Out of the Comfort Zone

If you find yourself in Northern California, anywhere near Ukiah (which is straight up Highway 101 from San Francisco, just beyond Sonoma County, on the edge of Menocino County), I urge you to go visit this beautiful exhibit of art quilts at the Grace Hudson Museum.  I attending the opening of the show last night, and served as a juror for the exhibit, and so I can say with assurance that there are some stunning quilts in this exhibit. The theme for the show is "Out of the Comfort Zone," and there is a good array of work with different styles and materials.

After carefully examining the slides during the jurying process, I so enjoyed seeing the quilts in person.  Despite how detailed slide images are, they just can't measure up to seeing the real thing!  I was especially delighted to meet the artists.  I talked at length with Lisa Bowles, a young artist whose pieces you can see here (Vegas the Wonder Dog) and here (Point of Departure) and ended up spending my juror's honorarium on another small piece of hers!  I also so enjoyed meeting Leila Kazimi, whose quilt "Messenger" won first prize (it's on that link page if you scroll down).

So if you're up for a trip to Ukiah, the exhibit is worthwhile -- as is the rest of the museum which is a little gem of history.  While you're up that way, you can find delicious sushi at Oco Time, or have a bistro dinner at Patrona's (which is what we did after the show.  Asian chili cod dinner to DIE for!)

Meeting the Beatles

While we were in England, one of our "must-do" items was going to Liverpool to see the Beatles sights there.  Roger is a hardcore Beatles fan from way back, and I was happy to see what there was to see.  For Beatles fans, Liverpool is pretty much Beatle Mecca.

So off we went to Mathew Street, an alley of a bunch of small bars and pubs and clubs. Here, at The Cavern, was where the Beatles first played regularly and were "discovered."  By the way, I think I took this shot at about noon.  By 4pm, there was music blaring out of most doorways, the strong smell of beer permeating the place, people spilling out of every doorway with drinks in hand and cigarette smoke clouds above their heads, and mobs of people passing through.

Here's the entrance to the actual Cavern --

but wait, we learn that it has been rebuilt, albeit with the ORIGINAL Beatles-soaked bricks.

Everywhere you look on that street has a Beatles reference.

 

There were some funky artistic tributes...

And of course there were shops for Beatles merchandise...

(Disclosure:  Certain T-shirts may have been purchased.)

Around the corner, out of the alley, was The Hard Day's Night Hotel which took the Beatles theme from funky/seedy to posh and expensive.  We roamed through, looking at the photograph-covered walls inside, but to my mind the best thing about that place was its logo:

It was said to be an image of the guitar frets and finger positions for the first, great chord of "Hard Day's Night" AND also the position that the Beatles stood in when performing.  (That'd be Ringo, back there.)  A clean and appealing logo, don't you think?  Not obviously Beatlesy but referential nonetheless. 

Our day in Liverpool inspired my response to the current Twelve by Twelve challenge, which is "Orange."  It will be revealed on Thursday, Sept. 1 on that blog, so you'll have to pop over there to see how!  

The Cumberland Pencil Museum

You may recall that I have a thing for pencils. In fact, I've used them in quilts from time to time, as here in a Twelve by Twelve quilt (the challenge color palette was purple and yellow)

and here, in this quilt (which I apparently never photographed finished, so you are seeing the top here) called Daily Detritis:

So you can imagine how excited I was to learn that when we were in England in the Lakes District, we were near the Cumberland Pencil Museum, "home of the world's first pencil!" Helen happened to mention that there was a pencil museum in the area and I suspect she is still puzzled about why I was so eager to go there.  I guess you have to have the school supply/stationery store obsession to understand.

In any event, on one rainy day when we'd planned to visit Castle Howard (where Brideshead Revisited was filmed), we abandoned an afternoon of walking around sodden gardens in pouring rain in favor of an indoor visit to the pencil museum. I was thrilled. 

