Another class with Sue Benner 02-17-18

The Empty Spools ladies let me know yesterday that there has been a cancellation in Sue's Flowers class at Asilomar.  It starts on the 25th, but I need to be in Pacific Grove on the 21st with the quilts for the Back Porch Fabric Shop exhibit, "Bird Quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection" which will hang until early April.  I contacted Nancy Ota and she is able to take KoKo from the 20th to March 3rd.  So, I called Empty Spools and told them I would take the opening and this morning I sent them a check.   Now all I have to do is get ready - yikes!  Since I always leave everything to the last minute I'm pretty good at throwing things together and I still have my workshop box packed from the trip to Tucson.  Just fabric selection for the class and clothes for 12 days.  Nothing to it, she says as she stays up half the night trying to get everything done.   I will take the broken laptop and the auxiliary screen and hope that I can make it work up in Pacific Grove.  Unlike in Tucson.   If I am not posting on my blog during that time you'll know it didn't work. 

Glimpses of Asilomar 

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Friday Feet 02-16-18

A repeat from 2012.

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Wordless Wednesday 02-14-18

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From Tucson - homeward bound Posted 02-13-18

Regardless of how great a trip is, there is always the time one must head home. 

From the awesome landscape of the Tanque Verde Ranch where the classes ended at 4pm...

...an hour drive in traffic to get to I-10 and the rush hour traffic headed north toward Pheonix, which is where the smog in the distance comes from. 

Beyond that was the sun setting in a blaze of glory to the west. 

And too quickly disappearing into the horizon. 

After an overnight in Yuma, I continued on I-8 and drove past this solar farm - the black on the right of the picture. 

It is vast, miles along the highway, and here you can see the solar panels tilted to the sun. 

Not many miles further on the forest of a wind turbine farm appears at the foothills. 

They are widely spaced here, where some wind farms are very dense, just enough space between towers to clear the other arms flailing. 

In the vast landscape they don't seem so large, but up close they tower like redwoods in the sky.  Also along I-8 are wide spread fields of row crops that are harvested for markets all over the world.  Lettuce, celery, broccoli, beets, etc., all grow in the winter sun.   Driving out to Yuma I saw a flock of about 20 egrets resting along an irrigation canal. 

After the veggie, sun, and wind farms comes the true low desert....

...which goes on and on and on and on and.............................!

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On the east edge of Tucson 01-09-18 Posted 02-12-18

The desert around Tucson is very different than the Mojave which I have seen a lot of driving through to Lake Havasu City and across both I-40 and I-15.  Most of the plantings around the ranch are native to the area.  I expected to see more birds, but though they sang in the early morning I only saw the usual "suspects" - English sparrows, blackbirds, crows, dove, and ravens.  Of course, I wasn't out there at the crack of dawn with my binoculars, mostly I was in bed until 7:30am or so and then had to rush to breakfast and be in the classroom at 9am.  Next time I make a trip to Tucson, and I imagine I will some day, I will plan on some bird searching. 

Palo Verde trees have this very green bark and really stand out against the drab desert.  An ocotillo grows on the left of the image. 

The top of the Palo Verde against the oh-so-blue-sky. 

This is a stock photo of a Palo Verde tree in bloom - just to show how spendiforous they are. 

This is the view from my front patio showing the density of the Saguaros. 

This Raven was very taken with me and followed me for a while from tree to tree. 

Screeching all the way, of course.

When we were out looking for landscapes we thought we could create from our own picture, I took half a dozen pictures of this agave from different angles.  It is beautiful. 

But in the end, I decided on the more complex image I chose for my 30-minute project.   Might try this view some day.   Love the soft colors. 

In all the public buildings there were wreaths and swags and arrangements using native desert "finds".  I had to ask what this wreath was made from.  They are the mud nests that birds make in holes in the Saguaro cactus.

And a close-up view. 

The night sky was amazing with all the trillions of stars and planets.  I couldn't get a picture of them, but like this stormy evening view.  The lighted kiosk is info for guests, especially about the spa treatments.  Too steep for my pocketbook. 

