Grandma Sewing

I finished Marco's quilt. Only a year late, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him. I really like it. I hope he will find it bright and sunny and warm and cuddly.

It is backed with polar fleece, my favorite backing for a kid quilt. The fleece serves as both batting and backing. Marco loves kitties. One of his first words was "Mee-low" his version of what a cat says. I made him a kitty using the same yellow fleece. I made his whiskers out of that stretchy plastic stuff they make for stringing beads on. It is wiggly and soft.

Mr. Two-years-old-party-guy with his kitty. I think he likes it. Behind him you can see the car his parents got for him. Watch out!

Happy birthday, Sweetness.

Twelve reasons

So, after driving all those miles and seeing all those glorious California things, we arrived in Southern California for the purpose of attending the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach and viewing the 288 little quilts made by the twelve of us who comprise Twelve by Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge. Why would we do that? After all, it was essentially the same exhibit I went all the way to Houston to see just 8 months ago, and, in fact, it will be here in Portland in another month.

Twelve Reasons:

1. Because being part of the Twelve by Twelve group is one of the best things I've ever done. It is not on the same level as marrying Ray or having kids or things like that, but it is a pretty great thing and I feel extremely lucky and I like to keep that feeling going. I feel lucky when I see my photo with the other Twelves, introducing the exhibit:

2.  Because maybe seeing these quilts all together once isn't enough. I will never forget seeing them all together for the first time in Houston.  It took my breath away—literally. We all agreed that the grouping was greater than the sum of all its parts. All twelve of each of the themes grouped into their "mosaics" is stunning in ways I never anticipated.

3.  Because Ray didn't go to Houston. I wanted him to see them all together in this big, big show. That's him, above, looking at them. He loved them.

4.  Because it is thrilling to see how much the people enjoy seeing what we did and hearing our story.

5.  Because it was a chance to spend time with friends. With the exception of Gerrie, who I already knew, the other Twelves are now friends I would never have had were it not for the project. We stayed with Karen and Ted Rips who live in So. California. It was like being with lifelong friends. One evening we had a lively discussion about our upcoming "Maverick" theme, with our husbands adding a lot of ideas and more than a little humor to the conversation. I wish more of the Twelves had been able to be there. Here are Karen, Gerrie and me.

6.  Because Del Thomas has been our biggest supporter and generous sponsor. She lives in the area and would be viewing the quilts in person for the first time. I didn't want to miss that! Here she is with us.

7.  Because one thing sometimes leads to another, and it happened that Gerrie, Karen and I all had work accepted for another exhibit, called "Rituals" that was showing for the first time in Long Beach. Two other Twelves also have work in this show, Deborah Boschert and Diane Perin Hock. I do think that our experience with our project is leading all of us to other exciting opportunities and challenges. Close up photography was not permitted for the Rituals exhibit, and my long shot isn't great, but you can see better photos on the Dinner at Eight Artists web site.

8. Because I love a Road Trip.

9. Because it was an opportunity to see more of California.

10. Because I love to travel with Ray.

11. Because I may never have work in an IQF show again!

12.  But mostly because the time was right. It was time for one last celebration of this Twelve by Twelve experience. We have written our book, shown our quilts in the biggest venues around the world that exist. We have done something no other group has done and we have grown and flourished and remained friends and we will always be a part of each others' lives. We have done, so, SO much more than we ever dreamed of. Can I feel a little bit proud? I do. Lucky me. Lucky all of us.

Mission Santa Barbara

I have already written about my love of old Spanish churches and missions so I needn't say more about that. We were in Santa Barbara on a cloudy, misty morning which accounts for the white skies in these photos, but the atmosphere made it even more haunting and peaceful. This mission is an odd architectural amalgam of Greek/Roman elements and typical Spanish Mission style, but it worked for me. I found it utterly beautiful and somber and filled with mystery and history.

Studio guests

This morning I had guests in my studio. Chela, mother of my son-in-law, Carlos, is visiting from Cuenca, Ecuador in South America. She and Sofia, our shared granddaughter, spent the morning in my studio. Chela is "mi consuegra," which means co-mother-in-law. I love that the Spanish language and culture recognizes a named relationship between the mothers (and fathers) of a married couple.

Chela brought Sofia a doll she made for her that is a "Chola Cuencana" which means an indigenous woman of Cuenca, the city where Chela lives in Ecuador.

She is dressed in the native dress of the Indigenous people of that area, including the traditional Panama hats that are made, not in Panama, but right there in Cuenca. (they are called Panama hats because they were worn by the workers on the Panama canal) Somehow Sofia and Chela came to the conclusion that this lady needed a baby. That would require the resources of my studio.

Chela is a very accomplished seamstress. I have visited her studio in Ecuador. She sews for her own pleasure and also does production sewing of school uniforms to earn a little extra money. She quickly found the fabrics she needed in my stash and whipped out a baby doll in no time at all. Here she is stuffing the tiny body.

Meanwhile Sofia was busy weaving a potholder for her Abuela to take back to Ecuador.

I acted as support staff, fetching whatever was needed.

Here is the baby almost finished.