I will apologize now for the poor quality of the photos.  It was dim enough inside that I had to use the flash and although there are probably some Photoshop tricks for removing those horrid flash glare spots, I don't know them.  But look past the bad photography at the exciting PENCILS!

There is something about items lined up that appeals, too -- so this display of a variety of very old pencils just enthralled me.  The museum had exhibits about how, in the Cumberland mines, they discovered graphite and started using it to make pencils, and there were exhibits showing the machinery that formed it into tubes, inserted it into wood blocks, and carved it all into an actual pencil.  You can read about how pencils were made here, on the Pencil Museum's site.

If you are now thinking, "this woman is a weird pencil geek!" I understand.  And I agree.  But that's okay. 

But back to the pencils.  They was a wall showing pencils from different periods.  It's kind of astonishing how little pencils have changed over the years, isn't it? I guess a good, functional design is worth keeping.

And look: pencils "thought to be" the world's oldest colored pencils!

And those nifty flat pencils:

and old advertising signs:

and displays of vintage pencil tins, including one produced to commemorate the marriage of Charles and Diana:

There was even a display of pencils arranged like a quilt block, don't ask me why.  (I looked for the explanatory placard and didn't find it.)

As this is the company that makes Derwent Fine Art Pencils, there were art displays featuring the uses of Derwent colored pencils - even a limited edition colored pencil portrait of Will and Kate that came with a beautiful wooden box filled with all of the types of pencils Derwent makes, for the low price of about £500.  (I was tempted, but I resisted.)  

I learned that one of my favorite Christmas books and movies, The Snowman by Raymond Briggs, was drawn with Derwent colored pencils.

And then there was a gift shop, with discounts and pencil seconds. After much consideration (and contemplation of the baggage weight allowance issues), I purchased a very nice box of Derwent's Inktense pencils.

The other item I couldn't resist was a necklace made out of colored pencils.

It has a very pencilly smell so when I wear it, I flash back to that very fun day.  Isn't it funny how the oddest side-trips can turn out to be vacation highlights?  I loved this quirky place, and my family and Helen and Dennis all admitted that it was more interesting than they thought it would be.

Even if you're not quite as pencil-obsessed as me, you might find this an entertaining outing if you're nearby.  There were lots of great kid activities there too, with a hunt-for-information game and a drawing station so they could try out all of the supplies.  Oh, and there was a cafe for tea and cake!

Honestly, what more could one want?  History.  Technology.  Art Supplies.  And cake. 

To Festival of Quilts, hurrah, hurray

At some point, probably once I am back home in California, I will get a chance to catch my breath and calmly summarize all of the wonderful things I have been doing here in England. But that time is not now, because I am headed down to Birmingham where I will be at Festival of Quilts.

This is down right exciting for a host of reasons. First, all 144 of the original Twelve by Twelve quilts will be on exhibit there. Seeing them online is very nice indeed ( if I do say so myself) but is nothing compared to seeing them in person. So if you are in the vicinity, do pop in.

Second, I will be there with two other Twelves, Helen and Françoise. I have not met Françoise in person before so that will be a highlight of the trip for me. And we will be hanging out at our stall at the show to meet people and sign books. How fun will that be?!

But wait, there is more! I will get to meet, finally, my City and Guilds tutor Edwina MacKinnon. She has been a lovely and encouraging tutor by email and I am enamored of the work she shows on her blog. So that will be quite nice.

I have tickets to several talks which promise to be interesting and inspirational. One is by Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably about working in Kaffe's studio.

Another is by my idols Linda and Laura Kemshall, who will talk about their creative process.

And another is by textile artist Fiona Wilson, whose work mesmerizes me. Helen and I happened on one of her quilts in an exhibit at the Quilt Museum in York last week, and I could have stood there all day gazing at it.

Oh, and there's a quilt show going on the whole time too. So that means lots of quilts to look at and vendors' stalls to visit.

And all of that fun goes on for FOUR WHOLE DAYS.

