Sister's Choice Quilts

Out and About

Just a quick note to tell you I will be out and about for the next couple of days.  My sisters and other dear female relations are going to San Francisco for some shopping and dining adventures.  Hope to take some photos to share when I return!

Blossoms in the Snow

The little town near us called Murphys goes positively bonkers one day a year.  That would be "Irish Day", March 17.  The town closes Main Street to traffic, has a parade, bands, booths, contests, wine tastings and all manner of other festivities.  One highlight of the day is a Pancake Breakfast where green beer is served along with the hotcakes.  (See what I mean about bonkers?)

This year, there was an unexpected wrinkle in the celebration.  Snow.  Check out the photo above.  There are some lovely blossoming trees, festooned with pink flowers, that are now covered with fluffy snow flakes!  Unfortunately, the snow flurries cleared out the tourists and made short work of all the St. Patrick's Day fun.  People carried on for as long as they could, but City Slickers from "down the hill" soon gave up when their inadequate foot wear got soaked and cold.  Me included.  Goodness, little black ballet flats are not at all what this kind of weather calls for.

This is what Main Street looked like within about an hour of the snow starting.

So, like any sensible people, Grandpa, my husband, and I headed for a more hospitable environment.  Nothing like a warm fire, hot Irish tea and a Guiness to set things right.

Barn Quilts for Your Home

When I was tearing through the Road to California quilt show in Ontario last week, my heart nearly stopped when I came upon something I have wanted my entire grown up life.  A barn quilt.

There was a booth,hosted by "Classic Metal Company", who had displayed heavy weight steel "barn quilt" blocks to use as display on your house or on your walls.  These "barn quilts" are part of our heritage, and are a real symbol of Americana.  Quilt patterns on barns date back to colonial America. After the colonists became established and had spare income, they painted small patterns on the ends of the barns as a way to celebrate their heritage.

When you travel through the midwest and east coast and get out into the countryside, you do see these lovely works of art. 

When I was at Life's A Stitch in Janesville, WI in September 2010, I took the picture above, of a terrific example of a barn quilt.  I cherish the memory of that trip, as I was with two of the lovliest friends a person could ever wish for, and we were doing what we love best:  shopping for quilt fabric!  There is nothing that would forever symbolize and remind me of that amazing experience than having my own barn quilt.

So, with that being said, the reason my heart stopped, was because right there at the quilt show, Classic Metal Co.  had this block for sale:

Anybody recognize that block?  Yup, it is Sister's Choice!!!

I bought the small size, but will be ordering the large size (24" square) as well.  It is going to be the perfect touch to my quilting studio, inside and out.  The small one (shown below) will go inside the studio and the larger one outside the entrance under the lamp.   I played around with the smaller one today, but clearly I need to Go Big.  What a wonderful herald for my studio!  I am so excited to have found this.  They also had a fun sign that matched that I want to hang underneath that said "Welcome".  Think I need that too, don't you?

By all means, check out the website for Classic Metal Co., they had all sorts of quilt blocks represented:  Mariner's Compass, Blazing Star, Bear's Paw, Broken Dishes, Dutch Rose, LeMoyne Star...  You could have a barn quilt too!

A Little Stop on the Way Home...

We had a very relaxing and fun time while we were in Palm Desert.  I swear, I don't remember the last time I was on a vacation.  Last year was certainly not the year for getting away anywhere fun. 

My husband was able to be with Grandpa and I for four days, and then Grandpa and I were on our own.  Mostly we relaxed, read books, watched the golfers and chilled out.  I made lots of progress on my Birdie Stitches blocks.  On the way home Thursday, we took "The 10" freeway and guess what was going on, literally right off the freeway, in Ontario?  No, I won't make you guess!  It was The Road to California Quilt Show!

No way was I going to drive right past it without stopping.  I simply could not help myself.  Now, when you have a 90 year old gentleman in tow, this poses more challenges than you might think.  Believe me, things would have been a lot simpler if Grandpa had remembered to bring his handicap parking placard, but we managed regardless.   We got there about a hour before the show began, and I dropped Grandpa off at the back entrance, telling him to stay put until I parked the car, got my ticket, and got back to him.

Crowded?  Oh man, was it crowded.  I had called in advance, making sure there were chairs in the lobby where an older disabled person might be able to sit for an hour or so while I breezed through the quilt show.  Oh yes, plenty of tables and chairs, and places to get a cup of tea.  Well, it turns out that the lounge area was on a second level, which was a bit of a walk.  Before we got up there, Grandpa needed to stop and rest a minute.  A woman was sitting at a table, with an empty chair next to her.  "Is anyone using this chair?  Could Grandpa sit in it for a minute?"  Oh sure, that would be fine the woman said.  Then out of the blue, another woman swooped in, grabbed the chair saying "We have NO chairs at our table, and we need it more".  And she took it.  Seriously.  Here I am with a bent over ancient person who is using a cane and taking about ten steps a minute and she takes his chair as he is about to sit down on it?  He was even wearing his Navy Veterans cap.

