Fair Entries and a few Pics

I finished all my entries for the Ventura County Fair and took them down to the Fairgrounds on Thursday after work.  Due to the short time-frame between the X-Games and the Fair opening date, there were still a lot of workers trying to get rides set up, long after 5 pm. Many food trailers and other concessions were waiting, too. The Fair opens on August 2nd.

Here's the DMC Floral Bouquet stitch finished in the hoop with wrapped ribbon.  I found the iridescent blue ribbon at Michael's--it matched the blue flosses perfectly.  I added my initials, but then needed to add another floral spray on the lower left for balance. It didn't take too long to stitch and I think it blends well.  After trimming away the excess Aida to about 1-1/2"and using long stitches in the remainder to gather it up, the back was covered with a piece of white wool felt I hand stitched on.  The pink ribbon also bought at Michael's matched well as a hanging loop.  The Strawberries stitch in the prestretched Aida square got felt on the back too, but no additional hanger. 

There was very little activity at the Home Arts building, sadly. The volunteer who was helping me said that entries were very thin this year--likely due to the online-entry only requirement this year.  I had spent a lot of time choosing categories for my items and the gal helping me was most thankful and didn't make any changes to my selections.  I had to laugh that after spending extra time to add a label to each of the six quilts I put in, she covered over my name on each one with a piece of blue painter's tape!  😆

Although Picasa is no longer available to add photos too, I do still have access to pics I've downloaded to the computer.  Here's a pic of me with our newest grandson, shortly after he came home from the hospital in June.  His quilt is behind him. Bryce has grown very well since then.  He got his father and grandfather's blue eyes, which makes him different from his brother and older cousins' hazel/brown ones! I took care of him at a local pool outing with big brother and Mama last week.  He was very squirmy and didn't want to sleep  :)

I will have to figure out how to reduce the photo file size or will run out of room very quickly and have to pay for storage!  

More Gift-making

We did not get to see our son's wife and son at Christmas Eve, as our grandson had been sick with a high fever for a couple of days prior.  I got a little more time, then, to finish up a few things for my DIL  However, our younger daughter felt a bit under the weather a couple of days after our gathering and it turned out she has COVID, after 3 years of avoiding it!  I am the only sibling of my family who has not had it yet, amazingly.  Luckily, I am not working this week.

I had leftover Windham fabrics from the Sewtopia challenge--my sister gave me her set.  I decided to make reusable gift bags for my DIL.  She is very consumer-conscious, and a minimalist who avoids having lots of "things" around.  These fabrics were right up her alley, I thought. 

I had already made her a mug mat/hotpad.  The tall fabric bag on the left was my trial effort and I did not do the boxed corners correctly on one end.  I'll keep that one!  The remainder came out very well.  I used a tutorial from Sew Crafty Me. I cut my pieces 9x12".  My boxed corners came out a lot better on this set.  I did not have any ribbon or cording suitable on hand, so went to my local fabric store today, wearing my N95 mask.  I found some striped blue and white cording that I thought would work well. 

I bought 5 yards of the cording, which was very inexpensive.  Hopefully it will hold up to some washing and use.  If not, it is easily replaced through the casings.  Another tutorial I perused did French seams for the bags, but I just used pinking shears on these, as they won't likely get heavy use.  

I love Winter sunsets.  There were lots of clouds moving around tonight and I took many pictures. 

 

This pic was taken only 20 minutes later! 

Some Sewing and Scenery

I've been spending little time in the sewing room lately, sewing a few blocks and rows together here and there, but not making much progress on any to-do list. 

The strawberry blocks I showed a few posts ago were sewn into a mini quilt top of my own design.  I need to decide on borders and finishing.  I had a lot of fun picking out the prints from scraps and fat quarters for the strawberries.  Keeping the "tops" all the same fabric worked out well. The hardest part was figuring out the right size setting triangles to put them on point.

These 6" finished blocks are from AP&Q magazine, which I subscribe to, but they have a free pattern here for the  strawberry.   https://www.allpeoplequilt.com/bags-pillows-gifts/gifts/berry-good-pot-holder

Last Christmas I had to order online for my one-and-only collection of Hallmark Keepsake ornaments. This year I went to my local store and found it on the shelf.  2022's Mischievous Kitten has knocked over a hedgehog planter and spilled dirt.  So cute.

We've lately had hot and muggy summer weather in our beach town.  The sunsets have been pretty, though.  This one was last week, looking West.

This was tonight's view to the southeast, with the moon rising.  I'm hoping the fog stays away from the coast when we visit the Ventura County Fair tomorrow night. I've heard there is lots of good food and music to enjoy--we will take a turn through the Home Arts building, of course.  Well, I will, anyway-- Grant will probably watch a band and have a beer :) 

Design Wall Monday--November's End

 Design Wall Monday--see more Design Walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog. 