After that, I will spend a day in court with the Honorable District Judge Helen Conway which, for an American lawyer like me is no small thrill.

Then, I shall drop into my seat on an airplane with happy exhaustion and head for home. So if you don't hear from me for a bit, you will understand why.

UK here we come

We are getting ready to travel to the UK this coming week, for a fun and friend-filled vacation.  We'll have a grand time visiting our friends Helen and Dennis and touring Northern England, and then at the end will be the quilty excitement of the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England. All 144 of the 12x12 quilts will be exhibited.  I can hardly wait and have been busy getting ready for our big UK adventure.

To that end, I've done a bit of shopping, and have been tempted by these goodies, if for no other reason than to torment Helen who is already wincing about the Royal Wedding pay-as-you-go cellphone I will be using there.

Comfy walking shoes?  Check.

Some extra warmth for layers? Check.

A good carry-on bag for the plane? Check.

Something casual and stylish for daytime wear? Check.

A hat, in case of inclement weather and/or bad hair day? Check.

A stylish handbag?

I'm confident I'll blend right in with the locals. They won't even know I'm a tourist, I'm sure.

Joy in Tahoe

We have officially entered the travel portion of our summer, which has been preceded by a crazy combination of rushing and planning and doing and accomplishing and checking things off of lists.  But last week we flung our lists aside and drove up to Lake Tahoe for the annual family week.


And it was lovely.  But the highlight of the week this year was spending time with our 4 year old niece Boitumelo.  She was born in southern Africa, and her name means "Joy" which is fitting as she is a very happy, bouncy kid.

 As little kids do, she took to her big cousin Caroline with rapt fascination and wanted to emulate everything she did.

But the memory I'll hold close was the morning we took Boitumelo for her first pony ride.  Despite not having seen many horses in her native Lesotho, Boitumelo decided early on that she is going to be a "horse rider" when she grows up.  When asked what horse riders DO for work, she will fix you a serious look with her dark eyes and say "Ride horses!"  Well, duh.

So the first pony ride was a Big Big Deal.  Boitumelo promptly fell in love with her lovely white pony "Merrylegs" (who, by the way, seemed to have very tired legs and didn't seem very merry except when she was headed back toward her hitching post).

 

Her ride consisted of her being led several times in a big circle around a field, accompanied by me (aka Auntie Diane), Uncle Roger, and her moms.  We made quite a procession and I kept thinking that she looked like a princess being escorted by her servants.

I loved seeing the amazed concentration on her face the whole time.  And all four of us grown-ups just grinned the whole morning, too.

We have a few days at home before we head off on our next adventure -- to England! 

Tahoe Blue

This is a straight-out-of-the-camera shot of Lake Tahoe from a few days ago. Yep, it really IS that blue.

We are home and tired and now there is laundry to do -- and I was reminded upon entering the house that I need to put the rest of the holiday decorations away!  Oh dear!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow

 

We decided a few days ago to take advantage of Husband's extended winter vacation, and Daughter's flexible and portable home-school work to come up to the family house up in Lake Tahoe.  So we gathered up our winter gear, I packed up my sewing machine and supplies (imagining a winter quilting retreat sort of thing), we wedged a space for the dog in the back of the car, and away we went.  Cleverly, we came up before the start of the long weekend and managed to avoid active snow fall and traffic.

I started grinning from ear to ear as soon as I saw snow on the side of the road.  I loved living in the snow when I lived in New Hampshire.  I know it sounds ridiculous to those of you digging out from yet another blizzard, but I miss it and wish I lived in a snowy climate. (Sadly, I can't persuade Roger.) At least I get my fix up here and can then go back home and put away the boots and down jacket for another year.

Gemma had a tense first night, barking at every creak in the house and strange sound.  I suppose we can be grateful that she is such an alert watchdog, but there is such a thing as TOO alert.  Today, after a lot of wild romping in the snow, she is flopped on her side in front of the wood stove and she hasn't emitted a single woof.  

