On The Road Again.....

Finally headed toward Houston for Quilt Market...but not quite as direct a route as maybe we should have.  First a stop in Palm Springs at Hamburger Mary's for lunch...a girls' gotta eat you know...

                                                        

 

This burger brings new meaning to the phrase "Holy Cow"!  Guess we should have asked about the size....or maybe agreed on one choice to share...

Surprise....here's the bill....

Okay so now we are on the road again, I think we've been here before...the landscape looks the same for miles and miles...

                 

We decided to take a side trip off the interstate, into Joshua Tree National Park.....now here is where slowing down you notice the subtleties in the colors.

Wish I'd paid more attention to the sign at the Rangers' Station about Tarantulas'...I really have to read more closely.  Glad they gave us a map and information on the plant life because this is nothing like I'm used to below is a Ocotillo, they have red blossoms in the spring and often in the fall, that's a color I'd have loved to have seen out here.

Map in hand, but really no need to navigate...only one road so far and I'm not suggesting pulling off of it...not sure about those Tarantula's.  However there is a Chollo Cactus Garden, that sounds interesting...every clump of cactus we think is it.....funny....when we finally arrive we realize we couldn't have missed it.

Great texture....feeling pretty secure..on a sidewalk, not in the sand.

Finally we see our first Joshua tree....remind you of anything....like the Dr. Seuss book, The Lorax.

Love the bark texture....thank goodness for the ability to zoom in on my camera.

We decide to turn around and boogey, cause we have a reservation in Tucson for the night.  Two hours after we enter the park we are on I-10 and grateful for an exit with "services"....seems few and far between out here in the Mojave Desert.  This has the mother-load of services....bathrooms, cold drinks and ice cream....oh yeah....also General Pattons' museum.

Lovely sundown colors...

Remember I said at the beginning we should have taken a more direct route....that's because after dark in Arizona, Kristin got pulled over by the highway patrol....no, not for speeding...one of the headlights was out.  Now you'd think we would have noticed that don't you???  Well 30 minutes later, work order in hand...exhausted but with a couple hours left before we will reach our bed for the night.

 

Here are 2 projects we actually finished before we left home;

1) Our burlap Christmas stocking is from one of our hand-dyed fat quarters, one of our smalls and our perle cotton.    

2) Our burlap wine bag, you can actually get 3 bags from one of our hand-dyed fat quarters, embellish any way you choose, this one has a felted leaf on it,  Great way to make a bottle of wine look extra special this holiday season.

Have You Ever Forgotten To Take Out Your Camera?

This summer I got a smart phone which does not mean I've gained any additional wisdom, especially in regards to how this "thing" works...what can my excuse be?  Old Age????  I did celebrate a monumental birthday in October, but heaven forbid I would use age as my excuse...grrrrr!   Here's the problem we have no pictures in Santa Clara or during Pacific International Quilt Festival.  Can I simply say...I forgot and  it's not due to my age either. 

We did take a few photos before we reached Santa Clara...

like the Snowman in the desert.... 

McDonalds' in a train car.....

Or how about the airplane grave yard in the desert....

Really the fun began "after" the show when we drove up to Napa Valley for a little "well deserved time off".

Our first stop was Prager Winery in Saint Helena, CA where the gardens were gorgeous, the walls inside were covered in dollar bills from all over the world and the wine, especially the port was really wonderful.  No photos here.....Okay maybe it is age related!  Next we drove to Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga where we took our time taking in the views as well as this wonderful Italian castle that was moved to this location including a moat and gargoyle.

A little fooling around.....

                                                                 

Exploring and enjoying.....

                                                  

Next we stopped at V. Sattui Winery in Saint Helena...this was really a dash through tasting as someone had recommended their Madeira to us, but we had a reservation in a few minutes at another winery....really that is why I have no photos it's not age.  We did come away with a bottle of that Madeira....for a special occasion.  Yum!  We raced on to our last destination Frog's Leap...whew....we made our reservation with a couple of minutes to spare.  Even exploring before the tasting....a little

but afterwards just slowly strolling through the gardens.

Beautiful ending to the day!

Wake Up Sunshine.....

Rise and Shine....oh it's such a gorgeous day, we get to take some time to look around so after breakfast we leisurely walk along Lake Havasu and up onto London Bridge.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I remember that this bridge was brought here and reconstructed, also the nursery school rhyme keeps running through my head.  Thank goodness this beautiful scenery easily distracted me..... 

Love the patina on the ironwork.....it was the little things that drew me in...

                                              

                                                                                          

Alas all good things must come to an end...it's time to get back in the car and head for Santa Clara....how quickly the view changes.  Not even 5 miles from the bridge and this is the what we see....hmmmmm and this is what we looked at for many, many, many miles.

                                                       

This is our third day on the road, we have 3 quilts that need to be finished in time to introduce them at Quilt Market next week....yet neither of us has reached for a needle and thread.

