Last weekend, I went with DH to Southern California for the NSGW SoCal Weekend. They have it every year and this is the first I have attended. I think it was the first time for DH as well. The official events were two dedications, an initiation and a banquet with a local councilman as a speaker. We also went to a luncheon celebrating the $55,000 that the Natives donated this past year to St. John’s Hospital to help the treatment and research of cranio-facial anomalies such as Cleft Palate. This is part of the money we raised at the Hospitality Suites with the NSGW embroidered pillows. DH also took the opportunity to audit the books of two parlors (chapters).
Rialto Womens Club
The Order dedicated the Rialto Women’s Club and the Rialto Historical Society. After the dedication was over we took some time to look at the historical society’s collection. Of course, I was interested in the quilts.
There were a number of crazy quilts, one was in very fine condition and displayed very well on a covered board (for stability) and hung on the wall.
RHS Crazy Quilt
I really couldn’t believe what excellent condition this quilt was in. I don’t know if it had been restored or not. I suspect it had, because there was no damage at all and you know that the silks of that time were full of lead and thus very prone to disintegrating.
Peacock Cemter
I really liked the center. I HAVE to be in a peacock mode. I don’t even like peacocks. I like the idea of peacocks, but the real ones, while beautiful, make a lot of noise and are messy. Their feathers are wonderful, though, and this embroidered center is one of the most beautiful pieces I have seen. I think the complex simplicity of the design is the genius.
I kind of wish I had taken a more closeup photo so I could see the stitching of the center. I didn’t think of it at the time. It is possible that I will go there again and can look then.
RHS quilt
There were a number of other quilts. One caught DH’s eye. I really need to make him a quilt of his own as he just makes due with any random quilt on the couch.
I haven’t looked up the name, but I think it is some kind of propeller design. It is made from tumblers and I think it would be a very interesting piecing challenge.
The others I saw were all made into curtains and that was kind of sad. They weren’t especially interesting, but they were old and looked finely pieced. I suppose being made into curtains is better than being cut up into softies.
I was in Boston for the Special Libraries Association conference. On my last day in Boston, I walked over to a fabric store called Grey’s Fabric and Notions. I had looked at their website and saw a number of blog posts on garment making including lingerie, so I was on the fence about visiting.
Building with interesting colored windows
My conference buddy encouraged me so we walked over there together. We got there off of Summer, A Street, 4th and finally Harrison.
Summer Street was a main road and to get to A Street we had to go down a set of metal stairs to the street below. It was kind of like the Stockton Tunnel street madness here in SF. The neighborhood looked yup and coming, but also very much in transition.
It was a bit of a long walk, but we enjoyed it. We took pictures of interesting architecture and things we don’t see at home or interested us. The neighborhood is definitely changing.
Pretty alley housing Grey’s Fabrics
Grey’s was a little hard to find, but worth the trip and in a charming little alley with other art galleries and creative spaces, including a bead and fiber store.
The store itself is great. It is a good size without being huge. They had plenty of quilt fabric; a very respectable selection and I liked what they had. I indulged in a couple of pieces. One will be a dress for a future NSGW event. They had a fair selection of Philip Jacobs (my man!!!), considering the size of the store. They also had notions, patterns, embroidery floss and a lot of gift items.
Front of Grey’s
One thing I really liked was the table in the front with lots of little things, including gifts. If that “Be Nice or Leave” pouch had been a sign I would have bought it. I need to tape such a sign to my forehead.
I bought a piece of flannel to make future receiving blankets. Ashley, the store manager, introduced me to double gauze, which she said fluffs up a little after it is washed. It came up after I told her about the receiving blankets I make as gifts for babies. The double gauze, apparently, makes very soft receiving blankets. I didn’t buy any, though it might be good for lighter weight receiving blankets. They have an online shop and it is made by Cotton + Steel so I maybe able to find it locally as well.
The store had lots and LOTS of the independent pattern company garment patterns, such as Colette. I was tempted by one, but restrained myself because I want to look at the Vogue patterns before I buy any other patterns.
The other thing I saw that I liked were the Sublime Stitching embroidery patterns. Of course, I have heard about them and seen them online, but I have never seen them in person. There was one called Sexy Librarian that would make a great raffle prize for my library association, if made up into a pillow or something.
All in all, visiting Grey’s was a worthwhile activity and I would visit again. I wish it was near my house as I would love to take classes there.
You can find Grey’s Fabric and Notions at:
450 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02118
(617) 338-4739
Last Sunday I wrote about the inspiration that could be found in the indoor pool at Hearst Castle. OMG! I love the colors in that indoor pool! Although, I have to admit, it should come as no surprise to you.
There is a lot of other tile around the estate. As I have said about 100,000,000,000 times, I love tiles and mosaics. Some of these were some of the most inspirational I have ever seen., including being inspired for quiltmaking designs.
The photo to the left would be an interesting baby quilt. The circles could incorporate fusible or machine applique’. The center could be redesigned a little bit to be more geometric and pieced.
Cottage tile at roofline
Each of the cottages had tile at the roofline. Those tiles were different colors and had different motifs. I could only see the tiles in the photo (left) by taking the photo with the zoom at ‘extreme’
The bonus was the plasterwork (not sure of the technique) on this particular cottage. I love the ceiling decoration, but I also like the gargoyles. They are more funny than scary. All of them were just a bit different, but equally hilarious.
Cottage Bas Relief
I like the idea of the roof tiles. I think it adds a bit of interest to the rooflines. I think it would add something to those cookie cutter townhomes and apartments most large cities are putting up around public transport.
Anyway, the Hearst estate is a wonderful source of fabulous inspiration. If you have an opportunity to visit, don’t hesitate.
There was so much inspiration at Hearst Castle that one post wouldn’t do. The previous post was mostly about the outside of the castle. One of the most beautiful parts of the estate was the indoor pool. It didn’t have the feel of indoors or outdoors.
The bottom of the pool is gorgeous. The colors are rich and strong even through the water. Yes, turquoise is a favorite color, but that blue is hard not to like. Coupled with the green, it is a very special color combination It is definitely worth trying to replicate in a quilt. A very different two color quilt?
Wall tile in indoor pool
While the bottom of the pool is awesome, the walls are fantastic, too. In fact the entire inside of the building is covered in mosaic tile.
Wouldn’t the rectangular design to the right make a fantastic quilt with no additional designing? Start saving your 1″ squares!
The outer borders, however, would also make fantastic borders. See the squares spaced at regular intervals? I think tile artisans have the same problem we do with spacing and the math around borders. The squares on the sides as well as the L shaped corners look great, but also help deal with the math. I am sure the tile people Mr. Hearst employed were perfect and this was the design, but for mere mortals like me and my quilts, the ideas would be really helpful.
The colors are really great, too. Blue and green, of course, since it is an indoor pool, but the yellow doesn’t overpower the rest. Perhaps it is more gold?? I also see a few different colors of yellow tiles. That probably helps, too. Scrap tiling/quilting?