Playing with scraps again, I made a mini or doll quilt.  Initially it was only 4 rows tall, but seemed far too small so I rummaged about in the 2.5" scrap drawer for more pieces.  The HSTs finish at 2 inches.  I haven't decided if borders will be added.  I have just enough of the silver and white dot for borders on two sides, probably.  

I've not worked on the bookshelf quilt for my niece in over a week, but did reread directions and cut some of the strips narrower, due to the recommendation of cutting most of them about 2 inches wide.  I assume this is to get more books on the shelf :)  Since I did a big clean up after my scrap play, the sewing room is ready to go. 

I ventured down to the Harbor to watch the sunset last week.  The sun sets behind our Channel Islands this time of year.  In the left  middle of the photo, you can see two figures--some teenaged girls were bearing the cold Pacific.  On the right middle of the photo is the harbor entrance, a man-made rock jetty, like the one I was standing on  jutting out from the beach.  Some buoys also mark the entrance and I watched a number of fishing boats make their way home.

From the Harbor entrance side of the jetty, lots of pelicans favor the calmer waters.  This pic is looking toward the northwest edge of town.  There is a lot of flying back and forth between the jetty and some nesting grounds south of the harbor.

I love going down there any time of day, but sunset is my favorite. 

Long Days of Summer

It's been awhile since my last post, obviously.  I haven't been functioning very well, with a poor, unhappy mood, feeling very stressed and having unusual bouts of tears.  My dear husband, once I admitted my difficulties--aside from my obvious lack of motivation to do anything, see anyone, or go anywhere--rallied the troops.  Dear daughter Elaine and husband Chris came over for dinner with the grandsons.  Always a mood booster to spend time with sweet Cove and Hunter.  There were a bunch of new things to play with, as my parents had been sorting through things and passed on a lot of toys. We also played a game of Trouble and of course there is always a piano solo. 

Dear daughter Erica invited me for a walk during the week. I met her at the office where she works, and we walked down to the pier. 

I spied a flowering vine in a palm tree on the way--must have come from a seed a bird left. It was a very windy day but sunny and not cold.  We walked to the end of the long pier. 

Very cool cloud formation--someone charmingly described it as looking like Anacapa Island was blowing bubbles towards the city.  The wind blew us back to the beach and we turned onto the promenade for more Vitamin Sea. 

There were a few surfers but more wind-sailers.  It was late in the day so hardly anyone was on the sand.  We turned back at the palm trees and took a  windblown selfie before finally leaving the beach. 

We had a quick dinner at a favorite fish taco place and then said our goodbyes, feeling very good.  I drove home by the foothills, and stopped to catch the sunset--always my favorite time of day. 

It was only a couple of days after solstice so the moon was still pretty full.  Loved the sketchy clouds above the Eucalyptus trees. 

Lovely colors and island view as dusk began.  I had the road practically to myself as I headed home.  As I passed by an orchard, a coyote came out of a ditch and crossed the road into the foothills.  I have driven this road literally thousands of times and that was a first!   

Tomorrow we will get to spend time with son Nick and his family--we will be helping to watch grandson Dane at his other grandparents' place while Nick and Ashley move house. Looking forward to seeing him walk--he has taken after his Auntie Erica and cousin Cove by walking early, just barely 10 months old. 

Although I have not done any sewing since my last post, I am still putting stitches in the Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers cross-stitch.

I like portable projects so I can stitch upstairs or down!  There has been more added since this pic was taken.  This time last year, I had just purchased the threads at my local fabric shop. 

Last year, because of the lockdown, other than a couple of days vacation when we went to Del Mar, I lost numerous hours at the close of the year, and have not taken any vacation this year as yet.  I just put in for the Sewtopia retreat trip with my sister coming up in early October, and also added a day to the upcoming long Independence Day weekend.  My plan is to use every vacation hour this year---I earned them and deserve the time off.  It definitely boosted my mood to see the approval of my requests!  

Blog business: Feedburner is being eliminated in a few days and therefore the ability to have signups on my site for email delivery.  I only follow a few blogs that way myself, choosing mostly to follow through Bloglovin'.  So far I have not decided whether to sign up with FollowIt, though I have received communication from that service and looked into it--it is not a new service and has a track record. I'd better decide in the next day or two...

Tuesday's Orts On Thursday

 Tuesday's Orts on Thursday--thoughts and events that land here occasionally...

• Caught this funny cloud coming back from lunch break. 
  
