In the California Mountains

California is certainly a diverse and beautiful state.

We landed in San Francisco late Wednesday afternoon, and enjoyed some time with Jon and Nat at their place in San Mateo. They're just a few blocks from B Street, which is lined with restaurants and stores. In just one block, on one side of the street, I counted seven restaurants:

Within walking distance of their condo, I think Jon and Nat could eat at a different restaurant every night and not hit them all in a month.

Thursday morning my sister and two nieces arrived to pick us up and take us to their place in Nevada City. Since we last visited them (six years ago) they've bought a house in the country and have been busy working on the property. After a couple big storms that first winter felled a number of trees, including a couple that landed on the roof of their two-story garage/apartment, they had a crew come in and cut down over 150 trees. Sounds like a lot, right? But you can barely tell...

And it's like this every direction you look...trees, trees and more trees.

Aside from clearing out the diseased and dying trees, they've also had the driveway paved, built a new deck, added two grassy areas, and refurbished this gazebo:

It's absolutely gorgeous up here, although I think I could do without the wild animals that turn up on occasion. They had a lot of problems the first couple years with bears, that would go right into the garage to get to the garbage cans. Since getting a dog in February, they haven't seen any bears -- but that's not to say there haven't been any, just that the dog seems to be keeping them at bay. And one day while Beth was sitting on the front porch, she saw what she initially thought was the neighbor's dog coming closer, only to realize it was a bobcat! Needless to say, she made a hasty retreat into the house.

I've always loved the Little House on the Prairie books, but the reality is I probably wouldn't make a very good country girl because I'd be afraid to leave my house half the time, for fear of running into an animal bigger or faster than me.

But I am enjoying my visit with Beth and her family, and feel fairly confident that the dog's barking will give us enough advance warning should any wild animals come around.

I hope.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Two posts in a matter of days -- that's a record for me this year. Not having regular access to the internet has put a serious crimp in my blogging style.

Anyway, it was suggested I post this recipe. Now why didn't I think of that?!

I first had this at a family potluck in June. Kristie had no idea what she was starting when she brought it! It's pretty much my Kryptonite, and I can't get enough of it. Other people seem to feel the same way.

One of the best things about this recipe is that it is so adaptable. I've made it a little differently each time, depending on what I had on hand. Of course there are the basics, but after that you can add or delete to your heart's content. Also, while you could just use a can of corn, with all the great fresh sweet corn we've been getting this summer, I haven't had to resort to the canned stuff.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa
3-4 ears of corn, cooked and the kernals sliced off (or a can of corn, drained)
can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup diced fresh tomatoes (or can of diced tomatoes, drained)
1/2 cup diced onion (optional)
1/2 cup diced sweet peppers (optional)
1/2 cup diced cucumbers (optional)
handful of chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup Italian dressing
1/2 cup Ranch dressing