Floor tile designs – indoor pool
My favorite part of the indoor pool area was right when I walked in. The photo (right) is flooring! Yes, I walked on it. Look at that gold! Look at those circles! Amazing.
I think what caught my attention first was the blue and gold. They are the colors of my alma mater, so they always grab me. On second look, I saw the design and was even more enchanted. Don’t the figures look like animals?
I also see some pinwheels and nine patches. I just love tile.
Last week was Grand Parlor, which took place in San Luis Obispo. Wednesday of the week was ‘Playday’. I signed up for a tour of Hearst Castle and DH went off to nap, play Pidro and whatever.
Hearst Castle
I had been to Hearst Castle before, twice, I think, but it had been many years. I remembered a lot, but I am more into details now.
The place is full of inspiration. Unbelievable art in all forms wherever you look and cannot be escaped. A lot of it is not really my style, but *I* don’t have to live there. 😉 Regardless, it is amazing collection of art, which is probably the understatement of the century.
Mary with infant Jesus
I always thought that William Randolph Hearst went to Europe and just bought up everything in sight. This time, the tour guide said that he bought everything out of art catalogs that were sent to him from New York. Who knows what is true?
One of the oldest pieces at the estate is a statue of Mary and an infant Jesus. It is outside the main front door. There is something about it that I really liked. The Baroque or Gothic look to the overall section is a bit much for me. Still without the trimmings, I like the Mary and Infant Jesus statue.
Balustrade
One of the things I like about architecture is the inspiration it provides to quiltmaking. The balustrade (a railing supported by balusters, especially an ornamental parapet on a balcony, bridge, or terrace) has a complex design, but it can also be used as inspiration for a quilting design. Imagine this – or a version of this – as a quilting design in a large open space.
Cottage Bas Relief
I really like the detail of the area below the roofline of the cottage. I know that this is a multi-millionaire’s guest accommodations, but why can’t modern housing and infrastructure type buildings have any detail like this? I think it would make the surroundings in cities much more interesting and easier to live in.
It was a great trip and there is so much more to show you. Better though, would be for you to go and visit the Castle yourself.
It has been awhile since I was able to attend a CQFA Retreat – 2 years, I think. I was so thrilled to be able to attend the current retreat, which was held over Mother’s Day weekend. Isn’t that a great Mother’s Day gift?? As a bonus, I sewed so much!
I feel like I really made some good progress on projects that were languishing:
First of all, I, pretty much, threw projects and parts into project bags starting about a week before the retreat. This helped me not forget critical fabric and supplies. The only thing I forgot was a lamp and my sewing machine’s light kept me from going blind.
Next, I made sure I had plenty of blocks and parts that would make good leaders and enders. Using the leaders and enders technique, I made 20+ Nine Patches for the octagon 9 Patch on which I have been working and 27 (!!!) Box Full of Letters blocks. In addition to significant progress on two projects, I am pleased with the progress I made on the leaders on the leaders and enders projects.
Oliso ironing surface
The other thing I did was try out the Oliso iron I bought. I finally dragged out the June Tailor ironing surface I bought for the Dale Fleming Circle class as well. It was a little different because you don’t set it up on its end, it just pops up away from the ironing surface. Also, the steam and basic functionality are a little different. Friend Julie tried it also (we shared a table and a mini ironing surface) and gave me her feedback as well.
Sue’s Baby Quilt
People made great projects. Bron and Sue were working on baby quilts for friends. I liked the ideas they had and may use the ideas for donation quilts.
Sue’s (left photo) quilt is made from strips and a background. She said she cut strips and then sewed them together in rows. She said she used different widths of strips and I think that gives the piece a lot of movement. Lucky kid, I say.
In thinking of different ways to make this quilt, I could use strips, cutting them as I cut into new yardage. I would save up strips until I had enough and then get Gerre to quilt it. 😉
The other thing I could do it rummage through my scraps and get pieces large enough to do something similar. My mind is reeling.
I didn’t get a photo of Bron’s quilt, sadly, but what she did is wacky sew pieces together, then she cut the pieces into squares and sewed them together with sashing into a baby quilt. She used a white dot on yellow for the binding, which I loved! It would be a good scrap project.
Gerre’s art quiltGerre burning her quilt
Gerre was working on an amazing art quilt. She put layers of fabric together with tulle on top, then quilted it then BURNED it! It was awesome.
Reva worked on a flower quilt.
Angela was doing some improv piecing based on a piece she started in a class.
Julie’s Tumbler
Julie worked on 3 or 4 pieces, including a self portrait and a couple of pieces she started in China. She also sewed rows to her tumbler quilt top, which is nearing completion. It was so great to see her so productive as well.
Rhonda worked on handwork all weekend, including an applique’ project inspired by Kevin Kosbab. She showed me the Valdani Pearl Cotton collection she bought from MassDrop, the temptress! I love Valdani Pearl cotton. I may have to start another quilt like Beach Town. Or just pick a project on which I can embroider. Hhmm.
Maureen’s Mid-Century Modern
Maureen worked on a piece that I thought was made from a pre-cut, but she picked all the fabrics herself. I really think that she should put pre-cuts together for Moda. Her piece looked like a mid-Century modern quilt or painting.
Maureen worked on a plaid piece as well. She found the fabrics at FabMo and turned them into improv blocks which she was playing with when we all had to leave.
Dolores was working on dolls from a class she took with Susan Else as well as the piece from the online class she is taking.
Caroline made pillowcases and worked on a crazy paper piecing project. I think the one section she worked on had 58 pieces!!!
Amy’s Landscape
Amy was working on a kind of landscape with flowers. I loved it!
There was also a “free stuff table” and I picked up a couple of pieces of fabric. There was something about the colors and imagery that attracted me. There were a couple of pieces of Kaffe Fassett and some others. I tried to exercise restraint. It was difficult, but I seem to have succeeded. The purple dandelions were kind of a surprise, but they will come in handy somewhere.
CQFA Retreat Free Fabric
In addition to the sewing, it was great to see other people’s projects and chat with my friends. There was never enough time to find out everything I want to know about other people’s process or what is going on in their lives. I didn’t take nearly enough photos and wanted more time to sew.
Still I am glad I got the time I did, especially at this time of year. I felt like I was really productive and that feels good. I need to sew more.
One of the bonuses of living in California is that Disneyland is no more than a day’s drive away. When I was a kid, it was a couple of hours away and I was fortunate enough to have parents who took us there every year.
At some point, I was old enough to refuse to ride the roller coasters and I became okay with visiting the Haunted Mansion. I have been on all of the rides and seen most of the shows. I still enjoy the park and its attractions, but now I look at the details gain inspiration from them.
Seahorse detail
I have some bits and pieces that are supposed to be part of a challenge for CQFA. I didn’t know what do with them until I saw the seahorse on top of King Triton’s Carousel. KTC is really in California Adventure (a poor stepsister to Disneyland, but great details as well).
I like the stylized motif. The large nose (bill? beak??) and the very unrealistic outline, which is not cartoonish.
