HOME AND UNPACKING

 Got in late last night.  Plane landed a bit early at 9:30pm.  I had to wait a bit for the luggage to come down.  Then I Ubered home.  Jelly greeted me at the door.  Darrell was sound asleep.  I was a bit wound up and it took me a while to fall asleep.

This morning, I unpacked and started laundry.  Then I gathered all of the stuff I had accumulated at Quiltcon and lined it up for a photo.

I know I didn't really need anything, but it was really fun!  All of the fabric needs to go back downstairs to be pre-washed before I use it.

Then, I got to work catching up on the Sunrise blocks.  I had six to make, including today's.

Here is eight weeks completed:

DAY TWO OF VOLTRON

 More strip sets to make.  

Charan and Nikki

Some started cutting theirs into triangles and putting them up.

I kept making strip sets into the afternoon.

Then I thought I better start cutting and designing.

We stopped a little early and all drove out to the studio of Marcia Derse.  She graciously invited us to visit and shop her fabrics.  She gave us a tour and showed us how her fabric designing process works.  

FABRIC SEARCH

 I've had this piece of Ikea fabric for a few years.  I started using it for the Monday 30 Minutes of Play improv pieces.  I was getting so upset because the piece kept getting smaller and smaller.  And I love it!  So, I went on a search for more.  I've been searching Etsy, Ebay and Google to no avail.  Ikea isn't making it anymore and no one has any for sale.  Heartbreaking.

Then, the other day, I ran across this a fabric, made recently, that was the same pattern, but a lot smaller.  I bought two versions. They aren't anywhere near as nice, but.... Here they are with the original on the bottom:

If you have any of that bigger print, I'll buy it from you!

LUNCH IN EUREKA

 We left behind the Redwoods and stopped in Eureka for lunch.  From Crescent City to Eureka is about 85 miles, about 1 hour 45 minutes driving.

We found another great place for lunch, The Greene Lily (516 2nd St, Eureka, CA 95501).  They serve breakfast all day.  It was very crowded by the time we got there.  We waited a few minutes for someone to finish and leave before we were seated.  The food was great.

When we walked out of the restaurant we walked by a quilt/yarn store with a big MOVING SALE sign in the window.  I couldn't resist but to go  inside and see what treasure might be left.  There really wasn't much to pick from, but I did find a few $8 a yard pieces and one really cool fabric that was $22 a yard that I got a half yard of.  It's Eureka Fabrics.  You can go to their website and get 50% off what's left, for a while.

ALL THE STUFF GONE

All the stuff gone!?  Maybe not all, but a lot.  I finally made the decision to get rid of the paisleys that I've been saving for twenty years and not using much.  I've also been going throught the rest of my fabrics, organizing and editing.  

I ended up with 7 bags of fabrics to donate along with various other stuff.

I took all of that up to ReCreative in Seattle today.

 

I think I see some of the fabrics I donated a few months ago.

JOE RETREAT DAY TWO

The day started with a talk by Joe outling our project for the day.  I made a blind contour drawing of Joe.  That was fun.

Along with a great amount of fabric, the supply list said to bring a picture of a piece of art that we love.  I picked this painting by Kim VanderHoek, "4th Avenue Span."  I do love it.

Joe wanted us to write down 2 or 3 words to describe what we love about it.

I said, 'muted colors' and 'lost edges'.  I had to explain what I meant by lost edges to Joe.

Then, we were given our assignment, which was to make a 48" by 48" composition focusing on the word or words from our work of art.  I wanted to figure out how to make 'lost edges' from fabric.

I started by sewing three pieces of fabric together, then cutting them into strips and sewing them back together and staggering them to get uneven lines.

I made a bunch of them and just put them up on the wall.  Everyone else was already sewing things together and I was still making parts.

Here's the palette I choose: 

Included are a few beautiful hand-dyeds by Judy Robertson, some I dyed and/or printed and one of the fat quarters I bought on Sunday.  Oh, and a Kona solid.

Here's all I had done by the end of the day:

It was a little stressful - I had to take a break or two to stretch my legs and enjoy our beautiful view of the canal.

SANTA FE NEW MEXICO

We arrived in Albuquerque late last night where we spent the night.  After breakfast, we left there and headed about an hour north to Santa Fe.

First stop, of course, was the State Capital building, The Roundhouse.  Santa Fe, is a very artistic town, full of art,  and so is their capital building.  They have a great collection.

 

The walkway in front of the building is lined with Cherry trees.

Afterwards, we met up with our hosts.  Darrell went with them to set up his slide show.  I went to the local quilt shop, Santa Fe Quilting.

Very nice shop, I found a few things I didn't need, but had to have.

SAMPLE SALE

A lady in my neighborhood is a fabric rep of some sort and every year she has a sale and sells her old fabric samples for $4 a pound.

It's great fun.  I bought 8 pounds of fabric I didn't need or have room for.

Life is good.

ORGANIZING

I didn't feel like sewing - I need to start a new project - and that sounded too difficult today.

I organized a couple of fabric drawers instead.

I cut the comic boards down and then fold and wrap the fabric.

I even ejected a few pieces from my stash (fabrics I just can't see me ever using).