Hello, NC!

I got home last night! It is SO GOOD to be home....Hello house, I missed you! Oh, yard...your trees are so green and lovely! And oh....SUCH A HUGE PILE OF MAIL! 0_o

My last post was on Sunday..and here it is Wednesday! Can you tell that I was having just such a super time with my friend and her family that the blog took a back seat!?

I will need to back up even before my Sunday post. Saturday was such a fun full packed day, that I can't leave it out!

We started out nice and early with a drive to Napa for picnicing and wine tasting, the whole clan. There were 8 of us to start with, if you include Ryan, the cutest 5 month old you have ever seen.

AND...since it was a 2 hour drive in the car to Napa from Scotts Valley, I of course worked on THIS in the car...it's getting done! All I've got left to do is finish that inner cheddar border, and it is DONE! (I'll need to find another project to baste and take to Kansas with me on Sunday....adding that to the list of must-dos this week!)

Have you ever had Paella? If you haven't.....you've missed a treat. Our picnic sat languishing in the car because this amazing paella was being served at the wine tasting. Just LOOK at this! Of course, I am seeing things in vivid quilterchrome (Remember kodachrome? LOL) color!

There were succulent VERY LARGE shrimp...and mussels, cod, chicken, peppers, onions, rice..just simmering away in big huge wok type pans until it was ready. There was music...it was so lovely and festive out on the patio. YUM!!

Here is a pic of Gerard doing his THANG...and he does it so well!

Of course, Napa is all about the scenery. Growing up in California, I can honestly say that somehow I missed out on the wonders of Napa because I left when I was 19. But it was such a beautiful day for a gorgeous drive..these are all pics I took from the car as we were driving:


Napa California May 2010
If your browser or reader does not view the slide show, you can click to the link to my actual webshots album to view them.

It was SUCH a gorgeous day!! The hills were still green...and I love seeing them that way the most. In the summer they get dry grass brown, but it was so lush and lovely...oh California, I missed you! I hope it is not another 15 years until I get to go back.

And that wasn't IT for the day...we had HOCKEY TICKETS for the Stanley Cup Playoffs game...The San Jose Sharks vs Detroit Redwings! GO SHARKS! I was so excited to be there. My Minnesota relatives are very hot and heavy into Hockey...but honest to truth? The last hockey game I watched was when I still lived in Idaho, and my Oldest son Jason was about 12-14 and playing on a street hockey team! Still...Hockey, I can get into and understand a lot easier than football. And it was a fast paced exciting game...down to the last 5 minutes...can they pull it off? YES! And Sharks win!

It was so exciting, even leaving the stadium and hearing the crowds just cheer and cheer and pennants flying and cars beeping and it was just SO FUN! So needless to say, I am now a Sharks fan, got the tshirt :c) And I had no voice for the next couple of days!

There is so much to catch up on here....so I'll call this good enough for today and resume with you next time!

A Drive Through The City....

Friday was an errand day! A very important errand...because Randy and I drove to San Francisco! We were on our way to pick her son Ben up at the airport, but we left extra early just so we could see the Amish quilt exhibit at the De Young Museum! What an AWESOME exhibit! I was especially excited because these were the quilts from the collection of Faith and Stephen Brown.

YES! The same quilts found in the book Amish Abstractions that I wrote a review for a while back! Having the book at home, and then seeing these quilts up close and personal was SO INSPIRING. First off...you can't really tell the size of a quilt by a picture in a book. Second off...there is no way a book can show you the depth and detail of the quilting stitches and the texture,the phenomenal color choices, and the artistry in these quilts. We were just SO thrilled to have gotten there early enough that we were nearly the only ones in the gallery at the time.

And yes, the docents DID have to tell us to "BACK AWAY FROM THE QUILTS!" I guess our noses were too close to the stitches as we marveled..lol!

Since I already had the Amish Abstractions book, I bought this one! And I can hardly wait to peruse through it and see what goodies lie within. Books on antique quilts feed my soul like no other!

From there we took a driving tour through the city, bypassing all the regular touristy spots, because Randy wanted to take me to an awesome bakery down in the Mission district. More on that to follow....


San Francisco Drive By
The weather was so lovely that we had the top down, enjoying the sun and the oldies music coming out of the car stereo.