When I saw this, my idea was to applique’ a seahorse to a piece of fabric and then use the fusible pieces as a kind of border – clustered in a corner or something.
It was very high up, so this is the best picture I could get even using my extreme zoom.
Grate
I thought of Kelly when I saw this grate (yes, I look at everything), because she is an excellent quilter. I posted it on Twitter and asked how people would make it. Predictably I got the gamut of responses. One interesting response, from Dan Rouse, was EPP, which I didn’t think of! I am not sure how that would work, but I am enjoying thinking about it.
I am pretty sure I have seen some fabric with this sort of motif. I may even have some.
Floor detail, Midway Mania
With the O9P quilt, I am on the octagon/snowball bandwagon. I saw this motif on the floor at Midway Mania (fun attraction, by the way) and am determined to put this on the list of borders to make. Alternatively, it would make a good row quilt using vertical rows.
I would make the pieces inside the octagon larger, perhaps a nine patch so that the portions of patches were not so small. The octagon border would also have bigger pieces OR one piece per side. I would have to see what looked better. Seams, you know.
I would also not break up the corners outside of the octagon (that would make the octagon into a square). It would just be one triangle. It would be an interesting challenge.
Buena Vista Street Vase
This vase was a quick drive by photo. I saw it as we walked by at a leisurely pace and didn’t take a photo. Then we were fighting our way through the parade crowd and I knew I wouldn’t have another chance, so I got ready and took the photo as I was walking by. I slowed down, but didn’t stop lest I be run over.
It is a good outline motif and could be appliqued. I see some piecing opportunities for the vase itself, though I would not want to piece the spiral handles.
I would have to think about the circle. I think it adds a lot to the motif as a whole, but would I want to applique’ it?
Tile Floor
Finally, I cannot leave you without some tile. This tile motif was a floor, again in CA Adventure and it looks like it would be an interesting and not to difficult baby quilt pattern.
Well, I called this post Disneyland Inspiration when all of the motifs were from California Adventure. I really don’t think of CA as a separate place so I will leave it and you to enjoy the inspiration.
Last weekend we headed up to the North Coast again for an annual NSGW event. Normally there is an event Friday evening, an event in the late morning on Saturday and a big dinner on Saturday night. This year the Saturday late morning event fell through, so DH and I had the whole day until 5pm to spend together. It was nice. Not having the normal day-to-day to deal with for a little while makes spending time together quite enjoyable.
We took the opportunity to spend some time in the Eureka/Arcata area. The Young Man got accepted to Humboldt State so we went to take a look at it. We did offer to pay for him to come with us and he decided to go visit his grandma and grandpa instead. We tortured him by sending him a bunch of photos of various parts of the campus in a running commentary.
After the campus visit, we had lunch at The Lost Coast Brewery and it was AWESOME! They had gluten free buns, so I took the opportunity to have my first French Dip in, probably, 15 years. It wasn’t as good as I remember a French Dip being, but I still enjoyed it. The restaurant had fun decorations, too. There was a pulley system with a giant spider at the end of it and when the door opened and closed the spider when up and down. They also had a number of paper mache animals hanging from the ceiling. It was a little loud, though.
Ocean Waves Quilts
After lunch we headed up to Ocean Wave Quilts. DH actually came into the store with me. I really like it when he comes in with me. I told him to pick out some shirt fabric, but he didn’t see any that he liked enough to buy. He was interested in everything and looked around. I didn’t buy much as I really don’t need anything. I just bought a couple of fabrics for projects in process and some of the new rainbow Wonder Clips. I bought the latter because they are so fabulous. I think I spent around $23. You might remember my posts from last year?
Lincoln’s Hearse full view
Not too far from Ocean Waves is the Blue Ox Millworks. Over the weekend they had an open house to show off a replica of Abraham Lincoln’s hearse that they are building. Creepy, I know.
Next year (I think) is the 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s death. I don’t know what it is about death anniversaries… Media hype?
The original hearse was destroyed in a fire in about 1870. For some reason that I don’t know since didn’t read in the article very carefully, the Blue Ox is making the replica. Their shop has some amazing tools and fabulously HUGE work tables. I think safety was good in terms of the machinery, but the place felt old and messy and dilapidated. Still, I like the idea of a place that can replicate Victorian ornamentation and where woodworking is a valued art and craft.
Still DH was interested and he slogged through the quilt store with me, so we went. Also, it is historical, and probably once in a lifetime opportunity. I have to remember to tell SIL#2 not to go near the place with her husband. He will be working in that shop and they will be living in Eureka in a heartbeat if he hears about it.
Google notice
We also went to Scottie Dog Quilts. Shockingly, the shop is closed, as in no longer containing anything much less fabric and notions. The property looks abandoned. I finally saw a small note in Google (mobile) that said ‘permanently closed’. I didn’t notice that before. I didn’t really believe it because the website looks completely normal. Finally, I tracked down what was going on on Brenda Lou’s blog. She said that they closed the retail shop last June! So, we drove on and didn’t stop. I hadn’t researched any other quilt shops and one had to be enough for this trip.
I took a quilt look at Google when we returned to the hotel and found Bunny Hop Quilt Shop also in Eureka. We drove pretty close to it, but not right by. It only has a Facebook page, but looks like a real place. If we head up there next year, I will look into quilt shops more exactly.
I really am a most demanding houseguest. All I want to do is sew or look at fabric and quilt shops when I travel. Fortunately, my SIL was willing and able to feed my frenzy. She came and picked me up on Saturday morning from the hotel in Baltimore and then we headed back to her house to sew. On the way we stopped at a new shop, Prints Charming.
I liked this shop. In general, I thought the feel was good. They had a lot of nice fabrics in my style and colors. They had a good assortment of tools, notions, patterns and books and a longarm that people could rent. The shop is in a new mall, so the building is brand,spanking new and that adds to the feeling of fresh and clean.
Prints Charming front of shop
In the corner near the window is a lighthouse quilt that we also saw at Patches in Mt. Airy. There is a sea theme that pervades quilt shops in Maryland. They are on the Atlantic and seafaring, as well as various Navy related activities go on there, so it makes sense. Plus the whole crab thing.
Anyway, that lighthouse quilt is interesting (not interesting enough for me to make, but interesting) and I enjoyed seeing two different versions. I liked the one at PC fine, but I thought the background used in the Patches version added more interest. In the front of the shop photo, you can see the longarm (Handiquilter, perhaps?) and some of the patterns and books. If you are working at the longarm, you have your back to the front window of the shop, which is seen in the top photo.
The shop still had some of their Christmas stuff out. Mostly it was panels around the counter. Good idea to start early, if you are planning Christmas gifts IMO.
Prints Charming: front to back of shop
I stood near the longarm, kind of in front of the main door, to take this photo, which looks to the back of the shop. The table in the bottom left of the photo has kits and panel kits.
