Livin' La Needle Loca

 ...yeah, I missed posting yesterday. I spent the morning at Pacific International Quilt Festival. I haven't been able to go since 2018 because of vacations or family things. It felt good to get back there. Given my love for Mid-Century Modern, I was happy to see the MCM quilt exhibit. My favorite of the exhibit was "Retro Living": It won the award for Best Mid-Century Modern quilt. Love! There were lots of people for a Friday morning. I think it's the first time that I didn't buy any fabric or notions at the show. A lot of the fabric was not my style - too old fashioned - and I really couldn't think of anything else that I really needed. Oh, well! The Husband bought some flowers to refresh the courtyard. He bought more salvia: and some SuperCal petunias: In the backyard, the sunflowers are going strong: And the Blue Berries tomatoes are ripening:

...and keeping my fingers crossed that we don't have any more plumbing surprises in store for us! Here are some more photos from PIQF. I finally finished processing them all. This quilt made me smile - Luci and Desi Llama This quilt made me sad (and mad) - Justice 2018: And this one was my favorite - In the Old Way: These photos and more in my PIQF 2018 Flickr album. Up this weekend: All the chores I didn't get to last weekend because of our plumbing issue. I also have some additional boxes to go through. I've been filling up the paper side of the recyling bin for the last few weeks. And we're stockpiling a bunch of things for Goodwill. It feels good to get rid of things we don't need or don't want anymore! I have a secret project I'd like to start this weekend. I need to do a little research first, but that won't take very long.  Looking forward to getting it started! .

...and the weekend report. I have missed the last two Pacific International Quilt Festivals because we were on vacation. I've been going to the festival for many years, so I sort of missed going (but not enough to reschedule our vacation!). With me only working half days on Fridays, it seemed like a good idea to go to the festival on Friday instead of fighting the crowds and traffic on Saturday or Sunday. Good choice! Traffic was reasonable in both directions and I was able to find parking without a problem. My main reason for going was to see the quilts. There were many wonderful quilts and I took photos of several. I'm busy processing the photos and uploading them to Flickr in my PIQF 2018 album. My friend Randa entered a quilt that got 3rd place for Visual Impact in the New Quilts of Northern California category. It's pretty cool: Many ocean-themed quilts and ecological-themed quilts caught my eye, including "Water is Life, So Why Are We Doing This"...

...here are a few photos from Pacific International Quilt Festival. There were some pretty cool quilts. There were several Day of the Dead quilts A Frida Kahlo inspired quilt (Frida and the Butterflies): An exhibition of Beatles-inspired quilts (In My Life): A gorgeous dragon quilt that won 2nd place in the Innovative category of the World Quilt XIX competition: An my favorite this year was the Best Wall Quilt winner (Song of the Sea): I also enjoyed the quilted sculpture exhibit by Susan Else. This was my favorite: In the Finished Object category, here is a photo of the hat I finished last weekend. This is Blue No-Noro Hat [Ravelry], modeled by the lovely Blanca: Specs: Started 8/15/2015 Finished 10/18/2015 Pattern: Noro spiral one-skein hat by Manuèle Ducret Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Solids in medium blue For Halos of Hope Up this weekend:  Nothing special planned. We arre both still recovering from colds, so we need to catch up on some s...

...and not much has changed since last week. I've been processing my photos from the Pacific International Quilt Festival, so not a lot of crafting activity for the last couple of days.  If you are interested in looking at the photos, you'll find them in my 2015 PIQF album on Flickr. I still haven't processed the photos of the hat. WIP Roll Call: Worked on: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Figured out where I left off. I have a long way to go with the linen stitch section. Sail (cross stitch) Finished most of the letter "I" and I have quite a bit done on the letter "L" Works In Progress, did not work on: Calypso handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  Empress handspun [ Ravelry ] Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Going Snow Global quilt (quilting) Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)\ Tuscon Twilight (needlepoint...

...in which I don't have anything from our garden. It's looking bare out there! Instead, here's are more photos from PIQF. This tapestry was interesting (Stonecrop Tapestry by Susan Bianchi). Look at all of those buttons: I loved this quilt (It's About Time by Robbi Eklow): the center detail: and the quilting on the back of the quilt I also loved this one (Forever and Never Again by Joan McWilliams: One more. The detail view of Color Challenge: Aqua Green by Gail Wax Up this weekend: Spin In on Sunday!  It will feel good to do some spinning.  I've been consumed by knitting lately, to the detriment of everything else.  I need to come up with something to take, though. Not feeling particularly inspired at the moment. We'll see how I feel about it tomorrow. Other than that, we have a few errands to run, some laundry to do. Maybe I'll actually work on the quilt this weekend! .

...Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) and Spin-In in one day--it doesn't get much better than that! I spent two and a half hours at PIQF and was blown away by many of the quilts.  It has to be said: I really don't like the more traditional quilt. While I appreciate the work that goes into each one and I can admire the techniques used, I just not a fan of Baltimore Album, Double Wedding Ring, or Flower Basket quilts. I prefer the more geometric, story-based, and art quilt styles. So I went through the entire show and did a little shopping in that two and a half hours. So what caught my eye? Here are some examples; you can see more pictures in my PIQF set at Flickr. Breakers by Sheena Norquay (Scotand): I was fascinated by the little bird feet in this panel. Blue Moon in the Milky Way by Karen Van Dargriff (Apple Valley, CA): Loved the stars! Spirit by Georgia Pierce (Seattle, WA): Love the Pacific Northwest images and the quilting on this one. Cosm...

...this week seemed unusually difficult for no particular reason. Some weeks are just like that and I'm glad this one is nearly over. Today's eye candy is a bit sparse. There are nothing but pansies in our backyard and I'm tired of taking pictures of them When I got to the office this morning, I noticed a bunch of pink flowers growing in one of the planted areas. So today, you get a pink flower. They are quite pretty and I have no idea what they are! Up this weekend: Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) ends Sunday. Spin-In is scheduled for Sunday this month. I'm thinking of combining them into one day and do my normal Sunday errands on Saturday. That means dealing with crazy people and some out-of-control kids at the grocery store on Saturday, but PIQF only comes around once a year, right? There are some logistics to figure out for Sunday. After PIQF, do I go home and pick up my wheel and goodies, and then go to Spin-In? Or do I just take everything w...

...this week seemed to have dragged! Maybe it's because I'm counting down the days until I can get a new prescription for my glasses. Or because every time I turn around there's something new I discover that I need to update.  At any rate, TGIF! Today's eye candy comes from Pacific International Quilt Festival. I concentrated on detail pictures rather than whole quilt pictures. One reason was that it was hard to get whole quilt pictures with so many people milling about. Another reason is that I need a bit more practice! First up, a quilt made by a friend and former co-worker, Radial Sonnet by Randa Mulford: a medallion close up: and detail of one of the corner circles. I loved this mermaid quilt, Mermaid Magic by Donna Blum: and face detail: I was intrigued by this quilt, The Dead Sea by Gisha Wogier from Israel: and a water detail: There were many more that I won't include here. Go to my Flickr Set, PIQF to see more from thi...