Avila Beach

I did not get the chance to take a picture of my quilt after I did some sewing in my quilting class. I managed to get my flying geese sewn and the side borders attached. I need to get the flying geese squares sewn to the top and bottom borders and then I will be done with the top. Since we left for vacation Friday morning and are not returning until Thursday, I am not sure if I will be able to have the top completed for class. We are suppose to work on the quilt sandwich this coming Thursday, but I am not sure I will be able to have it done. I have not even picked out the backing material as yet, but I am sure I have enough batting. No worries - I can get it done before the last class (thankfully I do know how to put a quilt together). At least I will be there to see the demonstration she will give for spray adhesive and hand/machine quilting.

We are settled in our timeshare and relaxed in vacation mode. Don and Sharon are coming down for lunch tomorrow and we are going to Santa Barbara on Monday to Samys and then meeting Joy and Jim for lunch. This vacation is about just kicking back and relaxing and we don't have any real plans. OF COURSE because I am here, they are having a couple of their HOTTEST days ever for this time of year. God I hate the heat! We have a great view of the ocean and the air conditioning works just great!

I did not even bring my camera and Max really hasn't taken any pics to speak of. We are getting intermittent wireless connection, which allows us to get online. They have wireless connection here that you can pay for, but we are picking up a linksys connection that seems to be working good most of the time.

Later . . .

Quilt Progress

I think the new border kind of tones down the brown in the hour glasses, but it is still not my favorite. I did not get a chance to do the other quilt because I was busy cutting and piecing to get this one done. I have class again tomorrow and I need to cut material for that - so it is doubtful I will get the other one sewn, but it might happen.

Later . . .

Weekend Poppy Festival

We arrived late on Friday night and here is the family arriving at the Poppy Festival.  We had a good day.  Denise found the things she was looking for and I found the hair things I wanted (along with a funnel cake).  Devin and Desirae made bird houses at the Home Depot build a project.

We had a fabulous dinner at some bar-b-que place and then Duane and I broke down the trailer and brought it home.  We were all really tired from spending the day out in the sun and wind.  We all headed to bed.  On Sunday Max shot pictures of Duane shooting his coffee shots.  That was fun and I played Guitar Hero and was beginning to "rock out".  Denise and I searched eBay and found a used one for my PS2 - it is on it way to me as I type!

We had a really nice time for a SHORT weekend visit.

Later . . .

Quilt Progress

I know I am behind in my blog - so I am going to just jump in and add a few things.  These are the quilt tops that I am working on.  The one on the left is the one I am doing in the class and the one on the right is the extra one I am making.  I was disappointed with the brown on the left one, but I think it will work out when I add the next nine patch border.  I have to get the next border on before class this Thursday - so I will be able to see what it looks like at that point.  I will get another picture posted when I add the next border.

Later . . .

Camera arrived

Max is one very happy photographer! The only bad part is that she has to wait for the battery to charge. I must admit it is a very impressive camera and the lens is awesome. It is very cool that she will be able to play with it this weekend. We are looking forward to the Poppy Festival with Duane and family.

I have my quilting class tonight and I am, once again, excited about going. We should have a lot done by the end of the class because we have all the material cut and we just have to piece and sew. I will take a picture of what I have and try to post it tomorrow.

Later . . .

Progress

We are moving right along on our quilt top in my class. Homework for the week was cutting the material for some hour glass squares and then some additional nine patch border. The picture at the bottom is the additional quilt that I decided to make to get more practice following the pattern and cutting material. Sewing the material does not seem to be a problem for me, but I do tend to make mistakes cutting. Good thing I am just using scraps to make both of these quilts. The first one is really bright (which I like), but the second one is soft and pretty (which I also like). I still have to find the additional material for the other parts of the second one.

We had a really pleasant weekend of just staying home. I would like to say that we worked in the back yard and accomplished much, but we basically caught up on our TV watching and relaxed. We took a trip into Dublin (which meant we had the chance to go to our favorite Chinese restaurant) so Max could get her hands on the Canon 5D I promised to buy her if she did not take the job offer in Iraq. She wanted to actually hold one before we ordered her new "baby" from B&H. We did place the order and the camera is suppose to arrive this coming Thursday - just in time to take it down to Cal City this weekend. We are going to pop in for the Poppy Festival and Duane and Max will be able to do some shooting. She is happy to be getting the camera and I am happy that she is not leaving.


