It’s a long way to California! …but now I’m back and catching up…
I had a busy two weeks before we set off on our epic voyage. I had all my class samples to finish and supply lists to print out, but I did it all with a day to spare. My Paducah cold kept me close to home and I cut, colored, fused and stitched away until everything was completed.
First there was the Quilter and Child Picnic Cloth (Dizzy Squares from the book Super Simple Quilts #3 by Alex Anderson & Liz Aneloski for C&T Publishing),
I tied and pressed it before I took it in. It’s just the top and a backing with no batting, all ready to be used as a cute picnic cloth…
We decided we’d do a door sign for the second Quilter and Child class. I will be writing the pattern for the class using the technique I used for the recycling bin.
Then we thought adults need to mark their territory too so I made a bigger, more complex sign for an adult class.
Gina wanted her name on one so I was happy to oblige…
A little more complicated quilting, some bobbin work and those 3-dimensional beaded butterflies finish it off. I’m offering the bin too so I’m hoping for some fun free-style fusing classes.
I designed and made this little beaded necklace bag.
It’s made from velveteen and dupioni silk, just big enough for a charm or an inspirational thought… The cord is made from twisted perle cotton. I used wool felt for the beading foundation. It worked really well to hold some quite dense beadwork. A simple hook and eye closure stops me losing my valuables. I’ll be supplying the pattern in class.
Summer is a good time for a Kid’s Camp. This year we will be offering this little pieced and embroidered wall/doll’s quilt.
I put it together with one of the Moda Honey Buns I got in Paducah. The pieced four patches finish at 2″ so it’s a little fiddly but I figure “tween” fingers and eye sight should be a winning combination to get the job done. I went for a pillowcase finish so that will save a little time for the embroidery stitches. It’s another one I am writing the pattern for.
The last of my designs is the new, redone embellished tree quilt. I’ll be giving the tree pattern out in class so that everyone can concentrate on getting to grips with couching the fibers. The class is called Arboretum Summer to make sure people know we have moved on to the Beta version!
Next comes PaintStick Superstar using the StarBuilder™ rubbing plate set by Laura Murray Designs I got in Paducah. It was hard to get a good picture. This one shows the stars best.
The “square” ones somehow didn’t come out so well, but the quilt really is square. The stars are made from fused rubbed diamonds. I used Mistyfuse to fuse the quilt to the batting and it worked really well to keep the layers together for quilting. It would have been impossible to get safety pins through the stars… I was excited to see it finished. It looks good in the classroom at Pieceful Heart Fabrics too!
Fun and Easy Needlefelting by Lyn Farris for C&T publishing will be the textbook for Needlefelting 101. We will be making the little felted wafers from roving and cover the basics of embellishment with a hand needle felting tool. I made a little embellished sampler for display…
That was 8 finished samples in 12 days… and then there was the packing to do…
Here is the car loaded and ready to go… We went one mile before we had to stop and get rid of a rattle… we had John and Joanne’s camping gear behind our suitcases and the grill needed sorting… Steve stuffed his jacket inside and it was all good… rattle gone!
Saturday night we got to Kansas City to be able to visit “Reunion Church” and see Troy and Janet on Sunday morning; then onto Oklahoma City by Sunday evening. The weather was a bit grim but suitably somber for a visit to the National Memorial on Monday morning…
There wasn’t time to stay and ponder for long and we were on the road again.
We found our way to Amarillo and “Sister’s Scraps” quilt store… Steve worked in the car while I shopped…
and then to Albuquerque for the night.
Next came Flagstaff via the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park.
We stayed two nights in Flagstaff so that we could go to the Grand Canyon. It was big! I took several hundred photos and I’m not sure how to choose just one but here is one…
and here is another, taken later in the day at the Desert View…
We left Flagstaff and drove through the desert to Palm Desert as out last stop before Corona where we stayed at Andy and Sheila’s ready for Joanne’s graduation festivities at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont.
Friday night was a Parent’s Reception. Saturday was a Senior Celebration followed by Departmental Receptions. We of course attended the Chemistry Department’s Reception.
Here is Joanne receiving the “Hickory Dickory Dock” award which was the least serious of the several she won…
and here is a dragonfly which was flitting around the fountain in the quadrangle…
Then there was the President’s reception before we all went out for dinner…
Sunday was Graduation Day.
Here came our graduate…
and afterwards with her entourage…
I’ve got lots more but you can have too much of a good thing…
The journey continued on Monday. This time our trip took us through Utah and the Arches National Park, (just one picture…)
and the Colorado Rockies,
through Nebraska, Iowa and across Illinois and we were home very late last night.
4896.3 miles, a bag of Werther’s Originals, half a bag of Jolly Rancher’s, 7 brew pubs, 6 quilt stores, 4 yarn stores… and we’re still talking to each other (as long as Steve isn’t on a conference call).
Today I picked up the pattern for the third of my Quilter and Child classes so I’ll be working on that tomorrow.
Fabric Divas has a show at the Naperville Art League this weekend so I went over there to “help” set up. I have 10 small pieces on display, including my Bark series shown here with some other interesting pieces…
And to come right up to date… here is a young robin that was sitting outside the dining room window this evening…