As with all slide shows, if you are reading this in a reader, you might have to click to my actual blog to view the pictures. If you can't view them in slide show format, click the link under the photo box and it will take you to the actual album on webshots.

We left the city behind to head for the airport to pick up Ben. I just had to get a pic of the sign as a momento!

And what's not to like about sitting behind the wheel of a convertible in California in MAY!? Just call me "Goddess on a Highway!"

Help for Nashville

Whenever there is a need, Quilters Unite! (unless of course, we are dyslexic, and then we Un-tie, but that's a different story! :cD)

I got a message from Jane regarding the situation in Nashville. If you've seen the news, you've seen some of the devastation, right here in our own country.

I am providing this information as a service announcement, if you would like to know more, please contact Janet at

Hi Bonnie,

First, I will totally understand if you can't do this. I'm sure you get requests all the time and can't help with everything.

Though I no longer live there, I consider Nashville home and it is heartbreaking seeing the devastation caused by last weekend's flood. National coverage has been comparatively slight. People are helping one another there and trying to clean up, but it will be a long, long time before things are back to normal. I'm sure you know that most homeowner policies don't cover flood and most people don't have flood policies. To my knowledge, you can't even buy flood insurance unless you live in a designated flood plain, and so much of the devastated area was not designated as such. Anyway, people are facing financial ruin as well as having their homes and possessions destroyed. Imagine how many people, due to the economy, were already under water (to use a bad pun) on their mortgages and now they have horribly expensive uncovered losses.

I'm wondering if you could maybe put something on your blog about assistance for those in need in Nashville. I'm not sure of the best places to make donations, but there is always the Red Cross http://www.middletennredcross.org/ . People can google for more info. My former church is being used as a disaster relief center, providing meals, clean-up supplies and whatever else is needed. If anyone wanted to donate to them they could be sure any donations designated for disaster relief would be used for that. The contact info is:

bellevuebaptist.com
7400 Highway 70 S
Nashville, TN 37221-1845
(615) 646-2711

Their phone service has not yet been restored, but hopefully will soon. We are headed to Nashville to help clean up as soon as hubby gets home. We had so many older people in our church who lived in a huge condo development that was just devastated. Breaks my heart!

Anyway, I understand if you can't mention this on the blog, but would appreciate it if you could. I'm a fan either way!

Jane

Janet, I hope that my posting this on my blog might inspire those who can, to help where they can. These are our neighbors, our family, and friends. Quilters CAN make a difference!

Life's A Beach!

Great day yesterday!

We started out by taking a long walk UP HILL BOTH WAYS with Randy's dogs, Jake and Max. A route of approximately 3 miles with severe climbs was invigorating! I love seeing all the flowers I can't grow on the east coast. My favorite? Agapanthus! Followed by Bottlebrush, Star jasmine...oh..the smell of the jasmine!

Seeing redwood trees also makes my heart pound, and the smell of the eucalyptus trees that grow along the coast. And succulents!! how I love their funky spongey-ness!


The weather was so nice that we drove down to Soquel and Capitola with the top down on Randy's car..This was the view from the windshield! Can you feel the sun and the gentle breeze? Temps around 70? BLISS!!

This is the lighthouse at Santa Cruz, a childhood beach haunt. My highscool prom was held at Santa Cruz one year...

Beach view at Capitola...a bit rockier than Santa Cruz, which has the nicest sand. Things get even rockier as you move down the coast to Monterey....

It was just a lovely lovely day!

We spent some time sewing last night. I am working on the blocks for next year's Quiltmaker Magazine columns...6 more issues of Addicted To Scraps fun!

Today we are on the way to San Francisco to go check out the Amish quilt exhibit at the De Young museum, and to pick up Randy's son who is coming in from Chicago for Mother's Day..busy busy happy happy!

Thelma & Louise in Austin!

Lucy sent some pics of our evening in Austin!

We really did have lovely weather and a beautiful evening to enjoy. Austin is such a hopping place, and very tourist friendly.

Word has it that they are still jaunting around Texas for another day, seeing the coast, and heading back to the Netherlands on Friday. I'm sure it will take them a long time to readjust to life in a European time zone, after Gallivanting around Galveston!

As for me? I'm here in California to spend Mother's Day weekend OFF with my dear friend Randy!

