In early May, I did a quick trip to Hingham, Massachusetts, to do a lecture and day workshop for the Herring Run Quilt Guild.  They selected one of my few project classes, the Balinese Garden pattern.

It has been quite some time since I taught that class, so I decided I had better refresh my memory and re-make the project.  Since I wrote the pattern (true confessions here) for both pillow and table runner, but had only made the pillow, I opted to make a table runner. Here it is before the applique stitching:

I wanted to use something interesting for the background since there is a fair amount of blank space in the center (useful so that dishes don’t wobble), but that means that achieving a good contrast with the applique pieces can be a challenge.  I TOTALLY LOVE the way this turned out.  I came up with a two-layer method for using medium-value fabric for the background AND the leaves, but having them “pop” by using a highly contrasting “under-leaf,” in this case one that is darker.  (In my Blue Applique Vest, I used a lighter under-leaf layer; check that out in my post dated July  14.)

And here it is with the applique stitching done (it is still in the “top” stage…ahem):

And some detail shots so you can see how I used the utility and decorative stitches on my machine, and a lot of great colors of cloth and thread, to pop the applique:

In the next photo, you can see how I layered the purples and deep blues under the leaf greens.  This pops the batiks on the busy aqua-lime background fabric and means I don’t have to satin stitch to achieve good   contrast and sharp edges.  I used a feather stitch in aqua or leaf-green to secure both the main leaf shape and the under-leaf to the background.  After there many washings, there may be some fraying at the outer edges of these fused leaves, but I am OK with that.

And it is my favorite “Caribbean” colors!

Besides my husband and sons, my most favorite family member and dear friend and soul-sister is my sister in law, Joyce.

She was married for eons to my older half-brother, who is now up in heaven cracking jokes with our other brother and daddi-o-o-o.  Joyce and I talk often, e-mail even more often, and despite the fact that she is 17 years older than I, well…we could be sisters, and not having one, I am just amazed that the she feels the same way.  But, I hadn’t been to her house (near Los Angeles) to visit since Paul and I were engaged, in late December 1982. Yep, EIGHTY-two.   As hubby was making reservations to travel to Arizona for the family trip that followed my teaching engagement, he realized the best connections were through Los Angeles, and he could overnight there and he and the boys could visit Joyce.  That got ME to thinking that *I* needed some sister-time, too.   So I booked my extra days at the end of the family trip so I wouldn’t be stressing about the teaching.   Oh what a JOYFUL STAY!

In the picture above, we are sitting in her wonderful garden, sipping wine and enjoying her doggie on the first evening (remember, this is LA, land of perpetual spring weather).  Her house is several blocks back from the Los Angeles bay and has this awesome view:

And nearby, she and her friends go for breakfast on weekends at Cafe Milan, a local coffee house that serves some food, and is their home away from home. It was such a treat…I’ve been hearing about Inge and Susan and Judy and Frances for years, and got to meet all but Judy…. What a wonderful bunch of fun and vibrant women!

There were a few entertaining signs in this little mini-mall / enclave… I don’t think they were intended to be quite this hilarious, but I had to share.  First, from the dentist’s office:

and the multi-purpose medical (?) care clinic on ground level:

And I just have to share one of my favorite things from Joyce’s house…I’m not sure if this stove was original to the house, but I SO want one just like it!   She and my brother had it fixed up, it works like new, and OH it has a soul!  Whooda thunk it, I have kitchen-range-envy!

My last class in Arizona, in friendly Flagstaff, was small but good.  We cut freezer paper stencils, then used the Lumiere paints I supplied to paint leaves onto a dark (black) background.  Next, while the paint dried (fairly quickly), I talked about special tips and tricks for sewing with threads that have a reputation for being fussy:  metallic, holographic (the shiny stuff…think Mylar balloon stuff cut into long strips), shiny polyester, and more.  This project is also on the cover of my book and is included as one of the activities in the back (book available here).

