Joel celebrated a big birthday so we went for a long weekend to NOLA, wow! What a city. This is just the overview, I’ll be sharing more in depth photos and observations. First day, having lunch on Bourbon street. Taking pictures of the roof tops. Worst meal of the trip, least favorite street, but it is a must to go see.
All the wrought iron, cast-iron railings, balconies and fences! Incredible iron work, none of which was made in NOLA. When you are a busy port city, it’s easy to bring in whatever you want. This is a legacy of the Spanish control of the city but of course has become a symbol of the French quarter. Notice the beads hanging on the side?
Little did we know that Mardi Gras season starts right after Epiphany and ratchets up to Fat Tuesday that will be early February this year. So there we were on Bourbon Street at night and music trucks rolled in. Noisy, happy, fun. Yes we got a haul of beads, glad to have experienced this without the complete mayhem of the season.
Mardi Gras decorations are all over! Christmas comes down and these go up. Our guide mentioned that the color combination of green, gold and purple is awful, but it does make Mardi Gras very recognizable and is the one time a year where the fashion challenged are the norm.
We heard great music on Frenchmen’s Street as well as the street musicians, so many styles of music. This is one of the things that make the French quarter so much fun.
Taking the ferry, I looked back and got this great photo of St. Louis Cathedral with Jackson Square in the foreground.
Here he is on his horse, saluting the crowds below him.
I bet traffic was always bad here, today it’s cars, but in the 18 and 19th centuries it would have been horses. 
The mighty Mississippi is running very high, even flooding up north. New Orleans are worried as they should be. Hopefully the river will subside. 
The cemeteries are a big tourist draw, cities of the dead.
Food is extremely important here. Yes, friends recommended Commador’s Palace. We didn’t make reservations long enough in advance and we didn’t bring fancy clothes. So this is it, a view from outside.
We ate extremely well, so no complaints here. Obligatory beignets at Cafe du Monde.
It was cold!! I’m glad I brought my warm coat, what I forgot was a hat for the sun. So we popped into one of the many souvenir shops, Joel got a real souvenir hat, me, I found this great red hat that will be very useful here in LA. People even commented about it on the street.
That’s it for now, I have so many pictures and stories, I’ll be spreading it out over time.
Leah
I buy a lot of fabric here, usually from the sales bins or shelves. Yes, I’m still interested in woodland creatures.
I bought this fabric about 18 years ago, just as before I went on my quilting hiatus. This and a few other Arts and Crafts inspired fabrics. I was going to make a quilt, so I bought about 3 yards, I used up the other fabric long ago, this one has lasted a long time.
Last year I made this bag for a friend from the fabric.
This summer I ‘rediscovered’ the shop, new owner, but still a great place to find more traditional fabric as well as Civil War reproductions. I made this hat and our new 
What can I say, lately I’m drawn to the reproduction fabrics, maybe because my instagram feed is is inundated with all the new modern lines, my eye wants something different.
I will need to add from my stash, which is great, since I don’t like a quilt to only represent one style of fabric.
And then I bought fabric for garments. The red will become a summer shirt and I couldn’t resist the rayon Crepe. This fabric is soooo hard to find anywhere. The Jobbers never sell it to the downtown stores since the small manufactures grab it instantly! Lucky for me I like this print, so this too will become a summer dress.
I made a skirt from the blue plaid, it is a faux wrap around and looks very cute with boots.
Because it is a narrow skirt it has a long kick pleat, or vent, not sure what the official name is.
Matching the plaid at the seams is what makes the garment look professional. These days most store bought plaids don’t pay attention to this detail. Sure the plaid ‘matches’ but not really.
Another sign of a well made wool skirt – the lining. Helps it hang better as well as makes it more comfortable.
And a close up without the belt. I hope to get a lot of use out of this, we are having a cold wet winter.
