Happy Thanksgiving! An unexpected post – Two (small) finishes, Orange County and beautiful fall color

NOTE: I know I said I wouldn’t post today, but here I am! My sons et al do not arrive until Saturday, so I have the time now. BUT, I teach next Fri/Sat so I may not publish my newsletter next week. I may get one out this week, we will see. Happy Thanksgiving!

Hubby and I are celebrating our “70/40” this weekend and will have a special meal on Monday. Our birthdays are 24 days apart, with our anniversary in between; so it’s our 70th birthdays and our 40th anniversary. We decided to NOT go to a fufu restaurant, but hire a personal chef to come to our home. I am so excited! We’ve never done such a thing before. Also, with an almost 4 yr old and a 6 month old, restaurants are pretty much out of the question. We will all enjoy a fabulous meal together as a family at our home. It warms my heart just to write that. Talk about blessings and thankfulness…

I’ll start with my two small finishes. I am teaching at AQS Paducah next April and they asked me for a more “colorful” sample for my “Fills and Frills” class. Alrighty then, what a fun “To Do”!

It’s all silk, even the binding. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I LOVE silk and my silk stash exceeds my life expectancy. I like the way it turned out and it meets the criteria of “colorful”!

My other finish is my project from last week’s Sashiko class. We took a pre-cut stiff snowflake, used the sashiko to do the reverse stitch (oh I forget the real name) in the middle, then mounted on a quilt sandwich to quilt. The stiffness of the snowflake provided quite a bit of challenge. Not only was it a stiff and thick surface, but I chose to use metallic thread. Oy.

I used a bit of “frankenbatting” where you stitch bits of batting together to form a larger piece. I am so pleased with myself as I had quite a pile of wool bits earlier this year and the pieces on top are all that is left.

I did use my 505 STICK (NOT spray) to baste. You can see the stick to the far left.

Don’t panic. It looks like this until it quickly disappears. But it still is holding, just not visible.

Again, that pre-cut provided challenges. I needed to press it down but no way I was going to find out what would happen if it came into contact with the iron. My Laurastar has really gentle heat and I used my silk organza press cloth to protect the Laurastar just in case.

I wanted to use a shouty metallic and Superior Glitter is pretty shouty. I have to admit, it did not show as much as I hoped upon the pre cut.

And there ya go, all done. There are LOTS of imperfections in this, but I like the look and wanted to finish what I started in class. It’s pretty!

The week before, I took a trip to Orange County to see the Orange County Quilters Guild for a lecture and workshop. There is so much that is lovely about Orange County and it starts with the airport:

Yeah, fuzzy photo I know. Much of the airport is covered and outdoors. You board your plane by walking on the tarmac to your plane, all open air; and you can board from the back or front of the plane. The weather is almost always mild, so it’s a nice welcome.

There was a great turn out for my lecture:

Look at that friendly bunch!

I was so thrilled to see Del Thomas come especially for my lecture:

Del a strong supporter of the art of quilting, and her Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection is one of the world’s largest private art collections. Del is a maker as well as a collector. One of my 12″ x 12″ quilts is in her collection, squeee! It was lovely to see her again.

I taught my Blooming Sheers workshop the next day. That workshop is always FUN! I think every single student has fun with that class. It is so lighthearted!

The Queen Bee hosted our workshop. It’s a super fun shop, recently sold.

What a lovely and welcoming sitting area!

All. That. Color! So many fun things to play with.

Love to see the gizmos students have. How cool that this clear box shows all the color.

I am so sorry I forgot her name. She was wearing these fun Minnie Mouse clips and gave them to me! We were practically in the shadows of Disney Land.

Ugh, can’t figure out how to add a gallery to show off what was created. There were several students who had never free motion quilted before and their work was whimsical and amazing! I was so proud of them. There was lots of really wonderful pieces, many of them finished during class.

On to fall color. I live near Sacramento which is known as “The City of Trees”. Out in the burbs where I live, the trees tend to be younger and smaller. But oh did we have color this year! Here are a few views:

This elm captivates me. In the summer, its leaves are a bright chartreuse. It spreads rather than grows upright, providing a beautiful shaded area beneath. In the fall, its leaves turn almost white! It is so different and so beautiful.