Sewing again

I have several deadlines coming up. The first is Sep 22 when my two quilts that appear in the book "Creative Quilting: The Journal Quilt Project" are due in Houston. All of the quilts in the book, or as many as are available, will be a special exhibit at Quilt Festival 2007. I just need to package them and send them on their way. Sep 28 is the deadline for the quilts for the final Journal Quilt Project which are also to be at the Houston Festival. They are to be 17" x 22", or the size of four of the previous quilts. I'm struggling with this one - too many ideas! Meanwhile I am finishing up the quilt for the Beach Cities QGuild monthly mini for which tickets will be available for the meeting next Thursday at the BCQC meeting. When I have finished the binding I will post a picture. Meanwhile, here are the two Journal Quilts.

"Remembering Constance" 8-1/2" X 11" My late friend Constance Howard walking in the Yosemite woods.

"Passing Mars" 8-1/2" x 11" Commemorating the close passing of Mars in August 2003

It feels great to be back to work in my 'studio' - that is really my dining/living rooms!

Putting it all away!

Today is "putting it all away" day! It is great to have time away from home, especially in such a lovely place as Asilomar, but it is also great to get home to one's own bed. If only I didn't have to go through a huge pileup of mail and do the laundry and put everything away. I didn't buy much new fabric to add to my 'fabric library', but I have all the fabric I took with me to put away. I used merely inches in my tiny project. There it is, the blue,red,green bit at the bottom of my design board! However, the object of the class was not sewing, but developing designs which could be sewn at home.

Although, I must admit, everyone in the class accomplished more than I did. Guess it just wasn't my kind of class after all.

I-5 South (continued)

Continuing post for Wednesday, Sep 5, 2007

Another abundant wild plant is datura, more famously known as jimsonweed, a hallucinagenic which is also highly poisonous.

These odd looking trees are pistachios, in one of the many orchards along the highway. Almonds, peaches, pears, walnuts are more common, but these trees stand out with their 'fruit' just coming into season.

I've never seen picking in progress, but I imagine there is a mechanical method similar to that used for most nut crops.

It is a 5 to 6 hour drive from SJBautista, depending on the number of stops one makes. Peaches and nectarines are still being picked so in addition to a couple pit stops I stopped at a farm stand so that I would have fresh fruit for breakfast. It was cooler in SCalifornia today, only in the high 80s, but my recording thermometer says it was 110+ sometime while I was gone. Glad I missed that! My houseplants have survived!

South on the I-5

Post for Wednesday, Sep 5, 2007

I drove from San Juan Bautista to Placentia today, mainly on Interstate 5, which runs from British Columbia to Mexico. I always enjoy this route because of the seasonal changes along the way, but this time of year the landscape is very desolate. The picture above is looking to the east with the Sierra Range hidden in the haze.

This is the view to the west with the Coastal Range hidden in the haze! The vegetation is sparse except for the orchards and vineyards which are still green. Here wild sunflowers grown along the fence.

There is a healthy crop of Russian Thistle right along the edge of the pavement.

These plants have the benefit of slightly more water from pavement runoff. But eventually they will die and the winter winds will turn them into tumbleweeds, some as large as a car!

Visiting the Monterey Aquarium

We enjoyed our visit to the Monterey Aquarium today, but we were only there about two hours! I could have stayed most of the day. I don't know why I only took four photos, guess I was too busy looking. This area has a curved glass (plastic?) roof which protects the visitors from a great splashing wave that comes down every few minutes. Mary Leakey and Elizabeth Barton are looking at the rocks and animal life just after the wave subsides.

And here they are mid-wave with the water streaming down the glass.

I think this is called "The Great Tide Pool", but I could be wrong. It is hard to identify on the Aquarium map. I enjoyed the Coastal Bird display which I remember from my last visit. The birds were all rescued and given medical treatment, but are too badly injured to be released into the wild. Their lives are greatly extended by living in captivity, the oldest bird (a whimbrel, I think) was rescued 21 years ago, but her life expectancy in the wild would have been about ten years. In their enclosure they move about freely and don't appear to be the least aware of the visitors standing so closely. There is no barrier between birds and people - quite amazing.

After we left we drove over to The Red House, one of our favorite restaurants in Pacific Grove, where we each had their grilled cheese sandwich made with Fontina cheese, bell peppers, onions and served with a little pot of aoli w/olives. "Yum-O"!!

Cooler today with a lovely breeze after we arrived back at Mary's. Tomorrow is departure day for both Elizabeth (back to Georgia) and me (back to Placentia). I hope it has cooled down a bit, everyone has been suffering in the terrible heat and apparently experiencing brownouts. Guess my houseplants may have gone to that great greenhouse in the sky.

In San Juan Bautista, CA.

Monterey Bay w/lingering fog haze - Aquarium at far right in background.

When new buildings or renovations will block someone's view these poles with construction fence strips are placed to show the height and/or width limit. Rather festive, eh?

The Empty Spools classes are over and I am staying at Mary's for a few days. We hated to leave the lovely cool days and nights behind and return to the inland heat. The morning fog sometimes lingers until noon so the heat never has a chance to build up. Whereas here, in the hills of San Juan Bautista, the sun blazes up in the morning and really heats things up. Thankfully the nights are about 60degrees, so the house (and its occupants) have a chance to cool off. We are going to visit the Monterey Aquarium tomorrow, I haven't been for four or five years, so I am looking forward to seeing the special otter exhibit.

I keep checking the Placentia weather and I'm not sure I want to go back! At 10pm their temperature was 90 degrees! I'll bet my houseplants are burned to a crisp! As would I be if I were there.

Mary's mission doorway.

Mission doorway - Mary Leakey's class project in Elizabeth Barton class - Asilomar 2007.

Last day at Asilomar

Doesn't seem like I accomplished much in four days, does it? Everyone in class has a design board like this to pin up their design work or the quilt they are developing. The bright colored bit on the bottom is one of only two that I did, while the rest of the class was up to actually sewing fabric pieces together! Here is Mary's board with her wonderful mission door. Which will have to be on a separate post because I can't figure out how to add it to this one!! I'll be at Mary's for a couple days before I drive home.