I’m even trying to come up with new poses. This version has the narrower skirt. The fabric is from JoAnn’s and I must say I am very pleased with it. JoAnn’s is pretty good at keeping up with trends, just two years ago their knit section was very meager, a few stripes and solids. Today they are offering some very cute knits. I love how bright and colorful this is.
Another change I made was to cut the back with less of an opening at the neck line. Looking at this photo it still looks quite exposed. This will be fine for a summer dress – yes I will be using this pattern often- but I need my neck warm. Aging isn’t fun, a lot of warmth escapes from my neck and shoulders now, which means I get to wear many of my shawls, but that includes when I wear this cute dress!
Side view.
The number of photos I take is pretty large, first run through is looking at the pictures in the camera and eliminating the real failures, then I download and go through a couple of weeding out sessions. Then it’s on to the editing program, I use
The Depot Restaurant occupies the Old PE depot. One way to get people to move to this new city is to have a trolly line come here. The city gave PE the land for the depot and Irving Gil, who is considered one of the first local modernist architects designed the building. The Dome used to be gold, it isn’t anymore, but it did survive that many years that the building was just used for storage.
The tiles on the clock just don’t look like they are from the 1910’s. On the photos of the original building there was a clock, by the 1970s’ it is no longer there, so this must be a new clock placed where the original used to be.
The interior is lovely! 
The locals frequent the restaurant. Even if those of us farther afield had no clue that Torrance is more than a large oil refinery and Japanese companies. Yes, oil is a very very big business here in the Southland. 
Part of the original Park was renamed a few years ago in honor of the Centennial of the city.
My guess is this building may have been one of the original. It has a simplified Beaux Art feel. The brick was a common building material back then. The 1932 Long Beach earthquake would put an end to brick in LA. Notice the Pilaster between the large windows, a nod to a classic pillar. The rounded cornice, the use of two toned brick. Now, this isn’t downtown LA where no expense is spared in decorating the buildings, but even with a less expensive design, it is Beaux Arts.
I wonder if what stood here originally fell in the earthquake, this is definitely Art Deco. Since the city was built in 1912, my guess is this replaced another building after the quake.
Loving the simple Art Deco both is the terra cotta and the paint. So many buildings all over the area are lovely simple Art Deco, I hope this one survives.
This blade advertising could be from the 30s’ or maybe the 50s.
Buffy’s lasted for 50 years but is no more. A nod to what would be filmed here in this next photo.
Torrance High School was built in 1917, This was the original building, many others were added through the years. You may recognize this as the Sunnydale High school from Buffy the Vampire slayer, or as Beverly Hills 90210 – the original series.
Beaux Art, perfect for a School, they don’t build them this way anymore.
Unfortunately history is something that people have to work at in order to remember. The signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga between the United States and the Californios was an epic history changing event – one that no one really knows or cares about.
Of course history isn’t history until many years have passed and by then, it is often forgotten. This modern concept of what the old ‘assestancia’ or satellite mission of Mission San Fernando may have looked like. This structure was built in 1951 an managed to survive Lankershim Blvd, Universal City and the building of the redline Subway station.
The Campo de Cahuenga Historical Memorial association was started by an incredible woman names Mrs. A.S.C Forbes, no I can’t find her first name. She ran a foundry – she did, not her husband. This is one thing that I have noticed, women weren’t helpless before feminism showed up in the 1960s, there have always been strong powerful women who never needed feminism to find their voice. One thing that Mrs. Forbes did was design the original Mission Bells as well as the Camino Real Bells. Anyone who has driven along the 101 has seen these bells along the freeway. This is one of the first bells cast, it is indoors now to protect it, California Bell company is still producing them today.
When excavating for the Subway the real remnants of the Abobe Farm building were found. Nothing here is real except the footprint. The adobe is reproduced, and is slowly melting, adobe homes always had impressive roofs (over covered with local tar- La Brea) that kept the water from melting the bricks.
This glass case hold the remains of the floor tiles, since these are clearly Spanish, the satellite farm was probably built around the time the actual mission was.
