Between Posts - Still in a Fog

Golden Gate Bridge in Fog

Thank you for all your wishes, prayers,and good thoughts for my mother. Her femur is healing beautifully, but unfortunately her mind is on vacation for the time being. She lives next door to my sister now, on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge, where she receives 24-hour care.

I don't have the bandwidth to resume blogging, but Pinterest  keeps my creative juices flowing, even if only for five minutes a day. I hope to return to blogging here in the new year.

Full Plate

Salade Niçoise from La Boulange de Cole Valley

Sadly, no time for blogging at this time. My mother broke her femur two weeks ago and my energies are devoted to ensuring her speedy recovery. Hope to be back soon.

Pacific International Quilt Festival XVIII – Traditional Quilts

Quilt #1502: “Inspiration Draws from Nature’s Art” 80” x 80”

Patricia Delaney

Abington, MA.

World Quilt Competition: Best Machine Workmanship – Traditional.

Oma and I went on our annual pilgrimage to the Pacific International Quilt Festival this week.You can read about our trip to last year’s festival here and see the 2008 quilt competition winners here. This show is the largest and highest quality quilt extravaganza on the West Coast. It features over 800 quilts and works of wearable and textile art, and over 300 merchant booths. If that’s not enough, you can attend any of the 60 or so workshops and lectures offered by world-renowned textile artists.

Here are some examples of the traditional quilts. I spent a lot of time studying Patricia Delaney’s red and white quilt. It certainly is no surprise that she won the ribbon for Best Machine Workmanship in the World Quilt Competition.

Quilt #1502 detail: “Inspiration Draws from Nature’s Art” 80” x 80”

Patricia Delaney

Abington, MA.

World Quilt Competition: Best Machine Workmanship – Traditional.

But it was more than the machine workmanship that set this quilt apart from others, there was something else. Then a fellow admirer pointed out Delaney’s description:

“As my morning walks allow me to escape everyday concerns, so does the time spent at my sewing machine. One of these walks inspired the flowing drawings of woodland ferns. I found each frond to be unique and perfect in its imperfection. The quilting and eight shades of thread reflect this variety. Just as the dappled light is reflected on the forest floor, so, too, the ten red, twenty-five whites and trapunto add shadow and depth to this quilt.”

Imagine twenty-five shades of white and ten shades red fabric plus eight shades of thread! The subtle shift of colors gave this quilt truly an organic feel to it.

Even though Vicki Slawson’s design of this eight-point star and checkerboard border is very intricate, the simple blue and white color scheme keeps the design strong and crisp:

Quilt #2117: “I Know Thy Works”

Vicki Slawson

Brentwood, CA

I regret that I can not give proper attribution for this next masterpiece because my photo was too fuzzy to read the tag. Thanks to Robbie Marie (see comment below) for recognizing this quilt! The quilt is called "Majestic Bugs"

"Majestic Bugs", 104" x 107", double batting
Irena Bluhm

The workmanship is world class – the surface was painted after all the quilting was complete.  112 bugs have been quilted into the background design. Here you can see a couple:

With use of ethnic fabrics, Linda Hibbert gives a new perspective to the traditional quilt:

“Kaleidostar 3”

Linda Hibbert

To see the superb machine quilting of this quilt, click here.

There’s nothing like a white-on-white quilt to show off someone’s workmanship.

Quilt #1508 “Irish Cream”, 84” x 84”

Linda M. Roy

Knoxville, TN

Best Hand Workmanship, Traditional – World Quilt Competition

Sandi Lush used colonial knots and glass seed beads to add interest and texture in her hand-quilted beauty named “Crystal Dreams”

Quilt #9507 “Crystal Dreams”, 86” x 86”

Sandi Lush

United Kingdom

First Place, Traditional –World Quilt Competition

Quilt #9507 “Crystal Dreams”, 86” x 86”

Sandi Lush

United Kingdom

First Place, Traditional –World Quilt Competition

Heather Harding’s choice of butter yellow fabric is inspired:

Quilt #7503 “Welsh Gold”, 56” x 56”

Heather Harding, New Zealand

It’s not often one sees Moorish designs in a traditional quilt.

Ronda K. Beyer

Tualatin, OR

Best Machine Workmanship, Traditional – Pacific International Quilt Competition 2009

The tiny crystal seed beads that Ronda K. Beyer added gave just the right amount of sparkle to this exotic quilt:

Quilt #2010 “Gypsy Rosalie”, 64” x 64”

Ronda K. Beyer

Tualatin, OR

Best Machine Workmanship, Traditional – Pacific International Quilt Competition 2009

Margo Hardie's all hand-sewn "Down Under Florabunda" is spectacular. I can spend days birdwatching here.

Quilt #2502 "Down Under Florabunda"

Margo Hardie, Australia

There were so many other fantastic traditional quilts. You can see some of them here and here and here. The full Flickr set is here.

Next time I will show you some of the quilts in the innovative category.