Working Our Way Through Arizona......

As we continued our drive toward the Arizona-California border I continued to snap photos as Kristin drove...dared not ask to stop, cause I really wanted to get to Lake Havasu, AZ and a BED! 

So I just continued to snap away......Love the sculptural look of these hills.   Don't know if they are natural or man-made they still intrigued me. 

From a distance I thought it couldn't be a teepee, but I got my camera ready anyway and sure enough that's what it was.  Most of the time as I was snapping away I had no idea what I would really get, but I remember my son telling me to just keep taking pictures, that with a digital camera it's not going to cost you a thing..your sure to get at least one good shot. 

            
                                     
 This bluff reminded me of a piece I was already supposed to have done....you know sometimes we get side tracked, right?  No promises but maybe I will have some time and manage to finish it now (after six months that's not too bad)...if I do you will see it posted in a blog at some point.

We arrived at our second nights destination after dark, but here is a peak at what we woke up to....more on our cross country adventures soon.

Sorry...We Were Just Overwhelmed

We apologize for not posting as we traveled the highways and bi-ways of this wonderfully diverse country.  Someone, I shall not name has an affinity for finding the most unusual places to stop along the road. Our first stop was in Kansas

I couldn't get a picture of the medallion in the intersection because of traffic, but they actually have a Toad Suck Daze with toad races.  After spending the night in Oklahoma we continued our journey with a stop in Amarillo, TX at Cadillac Ranch.  There was a group of Europeans driving vintage Porsches from New York to Los Angeles on Route 66.  Absolutely wonderful.

Nine Cadillac's buried nose first in a field since the 70's, amazing that they still draw people to them, but here we all are.  Spray cans abound with many adding their signatures to the layers, and there are soooooo many layers. 

 

I love texture.....look at the texture, that's what intrigued me.

Back in the car and off we go...we have to make Lake Havasu, Arizona tonight...so we hunker down and go...

How many lists can you keep straight?

As fall is now in full swing, so is the show schedule.  We technically were going to only have Asheville Quilt Guild Show and Houston Market and Festival.  Could we hold ourselves to just that.....never!!!  Instead we decided to do the Pop-Up Store/Classes and got called in for a booth at Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, CA.  PIQF is the weekend right before Market.  (head meet desk)  

We swear we can get all of this done....we just have to make a list of everything that needs to be accomplished right?  Only problem is we keep adding more things to the list and having to start new ones!  Uggghhhh....we will accomplish it all....at least that is what I keep telling myself.  

Maybe....that was at least before we put out proposals for Open Studios and MIU at Houston Festival.  We both got scheduled for an Open Studios slot and Kristin got 3 classes at MIU and Jan got 2!!!  That is 125 kits that have to be made up.  (head meet desk yet again)  It really is a fabulous opportunity and one that we've enjoyed doing for many years but we only have 4 hands doing the work.  We are immensely grateful though for several friends that have volunteered time to help us out.  That will end up being huge in the scheme of things!  Plus our lovely neighbor Natalie seems to have some unspoken connection with an iron that we can't figure out.  She irons close to 60yds worth of fabric in an hour!  We love her for it!!!

Here is Jan's project for MIU Burlap "Artscape"!

Here is Kristin's project for MIU Mixed Media Ornaments!

Here are our new "Bindles" for Sample Spree during Quilt Market.  They contain burlap, osnaburg, cotton, and cheesecloth.  If any are left, they could make an appearance in our booth at Festival...who knows.

Now I guess I've procrastinated enough and better get back to work!!!

Pop-Up Store/Classes Set for September 21st!!!

Thanks everyone for such an overwhelming response to our poll about a pop-up store/class!!

We've decided to jump on it as a way to celebrate our 8th Birthday!!!! 
Many of you have asked about classes and such since we closed and we thought this would be a great way to do them.  We also know that many of you have not seen our new direction of things (hand-dyed line) in person and that an opportunity to see it would be great.   As a bit of celebration for our birthday, you will draw a card out of a bucket at checkout for a chance to get up to a 30% discount. 

On September 21st from 8:30AM-4:30PM we will be at the:

DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Atlanta Galleria
2780 Windy Ridge Pkwy SE, Atlanta, GA 30339
Zenith Meeting Room

We will host two 3 hour classes and have items available for purchase.  The class price includes a kit with the majority of everything you will need for the project.   Click on the class title to read more about the class and sign up or call us at 404-705-9164 to register.  Space is limited in the classroom so we have to hold it to no more then 10 students for each class. 

September 21st 9AM-Noon $30
Mixed-Media Fabric
You will create a one-of-a-kind piece of fabric using fabric, hand-dyed items, ephemera, and more which can be used to make ornaments, needlecases, journal covers, and the list goes on.



September 21st 1-4PM $35
Texture Explorations
Learn how to use burlap, cheesecloth, silk cocoons, and carrier rods to create an
art quilt or decorative pillow front.



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