Visiting the Santa Clarita Valley Quilt Guild
I love my job! I get to travel, meet new people, experience life in places I might not visit on my own, and talk about one of the loves of my life, quilting. Pinch me.
This trip did not start well. I left home in plenty of time, 2 hrs before my short 1 hr flight (I have permanent TWA pre-check and am 30 min away). And yet I barely made my flight. The garage was full for some inexplicable reason. I drove around again to overflow parking, which was full; drove around again, second overflow had spaces waaaaaaaaaaay at the very end of the lot. Two busses drive by, already full. Then came the long wait for the lumbering bus with some space, which stoped 42 times (slight exaggeration) before I got to the terminal. That was more than an hour delay!
It was excruciating. I have never found the garage to be full before. Even worse was arriving home to the isolated parking lot with my big ole heavy 29″ suitcase plus carry on plus my tech bag, by myself, as dark was approaching, my car at the very far end of the row. Yikes, did NOT like that!
It was worth it! I traveled to Santa Clarita, CA to visit the Santa Clarita Valley Quilt Guild. Santa Clarita is probably best known as the site of Six Flags Magic Mountain. It is a pretty, lovely community loaded up with nice people. The guild was so so friendly and I felt right at home.
Things started out well, with some donuts from this iconic shop, close to the Burbank Airport:
Oh yeah, it was worth the calories!
The Bob Hope Burbank Airport is a trip: it’s 93 years old and you feel like you’ve stepped back in time (in a good way). There are only 2 baggage areas and they are outside! It is so steeped in history that every time I land there I feel like I should have gloves on with a pill box hat and an elegant sheath dress; very Jackie O!
I presented my “Tippy Top Tips for Successful and Joyful Free Motion Quilting” that evening and it was well received, with lots of questions at the end. Turn out was great:
The photo lighting is odd because I was looking into my projector, oops. This was an enthusiastic and engaged group!
I stayed with Carol and Nick and they treated me like a Princess, opening up their home and entertaining and feeding me like royalty.
And Bailey, the little love bug:
And what a nice touch on my bed; isn’t this adorable? Love those colors:
I had a day off the following day and on my morning walk, I walked under a huge tree (diameter of trunk maybe 2′?). It smelled of lilac! I thought, wow, I did not know a lilac could reach such heights. I quickly googled it and no, lilacs do not do that! Carol and Nick indulged my curiosity and we stopped at a local nursery. Only one long term employee knew the tree.
Turns out it is a “Texas Umbrella Tree“, Chinaberry, common in Central and East Texas. And get this, every part of the tree is toxic, harms the ecosystem around it and the tree is highly invasive. The employee familiar with the tree said it kills bees! It smells and looks like a giant beautiful lilac yet it’s nasty and invasive. Whodathunk?
We also strolled through the nearby huge master planned community of Bridgeport in nearby Valencia. It felt like another world, almost like the Deep South in areas:
All the homes are built around a 15 acre water system with bridges and canals and lots of turtles! I wish I had taken photos of the turtles all lined up and sunning themselves. It is a child friendly community, with lots of kids having fun fishing (catch and release).
I guess this is a familiar scene for SoCal folks – they were filming for a new reality TV series, Paradise City:
There must have been 50 trucks or trailers from food, to generators, to rooms for the actors to lighting…. It was like a small town. I had that Golmer Pile feeling: well gooooooollllllly!
“Yes You CAN Free Motion Quilt!” was the next day, with 13 eager students:
We had a great set up with plenty of room, light and electrical and Carol even provided a sandwich lunch for us all! It was the most fun of classes and we laughed and worked hard and accomplished much. I received some high praise for my efforts, which I appreciated!
Fortunately my trip home was uneventful and I reached my car safely. BUT, I was in a rental car, as mine was in the shop after a fender bender. And look what happened while it was in the lot and I was traveling:
a 2′ long crack in the rental’s windshield. Really???? It will be under my insurance and yes, I know it is free, but such a hassle. Travel does have its challenges. But it was all worth it, a great trip!
Mother’s Day was lovely BTW, with phone calls, dinner and lots of flowers and gifts. I am blessed.
I’ll be linking up with:
Love your updates. Sorry that there were some problems. Your pics are awesome and glad that you taught some awesome classes.
Thank you Rebecca!
In South Australia we know the Texas Umbrella Tree as White Cedar. We had one in our back yard but took it out once we got a puppy as the seeds were everywhere and puppies like to chew everything and we did not want him to get sick.
Interesting the different names it has in different locations. Nasty stuff! Glad your puppy did not get a chance to be around it.