Boulange de Cole Valley

 

Ever since my mother got sick last year, she has needed a little more help around her apartment building. Though she is doing remarkably well for being 83, my sister and I help her get the apartments ready for lease and we help her select the next tenants. Whenever I have to drive up to San Francisco to hold an open house, deliver a light fixture, or meet the electrician, I know that I have a big reward waiting for me at the end of my errand. Located just a short walk away at Cole and Parnassus is Boulange de Cole Valley.

The aroma of coffee and freshly baked goods greets me as I walk into this bustling, warm place filled with the neighborhood clientele.

If I have to hurry back home, I go for one of the Grab & Go baguette sandwiches.



But if I have time, I will have them heat up a savory croissant or quiche, or I will order a  fresh salad from the chalkboard menu.

And if I’m feeling luxurious, I treat myself to dessert

I always feel so loved when I see their self-serve counter. Who else offers Nutella and cornichons as every day condiments?

 

The food is always scrumptuous and the atmosphere is warm and inviting, but most of all, they were incredibly kind to my mother when she was sick last year, and for that I will always be grateful to them.

If you are in the Cole Valley neighborhood, please don’t miss this San Francisco treat!

Oma - Amsterdam to Lübeck

Holstentor, Lübeck  (Wikipedia )

One of the reasons I started this blog is so I could record my mother's incredible life. Whenever I tell anyone an Oma story, it always leaves them asking for more. It is a long, difficult story, but with Mother's Day around the corner and one hundred posts behind me, I suppose there is no time like the present to start telling the story, little by little, whenever the mood strikes me. Oma's Birth

Singelgracht and Munttoren,  Amsterdam (Wikipedia)

Oma was born out of wedlock in Amsterdam in 1926 to a German mother, Alma, and Dutch father, Gijsbertus. 

Soon after, Alma brought her baby back to Lübeck, her hometown in Germany. One can only imagine the terrible stigma associated with single motherhood in that era, which may have played a large role in Alma's decision to drop her baby off at the local orphanage, but more likely, she was either incapable or unwilling to raise my mother. Whatever the reason, it is clear that Alma never bonded with her baby. Oma still speaks sadly about the time she walked across town to ask for money to see a movie but her mother refused to give her even a pfennig.

Marienkirche, Lübeck  ( M+MD at Flickr)

Fortunately for my mother, her grandmother, despite being already very old and almost blind, couldn't bear the idea of having her grandchild in an orphanage so she rescued Oma and raised her until she was eighteen. About Lübeck Lübeck is a beautiful ancient city, settled soon after the last ice age. Its impressive tower gate, named The Holstentor, is the last remnant of the Brick Gothic wall that once surrounded the city 500 years ago. The Holstentor appeared on the former 50 Deutche mark note as well as on the 2006 special edition of the German 2 euro coin and it is featured as a landmark in the popular computer game Simcity 3000. But my favorite depiction of the gate is on the logo of the famous marzipan brand Niederegger. My mother tells a wonderful story of how marzipan as invented:

“Once upon a time, Lübeck was surrounded by the enemy. Luckily, the city was fortified with an impressive wall and the enemy could not enter the city. But, of course, this meant that nobody in the city could get out either. The enemy was patient because Lübeck was a beautiful, strategically-located harbor town worth waiting for. Unfortunately for the enemy, Lübeckers are very stubborn and strong people so it took a very, very long time before there was no food left and the citizens’ resolve began to waver. The only foods left over were some almonds and sugar, found in the basement of the town hall's reserves. They ground the almonds and sugar together to make mandelbrot@@, almond bread, and doled out these final pieces of "bread candy" into rations for the whole town. One little boy, decided to go to outside the Holstentor gate to talk to the enemy. "Are you still here? You know you are wasting your time because we still have lots of food left over. In fact, we have so much food, we even have candy." He took the mandelbrot out of his pocket and started eating it right in front of them. Disillusioned at the prospect of a prolonged wait, the enemy decided to leave. The little boy was declared a hero and the town lived happily ever after.”

I always loved this story because it was so empowering for children.

In my opinion, Niederegger marzipan is the best tasting marzipan because they guarantee that their product contains two third almonds by weight and they add a small amount of the bitter almond extract and rose water to give depth to its flavor. It is often thought marzipan has Arabic roots, and some may say that the rose water is proof of its lineage, but I choose to believe my mother's story. If you ever have the good fortune of being in Lübeck, Café Niederegger is an essential culinary stop where you feast your eyes with the beauty of the marzipan sculptures:

Niederegger Cafe display window, (M+MD at Flickr)

Niederegger marzipan fruits, GaijinSeb at Flickr

have a cup of coffee with marzipan cake,

Niederegger Cafe

and visit the museum upstairs to see the life-sized marzipan sculptures representing those who played a major part in the history of marzipan, from Magellan to Father Christmas.  Not pictured: “The Persian”.

