The front exterior, with a large rose window. Stain glass only looks impressive with the light shining through.
Los Angeles has plenty of light to make the glass sparkle.
The intricate lead makes clear this is stain glass.
Combined with light, we have art. There is something to be said for an art form that relies so heavily on a natural element to perform at it’s best.
These windows are so high above me that I can’t get a straight forward picture. But maybe that is deliverate, it’s not about a close intimate study of the glass, it really is about the light and color.
I know Judson Studio made the Martin Luther King glass window. Sorry, I think I saw it, but didn’t get a picture. I highly recommend following them on Facebook, they are almost done with a massive installation in a church in Kansas City KS, incredible work on both the glass and the istallation of this massive project.
The vibrant deep colors just sing. Someone must have paid to have this window installed in the memory of a loved one. For years church art was sponsored by congregants in this manner.
Not all are that successful, this is in honor of a church secretary. Can I just say fake Della Robbia and leave it there? OK, maybe not fake, maybe reproduction, but it lacks the vibrancy of the 15th century Florantine ceramics. To me, it just looks like kitsch.
As does this small section of a large gilded picture frame. Let’s just say, this isn’t to my taste at all.
This on the other hand is fine, even if it is molded concrete. Maybe because it is the kind of reptitious pattern that becomes part of so many decorative elements around us.
A reproduction altar lamp.
Then I looked down and saw this marquetry in the floor. The Jerusalem cross – got it’s name becasue the Crusaders had this cross on their banners when they entered Jerusalem. Interesting how now, the Episcopal Church which is the farthest thing from the Crusaders have adopted this as their cross. I also find it strange that it is inlaid on the floor, to be walked on and ignored by most people. I guess I’m busy really looking, trying to see those things that most people miss.
That doesn’t look like Hawaiian fabric!?!
It isn’t, it is a wonderful Japanese cotton crepe. They just had a large supply of Japanese prints. Sure, I can drive down to Momen+ in Torrance, but that is a drive. 
Crepe is a wonderful weave, the threads are over spun. Have you ever twisted yarn enough to create a rope? At some point, you get a nice flat rope, but if you continue to over twist – it gets all janky.
What this does is give the fabric just the tiniest amount of elasticity. Here they also mercerized the cotton, so it has a lovely sheen, not to mention the lovely delicate print.
Another button-down shirt, this happens to be the Granville Shirt from Sewaholic. I think she either sold or closed down her company. Pity, her patterns were as detailed as the big companies- which is rare to find in the indie pattern world. Most patterns there are geared towards the beginner sewer and are very simplified.
I love mosaic, I have mentioned that I need to get back to making my own. This is clearly an inspiration to do so. I mentioned to somebody how these exuberant mosaics remind me of 
These follow the ancient tradition but were only created in the late 60’s. I love it when an ancient art tradition continues and thrives through the ages. My photography here isn’t very good, but this chapel shines with gold. It is interesting to note that in early Christianity Jesus was often shown as a shepard, that image would fade with the many changes in European Christianity. But some old symbols will always find their way back.
An aspect of mosaics that intrigues me is the angles and the movement of the tesserae. This is the hardest thing to achieve. The shadows help give a three-dimensional feeling, but it is figuring out how to lay down the tesserae to add to the sense of a live figure, not just a flat image.
Another thing that has always grabbed my attention, is the ability to create natural skin tones while creating the human body, especially the face.
In all the mosaic work that I have done, I have never tackled a person yet. Not sure if I ever will.
This is more along the lines of what I have done. Except I haven’t included other materials. In this Cathedral, it is wonderful to see the combination of mosaic and marble.
That is a whole new level of working with these materials.
The sun burst on the ceiling, gold tesserat imbedded in the painted concrete, so effective.
Jewish synagogues use very little imagery. Maybe some stain-glass or the Textile that covers the ark. Protestant Churches are the same – rather plain rooms. So I enjoy a Church like this, full of color, light and decoration. I love how the light is flowing in over the cross to the exuberant ceiling above.
Like everybody else in the home sewing industry, they pay attention to trends. There has been a Jo-Ann in my neighborhood for as long as I’ve lived here. (26 years), originally it was House of Fabric, but the name change didn’t change the fact that it was a convenient place to shop for sewing supplies.