I grew up in San Jose, and haven't been back since my 15 year high school reunion, 15 years ago. It's time!

We have lots of things planned, some sewing to do, some walking of the dogs, some visiting with her family,seeing other friends and mostly some BIG decompressing after a very heavy teaching/traveling schedule!

I need some mornings to sleep in without having to wake up to an alarm. I am going to enjoy some down time!

Cool Quilt Stuff....

Isn't it fun how when quilters gather, we ooh and ahhh over the new notions, neat gadgets, fun patterns...organizer things, funky tools, cases, bags, totes, etc that we see?

I have to tell you something that I found that I had never thought of. I had a "LUGGAGE" scale that got lost. I needed to replace it...couldn't find one. Not sears, not Penny's, not Walmart, not Target..in other words, I exhausted every outlet that was local to me.

The original scale came to me from Target, and cost $10.00 in the luggage department.

I know where I left it! At a hotel...in the closet...inside my favorite pair of clogs..so it was a double RATZ when I discovered them missing and remembered where they were. Too bad.

After trying to replace the scale, my DH said..try a FISH SCALE! Why didn't I ask him sooner? The Walmart sporting goods department had one that went up to 50lbs...and it was.....$5.00. (Shaking head at the stupidity of marketing...or maybe...the brilliance?)

It looked identical to the "LUGGAGE" scale I bought in the luggage department....only this was sporting goods. Same thing. Literally.

Why is it when something is marketed specifically for some purpose..like quilting for instance...things double or triple in price?

Anyway....scale found, problem solved.

In this case, I want to show you this ingenious little trash catcher one of the quilters had at the Crumbs workshop!

It is simply made from a cut off leg of jeans....the bottom stitched, the corners boxed, and some top stitching added to make it look square instead of round...


Easy peasy! And oh so cute! I can see myself making some of these. They squish flat...perfect for catching threads and snips and dog ears....what a way to recycle!!

Have you seen anything extra cool lately?? I think some of the best ideas come when we gather together for a class, or a guild meeting and see what each other have discovered on our jaunts out and about!

With Crumbs From Austin!

This has been such a FABULOUS trip!! It's been fast paced, run run run and go go go, but I have loved every minute of it!

I have some pictures of Saturday's Crumbs workshop to share with you! The students showed up raring to go, some even went so far as to bring crumbs they wanted to see GONE from their hoards..no wait....stash...to share with everyone to add to the variety. what we ended up with was a true mix of everything, and to me that is the best recipe for a great scrap quilt!


Austin TX Crumb Class 2010
Those of you on readers will probably have to click through to my actual blog to view the slide show. If you can't view them here, click the link below the window to be taken to the actual webshots photo album!

You have GOT to see the lovely BLUE featherweight! I am in love with it! Remember "Ugly Betty", the Singer 301 that was gifted to me in Altoona PA about 1.5 years ago? She spent the winter under a blue tarp out at a fair grounds/flea market place...her black finish is completely chipped down to the aluminum in more than one place...I'm thinking she needs a paint job like this, dont you? IN fact, every time I get a pedicure, I am looking at those little bottles wondering what color would look best on Betty :c)

At this point I'm leaning toward a hot iridescent fuscia! *LOL* I just might do that in the future...I've got 2 years to go til I'm 50, but I'm thinking I can get Betty painted in honor of the occassion. It's a mile stone!

On Sunday, my Star Struck workshop went from noon til 6pm because the church we were using for our class room space was occupied during the morning hours. I got an email from Lucy and Rene telling me they had arrived in Austin, and arrangements were made for them to pick me up after class!

HOW FUN TO SEE THEM!! Driving a hot red little rental car...complete with GPS so we could find our way around.

We went down to the South Congress area, very fun and eclectic, and walked and talked and laughed and visited, and hugged, and laughed some more. Lucy has become quite the shutter bug! And since I was only taking pics with my iphone this trip (yep, left the real camera at home? :c|)I let her be the photographer for the evening.

When they get home to Haarlem, She'll upload the pics and email some, and I'll get you caught up after the fact. She looked so WONDERFUL, they both did...and we discussed my possibility of a short stop over to see them if I can get this trip to visit with a Guild in Stuttgart together for next February.

No matter how many miles we are apart physically, friends are always close at heart!

