Another day on the Road 05-09-15

I am in San Juan Bautista tonight with Mary and Joe and plan to  stay tomorrow night also.  This will, I hope give me time to go through and edit pictures and do a grand finale on this Road Trip.   Or I might photograph some of the little quilts from the SAQA silent auction and post some.   I'll see what tomorrow brings.

 

Leaving from Yreka I was still north of Shasta so took quite a few pictures, as I drove south, of the mountain unencumbered by clouds.  Also to the west was the snow topped Castle Crags area and they appeared to have fresh snow from the previous night's storm. 

This is the best one of Shasta and you can see how little snow there is - looks more like August than early May.

And here is the final view for this trip, I hope I am able to drive up to the Pacific Northwest again during 2015. 

I usually take a picture of my vehicle - just to prove I was on the trip!  This is at the Dunsmuir City Park which I will talk about more, maybe tomorrow.

I couldn't get a good picture of myself with the self timer, so I asked some ladies who were going off on a hike to take my picture.  I didn't realize I would have a tree growing out of my head.  But, oh well, it proves I was there...  with my vehicle.

Saw a number of robins and this one stopped to pose for me.  Sweet.

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Homeward Bound 05-08-15

Yes, I am on the Road - I-5 south.  I left from Mt. Vernon, WA, at 9:30am and arrived in Yreka, CA,  about 7:30pm.    Something over 500 miles and I am very tired.  I took dozens of pictures, but seem to have lost the knack because most are trash.  Here are a few rhododendron images.  They were not as spectacular as they have been some years when I have traveled to the Pacific Northwest, but still quite beautiful. 

 

The whites are always a bit browned by rain and morning dew.

These ruffled petals add a lot of texture, but I still prefer the single, unruffled flowers that I grew up with.

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A lovely day in Washington State 05-07-15

We visited friends in Bellingham and waaaay outside Bellingham - muffins with lemon curd and crème fres for morning snack, followed by viewing of lovely quilts in progress.  Ending in a tour of the house and yard which Suzanne has transformed with a year of labor.  It is so beautiful; I particularly enjoyed the birds.  Goldfinch, swallows, towhees, house finches, robins, starlings, etc.  The hummers dive bombed us because we were too close to their nesting area. 

 

These goldfinch pictures were taken through the breakfast room window. 

He posed very nicely at first....

..but I guess he didn't like being photographed and turned his back.

On the grape arbor by the front door is a hummingbird feeder, but I couldn't get close enough to catch a hummer.  They were mostly rufous.

We drove to LaConner for a late lunch at "Seeds", definitely on my list of fabulous restaurants. It occupies a building that was once a seed store and has a lovely deck built around this ancient  beech tree.

They call it a European Beech, but I wonder if it is a "Copper Beech".

Lovely with the sun shining through the rust colored leaves.

 

Then we drove over to the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum, just a few blocks away.

This amazing tulip was blooming in the flower bed along the house.  It was pretty droopy so Reynola held it up so I could take a picture.

We attended the reception for Kitty Pippin (on the left) whose quilts are hanging in an exhibit in the downstairs gallery.  We also visited upstairs where there are contemporary quilts by Denise Oyama Miller and Nancy Ryan.

 

Views from the cupola

Views from the cupola.

Views from the cupola - "Rainbow Bridge on left in background.

 

The Quilt Birds - Reynola Pakusich, Suzanne Lucy, Mabel Huseby, -  and Del Thomas.

 

 

And a sunset over Mt Vernon, WA.

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Still in Washington State 05-06-15

I am still with Mabel and Mac in Mt. Vernon, WA, but will be on the road Friday.  I really regret having to leave my friends and the beautiful trees they have on their property.

 

This is the view in the back from the living room window.

And several views from the deck of the gorgeous cedar trees which tower over the house and give Mabel fits when there are wind storms.

 

Another view of the back yard.



And a view of the front yard.

