Visiting the Quilters Etc guild and a Work In Process
Last weekend I flew into Santa Barbara and drove about an hour northwest to Lompoc (now that is pronounced lom-poke!). It was a beautiful drive through the San Ynez River Valley. The Quilters Etc guild brought me in for a lecture and a sheers workshop.
The guild provided me with a rental car (thank you!) so I was able to tool around a little bit. Lompoc is known for its art murals, 40 murals scattered about the city. They depict the history and culture of the area:
It’s a pretty city and I found this scene at the end of the downtown area:
I’m not sure of what kind of trees those are, but as you can see, they are massive and elegant.
My lecture was well received and I had some robust discussions with some of the members at the break.
Before I left home, I hastily put a sleeve on my Tulip quilt and she made her debut at the Quilters Etc meeting! She still has a good deal of little fixes to do but she hung well and I love her!
I am distraught; one member took a great photo that had me, Tulip quilt and my book, but I somehow lost that photo. Given that, instead I’ll include a photo I took at home. She has not been blocked:
This member created her own pattern for the cutest Halloween purse ever! Isn’t this adorable?
I had a day off in between events, so I met up with my friend Schatzi who drove us to Nojoqui Falls, a magical experience for me. Yes, technically, the falls is closed off. Yes, we did do the limbo and go through two barriers. And yes, there is a good reason it was closed off; it’s pretty slippery and a wee bit dangerous. But there were other people doing the same so….
The short hike up to the falls totally reminded me of the terrain around my hometown in North Central Illinois:
We were thrilled that there was still water running in the falls:
Schatzi was kind enough to take this photo.
The falls are about 100′ tall.
We enjoyed lunch and a stroll in the nearby Danish village of Solvang:
We had lunch at the Solvang Restaurant and happened to sit in the booth that a scene from Sideways was filmed, who knew?
The sheers workshop was the following day and yes, I forgot to take photos of much of the day, my bad:
We had fun and chatted and laughed. It was a great class!
Once I was unpacked and had a few moments, I started working on this:
I’ve written about this piece before, but let me catch you up on its history. The background is yellow silk, a gift from a friend of mine. I had plans for a border which did not work out well. I decided to face it and then will lay this entirely quilted piece atop another quilted piece. I will securely attach the yellow quilt at the top to the underlayer.
The quilt above is not finished; there is that poochy part right above the vase on the right hand side of the vase that needs to be quilted.
The underlayer is a deep, deep, glorious navy dupioni and its backing is a beautiful striped silk. I am quilting bubbles in the area that the yellow quilt will lie atop of and then will quilt a yet-to-be-determined pattern into its border.
I machine basted the underlayer by machine via walking foot and water soluble thread top and bobbin:
And the bubbles:
The color is gorgeous but the photos don’t show it well.
Looking at today’s post you might think I have a thing for yellow; actually I don’t! It is coincidence that I am working on two yellow quilts right now. I am so excited to get this yellow silk quilt done!
I’ll be sharing at:
So glad you enjoyed your visit to Lompoc. We love our small town despite its lack of an office supply store and other amenities. Please give credit where it is due. The photo you showed is the work of Melissa Minjarez and yes, she is indeed talented! I suggested at the guild meeting that she sign up for your workshop since she loved to quilt with a walking foot. She is such a wonderful gal and a bright light as a new member of our guild.
Thank you for the lovely note Leigh. Thank you also for suggesting that Melissa sign up. She is a force!