Summer Road Trip- Up the CA Coast (1 of 6)

-
Summer Road Trip (1 of 6)

We ventured out of our little SoCal (Southern California) bubble recently to take a road trip up the coast and see a little of our beautiful state.

My view from the passenger seat. 

It was a quick vacation, but we covered a lot of miles and took in several destination spots. Though conscious that I shouldn't test the family's good humor by trying to capture every moment, I was armed with my camera and my cell phone so I could share some highlights with you.


Mission San Luis Obispo

Our first stop was San Luis Obispo, affectionately known as SLO. This little town is home to one of the 21 Missions built in California between 1764 and 1823. (It is also home to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, which is part of the California State University System.) 

The tree lined streets have lots of little shops to explore. 

I thought of my knitting buddies when we stumbled on this yarn shop.
The tree in front is wrapped in knitted samples.



This window display was colorful, playful and inviting; socks folded like cupcakes and displayed on a stand. Would have liked to poke around in there, but you do have to balance interests when you travel in a group. 

I did persuade the family to check out this shop though...


JunkGirls creatively recycles items and gives them a new life as jewelry, lighting fixtures, art work.... 


Here they have taken the hollow handles from silverware knives and created little wall vases. Honestly even the presentation is appealing, isn't it? I love that they are highlighting the artistic value of every day items or things that don't get used much in this day and age; engraving on silver utensils become necklaces and display pieces, rusted and patinaed surfaces become backdrops for their work... but it all pays tribute to the original object. 

And, of course, I made note of a few art boxes in town...


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Ooops, I did it again

-
Image
You know when you make a mistake and you end up thinking " Man, I really should have known better!"? I recently experienced that moment when I took my latest finish out of the wash, hung it to dry, and later found that the backing I used had bled through to the front of the quilt. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if it had covered the entire quilt, but in this case I have a strip of a stronger color on one side of the back: Heartbreaking to think that after all that time and effort, the piece was ruined just because I forgot to turn to the cold/cold setting for the delicate cycle on the washing machine. But then it occurred to me to "put it out there." I posted the problem on Instagram and got back several suggestions. The most popular solution was Dawn dish soap. And I'm happy to report I've met with success!!! It did require some persistence though. First, I tried applying Dawn to the affected areas and then putting it through the wash with a bit of ...
Read more

A Follow Up

-
Image
Shifting Contour When last you heard of this quilt it had been saved from the scourge of fabric bleeding. But I never posted the whole quilt. So here it is.  I have called it Shifting Contour because, in my mind, the patterned fabric plays the role of the background on the left side of the piece. On the right side, the patterned fabric moves to the foreground and becomes a solid shape against the cream background. It is an experiment with the concept of negative space. This year our local guild has taken the lead from our parent organization, the Modern Quilt Guild, and focused on a specific topic each quarter. They covered categories which can be found in the annual QuiltCon quilt show: modern traditionalism, applique, negative space, and minimalism.  I found defining these terms has been really helpful, as sometimes it's difficult to identify why a certain quilt is in a category, in which category a quilt "belongs" when entering it, and even how to deliberately incorpo...
Read more

Q=A=Q 2025 Opening

-
Image
  The first weekend in November was the opening of the annual Quilts=Art=Quilts show at the Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn, New York.  Q=A=Q Opening Night The show includes seventy quilts created by fifty three artists from around the world, including  Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Kuwait, Switzerland, and the US. This is the second year that I've been honored to be juried into Q=A=Q.  It requires a bit of effort to get to upstate New York on opening night; there are no direct flights from our location. So I'm doubly grateful for the support of family who joined me to take in the experience.  This is very different from a large quilt convention. While you can get up close to the work at any kind of quilt show, the more intimate setting of a gallery brings a unique perspective. The environment elevates a quilt to the status of art. I love that there are so many ways to present my work. I know this is a relatively new phenomenon and it reflects c...
Read more