 

 

 

There are pots and deck boxes on the deck railing.  The tuberous begonias have not yet developed buds.  But the pansies, purchased from the nursery are blooming despite the cold nights (under 40) and cool days (68-69).

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In Northern Washington 05-05-15

I drove on up to visit friends in Mt Vernon, WA, and discovered I could not get online at their house.  Tried everything I could think of and am now at the local Starbuck's hoping they don't close before I am finished with this blog post.    Oh, oh - she  says 10 minutes.  

Still in Portland I wondered what kind of a tree has purple leaves.  This is directly out the window at room 1350.

I think the rust colored trees are copper beeches.

Of course, my most favorite trees are the shaggy Douglas Firs. 

There are spring blossoming trees blooming all along I-5 in Washington.

And many trees just leafing out in their spring finery.

There is more Scotch broom than I have ever seen  before.  On the dashboard I always have little bits of vegetation, stones, shells, etc.  It drove my late husband nuts!

And then there was the Mattress Ranch on an access road along I-5.  Something about buying a mattress from a store with cows, horses and pigs doesn't appeal to me.

I missed the sign that said 60 acres for sale.  I wonder if the entire 60 acres is covered with Scotch broom and Douglas Firs.

. 

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Even the entrance to the military base is engulfed in Scotch broom.  

Lots of daisies along the way.  This photo was from an exit I made to stop for gas.

About Seattle the sun came out and there were beautiful clouds in a very blue sky.

I groaned when I saw this sign, but turned onto the Express lanes and came out on I-5 above the wreck.  Phew!

 

Starbucks is closing so I must end.  More tomorrow sometime.

 

At Studio Art Quilt Associates conference in Portland, OR 05-03-15

I haven't posted because I haven't been able to get online with my laptop late at night when I want to post.  Guess there were a lot of late night people (quilters?) staying at the hotel and they overloaded the system.  Others were having trouble also.  This is a long post with the pictures in the order I took them.

There is not a lot to take pictures of when at a conference. 

 

Mostly one sees the backs of heads - especially if one sits in the back of the room, which is what I prefer.  Lots of grey/white heads in view. 

 

Very few quilts were shown, mostly power point images.  This is Hsin-Chen Lin with one of the quilts she brought with her from her home in Taiwan.

 

 

Gabe Mackay is the son of one of the ladies in a small group I belong to.  Gabe lives in Portland and owns two restaurants; this is his Biwa, the newest one, located at NE 9th and Ankeny.  The food was quite delicious and beautifully presented.  

 

Asparagus with black sesame sauce (my favorite)

and in the background Beth's cocktail (she let me taste) made with grapefruit juice and vodka and some other unidentified flavors.

 

We also had pot stickers, chicken wings, sea trout on skewers and butterscotch + for dessert.

 

Oh, yes.  We each had a shooter.  Aren't the shells wonderful?

 

The restaurant is below street level and has all the fixtures and plumbing lines exposed.  Here are two noren made by Gabe's mom, covering some of the bareness.

We took a taxi from (and back to) the Double Tree Hotel.  (about $14 r/t) 

 

From the wall sized windows in the elevator lobby I can see many construction cranes.  They are lit up at night - this one is especially beautiful.

 

Here is today's dose of Mt. Hood.

 

On Saturday night there was a banquet at which a lively silent auction was held.  There were over 100 small quilts mounted in 8" x 10" matting frames - the exposed part of the quilt is 4.5" x 6.5" - slightly larger than a postcard.  I kept telling people that this was a FUND RAISER and to BID 'EM UP!  And I was as good as my word.  I went $270 over my preset spending limit and am taking an even dozen of these little jewels home.  I thought it was great fun and SAQA made more than $14,000!
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          Heather Dubreuil - Hudson QC, Canada
 

           Terry Grant - Beaverton, OR

 

On Friday evening there was an "activity" called "Maker's Space" where "make and take" tables were set up with an artist in attendance at each teaching and helping use different materials and techniques.  I did two of the designated tables:







 

Laura Jaszkowski (Eugene, OR) was showing how to make quick little fused landscapes.