A few years ago knit fabric was either solid or stripes, there was cotton jersey and ITY – or 100% polyester. Of course the same was true of the upper scale fabric stores. Today sewing with knits is all the rage and the selection at Jo-Anns’ has grown as well.
This vibrant knit print is 90% rayon and 10% spandex. It is sooo soft! It has a lovely drape and it is comfortable.
I still have a few ITY garments, but as I have written before, I’m not liking polyester these days. Rayon, on the other hand, is a manufactured fiber made from wood pulp – so it does react to body heat. It tends to be cool and good for warm weather garments. It breathes.
The dress is a Burda pattern, sure I can go to Michael Levine’s downtown and buy Burda patterns, but they are always less expensive at Jo-Anns’ and I can buy the pattern on a whim since it’s just a mile away. I often walk there instead of driving, combining exercise with fabric shopping.
I made the dress in an afternoon. Unfortunately, I thought 3 yards of fabric would be enough, it wasn’t, so I immediately went back and bought another half yard. Good thing, since I made a mistake I have made before, namely attaching the front neckline to the sleeve opening on the back piece. Yes, this is not the first time I have made that stupid mistake, it’s called not paying close attention to what I’m doing.
This mosaic bird behind reminds me that it has been 3 years and I really need to get back to making mosaics. I owe my sons a project and of course this wall is rather bare. Meanwhile I am busy sewing a fall-winter wardrobe.
So I packed up the quilts I have at hand and off I went. The topic was what does modern mean to me. Well to be honest, if I’m making it now, it’s modern. I love being a part of the modern quilt movement, but since I’ve been quilting for almost 40 years, my style is set, and that comes through.
Thank you, Michele for taking pictures, I tend to be the photographer, it’s nice being on the other side of the camera. This is a quilt I made 30 years ago, but in it’ style, use of solids and some negative space, it would fit well into a modern show. This was still done when I was hand quilting everything.
Then there is my masterpiece from 29 years ago. I still think this is the best quilt I ever made and probably ever will. All hand work. Based on the title page from the book of Mark from the 
And this one is four years old. See what I’m saying about how my style is very apparant?
A pillow made from one of the first Michael Miller chanlenges. This was back in the day when modern quilting was still a small group. If you belonged to a modern guild, you got a bundle of fabric. Today we are so numerous, you need to respond asap and hope that you are chosen for a bundle. Ah the joys of growing and expanding.
I returned to quilting about a year and half before I discovered LAMQG. I joined them in the second year of their existance. So This storm at sea was made for my son with a few newer fabrics as well as many map and travel themed ones. He clearly uses it a lot, it was filthy. Since he has laundry in his apartment building, there was no way this was going to get washed. I’m a good mom, and I washed it for him. Along with this next one, that isn’t as old, but why not? If I’m already in the mood to launder quilts.
The Chuppah collaboration that I made with my son in law Yochanan. He made the top, I added the borders and the corners and then I quilted it. No question, he ‘gets’ the modern sensibilities much better than I do.
My 1600 hexagons, all hand pieced, but machine quilted. I tried to create color fields, I’m pleased with how I distributed them. No matter how scrappy the quilt – I never just throw things together, there is a lot of planning about the placement of the quilt blocks or patches.
A good example is this clam shell, I chose mostly floral prints and went to town. If you notice the orange/brown/white fabric, that is a good indication of how I laid it out row by row and made sure to disperse the fabrics all over, so there are no clumps on one color.
Smaller pieces, my water challenge for Valley MQG, this time, needle turn applique.
And finally, the mini quilt I made in Luke Haynes class at Quiltcon. I enjoyed the class, I enjoyed the process, I don’t like the end result. It is so not me! But Michele loves it! She bought it from me and I couldn’t be happier! That is what I call a win-win.
So I’m showing groups of blocks instead, these are from the #100blocks100days.
The more blocks I have, the more scrappy it is becoming. Initially, I thought I’d group the blocks by value, or by the similar fabrics. Now I’m just slapping them up on the design wall and going as random as possible. By the time I have all the blocks, I will come back and look at the different groupings and I will probably spend the time to create a cohesive quilt. 