Ok, deep breath.  By this time I was feeling like a very very poor caregiver, to get myself and Grandpa into such a big mess.  After he leaned on his cane and collected his strength for a bit, we managed to get to the lounge area, and a very nice lady invited us to sit at her table and gave her newspaper to Grandpa to read while I zipped through the show.  He sipped his hot tea and had a cherry danish and seemed happy enough to sit awhile.

I have to tell you, I don't think anyone has gone through a major quilt show as quickly as I did!  Honestly, this must be a world record, I am telling you.  There were awesome vendors (that I had to breeze by) and hundreds of spectacular quilts to see.  I did take a couple of photos, and even managed to stop long enough at a very special booth and make a purchase.

Isn't this the most breathtaking thing you ever saw?  The blocks are small, complex, fabulously made, beautifully quilted, and well, they are red and white (which makes this a perfect quilt).

This may be one of my favorite quilts ever.  I have no clue why there isn't a first prize ribbon hanging on it.  The picture above may be a bit blurry because I was running by as I snapped the shot.  lol

In one hour, we were back in the car, headed home. Grandpa was such a good sport, and no worse for the experience, but I definitely would not take an older or disabled person to an event like that again.

On the way out, I saw that the line to get in to buy tickets was blocks long.  As fool hardy as it may have been for me to subject Grandpa to the experience, at least we got there early and could get right in without an ordeal.  If you can, buy your tickets in advance before you go to a major quilt show, and avoid standing in line for an hour at the door!

Where in the World Was I?

Palm Desert, California, is where I spent the past week. The photos I posted were all taken at the Living Desert Zoo and Botanical Garden.  Thanks to all of you who played along and guessed where I was.

Barbara L. was the first person to guess correctly.  She and I have been in touch and I will be sending this little prize off to her today.

A publication called "Inspiration for Precuts" put out by Quilter's World, a Schnibble pattern for "Darcy", and a charm pack by American Jane called "Fairy Tale Friends".    Hope you will enjoy this Barbara!

 

Can You Guess Where I've Been?

Can you guess where I have been this week?  Grandpa and I have been on a little vacation!  The first person with a correct guess as to where we have been will win a little giveaway!  As I write this, I can't post a picture of the prize, so it will have to be a mystery. I will post the winner (and a picture of the prize) on Monday morning.  I promise I will come up with something fun.

Update:  Nobody's guessed yet!!!  Hint--we were in California, but not in San Diego, San Francisco or Santa Rosa.  If you guessed wrong, go ahead and have another guess!

Just so you know, that is a wart hog lolling in the dirt.

How cool is this?  Hint:  I am not in Africa, but it is a hot place.  Major hint:  it is in California...

I took Grandpa along with me, and he loved it.

 

 

Copperopolis

Nothing much happening around here.  I am keeping occupied by getting the binding stitched on to the Blissful Blossoms quilt that I recently received from Linda.  Just a bit more to go and it will be ready to turn over to Sara.

Today Sara and I drove over to Copperopolis, a nearby town with an historic past.  She needed organic dog food and they have a little store there that sells it.  Her doctor really doesn't want her exerting herself, so I ended up driving us over there.  The town is a sleepy little place with a population of 3761, but we only saw the owner of the pet supply store and his little daughter.   Copperopolis is named for the copper mines the place is famous for.  During the Civil War they mined copper to be used for bullets.  Can you even imagine such a thing?  What an occupation, and what a dubious end product.  The last mine closed in 1946 and no mining has been done there since. 

This is the town square.  The place was pretty deserted when we stopped by.  It does have a certain charm though, doesn't it?  The town has a lake, Lake Tulloch, which supposedly has good fishing.  None of that for Sara and I, not this week any way!

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

 

 

It Was a Fine Weekend

 
I took a road trip this past weekend! 

My first stop on Saturday, was to visit my sister Andrea and her husband Rick in Granite Bay.  As always, Andrea made me feel completely at home, and cooked a fabulous dinner for us to enjoy.  She made a shrimp and orzo salad that was an Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) recipe that she tweaked and made her own.  I could eat that salad every day and not get tired of it.  She also served chicken stuffed pita sandwiches that were delicious.  I woke up the next morning to homemade pear coffeecake.  I swear, that girl got more than her fair share of the family cooking genes.

Rick and Andrea and I solved most all the world's problems on Saturday night, just so you know.  Everything is going to be ok.

 

Sunday morning, I hit the Roseville malls just to see what was what (great shopping, just so you know).  There is a newish center called The Fountains that is definitely worth a stop if you are in that area.  Great shops, restaurants, and the best Whole Foods Market I have ever been in. 