  
  
  
• We've been back working in the office for a  month.  It has been an adjustment but there are fewer technical difficulties to curse at from home! There are a few new employees whom I don't know at all, but it is good to see the familiar faces I've worked with for 6 years. 
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  I don't know if it was an old or new employee whom I can thank for this entertaining misspelling of umbilical. LOL
• Returning to wearing scrubs for work hasn't been bothersome, but I 've had to get used to wearing makeup daily again.  Since we wear masks all day, I only have to apply eye/eyebrow products. 

• Mini would prefer I stay home with her, I'm sure. I'm getting the steely-eyed glare in this pic because my cross-stitching equipment was blocking her preferred position on my lap. 
• Traffic Rant: While there seem to be fewer drivers on the road on my commute, the tailgaters are still well-represented among them--of every age and style vehicle...
• Six years ago I was attempting to Kon Mari my sewing room and came across these vintage promotional sewing items of my mother-in-law and grandmother. 
  
  
  
  I would love a vintage photo of the Perma-Kurl Beauty Shop!  

Design Wall Monday--Continuing Projects

 It's Design Wall Monday--see more design walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog. 

I did spend some time with needle and thread the week past, finishing up the guild charity quilt finally yesterday. 

I was happy with the full arrow shapes amid the rest of the HSTs. The cheerful prints should please someone. I'll pass this on to someone else for the quilting and binding, as I already have two more to do here. 

I also continued working on last year's Laundry Basket Quilts quiltalong blocks.  The next step is eight square-in-square blocks. 

More tan, cream and red for my version--hers was mainly blue and pink.  So much fun to play with the scraps. Four more to go in this step, then another 40 or so til the 100th block is finished.

We had a belated birthday brunch for our youngest daughter, it was a great time in the backyard.  I was able to get fresh eggs from my nephew. 

Such pretty eggs!  They tasted great.

The grandsons were all charming and it was good to spend time again with all our offspring.  Cove (7), decided he wanted to try hot tea with me.  He loved going through all my tea bags and adding honey for sweetener.  So funny and cute!  Erica then spent the whole afternoon with us, as her boyfriend went to play golf at a local course.  We watched a period movie (Emma) and made a peach cobbler "dump" cake.  It was delicious.

Occasionally we do get some rain here in SoCal, and with that, snow was blanketing our local mountain range.  I had a great time taking some pics of the storm clouds at sunset. 

 

So dramatic and exciting. 

There was even a distant rainbow's end--it lasted for about 15 minutes.  I took many many photos, even a couple of panoramas--so striking was the weather.  My hands were freezing by the time I got back in the car. 

The snow level was down pretty low--these mountains are at least 40 miles away and the highest peak over 6000 ft.  We still need more rain, but are grateful for whatever falls!

And We're Back...

..from Las Vegas!  Our niece was turning 21 and we were invited to spend the first January weekend in Las Vegas celebrating with family.  It had been a very long time since I was last in Vegas (2004!), and just slightly less long for my husband.  We decided to drive and only left about 1 1/2 hours after we planned to--sound familiar to anyone else?  Our kids, for Christmas, had bought us tickets to the Friday night Beatles Love show.  We had just about half an hour after checkin to relax before heading to the other end of the Strip from the New York, New York hotel where we were staying. Grant had never been to a Cirque du Soleil show and we are both big Beatles fans.  Our seats were very good and we enjoyed it all. 

The above photo was from the act for the Octopus' Garden song.  There is something happening every second with performers and acrobats dropping from the sky, sets popping up from below the stage, and some interaction  with the audience.  You cannot see it all!

This photo was from near the end of the show, I forget what song was playing then.  Amazing set changes every few minutes and so many talented performers.  I had previously seen Mystere and O all those years ago. After getting back to the hotel, we met up with other family and stayed out very late (3 a.m.!)

We spent a lot of time relaxing on Saturday, with nothing planned except attending the birthday dinner, and really felt no desire to do much in town.  I was still suffering with the shingles, two weeks into it, and moving around was pretty painful.  The workweek prior had been hard because of that.  Grant needed the relaxation too.  Our niece had a lovely family party at Il Fornaio in the hotel, and the younger folks headed out to a dance bar afterwards.  Us old folks turned in by midnight!  I took absolutely no photos of the evening, sadly. 

It had rained over the weekend and the clouds were clearing as we prepared to go.  Our intention Sunday was to get on the road by 11 but that did not happen.  Remember that 1 1/2 hours late leaving thing  I mentioned?  Yeah, same thing happened from Las Vegas, but mainly because we wanted to help out the birthday girl by giving her a ride home in our roomy backseat instead of her cousin's crowded vehicle housing our daughter and her boyfriend as well.

I had a good time shooting out the window at the vast desert in Nevada, loving the cloud patterns.  By the time we neared the border, traffic had backed up for a mile, it seemed.