Unfinished, mine is 8"W x 10"L

 

Betty Busby (Albuquerque, NM) had a large plastic box of paint sticks that one could experiment with.  I was struck by the thought that they would make gorgeous clouds.  I have been thinking about cloud quilts for a long time - I think I'll try this at home. These are only 8"W x 4"L, but think of them as huge.

 

 

With every lecture or panel there is more than adequate coffee set up.  Always including one of these three part trays: chocolate curls, whipped cream, and cinnamon sticks.  And, of course, tea makings, cream, sugar, etc.

The chocolate curls fascinate me - they are almost as big around as a Bic pen and less than a quarter inch long.  I tried some in my coffee, but the coffee was not hot enough to melt the chocolate, so it just ended up in the bottom of the cup when the coffee was gone.  I wonder if they have a job description of "chocolate curler" or if the curls are actually extruded in a manufacturing process.   Inquiring minds and all that.

Beth Smith, Director of Visions Art Museum in San Diego, which specializes in quilts and textiles only, and Charlotte Bird who chairs the biennial exhibit called "Visions", gave a joint talk about the museum and the process of the biennial.  The first image up was of the entrance to the museum.  The artists had questions at the end, they would all like to have a quilt in the biennial.

 

This is a view from the elevator lobby in the daytime - Portland's West Hills and construction cranes.  

The only program that showed quilts was the talk by four artists from the Oregon chapter of SAQA.  But the quilts where hung before the speakers and taken down immediately after they were through, so there wasn't much chance to look at them, much less photography.

These gorgeous elephants are by Sheila Finzer (Terrebonne, OR). 

She told a funny story about how she was taking a shower in the outdoor shower at safari camp in SAfrican when the elephants came around.  Not to miss her chance she ran out, grabbed her camera and started shooting pictures.  What we will do for a good picture.

 

Lunch today in the sort of "quick snack" bar in the lobby of the hotel.  We had a good look at the surroundings because it took forever to get our meals. My turkey Panini was excellent and my lunch partner enjoyed her grilled salmon. 

 

  I found these fabric lamps interesting.  And they are unstiffened fabric - my lunch partner was tall enough to reach up for a feel.  There is other lighting to supplement what light these give out.

 

This afternoon I took a four hour class in Katoma Shibori from Ana Lisa Hedstrom, an artist whose work I first saw in the 1970s at Obiko in San Francisco - a wonderful  shop full of original art clothing and accessories  - long gone, of course. 

 

Ana Lisa was so well organized and worked easily with limited facilities.  We dyed in buckets fill with hot water in the bathrooms of our sleeping rooms. 

 

 

This form of Shibori is done using sewing machines to fold and pleat the fabric.  These six pieces are what I did in class.  The sewing machines were provided by a local merchant.

By-the-way, the trick to removing the threads after dyeing is to use a light weight rayon thread in the bobbin, it breaks so easily the stitching comes out in seconds.  If you enlarge the images you can see the little ends of peach colored thread I haven't removed. 

 

This "wonky plaid" was fun to do and has lots of variations.

 

We were to stitch an object and I chose a flower, but the dye didn't penetrate very well. 

 

This is continuous squares or boxes.

 

The two browns are different fabrics - silk noil on the left and cotton on the right.  The silk didn't take the dye very well.  Or maybe it was the way I stitched it.  Anyway, it was an interesting class though I doubt I will do it again.  But it is in my brain filing system, just in case I decide to use it in the future.

 

And here is the daily Mt. Hood.  It will be too hazy to see her in the morning when I drive north, but maybe next weekend when I am heading home - on I-5, of course.  It is always a special trip when I see all of the mountains along the route.  Mt. Baker, Mt Rainer, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, Mt. Shasta.  There are a few others in the row, but I rarely ever see them.

 

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