Austin, you have been wonderful and welcoming, and I can't hardly wait to come back to visit you again!

Colors of Austin!

Things have been hopping since I've gotten here, and I'm going to need some "DOWN" time to really have the time to write all I want to blog about!

I'm staying at a La Quinta (I almost wrote La Quilta, fingers on auto pilot! *LOL*) in North Austin, walking distance from a shopping area known as The Domain. It's one of those monstrosities anchored by high end stores like Dillards and Neiman Marcuss, has lots of smaller boutique type shops, restuarants, and even a Tiffany. Nope. Won't find me buying anything here, but it's all built like a small city, complete with apartments and condos amongst everything so it's very trendy.

It's been a great place to walk, and I've found that my way to where the sidewalk ends and back is close to 3 miles. Nice trek.

I am LOVING the wildflowers that bloom, even in construction areas, and I wanted to post to you a few glimpses of what I've passed by on my walks...taking time to notice their colors, their texture, even behind chain link. This is Austin:


This is BLUE!


This is PINK!


This is GOLD!

What colors growing in your yards, or along your walks could influence you in a color plan for a quilt growing in your head?

I love nature's colors!

I'm in between a morning lecture and an evening one as I write this....I'll be back with you as soon as I can..in the mean time, keep on stitching on!

Hello From Austin!

Hey Y'all!

Austin is AWESOME!

I arrived yesterday morning around 11am and was picked up by Diane who met me at the baggage claim. The quilt bags arrived in good shape, we loaded up a rental cart and off we went to the parking garage and out into the wilds of Texas traffic!

I used to live not too far north of here, just up the interstate, in Waxahachie but that was about 7-8 years ago. And of all the times I drove south to San Antonio,or further down to Houston or Galveston, I always passed through Austin, close enough to see the state capital from the freeway, but never actually stopped unless it was just to get gas right at an exit with an easy off/on.

Diane drove me down Congress and we had lunch at Guero's Taco Bar! What a fun place. They make the torillas right there, and the salsas are all fresh....really really good Tex-Mex! I loved it. There was so much on the menu that I wanted to try, but I opted for a combo that had black bean soup (to die for) a fresh tamale, spanish rice, and a quesadilla on a whole wheat tortilla. I tell you what, fresh tortillas just can't be beat!

From there we drove toward down town. this picture was taken as we were leaving the restaurant of a side of one of the buildings....I just love the arty flavor of everything..look at these colors!

As we got closer to downtown I took pics through the car windshield...so please excuse any bugs/dirt/debris that you see....it's there to add artistic texture, right? :cD

Isn't this building just beautiful? I love visiting capital buildings. As expected, there was a whole lot of "school field trip" activity going on.

Fun to watch the kids trying so hard to pay attention when they really wanted to run screaming through the rotunda, hearing their voices echo..and sliding down THESE corridors!

And this is my view from the inside of the Rotunda look up into the dome....love the 5 pointed Texas stars everywhere...this one even had the letters in between each star point..

Even the door knobs and plates were awesome to look at...just look at this detail!

The grounds outside were also just lovely. I have always loved winding twisted live oaks, and it was great to see them all over the capital grounds along with rose gardens, statues, memorials, it was a lovely place to spend some time.

Today was the crumbs workshop..I'll have to upload pics for those another time as this has gotten quite long! Tomorrow is the Star Struck workhop, and then there is two lecture/trunkshows on Monday, one to the morning group, and one to the evening...so it's going to be a fun couple of days.

I got a mail from Lucy..she and Rene have made it to Texas fine, and they will be coming to get me after my workshop tomorrow and we can go have dinner, find a fun place to listen to some music and visit for the evening. Can't Wait!

Featuring Kathy McCrae!

There are just some smiles I am so happy to see wherever I see them, and Kathy is right at the top of my list!

Not only did she drag herself out to see me TWICE when I was in the DC area, but she came to take my class at VCQ too!

And she gets special merit, because she loaned me the #37 foot to her Bernina when I showed up at VCQ with nothing but my walking foot on!!

You know, driving someone elses machine is like driving someone elses car....it just feels weird, but if you can put someone elses foot on your machine that the same as the foot that you left at home, you can almost forget you are sewing with a borrowed foot and just sew pedal to the metal like you always do :cD

Along with taking the classes, Kathy gets the "extra mile" quilter award for making "Jared Takes A Wife" in KING SIZE!! It's just gorgeous, her colors are wonderful, she put music fabric in it, and believe me..it just sings!