I am kind of interested in this resurgence of panel quilts. I got a panel when I bought some Kate Spain Christmas fabric, but I didn’t think that much of it. You might recall that I didn’t want to waste it, so I put it on the back of the Frosted Stars Leftovers Quilt. I have seen some really pretty panels lately. There was a peacock one that was very tempting. I don’t really begrudge people for wanting a quick quilt and using a panel. I think it is interesting and wonder if there is an AQSG article about it?
I didn’t get a good photo of their featured, new fabric, which you can see part of in the middle right (above). They had great fabrics in that section. I found a paintbox print that I plan to use for a set of gifts. (famous last words, right?).
Prints Charming Back of Shop
I really liked the self made jelly rolls and pre-cuts that Capital Quilts had. The colors were just so fantastic. Prints Charming had a nice array of the kind shops buy from Moda as well. I am always so tempted by the small cute little bundles of pre-cuts, but I rarely use them so I let the shop keep their Jelly Rolls.
The area shown in the picture with the pre-cuts was in a bit of disarray. it wasn’t terrible, just not as tidy as the rest of the store, which was VERY tidy. One of the ladies said that they needed, desperately, to get rid of something and clean up that area. I can’t fault them. Every space (house, shop, cubicle) has a junk drawer. 😉
Prints Charming: Fabric
I guess what I want in a quilt shop is fabric. We have already established that I don’t need more fabric, but I do enjoy having a wide variety of colors and patterns from which to choose.
Prints Charming had a good amount of fabric. Not only did the have a good number of bolts, but they also had a wide variety: 2 brands of solids (not American Made Brands), batiks, novelty, tone-on-tones, flannels, modern, baby/kid fabrics, some 30s, I think and a section of nautical/ocean fabric.
I didn’t ask about whether they cut fat quarters. They had plenty out. I thought the range of colors they had tended towards brighter rather than muted, though I did see a small section of browns. I don’t know if there were other Civil War-colored prints there as I zoomed right by after looking at a coffee print.
One fabric we found was an architectural drawing of boat plans. SIL bought enough to make a shirt for her DH. We discussed cutting it out, but decided we had better finish the other shirts first.
Prints Charming: looking towards the back
I also noticed that they had a lot of examples and class samples hanging in the shop. I thought the hanging quilts made the shop look warm and friendly.
You can see some of the class samples on the back wall. That is their pattern section as well.
Back by the patterns were two more exits and another cutting table. One exit (right) led to a nice clean restroom and connected the shop in some way (I didn’t explore) to the condos above. Can you imagine having a quilt shop right downstairs? I would love it and be totally doomed. DOOMED!
If you are heading to Maryland, I would recommend a visit to this shop. I found some nice stuff to buy and I am sure you would as well. (says your personal Temptress!)
There is a lot of creativity happening in Maryland. No, I am not surprised.
Rick’s Leaded Glass
Cathy’s Swoon
Cathy’s Embroidered Star Quilt
Torie’s Disappearing Pinwheels
Torie
Torie
Tanesha
Tanesha
Tanesha
Tanesha
Tanesha
Tanesha
Tanesha
Tanesha
Tanesha
Tanesha
Torie – Fraternal Twins Quilt
Torie – Fraternal Twins Quilt
Torie
Navy Retirement Pillow
I have to say that I was really inspired by everything I saw. I love Tanesha’s mummy owls. I love the way Torie uses batiks. I really enjoy the way Rick has incorporated leaded glass panels into his house to make the house unique.
As I mentioned in the previous post, we made shirts for DH and BIL#3 (I have to give designations now since there are multiple BILs involved). As you have heard both are involved in the Native Sons of the Golden West. Over the course of a few months, I found two different types of California themed fabric and bought it. I knew I was heading to Maryland and SIL#2 is almost always game for the crazy ideas I have.
My idea was to make two shirts out of each fabric. We started with the tablecloths. They were available on eQuilter. Mrs. K saw them and emailed me about them. I bought the last three. As I said in the previous post from Sunday, we had to fussy cut in order to get the most out of the motifs on the fabric and to have enough fabric to make two shirts.
Pattern Layout
The first order of business was to lay out the pattern pieces on the tablecloths (yes, we washed them) and cut out the pieces. We tried to get the most pieces out of tablecloth #1 to ensure we had as much of the motifs on each shirt as we could and as we were nervous we wouldn’t have enough fabric.
While we were laying out the pattern pieces, a story appeared. Not a story with a murder and a romance, but a story about California. One of the shirts we decided tended towards water and boats and the other land. We couldn’t use all the motifs for each shirt. It was kind of a shame we couldn’t fit the California motif into both shirts. It just wouldn’t work. I kind of wish I had bought four tablecloths, but I know there were only three left.
Tablecloth in process
We decided not to do all of the shirts at the same time and we focused on the tablecloth shirts. We sewed and pressed and marked. By the time I went to my work conference, we had two shirts done in including the buttons.
We were pretty thrilled with the way the tablecloth shirts came out. Would we have wanted them to have more of the California map on them? Yes. Would we have preferred it if the lines around the border could have been made symmetrical? Yes. It wasn’t possible yet we are very happy with how they came out.
There were a lot of design challenges with these shirts, but I think that the design challenges made this project fun and the shirts unique.
Black NSGW Shirt for Paul
SIL got me on the garment sewing bandwagon by making me sew the entire third shirt myself. She was there to guide and be my marking slave, but I did all the cutting and sewing.
We were able to finish that except for the buttons.
I came back on Saturday and we blew through the last shirt. I cut out the pattern (only one piece wrong this time) and then SIL took the lead and I took slave position again. We got it done, though we are both skeptical that it is a three hour shirt as the pattern advertises.
I have made a few garments before, but the patterns seem very complicated and I am not a confident garment maker. Working on Shirt #3 and alongside SIL on the others really helped boost my confidence. I won’t be making ballgowns anytime soon, but I might try an easy dress from a pattern I bought. Or remember that skirt?
As you read this I will probably be on an airplane heading home. I spent 10 days or so in Maryland visiting my SIL and BIL and, oh yeah, attending a conference for work.
I arrived on Friday evening and was treated to a delicious dinner when I arrived at my SIL’s. She picked me up on her way home from work and BIL (now retired) had dinner ready when I got there. He is a great cook and very attentive to my dietary challenges. I always enjoy eating with them.
Vintage Looking Tablecloth
We spent a lot of Saturday getting ready to sew the shirts I had planned for DH and his brother. The prep mostly involved cutting. The shirts were made from vintage-looking tablecloths, which I had sent ahead. Since it wasn’t normal fabric yardage, there was a lot of fussy cutting.
We did take some time out to go visit Patches, a shop in Mt. Airy (great name, huh?), Maryland. I have been there before and really liked it. This time, I didn’t find as much that I had to have, but I enjoyed the outing.
They had the Yazzi bag that Jinny Beyer recommends. I had intended to buy it, but wanted to see it in person, so I took a good look and decided not to buy it. It is a great bag, but a lot of the space is taken up by the padding. I don’t travel with m y handwork enough to make it worthwhile. The handwork bag I have is fine.
