Blog
It’s not surprising that it was hot in Bakersfield in August, but it was beyoooond hot! Most of my play was indoors so it all turned out well. Yeah, like THAT hot! It was 100 degrees at 9PM on Thursday. Given the high temps, this was not a visit where I went hiking! I left my luggage in the car during the lecture and a lovely dinner afterwards and when I unpacked, I found that all of my vitamins and supplements had melted together in one ball! Even for Bakersfield it was unseasonably hot. And wouldn’t you know, it cooled…
I accidentally sent off all my feathers examples ahead to Grand Rapids, so I spent some time this week making new ones. That is not a bad thing to do – the new samples are “fresh” and I changed them up to reflect the most recent changes I have made to teaching “Feathers Four Ways”. I was delighted that the Bakersfield guild, the Cotton Patch Quilters of Kern Co, had enough demand to ask for a second workshop and they chose feathers! Really ” getting” the shape of the feather into your head is key. So many videos I see…
I’ve been doing a lot of counting lately as I make kits for upcoming venues: counting fabric bolts, squares of fabric, squares of batting, finished quilt sandwiches, kits for students and more. I realized there is a lot of counting in my non kit-making life too: I count laps in the pool, my minutes on the rowing machine and reps with weights. I keep track of my steps and other fitness goals on my Fit Bit and I sometimes find myself counting random things: there are 10 people in line at the post office and 8 have on flip…
Great thread tension adds a level of beauty to your quilt: every stitch is a lovely arc in and out of the quilt, front and back. Poor tension distracts from the beauty of the quilt. I get so many questions about tension in class and there seems to be a lot of confusion and angst about tension. It’s really not that hard! I created a 4 min YouTube video last week to explain the process of getting good tension: I still have a few things to add about tension that were not in the video. Let’s start with what…
If you’re a long-time reader, you know I have to go to the California State Fair each year. It’s cheesy and filled with art, fiber, crops, rides, hawkers, horrific food and people from all walks of life. That is one of the things I like the best about it – it seems to attract a broad demographic swath. And I love the kid’s art and the stages where you can see groups or individuals doing all types of normal or odd things: baton, Polynesian Dance, ukeleles, singers, drama, tap and some things that I can’t even describe. And of course,…
Hubby and I needed a low-key get-away and Bend, OR was perfect. We had hoped that one or both of our boys would be able to join us but their real jobs kept them away. That is a Good Problem! We rented the same house we did 9 years ago when there were two boys plus my friend and her husband. To say the house was a little big for the two of us was an understatement. But it was such a beautiful home! Even the drive up and back was pretty: I set up my machine in the…
On a whim, Hubby and I Googled a rental we had stayed in 9 years ago. We had such a lovely time. Could it possibly be available sometime in July? We were shocked to find an opening for this great home, on the banks of the Deschutes River near historic Drake Park in Downtown Bend, OR. Score! Bend is near great hiking, biking, fishing and other water sports. It has excellent craft beers and dining. Downtown Bend has lots of art and fun places to poke around and shop. Oh, and there are THREE quilt shops! What’s not to like?…
I ended the first half of my teaching year with a blast! I visited the Nite Owl Quilters of Rancho Cucamonga and got to visit a new-to-me area of Southern California (SoCal). Rancho Cucamonga is located in the Inland Empire. I thought that only included the hot and flat areas, but Rancho Cucamonga sits just south of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest in San Bernardino County. I’ve lived in California 19 years and I still have much to learn. When I visited, it was fairly mild and surprisingly lovely! Everyone was friendly and the…
I was thrilled to be in Grants Pass when SAQA‘s Tranquility and Turmoil at the Grants Pass Museum of Art was showing.It was top-notch! I lingered for a few hours and was able to talk with and observe visitor reactions. There was a lot of “How’d they do that?”! It was hard to cull my photos down to just 30. Of course I had the usual group of photos unfit for sharing. It was a pleasure to immerse myself in the show and observe details. Here we go: This was a very subtle piece, one I enjoyed immensely. My…
I do love to travel and meet new people and last week’s visit took me to a new-to-me part of Oregon. Oregon is beautiful and the Rogue Valley was beautiful in a whole new way. Both Medford and Ashland are well-known nearby neighbors in Southwest OR. The Rogue River created the valley in which the city sits, all at the convergence of 3 nearby mountain ranges: the Klamath, Coastal Range and Cascades. It is gorgeous! This trip did not afford enough time to explore the outdoors but I want to bring Hubby back to spend some time there. The…