidays are over! The stores are full of football and hearts for Valentines Day. I still have to share what I made and what I received.
For a gift exchange with some Facebook friends I knit a scarf.
I knit this a few months ago, which is what I need to keep on doing, knitting items that can end up as gifts for the holidays. Can you see the round box?
I can’t stop with one item. So I made this wonderful box, then promptly forgot to take pictures. So glad my friend took some pictures once it arrived. This is part of another great Craftsy class. Once again, I always learn something in these classes, no matter how much I think I know. 
I had fun with my die cutter and stamps as well. I have avoided getting a Cricut or some other electronic die cutting machine. I really don’t need one. I have the Sizzix and a few dies, which is fine. What I really need to do is get back into some mosaic work this year, not more paper.
When the inside is as nice as the outside, and my label of course. 
In return, I got this beautiful handmade ceramic vase. No, my friend isn’t a ceramicist, but she does work at RISD, Rhode Island School of Design, so she is able to look at what students are making and choose what she wants. 
She chose this because I am always posting the flowers I pick from my garden. So I promptly went out and picked flowers to put in my vase.
Earlier this year RISD had an exhibit of Todd Oldham’s fashions. I wish I could have seen it, it looked spectacular. Well, at least I now have two buttons he designed. Years ago, as in 20 years ago, he had a whole collection of buttons, some were sold at Joann’s. I bought and used them. Foolish me, when I was through with the garment I should have removed the buttons. I didn’t, so I have a small regret. But now I have some of his buttons again. I bet these cost much more than the old Joann ones! because they were bought in a museum shop. Ah the placement of an item has a lot to do with it’s worth!
A day later and the tree is out on the curb. I’m hoping these people got a new sofa for Christmas which is why the old one has been tossed as well.
Some people haven’t gotten the message that Fall is also over. 
I’m happy that others aren’t in a rush to take down the decorations.
Our bright sunny days are back, unlike the north, yet I still love these ornaments that are still on display.
Must be a Jewish/Christian family at this house.
I know, people hate McManshions, sorry folks, they are here to stay. People want large expansive homes, if they didn’t, no one would build them. These people have used the large expanse for lovely decorations. I think this is a very lovely display. I hope it stays up until New Year.
Back home we are still lighting the menorah and eating too many fried foods. I really am ready for the holidays to be over.
I was immediately reminded why I don’t bake. I was doing everything wrong. So I bit my tongue and listened carefully to Minh, followed her orders exactly! She had started the dough from scratch the night before, I had to weigh out the dough exactly and forming them into balls was no easy matter. Here they are, ready to proof one more time.
Henry had carmelized the onions earlier. I let Minh shape the dough, my job at this point was to press the onions into the center. Can you see the air bubbles here? They will help make incredible bialys.
Out of the oven! Beautiful and oh my! So Good! The crust was crunchy, inside they were soft and moist! Well worth all of the effort. Will I be baking again soon? No, unless Minh comes back to town and ropes me in.
My hosts treated themselves to VR as their Christmas gift. It is funny watching someone else doing it. I have to admit, it is a lot of fun. One really is surrounded by a three D world. Since it was a small group, we all enjoyed the experience. 
Henry had given me these orchids weeks ago at my party. I can’t throw them away, so he recommended removing the spent stalks, cutting back the good ones. Then emersing them in ice water and fresh water in the vase. It’s been almost four weeks and they still look great!
The Autry Museum of the American West
I’m sure each of these paintings have some ‘deep’ meaning, I don’t care, I enjoy the bright colors, the hand of the artist. I am so tired of ‘art’ having to have a strong political message, I want art to be uplifting – please stop dragging me down.
Which is why I prefer things like this. This vest is beaded, that isn’t thread embroidery. And cultural appropriate – this is a great example. Beads and images of flowers are European. Many Indians learned the craft and have made it there own. As it should be, cultures enriching each other, becoming better through the process.
Basket weaving was a strong tradition among the tribes native to California. With the abundance of resources here, they pretty much remained hunter gatherers – so baskets are a necessity. It’s nice when they can become art. No basket that was used in everyday life would have these feather, or be this small. It is wonderful when people can turn from substance to art.
Another way of incorporating feathers. The Artist is Mabel McKay of the Pomo Tribe. A true basket artist, a pleasure to see her body of work. 
Even she included beads in her work.
Not all new work acquired by the museum in made by ‘natives’. I love everything about this iron horse. When car becomes horse.
There seems to be a whole genre of artists who make horses out of interesting materials. One of the things I love is the bright colors of the cars and how well they have survived. Automotive paints is a world unto itself.
Even newer cars that are still operational. I parked next to this Thunderbird. I have friends who would come up with very creative names for this car.
The yellow continues inside, from the leather to gear shift. FUN!
The cowboy isn’t completely lost, thank God. The museum owns some Remington cowboys and has acquired many newer artists who are working in the same vein.
There are many old artifacts, like spurs.
highly decorated guns.
A wall of badges. Sorry, my images aren’t very clear, I’m taking pictures through glass.
Many are the six-pointed star.
Then there is the combination 8 point with a five point in the middle, must be from Texas.
They had a photobooth, because who doesn’t have one of those these days! Nice image, but certainly not art!
How people use the tree in the yard as a prop.
Was this a live tree that was planted outside? I like the twig snowman. Hey you have to adapt to the local climate.
There are those who go all out with creativity, as fun as this was in the daylight, at night the whole house glittered.
I really love it when an item gets super-sized, like these lights.
Some houses just have a small little decoration.
Banana
That is not a local phone number.
It’s from Michigan, look at the creative license plate, banana split! So maybe this vehicle spends summers in MI and winters in CA.
Really, a beautiful banana.
