December 28, 2011, School Fundraising Quilt

December 28, 2011....This is a quilt that Julie made and donated for a school fund-raiser. Each block contains hand or foot prints of the second grade students. It was a big hit and the moms and grand-moms bid it up to a very nice price.  :)

December 22, 2011, A Family Christmas

December 22, 2011....This picture is from a  family Christmas celebration.  My daughter is showing off her new toasty warm slipper-boots.

December 16, 2011: Outdoor Christmas Flag

December 16, 2011.....This is the really cute  Christmasy yard flag that my daughter created for me. It is hanging on my patio:

December 4, 2011, Appliqued and Quilted Christmas Gift

December 4, 2011....This is the appliqued and quilted Christmas pillow that my daughter made for me:

November 26, 2011, Show Dog After the Show

November 26, 2011....This is a gorgeous Yorkshire Terrier show dog named Havoc. He is wearing his satin coat that is made so that the shiny side fits next to his fur to help prevent knotting.

My daughter made the beautiful coat for Havoc, whose "mom" is a friend,  and soon found she had more requests for the darling little coats than she had time to create. (She also made that comfy red bed for Havoc.)

Obviously, it was a big day for Havoc and now time to crash. :) Please click picture to enlarge.

November 23, 2011, Tiffany-Style Lamp and View From Living Room

November 23, 2011....This is the Tiffany-style lamp that I made in 1987, just two years before the 1989 earthquake. Miraculously, it did not go over and break. It is now fastened to the round table that it sets on, so the whole table would have to go over or the house would have to collapse for it to break (God forbid).

This photo was taken looking out of my living room on to the deck and the Santa Cruz Mountains beyond on a cloudy day.

This was the most difficult lamp that I have ever made. However, I have the pattern, mold and glass to make the Tiffany-style cherry blossom lamp. The question is, will I ever actually make another  2000+ piece lamp. :)

November 20, 2011, Dolly and Tiffany Lamp

November 20, 2011....This is Dolly and the Tiffany-Style lamp that I made. Dolly was a gorgeous and utterly devoted Himalayan Cat. She lived for thirteen years but  succumbed to kitty-asthma this March. I sure miss her:

November 18, 2011, Barb's Christmas Quilt

November 18, 2011....My "Idaho" sister-in-law made this beautiful Christmas quilt.

She always gets a big head start on Christmas. :)

November 6, 2011, Handmade Serving Dish for Julie

November 6, 2011....This is a small serving dish that I made for Julie.  The clay is rolled out and  thrown over a mold.  Then the design is  added and it is bisque-fired, glazed, and finally  high-fired in the kiln.  (The picture is  of my beautiful mother when she was a young woman.)

November 2, 2011, Frog on Tomato

November2, 2011....On the subject of  tomatoes, my daughter took this cute little guy living in a tomato bush in her garden last summer:

October 30, 2011, Gardening Art: Hanging Tomatoes

October 30, 2011....Autumn is in the air, but the feel and smell of spring is strong in this photo of my hanging tomato plants with a view of the Santa Cruz Mountains from my patio. I also planted some peas with the tomatoes, and they produced enough to top my salads several times.

PS: Note the two 35 year-old Elephant Palms on either side of the tomato tree that I grew from about 2 inch plants: 

October 29, 2011, Barb's Leaf Embroidery Quilted Table Topper

October 29, 2011....Barb made this lovely quilted and embroidered  table topper. I tried to talk her out of it to no avail. :)

October 24, 2011....My sister-in-law, Barb, made this stunning quilted table cover for me. She calls it "Christian Easter." Please click to enlarge and see the amazing detail:

Mark 16:6

the angel said, "Do not be so surprised. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene, who was crucified. He isn't here! He has been raised from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body.

October 22, 2011

I found this in a box of  my mother's keepsakes after she passed away. She loved sentimental stories and  poetry.  It is very old and wonderful;  and contains no exact date, but my mother noted that it was  in a 3^rd grade reader from 1934.

One, Two, Three__by Henry Cuyler Bunner

It was an old, old, old, old lady

And a boy who was half-past 3;

And the way that they played together

Was beautiful to see.

She couldn’t go running and jumping,

And the boy, no more could he,

For he was a thin little fellow,

With a thin little twisted knee.

They sat in the yellow sunlight,

               Out under the maple tree;

And the game that they played, Ill tell you,

               Just as it was told to me.

It was Hide-and-Go-See they were playing,

Though you’d never have known it to be.

               With an old, old, old, old lady

And a boy with a twisted knee.

The boy would bend his face down

On his one little sound right knee,

And he’d guess where she was hiding

               In guesses One, Two, Three.

You are in the china closet!”

He would cry, and laugh with glee.

               It wasn’t the china closet;

But he still  had Two and Three.

“You are up in Papa’s big bedroom

In the chest with the queer old key!”

And she said: “You are warm and warmer,

But you’re not quite right,” said she.

               It can’t be the little cupboard

Where Momma’s things used to be,

So it must be in the clothes-press, Gran’ma.”

               And he found her with  his Three.

Then she covered her face with her fingers,

That were wrinkled and white and wee,

And she guessed where the boy was hiding

With a One, and Two, and a Three.

And they never  stirred from their places

               Right under the maple tree—

               This old, old, old, old lady

And the boy with the lame little knee,

And the boy that was half-past 3.

October 20, 2011 Halloween Scrabble Jack

October 20, 2011......Barb, my Idaho sister-in-law, made this really cute Halloween wall hanging. Please click to enlarge:

Quilted Pansys Wall Hanging

October 18, 2011.......My sister-in-law who lives in Idaho (let's call her Barb) made this wonderful work of art.

Note how Barb used tiny pieces of fabric to create a wreath of pansys that almost look like they grew around the wreath:

Kitty and Hearts Afghan Through the Window

Here is a good shot of the afghan that my daughter crocheted for me. It is on a quilt rack inside my living room. The rack is  in front of a window that looks out on a foggy day in  the Santa Cruz Mountains.

October 14, 2011 Dolly and the Kitty-Afghan

October 14, 2011....Dolly went to Kitty-Heaven last April. Her brother, Lama, and I miss her a lot.

Here she is checking out the gorgeous kitty-heart afghan that my daughter crocheted for me.

The Afghan was laying over a chair so I could get a good picture, but it's now displayed over a beautiful quilt rack that my favorite cousin made for me.

October 3, 2011...Learning to throw pottery on a wheel has been a great, but extremely challenging and frustrating joy in my life over the past couple of years.

I take a class once a week and also completed a week of intensive study through  Santa Cruz Adult Education, with an instructor that is a master potter and a well-known professor in the area.

Here is a group of freshly thrown bowls and vases. They have not been fired yet:

 

Nicki, the Quilter Cat

April 10, 2009: It's nice to have a furry friend help with the final quilting. :)

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