This hotel/casino in Primm, Nevada, had some enticing advice--Get Even Before Leaving. 

Coming in at night on Friday, we had missed all this scenery, but the clouds were spectacular driving back.  This is the Ivanpah Solar Power facility in California.  What you see are thousands of mirrors in huge fields.   It is an amazing sight to pass by.

I liked this solo cloud over the ghost town of Calico, a tourist attraction in the Mojave.  Long after leaving Las Vegas, we finally arrived home, after traffic delays that added almost two hours to our trip!  While flying would have been faster, the desert scenery was enjoyable.  

Since coming home I have been gradually feeling better every day, the shingles lesions are nearly all gone, and so is the burning and tingling.  I have been de-Christmas-ing for days  and we finally packed it all back in the garage today.  Last was the wooden advent box my father-in-law made for me 30 years ago, from an idea I saw in a magazine.  

When open, the felt flaps I added to the box read Merry Christmas to You, and brass tacks hold the flaps closed. This (not great) photo is actually from 2010!  The openings are 2" and I have acquired many special items to fill them. For scale, I included the Sharpie pen.

I bought the tiny glass Santa, Snowman and Tree a few years ago, the slightly larger Netsuke owl maybe a year or two past, and added the bow to the miniature wreath many moons ago.  It has been a fixture for all these years and will be for many more :) 

Random Bits and Bobs

There was no action in the sewing room this week, save for Monday night's mad rush tidy-up before the housecleaners came for their once a month visit (a small luxury we can't give up!).  You've probably all heard about California's heat wave and it was pretty miserable here, especially at night since we have no air conditioning. Ugh. Today the high is a lot lower and some moisture is gradually returning, thank goodness!

 To match the post title, here are a few random shots from the week:

Bus commute photo of the Channel Islands.  The ocean was so dark, as the sun had only risen enough over the mountains to light up the islands.  I liked the contrast and all the different blues. Gazing at this view is the best part of riding the bus.

Dear Grandson Cove turned two months old on 4/26.  He's gained two pounds and an inch and a half in the last month.  I love that my daughter is using the quilt I made for him as her backdrop in monthly growth shots.

There was a face on my English muffin Grant made me this morning.  I had to take a quick shot before the eyes melted.

After breakfast I planned to get to the spray basting of the baby quilt-as-you-go.  Good thing I double checked the batting size, it was too small!  So I had to cut another and lay out the longest strip to confirm.  All good now!  The batting is now resting.

This birdie is front and center.  I'm waiting for my sister to arrive and help me, since she has spray basted before and I have not. There will be sewing today, at some point!  I should do some cutting while it cures.

Blog surfing led me to check out this fantastic DIY ladder/succulent project on the blog Sugar & Cloth.  What caught my eye is the "ladder".  It is a section of premade pressure treated railing from Home Depot that she stained and sealed.  My first thought was what a great quilt ladder it would make.  I checked the price of the 6 foot section: it is only $32!  Unfortunately, it is not sold at my local store, but I may be looking around for something similar. 

Finally, I got a lovely thank you card from the Doll Quilt Swap partner I sent my Churn Dash doll quilt to, Regina in Ohio.  She loved it and I'm pleased she did.  Lori has a linky party for the swap and there are some wonderful examples HERE. Neither of the swappers I gave to/received from have blogs, so I posted the link from my wrap-up that had both quilts. 

Happy Saturday!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Do you see what I see?

UPDATE:  It is the white egret on the rocks.  It seemed to me that the surfline was an odd place for this bird to be hanging out.  Just out of my picture frame was a lady walking on the rocks, mere feet from the bird.  I alerted her to its presence and since she was a lot closer, I bet her iphone photos were better than mine :).  

Tuesday's Orts

Tuesday's Orts--bits and scraps of thoughts and events from my week that land here.

• My husband bought his Mom some candy and a card for Valentine's Day but forgot to give it to her a few days after at my mom's birthday party.  She later told him on the phone, "Just give it to me next year".  That's wonderful optimism for a 93 year old lady, don't you think?
• Traffic Rant:  Drivers who first hesitate to get going and then slowly cruise forward on a green turn light, ensuring that the car behind them (me!) will not make it through the intersection and have to wait a whole 'nother light cycle.
• Somehow my wardrobe is polarized between business and "can't-leave-the-house-in-this" clothes.  I have nothing for Date Night.  But face it, we are homebodies who rarely go out!
• DD Erica is coming home this weekend from AZ for the first time since Christmas.  There is a lot of spillover stuff piled in her room that needs shifting before she gets here. 
• Shots with my little camera that has trouble with low light sometimes results in unexpectedly interesting photos, such as this recent one of the sunset at the beach:

I have no idea how that line of stitching ended up across the scene.