The countryside is so different here. I see a lot of quilts that are winter scenes with leafless trees and this is the first time I have actually seen such a scene in real life. They,of course, have evergreens here, but there are vast spaces filled with leafless trees. It is interesting.
We also baked a cake. I brought a gluten free (also egg and soy free for SIL) mix with me and we baked it. I used SIL’s confectioner’s sugar to make the frosting and she frosted it. Team effort. Then back to sewing.
Desert Rose & Lenox Olympia Platinum
Sunday we worked on the shirts. I think by then we had cut most of the pieces out. SIL had not used the pattern in awhile so there was some fumbling around while she reacquainted herself with how the shirts would be made. I had helped her before, but am so inexperienced making garments that I was of little to no use in that department.
We also got ready for a party. We used her Desert Rose china, and pretty flatware, so we washed and dried the pretties before we set the table. We used her Lenox Olympia coffeepot for a different kind of tea. I hadn’t ever had the chance to really look at SIL’s china pattern. It has really clean lines and a simple design. I am still trying to figure out how to fit it all into my suitcase without breaking any for the trip home. 😉 It is always fun to use use nice things for a party.
Twilters in MD
Since I was on the East Coast and that doesn’t happen every day, I invited several people over. It was a good opportunity to meet up with friends I don’t get a chance to see very often. Sadly, in the middle of winter, travel still isn’t that easy and only two people were able to make it. Tanesha and Torie came with bells on. Boy did they bring some show and tell! Tanesha made a slideshow for your viewing pleasure. I will post some more pictures about the show and tell later.
Snailtrail test
SIL wants to make a Snailtrail quilt. She and I both have the Accuquilt cutting system. She wants to cut out the quilt using her Accuquilt. One question that came up was whether there was a list of blocks with their sizes and the dies required to use them. I looked on the site and couldn’t find one. I also looked on Ebony Love’s site and couldn’t find one there either. There is a Snailtrail complete die, but it is for the electric Accuquilt* and neither of us plan to buy one. I suppose if they told that information, it would sell fewer dies, because people wouldn’t have to buy the specialty dies. Also, how could a person use this new die with a variety of different fabric?
I got out the bags of pieces SIL has cut already with her Accuquilt. They are waiting to be used in a quilt. I played around to see if I could figure out how to make her pieces work. The only pieces that are not exactly perfect, but work are the light blue triangles. They are QSTs, so the bunny ears are chopped off the wrong way and the bias is in an odd place. Still, SIL would only have to cut one more set of triangles for the outside of the block to make it bigger. The above block was made entirely from Accuquilt dies. They are:
3.5″ Square – die #55006
3″ QST – die #55396
3″ HST – die #55009
4.5″ square – die #55018 (value die)
Black NSGW Shirt for Paul
I made a third shirt as well. SIL had me do most of it myself, though she approved all of the steps. We hoped to do the last shirt as well, but time was short.
SIL also got me to watch Outlander (she can be very persuasive), the Starz series. I had sort of been avoiding the books for years. I even avoided them in the recent flurry of excitement over the series. Not sure why. I think I had a different idea of what they were about. SIL had it and put it on while we were sewing. Yes, I am going to borrow the book(s) and see what all the hype is about. Also, I need to figure out a way to watch the next part of the series when it comes out again. I don’t have Starz and don’t plan on buying it.
It was a great trip. BIL is a great cook, so I ate well every night. I also got rides everywhere which was fantastic. I felt like a princess: I didn’t have to do anything!
I’ll probably do a part two, and/or three, so stay tuned.
*It is really dumb for Accuquilt to make a die that only fits one of their cutting systems. Perhap sthe electric system has special sizes or something, but making a die for that machine only means that many customers cannot buy it without buying the new machine. I doubt many people will do it and it seems like bad marketing to me.
If you want to see how the retreat was set up, some in process and fun shots, check out the post I wrote a few days ago.
Mystery Quilt
I won’t tell you what mystery quilt we did, in case your guild does it. I don’t want to spoil the fun for you, but I will show you some of the examples of what came out of the blocks. Please note that most people basically threw the last two clues (after the blocks were made) out and did their own setting. They did great. All of the tops are really their own. The mystery quilt designer might have a heart attack, but I love the diversity and the creativity. The most of the mystery quilt was that everyone was working together on the same project.
Kelly
The Boss took all of her blocks apart and rearranged them into this piece. She had to add fill-in pieces to complete the background.
Amanda and Cheryl
They became the retreat twins in my mind. They sat across from each other (behind me) and it was fun to see them bounce off each other. Cheryl was the fantastic retreat coordinator and she actually got work done. I borrowed pins from her since I forgot my pincushion ALL THREE DAYS.
Lynnette’s blocks (no layout yet)
It was pretty amazing how Lynnette used different fabrics, but they are really cohesive. I didn’t think they were a line, but I could be wrong.
Ruth & Rhonda
I am not sure Rhonda actually put hers together like the photo, but I wouldn’t be surprised. There was a quite a lot of hilarity going on and the above photo might have been part of the hilarity.
Ruth‘s piece is on top and she did a fabulous job with her final result. I wasn’t fast enough to get a photo.
Michelle’s Mystery
I can’t even believe that Michelle made this quilt out of the mystery pieces.
Angela
Angela would not give me her quilt even though it is in my colors. I was mad at myself for not thinking of this color scheme. I love what she did and the photo doesn’t do it justice. The blues are more turquoise.
Gerre
Gerre started and got this whole piece quilted. She only lacked a binding and a label. Amazing!
Diana
Diana was working on a couple of different projects and the ones I saw were made from Autumn-y colors. Isn’t this version cool?
Buff
Buff made this adorable baby quilt. I love the bunny peeking out of the top of the fabric strip.
Charity
Donation block
People worked on donation blocks as well.
To the left is the only donation block I finished, but I had half of another parts of two others done as well. I’ll finish them this week.
Piles of donation blocks
My block is only one of a giant stack of blocks that piled up throughout the weekend. I was amazed that every time I went into the cutting room, more blocks were in the pile.
The great thing is that people just did them. There was no big drama; they just did them and the pile grew.
Peggy’s donation top
Peggy is working on a series of half square triangle quilts. Her latest top was finished at the retreat. She said she is enamored with the diamond offset on the top. I am really glad she is playing with the blocks. It makes me happy to see people having fun.
Donation Fish Blocks
I saw that a few fish blocks were made as well. There were a lot of kits available for those. I couldn’t make any as I didn’t bring any blue fabrics that would have been suitable.
Did you see the patterns for these blocks? If you want to make a small quilt and donate it, please do. The guild will be happy to accept it and I am happy to facilitate. They would make a fun baby quilt as well.
Personal Projects
In between the charity quilts and blocks and the mystery quilt, people worked on their own projects. There were finishes (Gerre, Bonnie, Angela, Diana, etc) and major progress that happened. It was fun to see all the projects where people made major progress.
