Fun Around Monterey Bay...

The PVQA show was a ton of fun. There were some great quilts in the guild show--you'll see a few of them below--wonderful people, and my lecture and show were warmly received.

I have to admit, watching people respond to my work was pretty gratifying.

My hostess Tracey Brookshier took such good care of me throughout the long week-end, even taking me on a field trip yesterday to the Asilomar Conference Grounds (home of the Empty Spools Conference) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Tracey also organized the Third Annual Transatlantic Challenge, which included 42 quilts from the UK and the USA interpreting the theme, "Go Green". Here are some of my favorites:

A soft and freeform artquilt by Shauna Moulton...

Judy Mathieson honored her son's organic vegetable farm...

Helen Clark's "Green Man"...

Holly Casey's passionate plea...

...and my favorite, by Rosemary Eichorn...

Do click on this. The glory is in the details....I asked her if it was abstract or representational and she said, "Yes...." She was a most lovely person and I would study with her in a heartbeat. Here is a detail of her quilt, taken with a flash for the sake of better focus:

She is a collage fiber artist with a deft and ethereal touch...after seeing this quilt I went online and bought her book that same day. We use the same supplies, but in such different ways...

For my friends in Britain, here are the Go Green show dates this coming summer and fall for you to see these quilts:
18 - 20 June Sandown nr London National Quilt Championships

3 - 5 Sept Harrogate, Yorkshire Great Northern Quilt Show

24 - 26 Sept Edinburgh Scottish Quilt Championships

29 - 31 Oct Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern Autumn Quilt Festival

5 -7 Nov Chilford, Kent Chilford Autumn Quilt Festival

Also at the quilt show in the block challenge, one of my Point Bonita students had her project from my class on display.

In this portrait of her grandparents, Nancy Goudarzi has taken the floral embellishment techniques she learned and made them truly her own. That gives this teacher a thrill!

There was a vintage crazy quilt on display from the estate of Don Gibson, purchased in Santa Cruz, California.

I loved the bar setting (between strips of wide woven ribbon) and controlled palette of this old crazy.

Here's a closer look at some of the stitching. Wouldn't it be great to have the time to make a quilt using this format?

Tracey strongly encouraged me to stay an extra day so I could visit Asilomar and the Monterey Aquarium, and I am so glad I did.

The Craftsman era architecture of the center is so inspiring. Here is Tracey standing by the space allocated to Empty Spool's Resident Artist for the week, Kerby Smith, or as he calls himself, "Mr. Lura Schwarz Smith". ;-) Those are his quilts up on the stage, too.
Empty Spools would be the place to seriously increase your quilting skills during a 5-day in depth seminar. The classrooms we peeked in on were quiet and very focused.
And what a setting! I hear the food is quite good, too...

The Monterey Aquarium was filled with the most unbelievable Creations of all. The ones that really got to me were the jellyfish...

I mean, really....

The mind just staggers....

So it was a stimulating trip through lovely landscapes and friendships and some new professional terrain as well. And while I was away, the daffodils popped.

The Yellow of Spring is here on the hill at last....

I'm off again to visit some relatives this coming week-end back in Ohio. Then I plan on staying put for a nice long while!