I must confess that I did more photo taking than sledding.  It's dryer that way.  But I loved watching Gemma dash and then claim the sled from Caroline after she'd rolled off.  She's smart enough to know it's more comfortable sitting on plastic than on bare snow.

When we're not flailing around in the snow, we're indoors being cozy.  I finished "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" which I adored.  I set up my sewing machine and worked on the machine quilting for a bed quilt (only to discover I left the free motion foot at home!  Ack!  So I did the in-the-ditch part and will have to wait to do the free motion part later.)  I baked brownies.  Caroline is drawing and working on a new animation video, and Roger is napping and reading and helping his sister by doing odd jobs here in the house. 

And that was only the first 24 hours.  More snowy fun to come!   

Happiness with Helen

I have had the loveliest week!  I told you that my good friend Helen was coming to visit all the way from the UK, didn't I?  We had a nonstop week of quilt and art-filled fun.  So, what did we do, you ask?

Well, I greeted Helen at the airport and welcomed her to San Francisco by accidentally subjecting her to a 3-hour-and-45-minute stop in the middle of a massive traffic jam (Welcome to California!) on our way home.  I had somehow managed to forget that it was the start of Fleet Week, the Blue Angels were flying over SF that afternoon, there was a breast cancer awareness marathon taking place in Golden Gate Park... the result of which was traffic stopped dead as we tried to cross the city to get over the Golden Gate Bridge.  Helen did get to stand up in the car, upper body half out of the sunroof, to take pictures of the  Blue Angels.  And of course we chatted nonstop.  Here's one of Helen's Blue Angels shots:

We headed out to Bishop's Ranch for the twice-yearly quilting retreat I attend with a wonderful group of friends.  I was not surprised that Helen was very well liked -- she fit right in.  I have to confess that I didn't get any pictures of Helen actually sewing, but I can attest to the fact that she got an amazing number of things done.  She also took time to enjoy lounging on the pavilion's porch, enjoying magazines and soaking up the vineyard views that are so wonderful there.  ("I'm not just at a great retreat," she said at one point, "I'm at a great retreat IN CALIFORNIA!")

 

(Note the stunning green shoes....)   Helen was inspirational to be with -- she saw quilting ideas everywhere.  On the way to the ranch one morning, we stopped so Helen could photograph a local barn for the quilting line possibilities.

The weather was warm enough to eat dinner outside most nights, which seem quintessentially wine country:

(Oops, didn't realize when I took this that the camera was set for artfully shallow depth of field.)  That's Pat M, Eleanor hiding behind her, Helen, Pam M, and Mary Lou. 

From the ranch, we headed down the peninsula to see Pacific International Quilt Festival.  It was interesting to get Helen's take on an American quilt show -- she was surprised at how the vendor booths had so many little bundles of fat quarters and patterns.  But we spent a day and a half cruising the booths, admiring the quilts, and generally having a grand time.  Helen was quite pleased that we continued to run into people she knew from the ranch retreat, so she felt like she kept bumping into friends.  

And from there, we headed to San Francisco for a day of relaxing.  From her last visit to California, Helen had fond memories of visiting the National Park Service's Warming Hut, a small bookshop and cafe located almost under the Golden Gate Bridge.  Since it was a gray, drizzly day, we returned there loaded up with our books and magazines and journals and spent several wonderfully peaceful hours sitting there sipping hot beverages, watching the people, and staring into space.  

After a typically San Francisco dinner at an old restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf (cioppino for me, petrale sole for Helen), Helen retreated to her hotel and I headed home to Sonoma County.  Helen had a shopping day planned before she flew out, and it was time for me to resume my Mom and Wife duties back at home.  

But what a delightful time we had!  If this is how much fun 2 "Twelves" can have together, imagine when more of us get together! 

So now it's back to real life -- but with some delightful new fabrics (I got some new Kaffe Fassett prints for a new quilt for our bed) and other goodies.... I'll do show and tell soon! 