I just really wanted to share her beautiful smile and beautiful quilt with you, because I'm off to Austin!!

Thanks Kathy, hope to see you again next time I'm in the DC area!

Pineapples A Plenty!

The second day of VCQ was Pineapple Blossom Day!

I was blessed to have some students BOTH DAYS, and it amazes me when someone is so willing not only to start two UFOs in the same weekend, but to take them with the same teacher. I'm honored....you guys were so great!



Pineapple Blossom Class VCQ 2010
I uploaded a little slideshow on webshots..I tried not to do this two days in a row, but yesterday's pics took forever to post, and since Pineapple Blossom class had MORE pics...it's another slide show. If you can't view it in your reader, you might need to click to webshots to view them!

And I love how webshots decides HOW the pics are going to look in the slide show....they cut off Susan Smith's head! *LOL* And since Susan has the most adorable "frozen smile for the public when posing" (We laugh about this every time I see her) I am posting her again so you can see just how great she is! She actually FINISHED her pineapple blossom top IN CLASS..sashings and all. Power girl! uhhuh! Proud to call you friend! (Keep my room ready, kay? ;c) )

Boxy Stars!

In this case, I'd say the students were the stars!

And for once, this was an EASY venue for me to get to! Smith Mountain Lake is just South East of Roanoke...a 2 hour drive for me! PIECE OF CAKE! North Carolina and Virgina are not the smallest states, especially if you are talking about state WIDTH. Even tho there were other teachers from NC at VCQ....Annette had to drive from Fayetteville (4 to 5 hours maybe?) And Pepper from the coast, so that was 6 hours or about the distance that I am from DC. I've said before how much I love driving up through Virginia, but this is all back highways, straight up 220..and boy was it green and lush and lovely!

The Boxy Stars class had 25 students! We were plum full up with a waiting list. That always excites me. And it is always so fun just to see the wide variety of fabrics, the stories behind them (Like, you have had this for HOW LONG!??)and who the quilts are maybe being made for.

By lunch time we were pinning blocks to the design wall (aka...display quilt for the next day's class with a piece of flannel hung over it!)and it was just amazing how many blocks were being turned out in nothing flat!

I tell you what, quilters will also come to your rescue when you need them most..because...*cough*...guess WHO showed up with her walking foot on her machine and NO 1/4" FOOT AGAIN!?? (*&@#($*&(*&! (Yes, that would be ME...) The last thing I did was put on a binding, and when it came to put the machine in the car the night before leaving I just up and packed it, strapped ole shotgun the bernina into the frontseat with the seatbelt and didn't even LOOK to see that I had my trusty #37 foot with me.

One sweet quilter loaned me her whole MACHINE! I was working on piecing a project for the next book in my room in between classes, early mornings, late nights, and I needed that machine. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Another student (who is a glutton for punishment because she just took 2 of my other classes when I was up in DC the week before!! :cD)had a #37 foot that she wasn't using and since that fit MY machine (You know how we are about sewing on our own machines?)I switched gears and turned out chains after chains of 1/2 square triangles all ready for pressing! THANK YOU THANK YOU!

I have it on my list, the next time I'm near a Bernina shop, I'm buying an extra #37 foot and just keeping it in my STUFF for travel!

This student had big plans and brought her whole sewing room!! :cD We NEEDED her too! If anyone was out of anything, she had it! (It always amuses me how much we can bring to an 8 hour class...we might need it!)

Pedal to the Metal Baby!! This is no time for lolly gagging, we run a sweat shop in here! Loved these pinks/greens. YUMMY!

Pieces, parts and blocks everywhere!

Don't you love it when big long chains of block parts are streaming out the back of your machine....production, production, that's my function!



This is Bonnie Timm's sweet baby quilt in pinks and blues...hurry Bonnie, the baby has already arrived! :cD

Cool blues....The theme for VCQ this year was Quilt's Ahoy, a lake type nautical theme...perfect!

Blocks on the floor...looking good, with or without sashings!

Some quilters are SO organized! (this is NOT me...lol!)

We really did have the BEST TIME! Thanks for inviting me to be a part of VCQ!