You have probably noticed that I’m creating slower this year. Not as many quilts or knitted projects. I think my sewing is still going pretty strong. So be it, it’s not about speed or the number of projects. I’m working away but at a much slower pace.
This shawl is the pattern Lullaby Rain Shawl. It is the first time I’ve knit a shawl in such bulky yarn. Yes, DK is bulky for a shawl. I’m sorry to say that non of the yarn stores near me sell plain solid wool. Everything has either stripes or other color variations. This shawl would have been so much better in a plain solid. Which is why I am forced to order online even when I want to support an LYS. This time I supported them, but in the future, if I want solid, which I often do, I’ll go online.
My camera is dying, it’s not focusing very well anymore, I will need to upgrade soon. I’ve had the camera five years, for a bridge digital camera I’m guessing that is pretty good.
Then again, I now get the fuzzy filter, (none used here, this is how it captured me) I look better with softer edges! Lol, I need to write up a post about aging gracefully, which is what I’m trying to do.
The shawl is in focus, and you can see how pretty it is.
This pattern is relatively simple. Before each new pattern, I doubled the number of stitches. Then I worked the length of the pattern, rather than increasing every other row. It works!
This is intended as a gift. I am very please with the result.
I know the recipient will be as well.
And now, I am knitting myself a sweater.
Here is it before my border.
Have you noticed that all my borders are either curves or applique? Well no, the very first border I did was diamonds using Deb Tucker’s ruler.
Wow, look at mine! I am really pleased and surprised at how this came out. I love the asymmetry of it. I am not going to quilt it right away, I need to let it all sink in.
Now, it’s time to show off the other quilts. All together there were 18 people who participated. This was a wildly successful venture, I think we all had a good time. The quilts are really impressive, so here goes:
Talk about complete improv, and yet it works very very well.
This one looks like it could have been a kit. Almost as if six different people didn’t work on it. Really amazing.
Southwest.
Calm and quiet, I am the one who did all the colorful flying geese, gave permission to other quilters to go a little wild.
How different they all look!
And here is another one that looks so well planned. 
It was 15 quilters, Scott started with a warm and a cool, one group only had 5 members so he filled in.
I may have missed a few, although I am the photographer, my camera is really acting up these days. Sorry, to those who’s quilts didn’t make it into my photoshoot.
Here is my center block. Yup, I had to add some applique cuz that is what I’m really into right now. My requests were no improv, I really don’t like improv. I’m noticing that the eyes on this owl aren’t great. Since then, I’ve been adding applique to my DWR. 
I feel that my curves and circles are improving with practice.
I should have taken a picture of the block I got on it’s own. I didn’t, so here it is with my border, coming together. Yup, I’m using my Deb Tucker tools.
Adding some corner blocks in blocks.
Maybe this is a better arrangement?
Here it is, my part is done. Funny thing, the center block was 14.5″ which isn’t a standard size. I thought I may have to add a small border between the block and my border, turns out, it fit perfectly! That was sheer luck. I do like how I included some of my own prints with some solids. I won’t see this until the end.
She added a simple narrow border. At first, I thought I’d wait until May, then I realized that I hand off to Pat, she lives far away, it will be easier to give her two blocks this month. So I get to work.
I introduced another color, if we all stick to the original color theme it won’t matter what we add, it will all blend into one. Case in point, I kept thinking that I was dealing with one center block, not a block and one border. 
You know me and my love of applique right now. I happen to have a pattern from Carolyn Friedlander, it included the arrow and the orange blob. These days I’m getting pickier about patterns I buy. I know, it’s their livelihood, but I don’t often feel like it was worth my money.
Since this is a modern challenge, I also felt the need to keep the elements spaced apart. Notice the little grey circle in the upper right corner?
It now should be on the lower left corner, but it’s gone. I had a problem with that grey, I even tried to make an arrow, no glue I used would stick to the paper, so I gave up, even though no one will notice, I took it out and replaced it with a red circle. That is because I am crazy.
The black confetti fabric was in the bag. I went with some of the print colors, but using some of my own solids. Since there is red in the confetti, I decided to introduce it into the quilt. I pulled out My QCR Mini, the ruler that gives me great curves.
The row on top is my first try, I don’t like it, so I rearranged the blocks, so instead of a teardrop, I know have half clamshells. I like it much better.
I’m not a big fan of improv, but the blocks just weren’t going to fit, so I had to add a 2″ strip of the black. What to do in the corners? Why not contrasting white.
I think it’s looking good! I like how I reintroduced black as well as solids.
I used to be a docent at LACMA, now I only go for lectures. First lecture of the touring year, and look what I see in the courtyard. This monkey may be been here for quite a while.
Years ago Jeff Coons figured out that these highly polished stainless steel balloon sculptures are his ticket to fame and money. As much as I enjoy them, I can’t call them art. But then by my definition, 90% of what is being shown in museums these days isn’t art.