Photowalk in San Diego

When we were in San Diego a few weeks ago, my friend Mel and I found ourselves in a lovely neighborhood of craftsman-style cottages.  We started talking about how we wished we'd brought our cameras, and then it occurred to us that we could dash home, grab our cameras, and have a photography walk through the neighborhood!  We spent a lovely few hours strolling around taking pictures.  Here are some of the photos I took that afternoon:

Tahoe Torpor

I am just back from a last-minute trip to Lake Tahoe.  My sister-in-law has a house there, which we visit a few times a year for our breathe-the-amazing-pine-scented-Tahoe-air fix.  Last week, my SIL called and was going to be there alone unexpectedly, so she invited me to join her.  R was getting ready to start school, and Miss C, just having returned from a week in San Diego, was not willing to abandon her cat and friends for another week away.  So, I zipped up my suitcase without unpacking it from San Diego, threw it into the back of the car, and away I went.

I wasn't joking about the incomparable Tahoe air.  There is a scent there that causes my blood pressure to drop and my whole body to flood with a sense of relaxed well-being.  My favorite time of day in Tahoe is early in the morning.  I make coffee, and I sit outside on the back deck in the silence... well, it's not silent for the twittering birds and jabbering blue jays and squirrels skittering across tree branches.  But it's peaceful and sitting out to sip coffee and read my book is the ultimate vacation heaven.  Here's one of my early morning companions:

My SIL Diane and I had a very nice time for all of 24 hours, and then she got a call from home requiring her departure...so there I was all alone.  Usually, we're up there with a full family contingent, so it was distinctly strange to be up there all by myself -- no people, no dogs to keep me company.  Thank goodness I had overpacked my "fun supplies" to a ridiculous extent, so I had my laptop, my Kindle loaded with great reading, a basket full of home-schooling materials with which I planned to organize lesson plans, several magazines, watercolor painting supplies, and my Nintendo DS for game-play.  I made good use of all  of those supplies.

Oh, but before I forget, I had some fun time with Diane's new puppy Cassidy, a rambunctious golden retriever.

One day, I did something I've been wanting to do for ages: I hopped in the car and set off to drive around the entire lake.  Someone told me that if you drive straight along without stopping, it's a 2 1/2 hour trip.  Me, I stopped whenever I felt like it.  One of the most interesting stops was at a gorgeous old mansion right on the edge of the lake.  It's Ehrman Mansion, in a state park, where the grounds and beach and even the house are open to the public for a glimpse of what it would have been like to be up there in the early 1900's.  It was a lovely setting.  I took this shot from the wide, old porch of the house -- it was one of those places I'd love to just sit for a day or three.

Of course I found a quilt shop along the way, Quilting Tahoe, and had a fun time perusing the wares there.  I stumbled onto an arts and crafts festival, and wandered around there for an hour or so.  When I crossed into Nevada (those of you non-Westerners may not know that Lake Tahoe straddles the line between California and Nevada so part of the shoreline is in California and part is in Nevada) I couldn't resist stopping at a casino (Montbleu! So elegant sounding!) where I lost a few dollars but had fun anyway. I even wound through the area of Tahoe my family vacationed in when I was a little kid, and going through there always brings back memories of feeling sunburned and reading Dennis the Menace comic books and licking drippy ice cream cones.

At the end of the week, my BFF Beth arrived to play with me.  As we were getting ready to head out for a hike, we realized it was raining!  Quite unexpected, and especially odd as the sky was predominantly blue!  (It is oddly disconcerting to be standing out in the rain and looking up at blue sky.  Someone there said it's something to do with the mountain effect and coolness somewhere and warmth somewhere else...but whatever the reason, it's weird.)  So, we stayed inside and tried to remind ourselves how to play cribbage.  Hardly exciting, but we had a grand old time.

So that was my last-hurrah vacation, and I have come home to the realities of legal work to get done, school to get started, and all the stuff that goes along with real day to day life.  It feels great to be home... but I do miss those quiet piney mornings...