Aprillian April

The  new month arrives, and I'm awash in flowers around here. A lot earlier than usual because of the unusually high temperatures we had for a lot of March. Aprillian is an actual word, one that I don't think I've ever encountered, it's quite old, from the mid 1600's. It means "Of or characteristic of April." Not amazing, but it works well as April is such a transitional month between seasons and around here that means flowers. The lilacs have already come and gone thanks to a bit of rain on the last day of March. 

The monthly marker is a combination of two photos, manipulated in the apps percolator and snapseed. First I took this picture from the Mosaic Improv class of the blocks I made in class, 

and put it through Percolator.

Then I overlaid that result with a picture of Marcel Duchamp's rotoreliefs that I was fascinated with at the MOCA in Los Angeles. I really like the final combination of the circular designs ghosted over the circular Percolatorized squares of the quilt blocks.

Here's my One Second Every Day video for March

Monthly I-Did List for March

1. I worked on the pink flying geese from the Lupine Mystery clue #2 and finished them
2. I did a lot of stitching on the Snake in the Garden quilt
3. I sewed 26 HSTs for a Community Giving quilt
4. I worked on the first BAMQ Creative Play piece that got handed to me
5. Together with other BAMQ people we sewed an entire Community Giving quilt top
6. I made a Sawtooth Star for the BAMQ BOM with a Snail's Trail center
7. I took an Improv Mosaic class and made a bunch of blocks
8. I sewed a whole lot more on my Kawandii.
9. I refurbished a "vintage" SF Giants yard flag in time for opening day.
10. I gifted DH the City Sampler for our 36th anniversary.
11. I worked on the second BAMQ Creative Play piece that got handed to me.

A lot of traveling in March (as expected), one last time for me going up and back to Spokane for the medical study and then almost a week in Los Angeles with DH, including a stop-off on the way home at the Getty Museum. Hiking has been replaced with going to the gym that we re-joined in February, we need to work on balancing that out, as I do miss hiking and really need to do it when it isn't super hot outside. I guess this month's hike was attending the No Kings demonstration as we were walking around our town for two straight hours. I went to BAMQ Sew Day, as well as an in-person class. I was a bit less active on social media, posted here on le blogue 26 times,...over on BlueSky 25 times, on Flashes 7 times, and on Instagram times. 

March Cornucopia

March has marched on past us, just as expected. Let me guess, blustery cold days, maybe some rain, and lots of sun and flowers everywhere. And of course, as a result of all the time I've spent online, I have a cornucopia post here, filled with links to many of the things I've enjoyed or think relevant or worth passing on to you.

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I really love Tartan plaids, and this new one created to honor the women (mostly) persecuted under the Scottish Witchcraft act is beautiful and meaningful too.

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Also related to tartan plaids (kinda), an artist archives and makes work with her grandmother's massive collection of wool skirts.

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I really enjoy the EQ8 newsletter, because they have a feature about one block, and show examples of how to use it, and then challenge users to design quilts using the block, super fun. I love this Crossroads block.

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I'm so excited to get to go see this exhibit myself in person at FIDM LA (which is now somehow run by ASU?) Obsessed: Fashion and Nostalgia in the 90's, hello Vivienne Westwood (speaking of plaids)

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Okay, this is awesome, Levi Strauss is launching a how-to repair effort to teach the current generation wearing their clothing how to fix their jeans. Woot!

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The YLI thread newsletter continues to have great tips, including this educational post on matching your thread size to your needle size and why it matters which type of needle you use when you quilt.

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Pineapple blocks have always been so appealing to me but they intimidate me. I think this video from Libs Elliot makes it look pretty do-able. And this one about inset circles is very encouraging as well.

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I am definitely trying this triple zig-zag machine stitched quilt binding technique.

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Friend Jaye told me about the tutorials on Kokka Fabrics, and I think I'm going to try this one for a really interesting looking head band (crossed top hair turban).

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No Kings 3 in Boulder Creek

 

Yesterday we spent a few hours downtown in our little mountain community. There was a great turnout again for a No Kings demonstration., around 410 people by official count. Across the street from us was a marathon Jazzercise class going on for two straight hours. Very impressive and entertaining too. As people walked by they would join in dancing for part of a song.

Here's DH, along with a big crowd along the street in front of our fire station. The whole age range was represented from young to old, lots of dogs (some with costumes or signs included), people on crutches and mobility scooters.