First, you paint the cloth:

Then baste:

One thing many of us don’t do enough is to make sample stitch-outs before diving in to the quilting.  I can’t say enough how important and helpful this can be!   Best of all, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to rip it out…just move to another part of the practice sandwich.  Here, one student is checking out how the decorative threads look in various free-motion designs and what she needs to do to get a good stitch on her machine:

Then start stitching:

Stop a bit and muse over what next, then continue:

Then of course there are those miserable thread tails to knot and bury!

I loved the look of the copper leaves:

And then trying out different threads and stitches and stitch-lengths to outline the leaves:

Here’s a cool, silvery, feathery outline:

Thanks for being in my class!

As part of my travels and teaching for the Arizona Quilt Guild, I got to present a lecture at their semi-annual meeting.  They hold one meeting in the southern part of the state, and one in the north.  This one was in Flagstaff, in northern Arizona, and MY how beautiful and friendly a town!  I TOTALLY fell in love with the place, mostly because of the people!  We were booked at the Radisson, which had totally cool artwork and “stuff” to decorate.  Here are two neat pieces:

That second one, especially, gives me some cool ideas for an art quilt…hmm…..

And then there were these carved doors….WOW:

Talk about inspiration for quilting and applique designs!!!!

I gave my lecture at this meeting, and boy was that a challenge!  My laptop DIED two days before, and I was scheduled to do  a presentation using the laptop.  SHRIEK!   AND, even though I had the presentation on a thumb drive as insurance, we couldn’t find anyone on such short notice (that hadn’t already left home) that had a MacBook with Keynote installed, and no Mac stores anywhere nearby to rent one!   Fortunately, I had almost ALL my journal quilts with me (the topic of the talk), as well as my digital projector and video camera (which I use for live demos in class).  My intrepid host Tari Hammons came to the rescue.  I figured out that we could just hold the journals under the camera and project them “live” to the wall!   So I did the talk, flagged pages from my working sketchbook that I happened to have with me to share for that part, and Tari just swapped things out in order.  PHEW!  The group was MOST understanding, and it worked in the end.  But I hope never to repeat THAT experience.  THANK YOU, Tari! for your help…you helped save the day! Here’s me, doing the talk, looking more together than I actually felt:

(The long delay in blogging all this is due, in part, to having to reconstruct my life on the new laptop, which took two weeks to get built and sent from Apple in China….. thankfully, I had backed up fully the day before I left on the trip and had been saving for and planning on a new laptop later this year….so all is well in the end, but sheesh!)

The meeting was the usual guild thing, and this time outgoing President Lynn Kough was presented with this spectacular quilt made by board members…WOW:

Wish I had a better picture… the quilting (by the woman on the right, and I’m SO SORRY I didn’t write down her name…she’s the new Pres. of the guild I think) was GORGEOUS!

There were vendors, too (yippee!), and one had this lovely way to use up bolt-boards and display batik selections effectively:

Finally, here are two pictures from downtown Flagstaff…  The cathedral:

and this cool tree-sculpture on the Northern Arizona University Campus (between my hotel and downtown)…when the wind blew, the leaves clink and tinkle and dance…way cool:

What a wonderful, friendly, art-friendly town!   I don’t think I could ever live that far from salt-water, but if I could, Flagstaff would be very high on my list of great towns!

We were treated to a spectacular Arizona sunset while staying at Monument Valley, and an almost as wonderful sunrise.  These photos were taken from The View Hotel, third floor–and note, reservations are ESSENTIAL…book EARLY.  These photos are taken (duh) looking West, over the parking lot…in the first photo you can barely spot the glimmer of a car up and to the left of the (c) symbol:

And sunrise, looking (duh) to the  East over Monument Valley:

(Notice the photographers set up on the stairs, on the left, by the restaurant…the best spot to get the classic shot of both “mittens” which you can see in this photo, above.)

OH do these photos make me want to play with cloth and dyes!