It turns out this was quite a large structure, went all the way into the middle of Lankershim Blvd. As an homage to the old adobe, the footprint is continued into the pavement of the street, no-one driving over this has any clue. They are building a bridge to connect Universal Studios with the Subway station, so maybe they will put a sign up so as people cross the bridge they might learn something.
As the program itself started a boy scout troupe raised the flag, this howitzer was fired. There were speeches by local politicians, they have to be heard at some point.
Our presenter looked like a Charles Dickens character, which makes sense, because this is when he was writing. Fremont and Pico meet.
Reading the treaty, which pardoned prisoners from both sides and gave Calfironios the same rights of American citizens. General Stockton wasn’t pleased, although he came to see this as a very good treaty. All this happened a year before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war and the southwest officially became part of the US. And then in 1949 gold was discovered at Sutter Mill and by 1850 we were already a state.
Signing. Of course you need more than just the reenactment, so why not have some traditional dances.
With an adorable little girl showing off her finery. Shira is probably older than her, but no way could she just stand there so quietly.
A little history, Mount Wilson is named for Benjamin Davis Wilson, owner of Rancho San Pascual as well as the grandfather of General Patton. In the mid 19th century he created a trail up to the peak, which became a weekend hiking adventure for many in the Pasadena area.
We didn’t take a tour, although one of these days I feel like I should, I find science and exploration fascinating.
As well as the buildings that house the telescopes.
The Carnegie Institute held the lease for 90 years and in 1984 they wanted to dismantle many of the telescopes and move their operations to Chili, to an area with much less light pollution. In 1986 the Mount Wilson Institute was formed and the observatories were saved and are still in use today.
On a clear day you can see across the whole basin out to Catalina Island. Mid summer is never very clear. A combination of fog, haze and good old pollution led to this almost mystical view. As long as you don’t strain to see the city below, this could be a Japanese print of mountains in the haze.
The other thing that Mount Wilson is known for it’s it’s sea of Radio, Television and microwave relay towers. The first was installed in 1947 for KTLA Channel 5, the station famous for garnering most viewers for the commercial free coverage of the Rose Parade.
The sea of transmitters can be easily seen from Pasadena, I did take a picture but in my purge I must have deleted it. Oh well, the better view is close up.
I had thought that this would become a king size quilt for my bed. That turned out to be an insane idea.
View from the opposite side. I bought 3 yards of the background grey. I did purchase some more, not at the same location – and the dye lots were slightly different. I was prepared to use it, but I managed to put on all the borders with just scraps of fabric left over. (not yet seen in these photos).
Valley MQG had a small meeting in December. It was thrilling to share the quilt. I don’t feel any need to send my quilts to shows, on the other hand – I do like it very much when my fellow guild members are so full of compliments.
A different kind of paper piecing, this is much more difficult, the pieces are so arbitrary. I think I ripped out every single seam. Of course as soon as I finished, I found some very good advice on how to deal with these irregular shapes as well as sharp angles. 
I love these 1/4″ borders. I am also improving on my feathers with every project. Not sure why I’m so interested in quilted feathers, I think because they are such a cornerstone of quilting.
This is my December challenge for Valley MQG, we were asked to use the 5″ square we received in November. I used mine in the feather and on the back, with my label.
I call this a mug rug, not quite a quilt, not a placemat or a coaster. You can put your mug and plate with cookies on it.
But of course I had to decorate gifts with my personal touch. None of us expect anything wonderful, this year people stole the gifts that included coffee or tea, no one was interested in hand creams.
I stole these salt and pepper shakers, only to find out that the person who brought them was hoping that I’d go home with them.
Joel asked for another pair of socks, he loves wearing them around the house. As long as he uses them, I’m happy.
The only reason I’m swatching for a scarf is to see if I like the pattern. Something I found on Revelry of course. 
I like how both sides have this diagonal look. Of course it knit up very quickly. I didn’t want to make it too long, so I didn’t even use up the whole skein.