Later . . .

Nothing new

Any new sewing project was replaced by pulling weeds in the back yard and trying to do some re-organizing of things in my sewing room (not to mention playing some video games). Yesterday was a complete outside the house running errands day (I stack everything up so I don't have to go out of the house into the "real" world very often). I am looking forward to my quilting class tonight and have decided to find some material and put together a second quilt. I can learn what I need to do at school and then practice it again by doing it a second time (I think that will help me to remember what it was I learned).

There was a big meeting for Max's work group and things look a bit brighter for the possibility of her keeping her job. It is still a waiting game, but her division leader went to the "head" guy and mentioned they have a lot of time and money invested in her and she is an excellent employee which she would hate to loose. The big boss also mentioned that when it comes to "flex term" and career employees that the decision will be made on skills and ability and not seniority. That makes it look really good for Max because she has her BS degree (which the Lab paid for) and she also is a good worker. She feels better and not quite as stressed now about the whole job loss thing.

Later . . .

Quilt Project

I finished my "homework" for my quilting class. This is the center star for the quilt. I had almost finished it in class, but had to put the three pieces of the center together and then cut and add the border pieces. I am very pleased with the way it has turned out so far and I am looking forward to this Thursday's class.

The weekend went well - we relaxed and had some fun. We had pizza, watched movies, played the Wii along with the PS2. Max did some shots of both Jesse and Michael - Jesse stopped by Friday afternoon and stayed until Saturday evening. The four of us played a bunch of Wii games and generally just had a good time interacting and relaxing.

I want to work on something, but cannot decide what I want to do. I need to find a backing for my "wild woman" quilt and I could start sewing the squares for the kids quilts. I also could do some embroidery - choices! I will make a decision on what to do and hope that it does not end up sitting at my computer playing silly games!

Later . . .

Quilting Class

I started my quilting class last night and I am very excited about it. The teacher is excellent (she is a regular middle school teacher and knows how to teach). Even though it was only the first night of class, I learned a bunch of little tricks of the trade. I am looking forward to the remaining classes. The people in the class were nice and friendly (not at all like the free motion quilting class I took). We are all beginners with a variety of experience connected to sewing, but I am probably the one who has done the most actual quilting. I was very happy when I left the class and was almost finished with the portion we were working on. The goal of the class is to be able to read patterns and be able to do just about any of the blocks that would be required. This is not for advanced quilting or for appliqués, but I do think it will help me a lot in my general quilting. Needless to say, a picture of the completed project will be coming, but that will be in a bout 6 weeks!

Later . . .

Weekend

We had a really GREAT relaxing weekend even though we got off to a late start. Friday morning turned out to be the day that many of the places Max had applied for jobs decided to get back with her and ask for more information. After she took care of that business, we headed out with the changed plan of getting some fishing in the AM to perhaps throwing some lines in the PM. The whole fishing idea pretty much went out the window when we discovered ALL the lakes we had planned on fishing at were FROZEN! It was amazing to see big lakes frozen solid and covered with snow. I guess one of the draw-backs of living in the Bay area is that one tends to forget that actual WEATHER is occurring all around us. Nonetheless, we had a great weekend and checked out some lakes at lower elevations (did not actually do any fishing). We did manage to accomplish the objective of the weekend, which was relaxation and not thinking or worrying about jobs or money. We did some gambling, had some nice meals, watched some TV and checked out some of the local stores and area. We love the Resort and and it was really nice to just get away. Max took a few pictures (which I believe are still in her camera) and I did not even bring my camera.

This week is back to the grind of Max sending out resumes and looking for jobs. Things are progressing and she is getting responses - so it is just kind of one day at a time right now. I start my beginning quilting class this coming Thursday and I am having a really hard time picking out material. I vowed that I would have it done by the end of today and selection is not moving rapidly. We will have Michael staying with us over the weekend while Kathy and Paul are off to Reno (I think). It is always fun to have Michael cause we have movies and pizza and I think Max is going to do another photo shoot with him (and maybe me).

Later . . .