San Diego and an Open House

There’s not much quilting or dyeing going on around here! It’s been a whirlwind for the last week or so-all of it good. I enjoyed a weeklong teaching trip to San Diego and now this very inexperienced entertainer is planning an Open House for FIFTY on the 16th. That gives me exactly 2 1/2 days to cook, prep and clean!

My trip to San Diego was fantastic. I visited both the El Camino Quilters and the Friendship Quilters of San Diego, with a full day off in between, pinch me!

I taught two very different workshops so I took even more things than usual. I had to take out quilts, shoes, and some teaching supplies just to (barely) make my 50 lb/bag limit. When I travel for pleasure I take great delight in traveling light! By the way, when is someone going to design luggage that rolls easily on hotel carpet? Or hotel carpet that allows luggage to roll freely?

Big deal for me-my very first Uber driver, John! I don’t think I will ever drive to the airport again.

This was a new one on me-therapy dogs at the airport. I talked with the handler and she said there are many people that stress out at airports and she knows that the dogs make a difference. It was delightful to “chat” with a puppy dog at the terminal!

We had a full house at Eleanor Burns’ Quilt in a Day shop for Intro to Fearless Free Motion Quilting. This particular student did something unexpected and totally from her own mind, adding a little swirl to the center-love this. It’s always an internal “quilt skipping moment” for me when I see a student go rogue and do her/his own thing!

And I have to brag on this student. She said she had been trying to stipple and free motion quilt for years and the light bulb went off in class-yay! It’s so empowering to be able to quilt at least some of your own work!

I think a sense of adventure is a useful trait while traveling to teach. Sometimes “adventure” gets a little out of hand. After my lecture to the El Camino Quilters in the morning, I had some time on my hands. My hotel was not near any retail so I had their shuttle drop me off at a fun center with shops and restaurants about 2 miles away. I thought I would walk home after dinner.

As I left the center to walk back to the hotel, apparently I turned the opposite way I should have. And oh by the way, my phone had only 8% battery left, so I was reluctant to use my map ap. After 40 minutes I found myself in a neighborhood with very steep slopes and no sidewalks. Hmmm, something was amiss. I just knew I was close to that major road that would take me to the hotel. At one point a car pulled up to a stop sign and looked at me like, what the heck?

Apparently it was obvious I was lost, so I asked the driver if he knew how far it was to my road. He couldn’t find it and asked where I was going. Um, that was an hour’s walk away! As I pondered my fate, he asked if I wanted a ride. Okay, here I am, stuck, now with 7% phone battery-what’s a girl to do? I lifted up a brief prayer and said yes. So this could have been the last photo on my phone…

All turned out well, he was a young electrician, on his way home. When he dropped me off in front of my hotel I said “Thank you for rescuing a damsel in distress” and you should have seen the look on his face. He was all puffed up and proud-he rescued an old lady that day! And I lived to tell the tale. Onward.

I had a day off in between guilds and Peggy Martin whisked me off to a fun day at the Visions Art Museum in beautiful Balboa Park. I want to exhibit there someday! The museum was filled to the brim with fabulous art quilts, which I could not photograph. There were four separate exhibits, each one was fabulous.

But the Jane Dunnewold exhibit, “Inspired by the Masters” was a jaw dropper. This is new work for her, like nothing you have ever seen. Quoting a few phrases from her write up:
“The initial inspirations for this work were paintings by Henri Matisse. The vibrant colors…would not let me go. In the space of an afternoon my quiet palette flew out the window and color vibrated in my head. Suddenly all kinds of vintage embroideries and needlepoint pieces were objects I absolutely had to own.”

Her work incorporates vintage embroideries and needlepoints as well as paint, dye, crayons and ink. Upon that canvas she embroidered, hand stitched and machine quilted. It is just the coolest thing I have seen in art quilts. Peggy and I spent an hour in that one room. I wish I could have taken photos!

And of course Peggy took me to the legendary Rosie’s Calico Cupboard! Rosie’s has over 18,000 bolts of fabric at incredible prices, 600 books and every notion known. I got out light with just 2 yards of an amazing batik and a wearable art vest.

After I claimed my new hotel room, this appeared on the door of the room next to me. What the heck? It was there overnight and into the morning. I have no clue what that was about!

After a great workshop at Paradise Quilters on Sunday, I had half of Monday off. Mary Tabar took possession of me and we went off to Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. Torrey Pines is located within the city of San Diego yet is one of the wildest stretches of land on the California coast. There are many endangered species within the park and the rules are naturally very strict about what you can do. The park’s 2,000 acres include the beach, a lagoon, unstable sandstone cliffs and a huge variety of wildlife and vegetation. The Torrey Pine is the rarest pine in North America and exists only within the park and tiny Santa Rosa Island.

Lucky me-Mary’s good friend Karen Fraser is a docent at the park and knew all about the wildlife, history and vegetation. It was a private, guided tour with an expert-what a treat!

The drought has taken a drastic toll on pines in California and Torrey Pines is no exception. This eerie looking landscape includes the remnants of decimated trees as well as Pine Beetle traps.

What an odd sight-the bees were all over the inside of this Prickly Pear fruit!

And here’s another view of the coast from the top of the trail. I would never tire of this view. And the weather was gorgeous too-is there better weather anywhere?

Once I got back I immediately needed to go into prep mode for our Open House coming up this Friday. We will have 50 people coming and I have 2 1/2 days to prepare. I had no time to prep before my trip and I am NOT good at this entertaining thing. But I’m not going to sweat it. I’m pretty sure if it’s a bust, no one will starve or need meds! I do love to cook so that’s the easy part. It’s the setting up and fluffing up the house and what goes where and flowers and candles…all that stuff is beyond me.

Most of the people coming are my husband’s golf buddies and their wives and other hubby friends. I’ll have my quilty Open House later. So I wanted to get my studio ready too. I put up Stipa Gigantea because I don’t think most of his friends understand what I do so this is my chance to explain. I’m really looking forward to this but I have soooo much to do in so little time.

And let’s not even think about the 3 teaching jobs I have coming up and my son’s wedding in Chicago-all before Oct 1!

I’m linking up with Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Friday-go see the links!