Yes the idea of reflecting something shiny in water is nice, it’s still not art. I haven’t toured at LACMA in years. They are now preparing to close most of the museum for massive renovations. I went for the lecture and to see friends. The lecture was interesting, I’m happy to see they have hired a very capable vibrant yound curator for European art. The friends, well lets just say, as time goes by and I don’t see these people often, the ‘friendship’ part has fallen away. So I feel much less of a pull to brave traffic to go there. That’s ok, I’m building stronger friendships among my quilting friends.
Most people wouldn’t call this clown art. I wouldn’t either, but it certainly has much better staying power than the art in the museums. A few years ago I posted pictures of this in the daytime. It is a neon clown, so it deserves the full nighttime image. Although, to be honest, it is much scarier at night.
Aytan spent the weekend. His parents got a much deserved weekend in Vegas. His sister was with the other grandma. First thing he said when I picked him up from school on Friday was – make apple pie! So we did. He had pretty good knife skills. I guess I should have peeled the apples…. His mom makes the best apple pie – me no so much. 
Sorry it’s so blurry, Aytan just took the picture, if it were sharper it would be great. You get what you can.
Saturday was soccer, he is getting really good at this, 5 goals.
Visiting the best Halloween house in the neighborhood.
Seeing a cousin, who looks a little shell-shocked, no worries he’s fine.
Standing outside Woolworth, looking over at the neon sign of the Padre Hotel. Time to head over and check it out.
The hotel was built in 1928 and renovated a few years ago. I just took a few pictures. I just love the name and design of the cafe. Sort of harkens to the idea of a lunch counter in an old drug store. But look at the real pitchfork and the little tractor. Someone is extremely creative.
The tin ceiling in the bar area.
As well as this image on the ceiling, celebrating the hotel. I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express, which actually exceeded expectations. But this place looks really cool. The cafe, restaurant and bar were all hoping in the middle of the day.
Back outside, a Beaux Arts building made of brick with that flat overhang of a roof. Built in 1894 as the Kern County Land company building. It survived some serious earthquakes as well as that desire to tear down old buildings. 
I’m happy to say that many towns love murals, Bakersfield is no exception. This is on the side of the Woolworth building.
Around the corner is this massive mural, country music and a picknick basket. Unfortunately, the empty parking lot tells a lot, not much is happening here.
Two years ago Zachary Thomas painted this large mural honoring American War Veterans. From the Statue of Liberty, through a number of wars up until the wars in the middle east. I love how the statue has a three dimensional flame and the Iwo Jima Marines are raising a real American flag.
Then there is the mural that really isn’t aging well. 30 years ago the artist Christo came to the Bakersfield to assemble his installation, yellow umbrellas in the Tejon pass. I was newly arrived in Los Angeles and I wasn’t very adversome in those days, so I didn’t go see them. Just before they were removed a very strong wind killed a young woman who viewing them. Tragedy happened.
This is the candy section, which was empty, the counter and tables in the ice cream section were packed with people.
Everything here is old time. We took a number, then gave in our order and when it was delivered to us, then we paid.
I got a double scoop Sundae with caramel sauce and nuts. Another reason to get out and explore. Btw, we initially parked around the corner, it said Dewars, might have been their old plant. Someone across the street saw us and shouted over to us that the actual ice cream parlor is one block down. Who says people aren’t friendly and helpful?
First stop was the old Woolworth’s. Today it is an antique mall. There are plenty of antique shops here, many specialize in records. Another legacy of the Bakersfield sound.
I had a burger and fries sitting at the lunchette counter. I will admit to not being able to take any of the cool aid, I guess I was chicken and was worried that my teeth would fall out. All I could think of is sugar overload.
I wandered around a couple of the stores. Old quilts and an old machine. It was selling for $190, I don’t know how good that is. It isn’t a featherweight, it is larger than that. Maybe if it is in good condition than it would be worth the money. The label says it’s from 1947.
I need to clean my camera lens! All these spots are my fault! Anyway, this is the Kress building, an office building across from Woolworths. Really lovely Art Deco. Pay attention to the street signs, I’ll be mentioning them again.
Look at the gorgeous Art Deco details. Love the design, love the color, of course I’m wondering if it’s Gladding McBean tile. There must have been other tilemakers in California. 
OK, so if you noticed the street signs in the previous picture, you see that the number streets go east-west and the letter streets go north-south.
There doesn’t seem to be any irony here. I happen to like it, but I can’t find any explanation for who was the creative person who came up with this. Btw, Thimble Towne is in a modern Industrial area, it’s on Unicorn St. right off Pegasus St. That is it for the mythical horses, but other streets nearby are named for Zeus, Mars and other Gods.
An old theater that is brightly painted. It was built in 1925. Today it is called Cinema 19 and it’s an Adult theater. I found an older image online, it wasn’t brightly painted then and it had 100 channels, not just 60. See what the internet has done! I guess it’s not just for viewing movies, but they also sell stuff now. Also, the Tattoo parlor used to be a pawn shop.