I knew I had more yellows, I just didn’t know where I had stashed them! They were in a bag, I think I was going to take them to a sew-in. Glad I found them now, they will add a lot of fun variety in my yellow theme.
The splendid sampler is different. Two new blocks every week, I have no idea what it will be until it drops. The dark green in the foreground had wonky corners – on purpose! That literaly gave me hives, so I redrafted the points so they were symetrical and they matched. Many people on the FB page commented that they were doing the same. There was another embroidery block, heart and flowers – gag me. I’m over doing all the blocks. I’m doing what I like. I may end up with too many blocks or too few, either way, I can always fill in with a block of my choice. 
Scott Hansen designed the block on the far left. He commented that he likes my color choices. They make the block look very different from his. That is the fun about this project, everyone is putting their individual stamp on it.
Here are my 67 blocks so far. Still liking my color story, liking that I have incorporated more blocks with dark backgrounds. This is a random setting, there will be sashing and more thought put into the final design, but that isn’t happening until February.
So it’s the arrival of Halloween decorations.
Strange flowers on the cactus…
As well as their interesting fruit, that lets us know fall is here.
One neighbor was in such a rush, they started decorating in mid September.
I still can’t resist a cute owl, be he part of out door decorations…
or for sale on a pillow at Pier One.
There are the buildings that are always there, like these Russian onion domes on a 1960’s building on Ventura Blvd. There used to be a Russian night club here, now I think it’s a Chinese restaurant. At least the color fits in with fall.
Big happy pumpkins! I think I’m going to avoid the ghoulish decor this year. Too much murder, mayham and terror in the real world, I don’t need to pretend.
There are always those who keep their standard decor, no matter the changing seasons.
I bought this fabric to make Joel another Hawaiian shirt. It’s been two years since I’ve made him one. It’s time to retire some of the old ones.
Souvenir yarn or fabric are loads of fun. Rather than buying a tchotchke that collects dust and nothing else, making something useful makes the memories last even longer.
I am also able to use the five thread serger! It sews a clean chain stitch as well as serging the edges neatly all in one go! I rarely use this function because if I need to make changes, it’s a little harder to do. Since I know this pattern so well, not a problem here!
Making this shirt is takes only a few hours. The collar takes the most time. Even setting the sleeves in is easy, since they are so big and roomy. There is no easing or inset sewing.
Although the fabric was purchased on Maui, all the references are to Oahu, oh well, it’s Hawaii.
What you’ve been waiting for, the model. Hangers just aren’t the same.
My camera is acting up, I’m not getting good focus. I may need to have it looked at. Yikes! Have I worn it out with all my pictures?
Looking good! Especially the model!
Next, my own souvenir shirt!
The Jewish New year starts tonight. 5777
I have been working with rulers, it’s not that easy. I need a different type of foot, but I’m just not sure what I can use on my Juki. I’m using the Westlee foot right now, it’s ok, but the machine is skipping stitches like crazy! So I had to move the quilt in all kinds of directions to prevent that, that is not what free motion quilting is supposed to be like.
I left the white in the blocks empty and did swirls and diamonds in the sashing. No, I didn’t use the ruler for the diamond shapes. I can see that the lines are wonky, doubt anyone else can.
Simple little flower in the center block.
I have to thank Angela Walters for the dot to dot quilting class, where I learned how to incorporate these diamonds, without marking.
I tried a new batting, cotton is lovely but it is heavy. So I used Quilters Dream polyester. Next time I want polyester, I’m going with Hobbs or some other simple brand. The scrim was so tight on this batting, it weighs as much as cotton, without the flexibility. Yes, I have ordered wool and will be using wool batting. I hear it’s wonderful, of course, I don’t think I will use it for baby quilts. It can hold up to the washing, but I don’t think it’s worth the expense for me.
A little girl will get this so the back is pieced with pinks! 
This is a new label, it’s cute, it is iron on, I’m not thrilled. At least it’s there. Sorry about the smudge on the pink triangle, that is where I will write the name and birth date of the baby when she arrives.
There is a breeze here, so why fight it, just capture the image of the quilt blowing.
An artistic shot.
I still have this funky hippo, at some point he too will be gifted, right now he is just a very cute prop.