A blast from the past…

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Some of you may know Linda V. Taylor, a wonderful machine quilter. I’m not sure when this video was shot, but I know it was when my hair was longer and I had fewer wrinkles :-). Linda V has a new youtube channel that is only a click away 🙂 so, if you like this video, you will enjoy the others that she has uploaded.

In other news, I am still in CA, teaching an Empty Spools class at the Asilomar conference center. I have 18 wonderful women in my independent quilting class—each one is doing something different and having a wonderful time. I stay busy helping whoever wants help through the day. Other classes have a focus, where the teacher is teaching a particular technique or pattern.

If you have never attended an Empty Spools class, I encourage you to think about it. This is perhaps the most magical quilting conference, ever.

Point Lobos, CA…

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Today was Steve’s last day in CA with me. We hiked Point Lobos and if you follow me on facebook, instagram, or tumblr you saw some videos that I posted. I also took stills!

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There were trees, and ocean, and otters, whales, and sea lions but it was hard to get blog-worthy photos of them. Instead, what you see above, is my shadow on what looks like large pebbles in sand. Instead, they are in conglomerate rock!

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That large rock that Steve is taking a picture of shows the layers in the rock… smooth igneous with the chunky conglomerate rock. Here’s a closer look:

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It’s like a layer cake!

We shopped in Carmel by the sea… I found clothes. Too expensive but like nothing I would find at home. If I am coming to teach for you any time in the next couple of years you will see what I bought :-).

I stopped to take a photo (I asked first) of this fun collage. That’s Tina Turner, is it not?

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And, farther down the street, I took a photo of a door that turned into a subtle selfie!

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At this point, vacation is just about over. I take Steve to the airport in the morning and my class begins in the afternoon. I’m looking forward to greeting the women I will be spending the next week with!

Celebrate International Quilting Day!

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Celebrate International Quilting Day me and TheQuiltShow.com beginning Friday, March 14 through Sunday, March 16. Everyone who signs on to TheQuiltShow.com will have FREE access to over 160 WebTV shows featuring some of the top quilting instructors in the world. You can also enter the TQS prize drawing with a grand prize of a BERNINA 550QE and wonderful fabric prizes. So check in at www.thequiltshow.com on Friday, March 14, and enjoy the shows and exploring The Quilt Show website. You can start with my show, Episode #611.

From the Monterrey Bay Aquarium…

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We visited the MBA this morning and it was lovely. Such a great place, especially for kids. Steve, in particular, enjoyed it. My favs were the jellyfish…

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We also went to Big Sur and had lunch at Nepenthe. Kaffe Fassett grew up there and he wrote about it in his memoir. If you haven’t read it, you should. It’s a good story!

On the drive we stopped and took photos but they aren’t spectacular. I did get a photo of another nice wire fence… Good lines for quilting.

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I shopped at Back Porch Quilts, we walked around a lot, and now we are in for the night. We are going to watch the last 2 episodes of True Detective! Can’t wait to see who did it…

 

 

Año Nuevo…

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Steve has seen elephant seals before, but I had not. We drove to Año Nuevo State Park today to visit these massive beasties! It was warm-ish and sunny, a lovely day for a walk.

This is the end of the mating season and most of the adults have already left town, but the weaners (elephant seals under 1 year old) are laying around on the beach.

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Stave had reserved a spot on a docent-led tour. We were with a group of 4th graders and some other adults.I really liked the blue shirts that the kids were wearing, especially when I could see them near the blue sky…

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There are dunes—and they move! Nicole, our leader, told us that this sign got buried in about two months’ time…

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Another couple on the tour took our picture, and we took theirs. You can tell that neither Steve nor I were fancied up for our 36th wedding anniversary. Luckily this is how we like to celebrate :-).

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The visitors center, a white building, bathed in blue reflected color, was lovely on the walk back.

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The best picture of me today, might be this one. It’s sort of a selfie and I took it with a friend in mind. If you are from Texas, it might remind you of Big Tex :-).

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We did stop and take pictures of each other in the yellow flowers. I photoshopped us into the same shot. Fun!

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Colorful California…

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Digital photography is so very wonderful. Remember film? And the wait for pictures, most of which were awful? Digital photography makes it possible for each of to take amazing photos. That said, these are not ‘amazing’ but they are pretty.

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I love the aqua boxes. They are like sashing between the colorful fruit. The man behind the stand was looking at me funny as I took pictures of his tables.

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The field of yellow flowers (next) was eye-popping set into the drabber grasses…

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Farther down the road there was a bigger field of yellow with people scattered around in it, taking photos. Lots of kids sitting, surrounded by yellow. I’ll bet the pictures are terrific. We do the same thing in Texas when the bluebonnets are blooming.

The next photo is not so much about color as it is the pulled grid of the fence that lays over the scenery behind.

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It suggests an interesting quilting pattern that could be sewn over a variety of quilt tops. Done well, it would be both interesting and sort of invisible… like a wire fence.