A selfie on the bridge that heads into town, my sign says NO KINGS SINCE 1776. It was a lovely spot in the shade over the river. We were happy to have so many positive responses from drivers, people honking and waving, thumbs up, etc. We took note of the work vans with business names that honked.

This was the image on the other side of the sign I'm holding, an illustration from one of my favorite political comic artists, Tom Tomorrow.

Over the whole country, 8,000,000 - 9,000,000 of us were out there protesting at over 3,300 separate events. There were at least ten within a half hour's drive for us to choose from! There were also international events, at least one on every continent, even Antartica!

More Creative Play

 

I received one of the two Creative Play pieces circulating through BAMQ  at the 1-2-3 Mosaic class. Now that I'm back from our trip, I'm working on my addition(s) to the piece as it stands.

I was thinking that the piece needs something lighter as it's quite intense and dark now. So I took one of the half-rectangles that haven't been incorporated yet as a starting point to add a lighter section at the top. But I haven't committed quite yet, more creative playing yet to go.

Quilt Gift Given

It was our 36th anniversary the other day, so I finally got to give my DH his present!

The City Sampler is on our bed and it's lovely.

His comment was that he always wanted to sleep under a rainbow.

Hooray! Now it truly feels like a quilt finish.
 

Wandering Wednesday: Getty Center Museum Gardens

 

On our way back from the LA Convention center area, we finally arranged our timing so we could stop off and see the Getty Center Museum. It was a gorgeous day, as you can see from the blue sky in this picture. The rough cut Travertine exterior of the museum was so fascinating, it has fossilized plants and animals randomly appearing.

I will be honest, the main reason I wanted to go see this place was this particular roof garden planted with cactus. I remember it 1was in Sunset Magazine back when it was established in 1997.

It's really something! I liked that we were up above the smog/haze layer in Los Angeles so that we could see the horizon.

It was quite hot so we did our outdoor exploring first. The central garden was truly a work of art, or as the garden's designer, Robert Irwin said: "is a sculpture in the form of a garden, which aims to be art." I saw the central knot formation on the map, and was looking forward to walking through the maze, but it was all water.

The pathways zig-zagged around the garden beds that surrounded the central water knot planting. 

Gorgeous flowers were bursting out of all the well designed garden beds.

This shows how far down you go to the bottom of the garden compared to the museum plaza level. 

This was one of our favorite things in the whole museum. Those "trees" are actually bougainvillea vines that are captured in welded rebar "trunk-ish" cages with a spreading grid at the top. 

Fascinating!

We sat underneath and admired the ingenuity (and the shade).

After our rest under the bougainvillea "trees", it was time to walk back up and go see some art.

Walking back up from the central garden you follow the flow of water along gentle zig-zagging pathways all planted with succulents and cactus.

It was so varied and beautiful, and very happy in that hot sun.

The movement of water and the beautiful plantings made it a very easy walk back up the hill.

Up at the very top the source of the water is this fascinating concave vessel fountain. A wonderful optical illusion.

The x marks the spot is the shadow of the grating where the water comes pouring down.

And this was all before we went inside and saw any inside art!

Banner Day

 

One of the things I grabbed last year from my parent's house before it was sold was this Giants yard flag. Mom had proudly flown it for many years, and I replaced it for her with a brand new one for her new Mom-do. I really should have just bought myself one as well, but I wanted to see if I could refurbish this one well enough to use for at least this baseball season (starting this week, yay!). I am my mother's daughter after all.

So, I put on an audiobook to finish (All That She Carried) that was due back at the library today, and got out the Sharpies and worked with them for as long as I could because of the fumes. I'm doing the next session outside on the deck in the fresh and very warm air. My plan is to spray this banner/flag with a UV protector spray. 

Here's how it looks after being completely Sharpie'd. Definitely too streaky for me.

Even after doing the whole thing, I think it's too mottled,especially out in the light, this picture is in the shade.

Out came the Tsukineko inks in orange and black, and oh yes that's looking so much better. The inks really flowed nicely and smoothly on the nylon. Also, a whole lot faster than the Sharpies! The audiobook is over and returned to the library, and the flag is in the sun so the ink can dry. Next step is to fix up the degraded SFwhite machine-embroidered stitching and it will be ready for the UV spray and to put out in my front yard before the Opening Day game tomorrow night on Netflix, SF Giants vs. NY Yankees.