Mix all ingredients and chill at least two hours. Serve with tortilla chips.

~~~~~~~~~

Okay, easy-peasy and oh-so-good! Tell me, what would you add to (or delete from) this recipe to suit your family?

Some Pretties

This is more for me than you, whoever might be reading this. I wanted to document my time at the AQS Quilt Show in Grand Rapids, since this blog serves as my online journal. But hopefully you'll enjoy the quilts too.

It's been over 20 years since I attended an AQS quilt show, back when they were only held in Paducah. I was thrilled to learn they were having a show practically in my back yard, while we are in the U.S. this summer. Even more fun, I was able to go with two friends!

We'd signed up to attend the show on Thursday and Friday, so when we arrived in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, we took the opportunity to visit a couple museums who had special quilt exhibits in conjunction with the show. At the Grand Rapids Public Museum we were able to view a dozen quilts from their collection.

This Virginia Star Variation was made sometime in the late 1800s but they don't know who made it.

Charity Goold worked on this President's Wreath from 1860 through 1880.

Isn't it amazing how the colors are still so vibrant over 150 years later?! And the detail is phenomenal. Charity carefully stuffed the red roses and buds to create dimension.

Thursday I took an all day class, and I shared one of the few photos from that day on my Project 365 blog, so I won't repeat it here.

I spent Friday looking at the hundreds of quilts in the show. Seriously, it was sensory and inspiration overload! I took lots of photos, and most of them weren't so great. I really need to learn how to use our new-to-us camera.

Anyway, I'm only sharing a few of them here. I tried to pick a good representation of the wide variety.

"In Orbit" by Evelyn Evers of Canada is one of those mind-bending, optical illusion quilts:

Absolutely stunning but thinking about the math that had to go into making this quilt just makes my head hurt.

When I saw the name of this quilt ("Sushi III"), I had to take a photo for Tina.

I sent the photo to her via e-mail while she was hanging out with a group of female friends who all love sushi, and they thought the quilt was fabulous. It's definitely fun and colorful! Made by Mary Kay Price from Oregon, who used reverse appliqué, batiks and hand-dyed cottons.

This one made me smile.

Jan Berg-Rezmer of Michigan used raw-edge appliqué, fabric paint and photo transfer to create "Ask The Cowboys". This gorgeous art quilt made me want to try my hand at another portrait quilt.

There was a section of the show devoted to individual competitions by various quilt guilds. These small quilts packed a punch!

Across the Squares Quilters from Charlotte, Michigan, had an "Under" theme and I really liked the playfulness of this one by Carol Randell that she named "Under Cover".

The quilt "fort" was just adorable and you could actually lift it to see the little girl playing underneath.

Bridge Project 2013, hosted by the Eureka, California, based Fiber Art Friends, had so many lovely little quilts -- I think I took a photo of each and every one of them. But for the sake of brevity I'm only including one here.

Diane May created "Bridge of Dreams" and I really liked her use of color.

And finally I just had to share a photo of this stunning piece by Mark Sherman, that took over 3,000 hours to complete!

Included in the Master Pieces section, "Wings and Feathers" has won multiple awards -- for obvious reasons -- and absolutely blew me away. Here's a fun article about Mark, if you'd like to know more about the man behind the butterflies.

I included two photos of a quilt by another man, this one from Cairo, Egypt, on the Project 365 blog. Two of the Tentmakers of Cairo were at the show, displaying several dozen quilts and demonstrating their technique.

And although I thought I'd taken photos of a few of the Caohagan quilts, apparently I did not. But I am linking to their website, because the quilts are just so much fun. Caohagan is an island in the Philippines that's actually owned by a Japanese man. Confused? Yeah, me too. However, I applaud his introduction of quiltmaking which has provided a sustainable income for the burgeoning community of quilters. All the quilts are designed free-hand and the islanders use of color and pattern make for some super happy quilts!

So there you have it, a quick overview of the AQS Show in Grand Rapids. So what do you think? Which was your favorite quilt?

A Quilty Kind Of Week

I have really enjoyed this week with my daughter and her husband. Since Tina's working from home three days a week, I had more time with her than we've had in a long time. Although I did try not to bother her too much when she was busy. While she worked, I did too -- first on a little sewing project for her and then on the pile of UFOs I brought along (unfinished objects). 

Last year I started a baby quilt and finished six large blocks but then stopped in order to work more on all that was involved in moving. Wednesday I was able to add sashing and a border, making this another top I hope to quilt while visiting my friend with a longarm later this month.

Then there's this top that's been languishing in a drawer for well over 20 years. Yes, over 20 years!

I bought a package of coordinating fabrics from Keepsake Quilting in the colors I was decorating my "new" bedroom back then, made this wall-size quilt and then... nothing. I'm not sure why it got put away and never quilted, but that's about to change.

Not quite as old -- but old enough at about 10-12 years? -- is this Lone Start quilt I made in a class.

During the class I also added a border. And hated it. So for a few years the quilt sat folded away in a drawer since I couldn't bring myself to do anything with it. I truly despised that border. It was too busy and too big and too distracting. I wanted the star to be the Star! Finally I ripped off the border -- and put the top back in the drawer. Because even though I knew I did NOT like the first border, I wasn't sure what I DID like. After mulling over the situation for a few years (what can I say, creative genius strikes at odd and infrequent moments) I decided on a simple, plain, thin border to "frame" the star, and nothing more. So this week I finally found a red that works well with the other reds in the quilt, and got just enough for a 2" border (which I plan to add this morning), and I'll bind it in dark blue.

So there you have three of the four tops I'm planning to quilt on my friend's longarm. The fourth is the one I made for the grandbaby (yes, the top is done! finished!) and no photos shall be forthcoming until after I've given it to Kyle and Tina.

I do have to give a shout out to SIL Sharon, because without her help the top would probably still not be finished. I absolutely agonized over a fabric for the border... Jeesh! Talk about DMD (decision-making disorder), I had me a heaping helping of it this week. Thankfully Sharon was able to steer me in the right direction, suggesting a combination of fabrics, both plain and printed, that truly form the perfect mitered border. Muchas gracias, mi amiga :)

My two days with Sharon we had a lot of fun shopping -- one day for clothes (her) and another day for fabric (both of us). She picked up the most adorable yellow dress and plans to wear it to Kyle and Tina's party later this month.

I'm really grateful for this week. It's been productive but not pressured. Full of people I love and quilts and good food... Absolutely one of the best weeks I've had in a long time.