Santa Barbara Adventure!

I just returned from visiting with the Coastal Quilter's Guild of Santa Barbara and Goleta.  This was an incredible trip.  The weather was in the high 80's to low 90's all three days which seems a little unfair since snow is still falling on the East Coast.

The Jacket Class "Diva's" at work!


Mary in bamboo Lora a.k.a. Sushi Mama

Sandy with the Blues

The member's were "strutting their stuff" during the lecture/trunk show to the delight of all who attended.  On Friday, several members participated in a jacket workshop.  We had a ball as you can see from the pictures included.

   

Connie goes to Africa Judy's Flower Garden

Dee loves Lonni (Fabric!)

The Guild will be hosting their annual quilt show in October and I will be on the look out for finished jackets!

 

Susan and her Chickens Darilynn & Marilyn Party on!

     

Kathy's Flying Cranes Geanne the snake charmer

Happy Birthday Kendall!

Uncle Kendall & Auzsa

New Homeowner

Tomorrow, my son Kendall will celebrate his birthday.  Have a great time and enjoy your special day!

                                          

                                      HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Easter Weekend and Auzsa

Auzsa and "Poppie"

Auzsa & the giant pillow

We had a glorious time this weekend with Amber and Auzsa.  Auzsa is my 17 months old granddaughter and she gets very excited by new adventures. We had her first Easter egg hunt in the backyard and she was all giggles.

I've included a few photos of her with her first "found" egg  and playing on her giant pillow.  Some of you may recognize the pillow.  It's a pattern by Amy Butler and loads of fun for a toddler. Now I need to recover from a very busy weekend.

Pacific Piecemakers and CA 1

The winding road to Gualala

Last Friday, I had a very interesting road trip.  We drove up highway CA 1 along the Pacific coast to Gualala.  The scenery was breathtaking and so was the ride. If you have not been on this road, imagine a two lane road that snakes in and out, up and over for miles!  When we looked at the gps screen, it looked like someone had thrown spaghetti on the screen to represent the road!

At the end of this picture perfect drive, we arrived at the Gualala Arts Center.  This rustic building is located in the woods on the outskirts of town and is beautiful.  Our meeting was held in a large auditorium with lots of space for display.  I had high energy volunteer models that strutted their stuff for their fellow guild members.

After my presentation, I was taken to see a gorgeous quilt show for the Pacific Piecemakers guild in one of the Art Centers exhibit halls.  Each quilt was inspired by a book. The quilts were displayed as an art installation in a museum setting which made viewing very easy for visitors.

Our trip down the mountain was not as traumatic since we knew what to expect on the return trip.  If you are ever in Gualala, Sea Ranch or Mendocino areas, stop by the Gualala Arts Center for a real treat.

Guild of Quilters of Contra Costa County

Not just 1...2 finished jackets!

The GQCCC had their annual quilt show the weekend of March 15-16.  I was invited to present a lecture/trunk show on Monday evening, March 17. 

 All of you quilters know how much work goes into a quilt show, so imagine my surprise when the meeting was nearly full!  These energetic quilters had a lively meeting as the quilt show committee summarized the quilt show accomplishments.  In addition, they had wonderful projects to share during Show and Tell.

I had a hardy group of volunteer Diva models and plenty of help with sharing quilts.

The enclosed photo's are completed jackets from one of my classes.  This student enjoy making her jacket so much, she made another one!

National Quilting Day - CSS Friendship Luncheon

The Winner!

The Hula ladies dancing

On National Quilting Day, the Carquinez Strait Stitchers hosted the annual friendship lunch.  We hand a great time eating, sharing and laughing with the Vallejo, Napa and Fairfield quilt guild members.  There were door prizes, games and a "knock your socks off" show and tell.  As you can see from these few photos, a great time was had by all.  In addition to all of this merriment, two quilts to extremely happy quilters won Opportunity Quilts!

Playing Catch-up! Diva Art Vest Class

Happy Easter to one and all.  I am going to use the next few posts to catch up on all of the events that I didn't get a chance to post over the last month.  It's been a fun and busy time of the year for me.

On March 12, I had a fun Diva Art Vest class at Quiltmaker in Napa.  The students worked very hard creating their one-of-a-kind vest as you can see from the pictures that are posted.

I've attached a few pictures of these wonderful ladies.

Mid-Atlantic Fashion Show

Last week was the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, Virginia.  In addition to classes I coordinated the fashion show (Fashion, Fun and Flair).  We had a wonderful time.  Garments were submitted by Christine Parker of Salado, Texas, Cherrywood Fabrics and of course, me.

Here are a few photos that were taken by Terry Hanson:  A behind the scenes look as the set-up.

I will be adding pictures as I post more information about the show.  The students were wonderful, the weather chilly and vendors were numerous! 

Modesto and Me

Tuesday night I had a wonderful time with the Country Crossroads Quilters of Modesto.  These ladies were full of energy and had a great sense of humor.  I arrived a few minutes late (very tongue in cheek!) due to unforeseen traffic issues.  No stress on the part of these quilters.  They adjusted their meeting agenda, finished show and tell and volunteers met me at the door.  We completed setting up in record time!

I had several stellar models for my garments, and they strutted their stuff.  I enjoyed seeing familiar faces and meeting new Diva friends.

 

A giant Diva Hug to the Country Crossroads Quilters!

New Website!

This is my first post to my new blog and I am very excited.  My website is under construction at the moment and the only active links are my blog and book order form. I will be presenting a program tomorrow night for the Country Crossroads Quilters of Modesto.

  

I am going to upload a photo just to make sure I know how to incorporate some cool stuff on my blog....wish me luck!

Karen