A visit to La Conner, WA 06-02-18

Mabel and I visited the small water side town of La Conner, WA, on Thursday, May 24th.  It was a beautiful sunny day and there were quite a few tourists visiting this charming little town.  Our first stop was Seeds for a delicious lunch.  They had curried asparagus soup, very tasty and a first for me.  Then we checked in at the  Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum www.qfamuseum.org  which is located in an historic house with quilts in every room and lovely views from the top floor.  There is also a ground floor gift shop with many original items and packaged Japanese fabrics.  The current exhibits are man made quilts and I was honestly disappointed.  Too many negative themes for me.  But there were a few outstanding quilts that I took pictures of. 

 From there we visited Sylvia Pippen's shop "Indigo Stitch" down on the waterfront.  I wanted to just stay there - forever!  Such gorgeous work in sashiko and applique from the creative minds and talented hands of Sylvia and her mother Kitty.  But the samples are not for sale, just the patterns and the materials to create them.  I was reluctant to photograph inside the shop so you will have to visit yourself to enjoy the wonders.   Here are two websites that talk about Sylvia and the shop. 

https://okanarts.com/kitty-pippen/
https://okanarts.com/indigo-stitch/

We also spend some time browsing through the "Wood Shop" which has a wonderful display of everything it is possible to make with fine woods, or so it seemed.  I left some money to support the economy and to supply my Book Group with bookmarks made from wood. 

We drove back to Mt. Vernon for dinner and then off to a meeting of Mabel's book club to talk about Jodi Picoult's book "Small Great Things".  The book is a fiction about racism and the discussion among the dozen ladies was interesting.  It was a full day, but also a great day.  

A very nice quilt that my eyes kept going back to, I'm sure it deserved the prize. 

Outstanding workmanship and a really lovely quilt in the traditional manner. Amazing hand quilting, too.

Indigo Stitch, the shop.

Indigo Stitch, the shop, and Mabel Huseby. 

Finds from the Wood Shop - a toothpick holder, a sinuous pickle fork, and one of the bookmarks. 

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Green with envy 05-29-18

While I was staying with my friends Mable and Mac in Washington state, I went with her to visit her group the Dreadful Threads while some of them were at a quilting retreat.  It is a fabulous location and I took some pictures to share.  The retreat owners travel quite frequently so they have a limited number of weeks available for retreat times.  This is the DT first experience there and, believe it, they have already signed up for one of the few weeks available for next year.  The owners collect sewing related items and she has a masterful eye for displaying the collections.  

In the kitchen there are antique sewing machines and irons, and hat boxes. 

A specific quilt to identify the ladies room. 

Wondering what to put in the skinny space between hallway doors?

Or you could display those cherished wooden thread spools. 

Several tender sayings are displayed - here a cushion.

This is the sitting room with a collection of quilting books and many thimbles on the wall.

Beyond the pony wall is the large sewing room.  

A friend I haven't seen for years - it is Margaret Miller, a member of the group. 

One of many buildings, this has sleeping accommodations. 

Rain boots and succulents.  

The main house where the owners live that has extra bedrooms upstairs. 

A charming vignette on the toilet tank. 

Another saying - this time framed. 

I did not get permission to show any of the quilts being worked on, but this is what my friend Reynola was putting together using collected vintage Japanese fabrics.   It is partially pieced together.  I will ask her permission after the fact!

It was a treat to see such an organized and original setting for a retreat.  I do envy them. 

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Road Trip WA Another driving day 05-28-18

Heading home on Memorial Day and the traffic was, as expected, terrible.  But it seems easier to endure when it is expected.  So, there was open road alternating with stop and go at different times.  I left from Yreka at 9am and arrived at Mary's at 5pm, which makes eight hours on the road.  Of course, I stopped for potty breaks, and to take pictures, and to just walk around to get the kinks out.  I didn't take many pictures and none of the traffic, I think you have had enough of those.  After sorting and editing here are sixteen from those eight hours.  When I arrived at Mary's I took my purse, my pillow and my bathroom bag into the guest room and collapsed onto the bed, I was comatose for an hour and a half.  When I got up Mary fed me a delicious homemade chicken noodle soup with fresh peas which were so tender and sweet.  I guess we have both gotten so accustomed to frozen peas that rediscovering fresh ones is like a whole new vegetable!  I ate one of Mabel's lemon bars for dessert.  Tomorrow is a day of rest. 

Five views of Mt. Shasta - leaving it behind for this trip. 

I stopped at a highway rest stop and luckily found a parking place in the shade.  In front of the car was a hedge of star jasmine.  With the windows cracked I dozed off for 20 minutes to the lovely fragrance. 

This must be the peak of their bloom and the flowers were very dense. 

Further south and north still of Sacramento is the rice growing area.  Miles and miles of flooded rice paddies, either newly planted or soon to be. 

Yet further south the rice has started to show above the water. 

After the rice growing area come more orchards, I think these are a stone fruit, maybe peaches?

I love to see the almost white wild oats along the roadside. 

I don't know if the roadside edges are mowed or sprayed, but it works.

I-5 approaches the foothills that will guide it to the left further south. 

The roadway curves to join I-580 from the Bay area coming into the picture on the left.  

This landscape continues for hundreds of miles going south. 

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Road Trip to WA - Tonight in Yreka, CA 05-27-18

I met my friends June Underwood and Terry Grant for breakfast this morning at a restaurant in June's neighborhood in NE Portland.  Although I mostly grew up in Portland I didn't see much of NW, but the main street names are familiar and I didn't get lost.   I got on I-5 about noon and traffic was heavy, but no stop/go.  After Eugene the traffic was light and I only saw one police car the whole time I was in Oregon.  Guess they were patrolling somewhere besides I-5.  Not much picture taking today and it is 11:30pm and I am very tired.  So, just a few pictures to share.   Tomorrow I will drive to San Juan Bautista for two nights with Mary/Joe and then I'll drive to Placentia on Wednesday.  I've driven that stretch so often there will probably not be any new pictures along the way. 

June Underwood and Del Thomas

Terry Grant

June's giant Allium

And a close up - a million tiny flowers gathered in a globe. 

Not a good picture, but something I have never seen before.  This is a dogwood tree wearing a sweater - see the zipper up the front?  Place this around the little newly planted tree and zip it up, then water from the top for several years until the tree is thriving and then remove.  Clever. 

Just over the line into California there is a vista point dedicated to viewing Mt. Shasta.   I always stop, it is such a gorgeous mountain.  Not as much snow as some years. 

I went out looking for some place for dinner and found this local very popular spot.  

The Jefferson refers to the "State of Jefferson" which takes some explaining.  Check it out at:  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_%28proposed_Pacific_state%29

They have a beautiful pond with elegant landscaping in their parking lot. 

The point of this picture is to show the flag on the right.  Guess I messed up.

You can see it on the Wikipedia site. 

Almost a full moon tonight.

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