The variegated yarn creates such interesting patterns.
Artistic display.
Of course what really matters is a very happy little girl with her brand new scarf.
She had to wear it to the playground and tell everyone that she just got a new scarf. Which simply guarantees that she will get many more handmade gifts.
I have been to San Pedro, to the USS Iowa, to the kitschy tourist area of Ports O’ Call. Now it was time for a visit downtown. San Pedro will never be like the communities next door on the Palos Verde peninsula, but it is an improvement over Wilmington.
The Croation Cultural center representing the largest Croation community in Southern California. Their building is a mixture of styles, classic columns with Art Deco Friezes.
I went looking for the old downtown, it is actually enjoying something of a revival. First of all, it had fancier buildings to begin with. Today, on first Thursdays they have a local Art Walk. Although Wilmington had a Jeweler on Avalon Blvd, Rons’ in San Pedro looks more upscale.
The tiles, the metal work, more money was invested here. Maybe because the only coast Wilmington has it the actual Port, whereas San Pedro has beach areas away from big Industry.
Design elements on the buildings are upscale.
San Pedro got an incredible Art Deco Movie Palace in the late 1920s. That automatically lets you know this was the place to be.
Today it no longer shows movies, but the venue is available for events and it is being used.
Even if the box office stands empty with netting to keep the birds away.
Look up! Always look up. The ceiling in the Foyer is worth craning your next for. And yes, I’m seeing a quilt pattern.
The roof line and the realization that the way I took this picture just leave me with WAR.
Not all buildings are trying to deal with the pigeon population.
This lovely mosaic was installed by the Rainbow Services, a social service center for battered women.
Which explains the mother and child, with the mother reaching her hand out for help. Other business share the building, like a fishing company. What used to be mainstay here – the fishing industry is simply part of a more diverse business base now.
I wonder if the Art Deco mural has been here all along or if it’s new. The font certainly looks like it’s from the 1930s. Love the name.
The buildings just have a certain charm.
Of course I had to stop and take in the view. The California coast is gorgeous.
The isn’t exactly on the tourist maps of Los Angeles, but I always say, every place has something worth seeing.
My destination was the Banning Museum.
He started the city of Wilmington, named for his birthplace and built his own home there in 1864. An expansive, expensive Greek Revival mansion. Three generations of the Banning family lived here until 1925. In 1927 it was donated to the city of LA and years later, another Banning descendent spearheaded the restoration of the building.
If you look at a map of Los Angeles you will see a very narrow strip from the south part of the city that goes down to the ocean. By 1909 Los Angeles annexed Wilmington and other small communities along the route to the harbor. Yes, they wanted not only to own the harbor but to be connected to it. One of these days I will write a whole post on how Los Angeles became so big and so interesting in it’s shape.
Greek revival homes are symmetrical, through the years changes were made, notice the extra window on the ground floor? This window as well as the second window on the front of the building used to be on either side of the front door. So they match perfectly but they do disturb the symmetry.
A sunken courtyard was added to the east side of the building, along with this marvelous cast iron fence. This is called the cornstalk fence. Made in Philledelphia and installed at the Banning Mansion in 1894.
In researching this I’ve just discovered that the matching fence surrounds the Cornstalk Hotel in New Orleans, I will be there, staying at that hotel in a few weeks! WooHoo! You bet I’ll be mentioning this to the owners!!
The downtown is a different story. I’m sure Wilmington has nicer areas to hang out in, the downtown is emblematic of many old downtowns, a little sad and rundown. A handful of beautiful old buildings with for lease signs.
This large neon sign tops the Don Hotel built in 1929. Of course the sign would be seen from ships entering the harbor.
Today like many such hotels, this is a senior apartment building. I do love the palm and the shadows they cast.
Other attempts at decorating the buildings, a little lighthouse.
Civic pride exists in every city, someone put a holiday ribbon on this utility box.