Angela finished her mom’s Mother’s Day quilt. She did some lovely embroidery on the back as her label. You saw the quilt on the post where I talked about the BAMQG meeting.
Diana finished an auction quilt. It is a good thing as the auction already took place and she just needed to finish the quilt! What a hero for making such a big project for a school auction!
Diana’s Auction Quilt -front
Diana’s Auction Quilt -backRhonda’s Round Robin
Rhonda worked hard on quilting and binding her Round Robin piece. I love the spiky border on this one. The quilt is actually a lot brighter than the photo shows.
Cheryl’s Giant Feather
Cheryl brought out a giant feather quilt. She said that she wondered what the Anna Maria Horner feather would look like super sized. If you were wondering that, too, now you know. Isn’t it cool? I almost want to make one of those feathers (in a much smaller size)!
Cheryl’s Table Runner
Finally, Kelly made a thank you for Cheryl while at the Retreat! It uses Cheryl’s favorite Tula Pink fabrics.
I am not sure if I will get through all of the retreat info in one post. It might just be too much. We’ll see.
Retreat Location
The retreat started on Friday, but I didn’t get there until mid day on Saturday as we were traveling for the Native Sons back from Grand Parlor. I was a commuter, so I drove back and forth. It is about an hour each way, but after the intense people time of Grand Parlor, some quiet time in the car made me more human at home and at the retreat.
Two things that happened right as I got there, practically before I got set up, was that I got a bag of goodies and I won a prize! The CQFA Retreat does not include goodie bags or prizes (someone has to organize all that). It was fun.
Mystery Quilt in process
People were working on the mystery quilt and I was 3 clues behind, but they had just gotten Clue 3 when I arrived, so I made those units and used Clue 1 as leaders and enders, so I had most of Clue 1 done as well by the time I got finished with Clue 3. I had my fabric and I had cut out all the pieces, thus I was ready to dive right into sewing, so I got busy on that.
I really liked all of the different fabric choices that people came up with for their mystery quilts. People admired mine, but by the end I wasn’t liking the combination very much. the funnest part of the mystery quilt was working on the same project as everyone else. I enjoyed that with Scrapitude as well.
I have only been on CQFA retreats, which are very basic. This retreat was kind of the deluxe edition!
Cutting Room
There were 3 rooms we could work in. One room was set up as a cutting and ironing room. We also gathered there for Clues and prizes and the donation blocks were as well. People put their finished blocks there and kits for blocks needed were also available there.
It was great to have those high tables for cutting out large pieces. I used them when I was working on my bag.
Hard at Work
There were 6 tables set up on each side of the two rooms (room were linked by a very large opening). Ruth set up a design wall at the end of the room (I believe the Steampunk blocks belong to Cheryl). My spot was the spot from where I am taking the photo. People were pretty diligent, but there was a lot of laughter as well. Some of the laughter was fairly crazy.
Design Floor
I sat across from Corky. I don’t think Corky and I had had a chance to talk at a meeting, but we were chatting and borrowing tools like old pals. It was nice to get to know her a little better.
Quilts and quilt parts were everywhere. Any open space was fair game and people just hopped over them and continued on their way. It was awesome, in a way, that people would just take it in stride that quilts were everywhere.
I had my mystery quilt on the floor for awhile while I laid it out.
Special Math
The whiteboard was right across from my workstation. Right after I arrived, Kelly added me to her list of Instagram names. Somehow after that, the Instagram names morphed into IQ. I didn’t say anything about my IQ; I just watched the points increase.
Peggy & Amanda
I couldn’t sleep and got up at 5:30. After doing a few of my morning things, I got on the road and was at the retreat by about 8:30. Monday morning found us all a little more punchy than the previous 2-3 days. References to music started coming up and Amanda played songs for us on her phone. One got Peggy and Amanda up and rapping together.
Anyone who thinks that Modern Guilds are for young people only should meet Peggy. Peggy is the most ‘modern’ of anyone in the guild and she has only been quilting for about 5 years. She has a great and inspiring and practical attitude and is also the most prolific charity quilt maker. I would do well to take after Peggy.
BAMQG 2014 Retreat Group
We took a group shot. I am pretty sure not everyone was in it, as ‘everyone’ was hard to wrangle. It was a fun shot, especially that Kelly got herself, or part of herself in it. I stole this version from Kelly’s Instagram.
I am always on the lookout for inspiration and I have to say that I was overwhelmed by my choices. there are so many creative people in the group that everywhere I looked, there was something I wanted to try or make or know more about.
I’ll write about actual projects in another post. This one is long enough. I would love to hear about retreats you have attended.
I got a bug in my ear to take a long drive. I wasn’t sure why, but the buzzing wouldn’t go away.
Like many of you, I can’t just jump in the car and leave, so I got my ducks in a row, then I headed north. The first two days were all driving. I was just in the car with my thoughts. The first day I didn’t get out of the house until 11am. I went to gym and took the Young Man to school, then packed and cleaned the house before I started to drive.
My ultimate goal: Seattle (where TFQ lives)
First View: Golden Gate Bridge
The first view was an extremely lowering sky over the Golden Gate Bridge
First, I stopped at Colleen’s to drop off the Disappearing Pinwheel. I know I barely finished it before I got it out of the house, but I really wanted to get it out of the house and save myself another trip to San Rafael. Because of the quick turnaround, I didn’t have a chance to make the binding. I decided I would get it in Colleen’s queue and send the binding along later.
Heavens Let Loose
I stopped there for about half an hour, heard about Colleen’s weaving class and then really got on the road. I am pleased to say she thought weaving was boring and won’t be giving up quiltmaking to become a weaver. I apologize to all you weavers out there, but I am GLAD!!!
It rained hard from San Rafael through Healdsburg: headlights on, white knuckles, wipers on high kind of hard raining. I found out that I really needed new windshield wipers. Oops! In fairness, I did ask my mechanic to change them and I am not sure he did. He might have and just gotten a bad pair. It happens. I told my dad when I called him and he was all over changing them. I decided to see if he knew a guy to clean out the inside of my car, too, which after 14 hours in it seemed like it needed a good cleaning. Don’t worry, I didn’t do anything gross in there, but notice the dirt!
Cool Clouds, Rain Lessened
After Healdsburg the rain lightened up. All the way to Fortuna, it just rained on and off. Sometimes it rained hard, sometimes light. The sky was gorgeous. The light was gorgeous. The clouds were gorgeous and I really enjoyed the drive.
In the light rain, I couldn’t use the wipers. My only during that leg was in Willits to get some water and peanuts. I listened to Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro on this leg.
Despite my late start I got to Fortuna at about 5:30pm. I tried to get some FitBit steps in by walking around the hotel complex, but I also worked on my blog posts and read my email. I went to La Costa in Fortuna for dinner. They have great food. They make their own tortilla chips and tortillas. I wrote for a long time in my journal while I waited for my food and enjoyed my chips. Awesome and relaxing.
Across from the Hotel
This field is the view across from the hotel in which I stayed. I really like that field.