Marzipan Salon, Niederegger Cafe (GaijinSeb at Flickr)

I just looked at the title of this section and realized that I didn't tell you much about Lübeck but I told you a lot more about marzipan. Now you know where my priorities are. 

Oma's Apartment 6

I used to be a Christmas neurotic. For years and years, I had a goal to be finished with Christmas shopping by Thanksgiving. Some years I actually achieved this goal, which meant I picked up presents year-round and stepped up my game in earnest by about September.

I still buy gifts throughout the year when I see something perfect for someone on my list, but every year I get more relaxed about finishing early. I never got to the frenzied state of last-minute preparations - until this year.

This year, Oma suddenly had a vacant apartment right around Thanksgiving. Up until this year, she was always able to prepare her apartments for the next tenant by herself. Though she is 90 percent recovered, her illness did weaken her. We also can't forget that she is 82 years old, not to mention that the apartment is on the third floor. Oma has five huge pins holding her hip together from an injury thirty years ago, so it is excruciating for her to climb up and down those stairs. By the way, climbing the stairs does have its reward; this is the view from the living room and the bedroom:

And if you squint your eyes and know where to look, you can see the tippy top of the Golden Gate Bridge:

Oma did quite a bit of the work, supervising and working alongside a few favorite workers, but she still needed help. My sister, brother-in-law, and I spent the last few weeks shopping at hardware stores, Benjamin Moore paint stores, lighting stores, and Home Depot, plus we hired some extra workers and managed the tenant selection.

We never had an open house during the holidays before so it was fun to decorate the unit with a few holiday touches. Overall we were all pleased with the end result:

This past Sunday, we held an open house while it was pouring rain outside. It was lightly attended, but we think we found a lovely, responsible tenant.

We usually get our Christmas tree around mid-December. This year, we didn't get our tree until the morning of the open house, December 21st, because I always had to take our big car so I could schlep around light fixtures, curtains, shower heads, and staging props for the apartment.

As for our Christmas preparations, my lovely daughter managed to cook our entire Christmas dinner while I was a wrapping fool at the kitchen table, preparing the rental contract, and trying to perform credit and reference checks while everyone was at the mall instead of answering my phone messages. I abandoned the task of decorating the tree because the Christmas tree lights decided to have a mind of their own. Fortunately, my sister and brother-in-law came to the rescue and decorated the tree before we sat down for Christmas dinner.

While it was hard work, it was also strangely liberating. Our holiday expectations were suddenly brought down to a human level and I was much more relaxed about getting it all done. Next year, I hope to take a page out of the same book.

Oma on the Mend

Before I continue with more eye-candy from the this year's quilt festival, I forgot to share the fantastically wonderful news about my mother. She is much, much better! I attribute her healing to all of you who have prayed for her and kept her in your thoughts since April 22nd. She is fifty pounds lighter, which I'm sure aided her healing, and 90 percent better. She is off all her meds except for one half tablet of one drug per day. These months have been very challenging for our entire family and we all appreciate your support!


The quilt featured here is one Oma made in 2003; it was selected to be shown at the Pacific International Quilt Festival that year. My daughter was 12 years old and going through a serious butterfly phase at the time:

The tulips are of course a nod to Oma's Dutch roots:

She was particularly proud of the scalloped edging, made of patched strips of fabric.

The machine quilting was done by a professional quilter. I will post her name as soon as possible.
Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you, one thousand thank yous!

Pacific International Quilt Festival XVII

Viewers Choice - Manchester: "My Flower", Michiko Takakuwa, Japan

My mother and I went to the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara this morning. It is the largest quilt show on the west coast featuring over 800 quilts, wearable art, and textiles. They also have 300 vendors who sell anything having to do with quilting or home sewing. Plus they offer workshops and lectures all weekend long. We spent just under two hours there, but most spend many more hours than that. This was the first quilt that "wowed" me:

I am not a quilter, my mother is, so please forgive me if I'm not using the proper terminology. I love white-on-white art of any kind because it emphasizes texture, form, and shadows. In quilting, it showcases the mastery of technique. This quilt is completely hand-quilted! Here are some close-ups:

When I showed these photos to my fourteen-year-old son, he asked for clarification on the term hand-quilted. "You mean there's no machine involved at all? That's retarded! That doesn't even look like fun". Ah, youth!

I do have to admit, this quilter is scary good. As in, if she was living in Salem three hundred years ago, they might have burned her at the stake.

Here's some examples of some great innovative, non-traditional quilts:

"Moon Garden" by Judy Coates Perez

Judy Coates Perez's quilt "Moon Garden" is the most popular photo of all my Flickr photos. Her blog is here. Her book "Painted Threads, Mixed Media Textile Art", featuring this quilt along with her other textile arts, is available here.

Best of Country Award: "Moonrise", Betty Busby, United States

I have more photos to show you but this is all the time I have for now. If any of you are within striking distance of Santa Clara, California, and you are even remotely interested in quilting or textiles, this show is worth attending. You can find more information here. More photos at Flickr here.