Built in 1906 as the Bakersfield Opera House, it was renovated in 1937 by famous Theater designer S. Charles Lee. He added the Art Deco facade and town as well as turning it into a movie theater. It has faired much better than the Virginia, today it is a Church.
And then we have the Fox Theater, The luckist of them all. Also designed by S. Charles Lee, this theater opened in 1930. It survived an earthquake, it survived the 1970’s when box theaters in malls were the rage. It sat empty for a while, until 1990 when The Fox Theater Foundation bought and refurbished the property. Today it is an events venue, for both live and movie performances.
The Lone Star had to be assembled, and then a complicated quilt put together. I had brought my ‘sewing machine’ not the machine I use for quilting, it works fine, but I’m used to piecing on my other machine.
Stage one, done! The triangles are a little wonky, I did have to trim them some before putting in the next border. I also had to create the border myself.
Little by little the zigzag border grew. We did take a break to go get icecream, a well needed break. Most people were working on their own projects, or quilts and small objects for the quilt show we put on in May.
The star blocks were made ahead of time by other members of the guild. I made the light green blocks on the top and bottom. Somewhere along the way, the red blocks got lost. They were delivered to the president, but she couldn’t find them. so I had to make these two as well. We know that now that the quilt top is done, she will find them no problem. Such is life.
Sure I’m smiling, I finished before noon on Sunday, stayed for lunch and then drove home. Luckily the Castaic Fire didn’t affect the 5 freeway.Just a couple of fellow quilters. The relief that this is done is palatable!
Some people had already left by the time we got this picture. I 
think this would be perfect on a king size bed.
I was able to hand this over to the guild president. I hope next time I see it, it will be quilted.
If summer is over, and it is, then at least I get to enjoy the Halloween decorations. Fall here in So Cal, is cool mornings and evenings and hot days. The days are much shorter, so I do enjoy the fun decorations, I hate the real gruesome ones. Give me witches and ghosts and fall colors and I’m happy.
Still working on my hand applique, I’m liking the results, but it is slow going. 
Bought this at Michael Levines last week. I’ve already cut a shirt out of this. Tomorrow I leave for a 3 day retreat with my Quilt Guild to Bakersfield. I will be working on the Guild opportunity quilt, someone dropped the ball and I’m picking it up. Just in case I finish the top, I have this project.
I know, this knit is most probably polyester, I couldn’t resist. I love the color, and it was on the sale table at Michael Levines, so a long sleeve knit dress will be happening.
My Meyer Lemon tree is very happy and full of lemons. That reminds me, I should give it some food, now that it is so busy producing fruit.
A wonderful example of Art Deco. Pay close attention, this picture was taken maybe four years ago. Things have changed.
The tower and rooftop are the same.
When built, the tower acted as a billboard, someone said there is now an apartment there. Not sure if that is true.
A few years ago, Starbucks opened up on the ground floor. Eight years ago there was one Starbucks up in Wells Fargo Plaza, on Bunker Hill. Today there are all over downtown, which just goes to show how much development is going on.
I took this picture just the other day. After 40 years of being an empty lot, the Title Guarantee building will be surrounded by a large massive development. I’ll keep posting along the way.
Stephen Gee was able to turn the book into a documentary. I will be setting my DVR for Oct. 7, I also might be buying the DVD. It will be available on Amazon sometime next month.
To me this is a fail, I didn’t like it from the get-go, I went to support a local shop and it was a fail. 
You are probably saying, it looks fine, well to me it doesn’t look fine. Not only that, I didn’t even enjoy the knitting process.
I spent more money than I would have liked on a simple sweater, I didn’t enjoy the knitting and I don’t really like the end result. I kept at it rather than just frogging the whole thing. At some point I will want to knit another sweater, but I’m going to be much more careful. When that yarn store didn’t have much selection and had no patterns or magazines, I really should have just walked out. At the moment the ‘local’ yarn store I really like is down in Westchester near the airport and really isn’t local at all. 
I went to my actual local yarn store and bought this yarn for a shawl. Have I mentioned they don’t carry a single yarn that is simply solid?!?! I am enjoying knitting this, it will be a gift. Once blocked I expect the shawl will be lovely. I still think I’d prefer it if the yarn weren’t tonal. I guess I’m back to buying online – even though that has its pitfalls as well.
Light matters, this is the exact same corner of my owl quilt. I think the second photo is more accurate. As you can see, I’m busy appliqueing the border. It is going to take time, I think I need another quilting project in the mean time.
This is what the applique looks like from the back, with the seams glued down. I’ve been using different glues. I don’t like the June Taylor glue, I do like the Fons and Porter, I especially like that I can buy it at JoAnn’s with a coupon.
Four corners done, I want to fill in the background, it will be a lot of work but will be worth the effort. Joel asked who this is for? For us, not giving this one away! I will probably try and put it in some shows, I think it is that good.
Look at this owl I saw in a shop, on a little girls dress in Montreal. It is machine embroidered, but I will probably copy this, do it by hand on the label of the owl quilt. Just saying.