I made a RARE Bear and she could be yours!

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RARE Science works directly with patient families and foundations to find more immediate therapeutic solutions for children with rare diseases. The Quilt Show is hosting a RARE Bear auction to raise money and awareness for this very worthy cause.

A new bear will go online everyday for twenty two days!!! My bear, Flower, is Bear #2 and she went online today. TQS will be holding a ‘select your favorite bear’ after the first batch of 12, then another after the remaining bears have been revealed. I hope you mark your calendar and in 10 days vote for Flower because how could she not be your favorite!

The auction has already begun. Click the button below to go to the auction page.

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Show and tell…

Carol Hart sent pictures of her quilt and this story:

This is my quilt which I have worked diligently on for the last 2 years.  I was given 114 Grandmother Flower Garden blocks that were made during the depression (1930’s) by a friend of ours grandmother.  I wanted to finish them off in the style that was popular back then.  Vines in the border, and yo-yo flowers (the round groups of 3) were common then.  It is all hand done, measuring 92″ wide, 97″ length.  The lady who made the vintage blocks, Beatrice was called Bea, so I used a bee theme to honor her, plus I needed to fill more border space to make it fit a queen bed. The man standing with me is our friend that gave me the blocks.

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This was quilt show weekend.  I entered my quilt to be judged, an option.  Judging was done on Monday.  The show was hung of Friday, I helped.  The judge awarded me Best of Show and Best Handwork.   Today turned out to be my lucky day, too.   I was awarded Popular Choice, which is a vote taken by all those attending the show, I got that ribbon at the end of today.  So, my quilt is back home.  I’m thrilled.  I’ll sleep well tonight.

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Carol worked on her quilt in my Independent Study class at the Empty Spools Seminar. I’m going to add the very nice things she wrote about the class. If you are interested, I’m teaching this class again in March 2017 :-).

I want to thank you for your suggestions which added to the design of this quilt.  You also gave me confidence to improvise, especially in the corners where I needed some encouragement.  The yo-yo’s really added to the border.  It was nice part of making this quilt to have the experience with you in your class.  Many of your class presentations also added to my techniques now part of my routine.  Thought you’d like to see the finished results.

Carol, I am very happy to see the finished quilt and I thank you for sharing the photos and your story. You do lovely work and the ribbons are well-earned. Congratulations!

Looking at art…

Amy and I visited the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art last weekend. The art was wonderful but, as always, I had at least as much fun people watching the people as I did looking at the art.

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This girl was posing for her friends (and me) on the other side of the atrium.

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This couple looked so good together!

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I am drawn to art with faces. The more you look, the easier it is to see the beauty in everyone’s face.

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by Thomas Schutte

by Thomas Schutte

I also enjoy the way museum guards inhabit the spaces — they are there, but they are also part of the space they inhabit.

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Amy posed for me :-).

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The Monterrey Bay Aquarium…

We spent an afternoon at the MB Aquarium. There are several exhibits where the fish swim in the same direction, except for those who just have to be different. I suspect I’d swim against the grain, just like this guy…

The jellyfish are crowd pleasers…

Everyone with a phone was taking pictures, me included.

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Sometimes I wonder how the internet holds it all :-).

Shopping for wedding dresses…

I went to San Francisco last weekend to visit my friend, Amy. One of the things we did was to go shopping for ‘the dress’ with the daughter, Laura, of one of Amy’s long-time friends. I took my camera and shot nearly 300 photos. I didn’t really know any of the wedding party so I did my best (with limited success) to be quiet and just take photos.

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This place is full of one-of-a- kind runway dresses. It’s first come first served and Laura was the first bride of the day. She was given a little bag with 8 clips to mark the dresses she wanted to try on. It’s a good system.

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She let others in the party make some choices as well.

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(I took lots of photos with peoples faces but I’m not posting them because that is a choice to leave up to the bride.)

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The dressing room began to fill, with a well-used dress form standing guard.

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I did my best to stay out of the shots but there were so very many mirrors! I didn’t exactly dress to fade into the background (what was I thinking?!)

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All 8 dresses were lovely, but Laura did not find ‘the dress’. However, if she has as much fun looking for it as I did taking pictures, she is sure to enjoy the hunt!

FYI: Laura is an actress, stand-up comic, and she has some hilarious videos on youtube. Click here to find GinBlo Productions on youtube.

Show and tell…

Helen K. sent me an email, saying:

Several  years ago I took a class from you with the Feather Princesses in Tampa.  Since then, I have completed two of of your larger quilts, My Whimsical Garden and Tree of life.  It’s been so much fun working with your patterns and I plan to put both in our quilt show in February 2017.

Attached is My Whimsical Garden and I’ll send the other when I get the binding on.  It will be a wedding gift for my son.

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Way to go, Helen! I’m looking forward to seeing your next quilt :-).