Sometimes I take a picture of myself just to prove I was there!  This one was with the lamplight in the room and myself reflected in the large mirror. 

 

There are a few none rustic views.  This is the main lawn, around which the classrooms, pub, dining hall, and other public buildings are located.  See the horse corral on the far right and the building directly in the middle is the classroom building. 

Don't how how old these two might be, but they are magnificent towering maybe 50 feet up in that blue, blue sky. 

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Sue Benner class in AZ Page #4 02-11-18

I see that I don't have pictures of work by every member of the class.  I took most of them the last day and some ladies had to leave early that day to make flights home.  If anyone sends me pictures I will post them on a later blog. 

Julie Hallquist made a lovely name tag for her design board. 

The top two, I believe, are Julie's 6"x9" studies.

And here is the third one.  

Debbie Geistweidt worked hard on her large project.  The tree was fused piece by piece onto release paper and then carefully lifted onto the background. 

One of her 6"x9" studies.

And another 6"x9". 

I'm not sure what the inspiration was for this, but she has good color going and nice strip shapes.  

Debbie finished her work after she was home and sent us all this image of the completed quilt. 

I don't know the names of the artists who did the following works.  Perhaps they will let me know so I can put their names on the correct images.  As far as I know, I don't have pictures of the work by Sonja Winter, unless some of these are hers. 

This must be a husband fly fishing in the autumn. 

I think this is a 30-min project, but don't know whose.  Good color in her interpretation.

This is one from the board below and was done by Sonja Winter. 

And here is her board.  I'd love to add her name to these. 

This design board is Sonja Winter's. 

We had one classmate, Jan Sealover, who came down sick the day after she arrived in Tucson and spent the entire week in her room.  She came to dinner on Thursday night and to class in the afternoon on Friday.  Wish she could have joined us for this terrific class. 

More tomorrow night about the trip and the premises. 

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Sue Benner class in AZ Page #3 02-10-18

Here are some more photos of design boards from the Sue Benner Class in Tucson, AZ, Jan 7 - 12, 2018.

I missed this one of Nancy Robins pieces yesterday.  This is her 30-min project. 

Del Thomas first of three 6"x9" studies.  One has to "interpret" depending on what fabrics are available.  The white fluff at the edge of the surf is ravelings from white fabric. 

Del Thomas second of three studies. 

Del Thomas third of three studies, based on the two pictures on the left.  

I didn't do a large piece.  Instead I tried out some things I had been thinking about.  In "Blue Trees" I fused all the trees and then added the brown ground by cutting small pieces to fit the bottoms of the trees.  Rather fussy, but it worked well. 

This is my 30-min project.  I must admit that I pulled some fabrics before I got the picture back, knowing what I would need - generally, anyway.   I was looking for a picture that would use different shapes, so I included linear, round, spiky, and lacy (which the hanging branch will be after quilting).  I'm not happy with the sky, but everyone else seems to like it. 

My table with KoKo watching over me while I work. 

Most of the students work in a mess, just like I do. 

I brought my existing flat boxes of fused scraps sorted by color, but, of course, didn't have what I needed and had to go begging.   It is a bit of a drive to a fabric shop or a 2nd hand store.  

Andrea Bacal's design board.  She has a wonderful sense of whimsy and I wish I could develop one of my own.

See what I mean?  Andrea took this staid picture and turned it into a fantasy. 

And whimsical flowers representing those on the left. 

On top is one of Andrea's 6"X9" studies and on the bottom her 30-min project.  She had the right idea - keep it simple. 

And this is her large project.  Wonderful dark stormy clouds over the tents of a traveling show.   I think this and Karen's Half Dome are the top of the class.  But maybe I am biased.

One of Karen Crossland's  6"x9" studies.  

And here are two more, though I didn't get a shot of the red/purple original picture.  And at the bottom is her 30-min project.  

Karen was working on this at the end of the class - didn't photograph the photo she was working from. 

And this image of Yosemite's Half Dome is her masterpiece.  Sooo wonderful. 

It is late and I will continue this tomorrow.  

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