A day at the Bay and life at the Lyon house

I love to pack a day! I had a simple plan that grew as the day went on: drive to the Bay area to meet up with Catherine Redford and maybe have a moment to drop by for a precious few moments with Grandson (and parents!). Driving to the San Francisco Bay area is something to be planned and timed. Traffic can be insane. I was to meet up with Catherine at 4, so maybe if I left at 9:30AM-ish I’d have some time to play while there. That was a reasonable assumption given that the commute should be 2 hours-ish.

Miraculously, I was making good time. As I approached the city, I realized, I was driving right by Bay Quilts in Richmond, just right there, just one little exit and bam, you’re there. It’s a fabulous shop, huge, on the contemporary side, wide aisles, who can resist? I’ll just take a quick stop:

It was a quick stop, only 20 min and $99 or so and I was on my way. Scored some Jane Sassaman hand dyes, very well priced, an ice dye panel and Free Spirit fabric from a new-to-me designer, William Reue. Love his aesthetic and discovered he is a New York City architect! Score.

One of the wonderful things about Bay Quilts is their monthly Gallery Exhibit featuring a quilt artist of note. Cheryl Hata is this month’s featured artist; a few of her quilts:

Then it was onward to see my son, DIL and Grandson on the Peninsula, a mere 67 Bay area miles away. Ugh. Traffic. The whole rest of the day. This suburbanite does not do well in traffic. But hey, Grandson is at the other end so it’s totally worth it. I got to spend a precious 80 minutes with my Grandson and delivered a much needed bath toy. Poor boy has no toys:-). His gums approved, so it was worth it.

I have this concept called Golden Mommy Moments, precious moments with my sons that give me joy. I hoard them in a part of my brain and bring them out and fondle them on occasion.

I created a new file for this brief visit. There was a vignette: my son, now a Dad, and there is my precious Grandson, happily playing on his own – babbling and spewing charm. I arrived around noon and my son had made soup for me! We had just seen each other 2 weeks ago at Thanksgiving so there wasn’t any real news, just a lovely, brief moment of bliss. Golden Mommy Moment, when ya know you done good.

I knew they had a packed day so I made my visit brief and moved on to the next stops. I was hoping to land at Title Nine in Berkley as well as New Pieces Quilt shop and maybe maybe even Stone Mountain and Daughter Fabric? That is another 38 Bay area miles.

It was not to be. There was some horrendous accident that put traffic to a halt. After sitting for what seemed hours, I took a chance and exited in a vain attempt to feeder hop. It took me in a new direction so I just followed my GPS and actually circumvented the traffic. I thought I was so cool…until I ran into another traffic jam.

I really wanted to hit Title Nine, their clothes fit me and my lifestyle well. I had to make a Plan B and hit New Pieces:

I had a mere 15 minutes left to shop and found these great panels. I just can’t get enough of panels. The shop informed me that it I needed to allow 45 min for the 22 miles to Concord where C&T, my publisher was located. And they were right!

Catherine was taping for a new offering on the Creative Spark platform and I thought it would be fun to meet up with her for dinner. Catherine lives in the Chicago area and we didn’t get any time together at Houston. It was a great idea…. Her taping ran way long, 2 1/2 hrs longer than anticipated so that dinner never happened. Sigh. We had a quick chat and then I had to get on the road. I did have a bit of fun while I was waiting:

I worked closely with Sophie Scardaci while taping my Yes You CAN Free Motion Quilt! class on Creative Spark. It was a joy to meet her in person! Sophie has a vision and a creative brain that made working with her so easy. We chatted about all of life.

Obviously Catherine knows how to pose for a selfie better than I:

I’ll let her tell you about her new offerings coming up on Creative Spark. You can follow Catherine here if you don’t already.

And, on the home front, I have a new art addition:

The bottom piece is my latest purchase from friend and fellow SAQA artist Margaret Blank. Margaret lives on the plains of Alberta, Canada and I now have 4 pieces of hers. Does that make me a Patron? I am from the plains of northcentral Illinois and these scenes feel somewhat familiar. There is beauty in simplicity, in the spareness of the plains and Margaret captures it so well. I love that Alberta sky that makes it into most of her work.

And, finally:

Hubby had knee replacement revision surgery recently and was unable to help with Christmas decorating. I could not do it myself. I was able to get a neighborhood boy to help, thank goodness! He and his Mom helped me for 90 minutes and we knocked it out. I did a bit less fluffing and puffing this year but it’s up and I am thrilled. We don’t make a big deal of decorating but enjoy the deep meaning of the Christ Mas season. I hope you enjoyed this week’s read!

I’ll be posting to Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday