Empty Spools Day 3 & 4 w/Ruth B. McDowell 03-28-12

It was a bit of a stormy night - not wild, but rain and wind.  When I left the campus to drive into Monterey to Kinko's (which I know is now FedEx, but old habits are hard to break) the water in the Bay was still running with large breakers and flying spray.

I drove along Sunset, which is the longer way to go, just to see the white/grey/black colors.  Several couples were walking on the beach and I had to wait for this one to stand where they were against the sand rather than blending into the rocks. 

Back in the classroom this is my view when my table mate Martha Calahane has gone off somewhere - Kathy Calahane sits at the table to my right.  It is usually quite colorful in Ruth's classes and Wednesday is usually when the fabric comes out.

After the drawing marathon on Monday the students spend most of Tuesday and at least part of Wednesday refining the drawing, marking the seam lines and putting tick marks over them so the cut out pieces can be matched when they are sewn together.  With very complex designs many different colored pencils are helpful. 

After the design on paper is complete, it (or a copy) goes up on the design wall and fabric selection starts.  This is Carole Garcia's Eucalyptus Tree with the sky fabrics cut out and pinned where they will go.

Pat Thompson is selecting fabrics to indicate the water and stones behind the egret.  She found the perfect fabric with a circle within a circle for the eye.

Here is my Fuchsia with the picture pinned to my design board and half a dozen fabrics I have picked up at the fabric shops.  I'm considering the blue and white printed ikat fabric for the background.  I pinned up the red/pink/white/chartreuse piece in the middle just to keep things interesting.  "You aren't going to use that one are you?" has been asked several times.   

This evening a group of five old friends went to Passion Fish in downtown Pacific Grove for dinner.  It was a happy group and we enjoyed the excellent food.  I had sea scallops that were almost two inches across and cooked perfectly - they came with braised celery (one of my favorite veggies) and ...something else that was not memorable.  Perhaps it was polenta w/a slightly tomatoey sauce.   Sorry, no pictures - guess I'll have to go back!

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