I was rudely awakened at 6:45 by a bigass truck idling right outside the window of my room. It wasn’t just starting up and driving off, but sitting there rumbling for 10 minutes. ERGH! At least it wasn’t 5am. I needed to get up anyway.
North Coast Ocean View
Day Two: Fortuna to Portland
Day Two was, again, all about driving. After breakfast, at about 9am, I got on the road. Tuesday was a long drive day, longer than I like, and it was going to be a little longer because of the jog over to Interstate 5 from Highway 101. To my good fortune, the drive up the North Coast to Crescent City was unbelievably gorgeous. I can’t even describe the beauty of the water, the sky and the clouds. I just wanted to take pictures of every curve in the road.
I cut over to Interstate 5 from Highway 101 via Highway 199. The highway is built alongside the Smith River and it was also a gorgeous drive. The river was a beautiful green color. That was part of the Siskyou National Forest and the trees were a gorgeous green. Now that California has gotten a little rain, the trees seem much healthier (from far away in a moving car). Again, I couldn’t take enough photos.
Crossing over to Oregon was a shock. I thought Oregon was all about conservation, gorgeous vistas and rain. Right over the border, in southern Oregon, was shockingly ugly. I saw people burning trash, clear cut sides of mountains and front yards filled with garbage and junk cars. I will be using the backs of papers for scrap paper after seeing that devastation. They have a lot of paper production there. That is not to say that I didn’t see garbage-y front yards in some parts of California, but the trifecta was a shock *to me*.
I continued up Interstate 5 and closer I got to Portland, the nicer the views looked. The fields were green and pretty. The Interstate 5 was a lot nicer to drive on than it is in California, though there were a lot of trucks that I had to keep passing. That is one thing I don’t like about driving up Interstate 5.
I got gas near a town called Cottage Grove and almost jumped out of my skin when I young man appeared at my shoulder and told me he had to pump my gas. I don’t remember the last time I had full service at home, if ever since I started driving. I would have preferred that he come around the front of the car, though. It isn’t really very service oriented to scare the living daylights out of customers. Dad said that those jobs are the lowest of the low and they don’t teach any customer service. Hhmm.
Dad’s Cook Shak
While stopped, I looked on Google Maps to see how to get the rest of the way to my Dad’s. I was shocked when I saw his ‘Cook Shak’ on Google Maps! Dad’s Cook Shak is basically a large deck/platform with a roof that is completely outfitted with an outdoor kitchen, nice dining table and a jacuzzi. It was hilarious to see it on Google and I wonder if he gets people showing up for dinner after seeing it on Google. It was nice to see my dad after awhile. He had some great short ribs ready for me. We ate dinner and watched American Pickers. I have never watched that show before and was fascinated. It was somewhat horrifying in a fascinating kind of way to see the junk (to me) that people collected. I don’t really judge people’s collections, but I call the stuff I saw junk because it was rusted in heaps in yards and under collapsed sheds. As I said, horrifying and amazing.
Day Three: Portland
Dad took his tour guide duties very seriously. First stop: Harbor Freight. Dad needed a grabber to pick up some sticks that fall into his driveway. Don’t ask. 😉
VooDoo Donuts
He stepped up his game on our next stop: VooDoo Donuts. Dad got two donuts, I can’t eat their donuts as they didn’t have anything gluten free. Still I enjoyed seeing the place. It is a wild ride and well worth visiting. Just go early.
Then Powell’s. Powell’s is the bookstore of all bookstores, the mother lode of all bookstores. Since the last time I was there, they have really spruced it up. It isn’t such a rabbit warren and, apparently, they fixed the roof leaks. They had a fantastic collection of quilt books. They had probably more than I have seen in one place ever. They even had a Judy Martin Block Book. That is an awesome book and you can probably buy it online. There were a couple of books in which I was interested, but I wasn’t in the mood to buy so I left with nothing. Dad bought a couple of fishing books.
Pittock Mansion
After a brief stop at Whole Foods, we headed up to the Pittock Mansion. “The Pittock Mansion is a French Renaissance-style “château” in the West Hills of Portland, Oregon, USA, originally built as a private home for The Oregonian publisher Henry Pittock and his wife, Georgiana.” (Wikipedia) I loved that house. It really seemed more like a house. Of course, it was a mansion, but it felt like a really good place. The colors were light and there were a lot of curves. For the time, there was a lot of innovations and top of the line technology as well as innovative ideas implemented throughout the building. The views were also wonderful.
Entry Floor
There had not been much opportunity to be inspired for quiltmaking, in any real sense, but the Pittock Mansion provided me with one. The entry hall floor was a Mariner’s Compass. The thing that made it seem a little different was the framing around each of the spokes.
Next stop was an ice cream place, Salt and Straw in Stumptown. I hadn’t had breakfast, though, so I was determined to have a meal before dessert. There was a Mexican place across the street, so we stopped in and had some tacos. The food was ok. The ice cream made up for it, though. The flavor I ate, salt and caramel, was fantastic and the service was excellent.
We didn’t spend as much time in Portland as Dad expected and he was full after the tacos and ice cream, so he wanted to head home.
I cajoled him into stopping at a quilt shop near his house called Quilting Delights. I wanted to stop at another, but I think I was pushing my luck with one. Oregon has a very nice list of quilt shops by city, which made it easy to find shops on the way to his house. I talked up longarm machines as we drove and was pleased to see they had one, which was interesting to my dad. I don’t think he realized how much machinery we quiltmakers use.
I liked Quilting Delights. It is a big shop. I didn’t think they had a lot of fabric, though I did find some yardage to buy. 😉 I had hoped to find one of the Mod Century prints to use for the Disappearing Pinwheel binding, but no luck. They had a full line of Accuquilt cutters, cases, dies and will be having Go! Academy in a few weeks. They explained that they will be teaching people how to get more out of their Accuquilt Go!. One thing they will show is the hexagon die where you can cut the papers for EPP and the fabric at the same time. As I said after the Flower Sugar Hexagon was complete, I am done, for now, with hexagons. I love the idea, though. It is very clever. The woman I spoke with really wanted me to come, but I don’t think I am up for the drive a second time this year. The concept is great and I would love it if one of my local shops would do the same thing. My phone was dead so no photos. You’ll have to visit yourself. 😉
We had an Austrian dinner: cheese, crackers, a variety of meats, some grapes and we watched American Pickers again. 😉 George Barris was on it. He is the guy that designed and built the Batmobile, the car the Munsters drove, James Dean’s Porsche. His shop was near where I grew up and I remember driving by it frequently. I would love to get my hands on that archive and catalog and organize it, digitize it and make it available online. I am not moving to SoCal, but a girl can dream.
Day 3: Portland to Seattle
Basically, I drove to Seattle and took most of the day to do it. Before I left Dad’s, Dad and I also cleaned out my car at his ‘urging’. It was fairly disgusting, which I never really noticed since, max, I’ll spend 20 minutes in my car at a time on any given day. We washed all the windows inside and out, vacuumed the interior, we Armor All-ed the dash. He cleaned all the dips and divets with soap and water. The car was very happy.