Chela wasn't very happy with the mouth. My fabric marker was a little too large to control very well. I had a bit of Ecuadorean fabric for the skirt. She added a lace-trimmed shirt as well.

Finished! As Chela was trying to decide about a head covering for the baby I remembered a tiny Panama hat that had been a decoration on the bag when Ray bought a hat in Ecuador years ago. I found it and it fit the baby perfectly!

Would you like to see where Chela lives? Cuenca is a World Heritage Site and the most beautiful city in Ecuador. We have been there a number of times and love it. It is a wonderful place. I found this charming video that will give you a little of its flavor. The background music is a song called, "Chola Cuencana"—like the doll. Click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNy9W9N2vlI&feature=related

A pause in the travelogue

I have more photos I want to blog about from our California trip, but I thought it might be good to talk a little about what I am working on right now.

Over the years I have used pastels and paints and colored pencils to add depth and richer color to the commercial prints I like to use. Lately I have been adding even more paint and while we were traveling I was thinking about that. I love the way my mind wanders while I'm driiving. I get some of my best (and not so good too) ideas in my car. I wondered it work for me to use even more paint, in a freer, more painterly way on top of my commercial prints, after they have been cut and fused in place. Before I left I made a small sample for a nasturtium piece I had in my mind. I wasn't very satisfied with it. It seemed pretty flat. So when I got home I added paint to it. Here is the result.

It still isn't great, but I liked what the paint added. It is there, but the fabric and the original prints still show through. So for the past two days I have been putting together a much larger piece and planning it with the idea of painting more into it after the initial fusing is done.

I think this will be an interesting experiment. I am looking forward to seeing if it works!

The Hearst Castle

I was curious about the Hearst Castle, though I did not know much about it, except that it was a huge house, built early in the 20th century, by William Randolph Hearst, somewhere along the California coast. It sounded interesting, but I also must admit I expected it to be some tasteless, glittery example of rich guy excess. Well, there is a touch (!) of excess involved, but I now must concede that it is beautiful and well worth the price of admission. If you are interested in the history and the celebrity parties and all that, it is all here. One of the aspects of the story that most fascinated me was the architect—Julia Morgan, who worked with Hearst on the design and building of the castle from 1919 to 1947. It was so unusual for a woman to be an architect at that time and she was brilliant.

The castle sits high on a hilltop, part of the Hearst family ranch that remains a working cattle ranch to this day. We purchased our tickets at the fancy visitor's center and boarded a bus to make the winding trip up to the castle for our tour.

As we disembarked from the bus and climbed the stairs to the large plaza area in the front of the house, the first thing that caught my attention was this rabbit tile, set into the bricks, just the beginning of many small, beautiful details found everywhere on the property.

The building was inspired by different European cathedrals with a grand central entrance and double towers.

Set designers for the Harry Potter movies studied the dining room as inspiration for the dining hall at Hogwarts.

The swimming pool.

The back side.

I chose just a few of my favorite photos. I took a lot more. Stunning views wherever you look.  I recommend a visit if you are in the area. The closest town is the very small town of San Simeon.

Salinas and Monterey

After visiting the San Juan Batista Mission, we headed to Salinas, where we spent a couple nights with plans to explore the surrounding areas.

How's this for a California image? Agriculture and movie stars! This large painting greeted us in the lobby of the John Steinbeck Center in Salinas. Steinbeck grew up in Salinas and many of his novels were set in the surrounding area and drew liberally from his life and the history and culture of this rich agricultural area.

A couple years ago I read East of Eden by Steinbeck, possibly for the first time. I know I saw the movie years ago, so I'm not sure I had ever read the book. It was a bit of a soap opera, but Steinbeck's writing is so strong and descriptive that all his books are, for me, a treat to read. So many were made into plays and movies. His work is really definitive about a certain era and area of American history. The museum was well-done, with lots of photos of locations and the history of the area, as well as quotes and clips from the movies to illustrate each of several of his books.

One of Steinbeck's most famous books was Cannery Row, set within the culture of the fishing and processing of fish in Monterey Bay, near Salinas. So our next stop was Monterey and Cannery Row as it appears today.

Though many of the old buildings remain and have been largely repurposed, I doubt that Steinbeck would recognize Cannery Row today. It is a tourist mecca, filled with souvenir shops and restaurants. It was bustling the day we were there.

At the end of the street, housed in what was once a large fish cannery, is the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where we spent the afternoon. Here is the place in this narrative that I could easily bog down with all the photos I took in the aquarium. It was mesmerizing. Beautiful. Amazing. Thrilling. It was like stepping into a dream inside that aquarium. I may post more of my photos later, but I will leave you with one from my favorite exhibit—seahorses. Who knew they were so varied and so graceful and hypnotic to watch? Not I.

Note: After yesterday's post Christine asked if the mission bell markers along El Camino Real are also light fixtures. The answer is no. But the history of these bell markers is interesting. They were put up more than 100 years ago and because they had fallen into disrepair and many had vanished, a restoration effort was begun several years ago. They are a very charming feature of the historic road through California. More information about them here.