Home again 02-22-20

It was a rather easy drive from San Juan Bautista to home.  Light traffic and only a few of those 100 MPH drivers.  I had two stops of about 1/2 hour each, so the driving time was about 5 hours.  Rain periodically, but not very severe.  I picked up KoKo and he now wants to be on my lap every minute.  He is such a lover.  I will skip the San Diego meeting tomorrow, I hate to miss it, but I am very tired tonight and I will have to drive down on Wednesday for a scheduled docent tour of the Ruth B. McDowell quilts at VAM. 

I took lots of pictures along the way, but they were definitely "point and shoot", so will need to be edited.  One of my two stops was at In & Out Burger at Laval Rd , just north of the Grapevine.  The burger and shake gave me a boost to get over the mountains and home!! 

It was just at lunch time so they were very busy. 

"What does fresh really mean?"  Well, they peel the potatoes and slice them for fries.  And the ground beef is never frozen.  I never worry about getting sulfites in my meal. 

I had never noticed that the crew wears giant diaper pins to hold their aprons on.  Must be four inches long! 

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Recuperating today! 02-21-20

After a strenuous day of quilt hanging, both Mary and I were dragging our tails today.  We both were up and down during the night.  My shoulder problem came back with a vengeance, but fortunately I found an analgesic patch in my suitcase and finally got back to sleep.  Those handy patches work great on my shoulder.  The rest of the day I lazed around editing pictures and doing e-mail and finished the book I have been reading.  David Baldacci's "The Sixth Man".

We went to dinner at Inaka, the Japanese restaurant here in San Juan Bautista.  The food was delicious, but the service was very slow and they don't take reservations for parties of two (how odd!).  It is a very popular place and an unusual restaurant for tiny SJBautista.

I will drive home tomorrow.  I would like to stay and just hang out at Back Porch Fabrics and talk about the quilts.  But I need to be home Sunday for a meeting and I miss my KoKo dog! 

When you walk into the classroom at Back Porch the quilt facing you is Judith Content's "Cataclysm" (85"W x 55"L).  She was working in her studio and her husband was reading the book "Krakatoa" about the massive eruption of that volcano in Indonesia in 1883.  He was so fascinated he kept reading parts out loud to her.   She read the book and was inspired to do some silk dyeing and created this fabulous quilt.  I am so lucky to have it in the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.

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Hanging Quilts 02-20-20

Today my friend Mary and I helped hang the quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection (TCQC) at Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove.  The shop owner Gail Abeloe has a great eye for what goes with what so she does the layout.  Mary and I and the two ladies working in the shop helped to hold, align, held quilts up for Gail, stapled up the labels and generally made ourselves useful.  It is such a thrill for me to see so many of the quilts hung together and they do look spectacular.  After they were all hung we took a lunch break at Peppers restaurant and had wonderful salmon tacos, chicken enchilada, mushroom/artichoke enchilada, and the accompanying rice and beans.  Great lunch. 

The exhibit will hang until the Empty Spools Seminars are over, so until April 30th.  If you are anywhere near Pacific Grove do go and enjoy these amazing quilts made by some of the most creative quilt makers of the last 30+ years.  Here are some general views of the classroom where the quilts are showing. 

Charlotte Bird, Valerie Goodwin, Sherry Boram, Deborah Lacariva, Dena Dale Crain, Ruth B. McDowell.

Linda Colsh, Deidra Adams, Marianne Burr. 

Kathleen Probst, Ruth B. McDowell, Alison Livesley, Susan Else, Janet Steadman, Elizabeth Busch, Libby Lehman, Rosalie Dace, Sue Benner, Judith Content

Ann Johnston, Melody Johnson, Patricia Klem, Diane Firth, Ruth B. McDowell, Caryl Bryer Fallert Gentry, Freddy Moran. 

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Placentia to San Juan Bautista, CA 02-19-20

On Feb 1st I drove home from my last trip to San Juan Bautista and there were very few almond trees in bloom.  Today, driving the same route north all the trees are in bloom.  Didn't see many wildflowers, but some uncultivated areas had swaths of tiny yellow flowers growing very low on the ground.  Unfortunately the photos from the moving car did not turn out well.  Traffic was not bad and the trip was just about six hours with two stops, one at a rest stop near Buttonwillow and the other for gas in Santa Nella.  I usually have about 30 miles of gas left when I arrive there so it is prudent to fill up.  And nice to pay $2.099/gal.  

It is nice to be with Mary again, in her lovely new house.  And tomorrow we will go to Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove to hang quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.  Lunch is, of course, in order before driving back to SJBautista. 

Always traffic getting anywhere in Orange County.  This is where two freeways slip together and then apart in different directions.  Always lots of trucks.  Dare I drive between these to bemouths?

Over the Grapevine and into the miles of orchards, mostly almonds, blooming wildly.  Notice the tumbleweeds piled against the fence and the white beehives on the right.  Many farmers rent the beehives to fertilize their trees.  

Where there aren't orchards there are pastures which are GREEN now.  The bare area behind the fence posts is a dirt road for farm access. 

 More almonds blooming and another stack of beehives on the right. 

Here is a fallow field that used to have almond trees.  Once the land is prepared another crop will be planted  Maybe more almonds. 

Untilled land with sagebrush and weeds.  I thought that I might be seeing the Sierra in the distance, but looking  closely at the picture, I think it is just the clouds over the Sierra.  

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On the road again 02-18-20

I'll be going up to Pacific Grove to hang selections from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection at Back Porch Fabrics.  There is no theme to this exhibit, just selections from the Collection.  If you are attending Empty Spools I hope you will get a chance to visit Back Porch and view the quilts.  They will hang until April 30th. 

 "Wings #2: Pairing Up"  Kathleen Probst - Idaho 2012
27.75"W X 28.5"L  Cotton fabrics, Machine quilted.

"Tracings VI and "Tracings VII" Deidra Adams Colorado 2014

Cotton, paper, paint, piecing.  Machine quilted. 

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/Yellow scrap quilt progress 02-17-20

At the end of 2019 I was haunted by all the yellow scraps I had in the scrap trash bag and then I watched a tutorial about using scraps.  I saved the video, but now I can't find it.  If someone recognizes something like this please let me know who did the video.  Of course, my work doesn't look anything like hers, which was wonderful.  

So, I dumped out the scraps and pulled out what I thought I might use.  Strange, I still have a big pile - do they really propagate themselves in the dark?  And when I had the time and was in the mood I put together five panels.  Here are four of them, the fifth doesn't work with these.  I don't know what will happen next, but I have them pinned up so I can see them every day.  Right now I have some deadlines to meet, so I won't be scrapping any more for a while.  

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Travel Stops 02-16-20

Last week I posted about stops at Harris Ranch on the I-5 near Coalinga.  I also sometimes stop further south at Pyramid Lake water "overlook".  My friend from Empty Spools, Dottie Daybill tipped me to this one about a decade ago.  It is only open during the day, 8 to 5, I think.  But the bathrooms are exceptional and there are usually only a handful of people around.  There are exhibits about water and the California water system and even a short film, which I have never watched.  The facility is called:

A very nice Spanish style building. 

With native Toyon trees around the building and in the parking large parking lot. 

During winter the Toyons bear berries, but I don't usually see birds around, except crows and ravens.. 

Looking back from the parking lot to I-5, snaking around the ridges and valleys requires lots of overpasses. .

Walk around the west side of the building for a view of Pyramid Lake, a reservoir. 

Another view of the lake shows a small marina which is accessible from Smokey Bear Road.  Occasionally I see a few boats on the lake, but very few.  There is nothing commercial nearby - no stores, no gas stations.  

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