The drive was nice. I have done that drive before, but didn’t really remember it. It rained, there were big trucks. I listened to Love Walked In. No mishaps or mayhem.
I felt a big sigh of relief once I got to Seattle. Seattle and I get along well. Yes, TFQ is there and that is HUGE, but I love the city as well. There is something about it that is comfortable and relaxing. It is a good place to visit to escape my life.
I picked up TFQ from work and we went and had Italian food at a place that has a complete gluten free menu of Italian food. We go there almost every time I visit. I love that place.
Day 4: Seattle
The first thing we did was go for a 3.7 mile walk. Despite my gym efforts, TFQ was kicking my butt. I had 10k steps before 9am. The rest of the day was gravy.
TFQ’s UFOs, Finishes and In Process Quilts
When we returned, we looked through TFQ’s quilts. She is plowing through her UFOs and donating a number to charity. It is really fun to see my fabric in her quilts and quilts that we have worked on together. Please note that my contributions are small. She does beautiful work.
We went to the neighborhood restaurant for breakfast and I had an egg bake with sausage and tomato sauce. I think it was called Alla Bracaiola, but I am not sure about the spelling. It is a lovely place. Very homey. TFQ bought some walnut flour cookies which we ate for lunch/afternoon snack and were so delicious, I almost fainted from sheer pleasure.
We discussed the Super Secret project and will hopefully finalize part of it this trip.
We visited Quiltworks Northwest, a fabric and quilting shop in Bellevue. The people were super nice and I did find a few good lengths of fabric, but I was disappointed. Their fabric selection seemed old and there wasn’t very much of it. They had a whole new bead selection, which wasn’t there the last time I was in. TFQ said it felt like the beads were taking over the shop. Kind of disappointing.
We tried to go look at couches, but got frustrated with the parking and just went home. The rest of the day we sat. I unpicked part of a border on a great Sawtooth Star quilt that wasn’t working. I was happy to get my mitts back on some fabric – something to work on. I think the walk made us a little tired. I had over 15k steps by the end of the day.
Day Five: Seattle
Day 5 we sewed. First we walked another 3.45 mile look around the neighborhood. I like walking around Seattle neighborhoods. I like see what colors people paint their houses and what shapes the houses are. I also like seeing the shops. We ate breakfast at a place called the Barking Dog. Luckily there was no dog was barking. I had Eggs Benedict. The chef was kind enough to make it on GF bread. I was a happy, happy girl.
Then we sewed like demons and worked on finalizing the Super Secret project. You’ll hear more about this later, so be patient.
We went to a tavern with supposedly good Mexican food for dinner. I think both of us were underwhelmed. TFQ thought it must be bar food (very small portions). It gave us a good excuse to get ice cream afterwards. 😉
Day Six: Seattle
Lots of sewing today. We worked on the Super Secret Project again. I also helped TFQ finish a gorgeous GORGEOUS quilt top she named Pink Lemonade. I just sewed on two borders, then she made the back while I worked some more on the Super Secret Project.
We had to go back to the quilt store for more fabric for the Super Secret Project. I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought two yards for background and borders. DErrrrr. First we went to Pacific Fabrics, which has a fantastic selection of quilt fabrics. I could have bought almost everything as everything was right in my color arena.
We also dropped Pink Lemonade off at TFQ’s quilter. I enjoyed meeting Janet last time and love her house. She has the loveliest studio under the eaves of her house. We had a lovely chat and she showed us some of her projects. She is very friendly.
We went to a Japanese place where we have eaten before. I think we may strike this one off our list as everything was covered in soy sauce (NOT GF) and both of our stomachs hurt about an hour after we ate. I took some enzymes, so I didn’t have a terrible reaction, but still.
Day Seven: Seattle
I was on my own today as TFQ had to go back to work. I sewed a lot and got my project to a point where it will be pretty easy to finish once I get home. I need a few more cool squares as I am completely out. One of the fabrics didn’t work with the background so I couldn’t use it in the borders.
I refrained from going back to Pacific Fabrics and buying more fabric. The fabric madness has to stop sometime. I did run about million other errands including getting food for dinner. We decided that I would cook while TFQ weeded a part of her garden.
Day Eight: Seattle to Ashland, Oregon
This is another driving day. I planned to drive farther south so my middle day wouldn’t be as much driving when I jogged over to the coast, but I decided, kind of at the last minute, to drive south on Interstate 5. I don’t like driving Interstate 5 as there are a lot of semis and in Oregon they hitch two and three trailers to the truck and it is scary to see. Traffic rules do not allow that in California so it is very odd to me.
I thought I would just split the difference and drive for a couple more hours, but the lure of home is strong so I drove for about 9 hours, only really stopping for a few minutes at a time. I finally ended up exhausted in Ashland, Oregon. I would have really liked to have passed straight through Oregon, but I was about to drop and couldn’t really go any further.
Interstate 5 is much prettier and more well tended than Highway 199. I noticed and thought that they must have put money into the road that most people travel. I am glad to see that southern Oregon isn’t a complete disaster.
I missed seeing my Dad again. I thought I would stop and have a coffee with him, but I passed the exit to his office and was too far down the road to make backtracking practical. Next time.
Day Eight: Ashland to Home
I stayed at the Best Western Windsor Inn. It was nice. Not fancy, but the bed was comfy, the room was big and there was a restaurant next door made a very tasty Mexican chicken salad. The BW didn’t have anything I could eat for breakfast so I went back to the restaurant for breakfast as well.
Dad was right. I left around 9:30 and I didn’t stop for long, but I did take frequent breaks. I made it home by about 4:30. The drive was hot and I had the air conditioning on most of the day. I guess the rain is gone. Oregon to home sounds far and it is over 350 miles, I think, so I feel like I accomplished something.
I stopped at two quilt stores and didn’t buy anything. Shocking, I know. Wooden Spools in Yreka had all of their fabric for $6/yard. They are closing their store and will only do shows in the future, which is sad, because it is the only fabric shop in the area. The owner doesn’t want to sell the shop to anyone because she has seen too many businesses fail that way. I hope someone is able to open a shop up there. It sounds like there is a big quilt community (3 guilds in the area!) who could support it.
Closer to home I stop at the Quilt Shop in Vacaville, A Quilted Heart. I went there (and wrote about it) last year after Grand Parlor. I walked into the middle of the first day of the shop hop. I couldn’t see any information about how to join the shop and was a little stunned at the festivity of the event. They didn’t seem to have a lot of fabric, so I didn’t buy anything. I think I am also still on the Pacific Fabrics high from the other day.
I knew I was close to home when I saw the huge fog bank over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was hard to miss.
It was a great trip. I saw people about whom I care and don’t get to see often enough. I saw some great sights, bought some great fabric, and sewed. I am glad to be home. I am ready to sew in my own space and happy to sleep in my own bed.