My destination on Sunday was my daughter Sara's house up in Angels Camp, the town where I will be moving later this month.  What a beautiful drive through the California Gold Country it was, getting up there.  I went to the shop that Sara manages (Marisolio, your destination for all things olive oil and balsamic).  Her husband Ryan, the Winemaker, has a tasting bar in the shop, and he was holding court to a large crowd at the bar.  He was all decked out in a top hat and tails while he poured his La Folia wine for his customers.  (His Barbera took Double Gold at the Calaveras County fair a few weeks ago!)  The shop was bursting with people, all of whom seemed to be buying--either wine or olive oil and vinegars.  I was so happy to see that business was booming!  Maybe the economy is on the up turn?

After a brief visit in the shop, I headed back to Sara's house, and let myself in.  After greeting Remy (their Westie) and Louis (the cat), I got to work making chicken enchiladas for our dinner. 

 

That evening, Ryan and Sara and I solved all the rest of the world's problems.

Monday morning, Sara and I drove back over to Murphy's and had a sensational breakfast at a local restaurant called Grounds.  We started things off with a homemade scone and the best cup of coffee I have had in years.  If you ever get up to Murphy's (Queen of the Sierras), do try a meal at Grounds.  They do everything with such care and attention.

It was a lovely weekend and I am so looking forward to relocating up there nearer to my loved ones!

Milagro Cross

I did buy one thing at the festival.  This is a milagro cross.  Milagro means a miraculous surprise.  Remember the Robert Redford movie The Milagro Beanfield War?  That title was in reference to the miraculous greening of a long fallow bean field.

The custom of collecting tiny metal votive figures and attaching them to a cross or a statue of a saint is Hispanic in origin.  Ancient folklore beliefs were that these little symbolic tokens could bring about a miracle if you prayed just right.  If you have a sore arm, you might attach a symbol of an arm to your cross and pray to your saint for healing.  If your eyesight is failing, you might attach a symbol of an eye.  If you are a pig farmer, you might get a little pig symbol in hope that your pig will bear many piglets.  Here is a close up of some of the symbols on my cross.

I see a couple of sets of eyes, a sun, a rose, and what looks to be John F. Kennedy.  A donkey, a praying boy.  You wonder what the symbols mean to the person who selected them.  A donkey?  Hope that one can bear life's burdens?  A praying boy?  Hope that one's son will find religion?  A prayer for continued innocence and purity?

A hand, a car, another sun, a man.  There is also a little frog (not in this picture).  Now what significance could that have?  Hope that one will never lose one's voice?   There is also an arm and leg on my milagro cross, which to me, symbolizes the hope that we will get good financing for our new house.  Get it?  lol

My sister Andrea has a collection of these milagro crosses, and has even made one or two herself, after collecting the tiny figures on a couple of trips to Mexico.  What attracted me to this one, was that it was displayed next to a large book called "Bringing Sanctity to the Home" or some such title.  Now that is an attractive idea that deserves some consideration. 

Grin and Bear It

Those are three of my sisters standing out in a sheep pasture waiting for a shuttle bus to take us to the big Nipomo Antique Festival.  After driving two and a half hours to get to Nipomo, we stood there for over an hour with the wind buffeting us about, cheerfully waiting for the dumb bus.  We watched it make about four round trips until it was our turn to board it.  While we waited, we watched people disembarking from the bus and overheard comments such as this:  "Well, that's a couple of hours we will never get back" and "I can't believe we drove three hours in the car for this!" "That would have been nice if we could have actually gotten close enough to see anything".

Oh dear.  Turns out the event had been advertised in Country Living magazine and a gazillion people turned up for it.  The venue wasn't set up for such a crowd, and evidently the event sponsors were completely unprepared for the numbers that showed up.

When we actually got into the festival (and paying $7 admission), the rumors we had heard were all true.  It was so crowded you literally could just shuffle along the main pathways in front of the vendor booths, and rarely could you get close enough to any of the antiques to see them properly.  It was completely exhausting.  We lasted a little over an hour, making our best effort to view any merchandise, and then were all too ready to wait for the shuttle bus to take us back to our car.

Delivered safely back to our vehicle, we piled in and headed north to San Luis Obispo for a lovely lunch on a terraced hill overlooking a little creek.  After lunch, we made a weak effort to explore the shops on Higuera Street in SLO, but lacked stamina after the ordeal of the morning, and decided to head back to Salinas.  The excursion was a bit of a bust, but I can say I spent the day in the best of company.

I did manage to purchase one thing at the festival, and I'll show that to you tomorrow!

MIL update:  After a weekend of being pretty much out of her head, she is now lucid again.  She knows the family, is less confused and agitated, and doesn't feel too awful.  She is a bit congested, so she is being treated to prevent pneumonia.    Thank you all for your kind wishes and prayers.