The seats didn’t look very comfortable, but every passenger gets a real banana.
From bright yellow….
To…..
Blush on the rims of the petals…
Through the pinks….
To red! Whites, purples, and many other colors in between.
Purple berries.
Golden Ginko leaves on the tree.
Strange flowers on the aloe.
More weirdness.
And a bee busy at work.
The big office buildings downtown have large glorious trees in the lobby. This is the PacMutual Building which is a wonder any time of the year. They have so much room in the lobby that even though this tree is in front of the elevator bank – it doesn’t block anything.
Meanwhile, out on the street, on a fenced off vacant lot, someone has placed this Magi and wreath.
This is a window in a low-income building. Interesting, a bottle of water and the American flag. I do love how people are proud of our colors, regardless of time of year. It’s not just Independence Day where people display the flag.
The foyer of a beautiful old office building. How can I not love a building that displays knights! The symbol indicates that this is a multi-purpose housing building – artists can both live and work here.
I gave my last tour on Spring st. today. I doubt this tour will ever come back. Things always change, even Conservancy tours. After it was over, it was time for celebration at an old classic speakeasy.
Methinks they do protest loudly. Everywhere they claim to be the originators of the French Dip Sandwich. An honor that nearby 
Then it was rush home to get ready for two Christmas parties, one at a friends’ house and the next one a business event. Both fun and festive.
Cam’s first Hanukkah.
Someone had to eat before we lit the candles.
With a little help from Dad.
Since it isn’t even the holiday, we just lit them all.
Once a year I do this kind of frying. First I tried to bake them, then fry, they got a little burnt. Everybody was happy for the effort, they still tasted better than the store bought kind. Maybe next year it will be better.
So how about those small, dull, quiet Civil War Reproduction fabrics? What can be more modern than old-fashioned fabrics in a very modern setting. What can be more modern than 
At one of Craftsy’s many sales I bought this class, with the bear and the deer. I’m not sure how long these patterns will be exclusive to Craftsy. You can’t simply buy the pattern. As for this fabric, no it’s not Civil War, but that is the beauty of quilting, knowing how to combine different fabrics.
What really prompted the purchase was this guy, she calls him a deer, I call him an Elk. I’m hoping my son Elk will want this quilt.
I have no issue learning from a pattern or a book. I have to say that I always learn more from a teacher. Live is best, Craftsy is great. Elizabeth has some very good tips on how to make these blocks. These aren’t paper piecing, They are more similar to making snowballs – working with squares and triangles and only cutting the bias after the seam is sewn.
She also recommends ironing the seams open, see how clean and neat both the front and the back look.
The first owl I made was gigantic, it would overwhelm the rest of the animals. Elizabeth did well by me, yes it was Black Friday and her patterns were on sale, so I bought quite a few.
This is the smaller version, the bigger one may end up either on the back of the quilt or in a new quilt all together. I haven’t gotten that far.
I think the small fox was the original animal pattern Elizabeth put out. She later included a larger size and even a gigantic size that would go well with the big owl.
Small hedgehog. The background fabric is one I had on hand. It is something of a homespun. I like the quiet subtle effect it has on the blocks.
The large hedgehog allowed me to use a fabric that is like a home dec. fabric. Even when I chose a style of fabric, I am too much of a scrappy quilter not to combine other fabrics. I’d say that is my biggest strength, combining colors, values and scale of prints. That comes from working in the textile industry for a number of years.
Funny story about the rabbit. I posted the picture on Instagram and someone reacted that red-eyed eyed bunny is scary. My response was – do you know the killer rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail? Yes! that reference still works, even though that was a white rabbit.
Since this represents a spool of thread, the strings were supposed to be half as thin, so let’s just say my spool has yarn instead.
I enjoyed making these jars, with the snowball corner method, similar to the animal blocks Elizabeth Hartman designs. I’m in the midst of making a quilt with many of her blocks, that will be a separate post.
Here is an even better example, not Elizabeth Hartman, but what an adorable bird. This really is one of my favorite blocks.
I got reprimanded for this one, not the block itself, but because the original had embroidery in the center and I said, I’m done with all techinques in one 6″ block. People really like the moth. That is a scrap I got from an exchange at the guild. I really do like this color combination.
This was supposed to be EPP, sewn by hand. No, I don’t have the energy for that anymore with this project. So I made it by machine and the center is a little wonky. Oh well, that will quilt out and no one will be the wiser. I do like the colors!
There are quite a few stars among the blocks, which does make me happy.
The design wall is getting very crowded, this is just a random setting.
This isn’t all the blocks, I’ve grouped by star, bird, heart, flower. I’m liking this idea, even if I decide to change out the groups. I will probably have a very narrow sash between the blocks and a larger sash between the groups.
Whatever I choose, I’ll be thinking of color placement as well.
I make my famous chili in the crock pot, all of it gone!
This year I made brisket and potatoes in the Instant Pot, I need to double the recipe next year!
Having a large great room means we can all congregate here, enjoying food, drink, and really good conversation.
Every year Iris and I make sure to get a picture, I’m scared to look back at the picture from 8 years ago when I first hosted this party – I don’t want to see how we’ve aged.
Joel gets in on the fun.
It’s great that one of the guests in a wonderful florist, Henry always brings me the nicest flowers. As well as a new vase every year….
I don’t make dessert, people brought plenty of wonderful sweets. Ken can’t walk in the door without his famous sweet potato pie. I’m a little surprised there was some left for Joel in the morning.
Who has time to bake when I’m busy making holiday gifts.
The handmade basket makes the rest of the gift shine.
I have to end with some more wonderful holiday lights. Best part of the season, as it gets dark early, the lights come out, sparking and bringing joy.