PVQA Annual Show

The PVQA quilt show is being held today and tomorrow at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. There is a wet and windy rainstorm forecast for tomorrow, so I decided that today was the day to go. Usually The Husband drives me over but this year he wanted to finish his yard work before the big rains arrive again, so I girded my loins and set out for Watsonville by myself. You'd think I would know the way after going there every year for maybe 10 or 12 years. Or that I would have looked at a map done a little preparation ; but I managed to get lost twice!

So coming home I set the GPS but, when it looked as if she were taking me the long way around, I turned before she wanted me to. Then a stoplight turned red pretty quickly and the GPS landed on the passenger side floor. There was no way I could reach her without stopping the car, getting out and walking around to that side. At this point I knew my way home, so I just left her on the floor. All I heard after that was "Recalculating," from time to time. We've used her successfully several times but this was my first attempt with no one else in the car.


This orange quilt was created as a challenge to someone who thought that no orange quilt could be beautiful. I think the quilter was successful. The big surprise was the reverse of this quilt:

Not sure how she did this but there are horizontal seams about 12 inches apart with the curves matching perfectly. One of the women from my guild commented that it should have been the front.

These Santa Cruz quilters are always so imaginative. I never fail to be inspired by their creations.
This year, however, there were way too many "One block wonders" for my taste. It's not that I don't like one-block quilts but most of these just seemed to be a blur. Maybe there is something I'm missing; it might have helped to have another quilter's comments

The rest of the photos I took at the show can be found here on my Flickr page.

The Road Never Travelled

This week the "long-awaited" Highway 25 bypass through Hollister was finally opened to traffic. Residents had been dealing with the traffic messes caused by this construction for almost two years - or has it been longer? Seems like it. This is an entirely new road, so these views have never been seen before.


Unfortunately, the current speed limit on this beautifully paved, wide, 4-lane road is an unbelievable 35 mph! We can only hope that this is temporary because it's really hard to keep your speed down. Maybe 10 years from now when businesses have been built here, but not now.

I really feel sorry for the folks who live in the housing behind this wall. Their backyards are now not only small but are hemmed in by this giant wall on the west side. Forget about sunsets in this neighborhood.


We're leaving in a few days for a mid-winter break in Cambria. The weatherman is predicting lots of rain but, this year especially, I can't complain. We'll work around it.

Six-Word Biography

There is an article in today's SF Chronicle about this book which is a collection of six-word sentences that tell a story - in some cases, the writer's life story.

So our breakfast table challenge was to tell our stories.

DH's contribution: "Born. Married. Fathered children. Retired. Happy."
You've got to love the man!

My only thoughts given the state of my sewing room: "So much fabric, so little time." (Not very original but very true nonetheless.)

Rainy Sunday

After two weeks of above-average temperatures and dry skies, the rains have moved back in. They started Wednesday and have brought us almost two inches so far. This afternoon it really poured for a while, then there was a bit of thunder (didn't see any lightning) and then it was pretty much over. We're supposed to have another day or so of showers, then back to the fine weather.



I've been working sporadically on the Pocket Full of Mysteries Christmas quilts. My feelings are that the lap quilt is just okay but the baby quilt is not a success. I was even thinking about donating it to the animal shelter. Dogs aren't usually particular about color and design, they just want warm and cuddly.
I had both quilts on the design wall when the grandchildren came to visit yesterday and GD2 took one look at them and said, "Oh, Gma, I really love that quilt!" She was looking at the baby quilt and I think it was the elephants that attracted her. She is a real animal-lover.
So I guess I'll hold off on my judgment until they are completely finished. I had planned to donate both to charity but not if they are ugly.


I finished the flannel nightgown for GD1 last week and it has gone home with her. I think it's the first flannel nightgown that she has ever owned. I'm almost finished with the one I am making for GD3 but we haven't seen her, so there's no hurry at this point. I had planned to make the same pattern for GD2, but she was not at all happy when I showed her the fabric - she is one of those people who is always too warm. So she chose a pattern with short sleeves and I'm going to make it in a light cotton knit. I'm making GS a pair of jammies in a cotton knit, so I can work on both together. That will bust another 3 yards of fabric from my stash. Woo hoo!

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I made this side dish for tonight's dinner. It was grated sweet potatoes browned in olive oil and garnished with browned butter with sage and garlic. The recipe is here. This one is definitely a keeper! By the way, this is not my photo - I was so anxious to serve this that I didn't even think of getting the camera.

This is a Farro and Butternut squash salad that I made for Friday night's dinner. It was really good but made way too much for the two of us. That's goat cheese sprinkled over the top. I only used half the butternut squash, so I'm looking for a soup recipe that will use up the remainder. I've been in a "clean 0ut the pantry and freezer" mood lately. I really need to keep better track of what I have so that I don't waste so much.

Inauguration Day 2009

Inauguration Day 2009: Anticipatory crowd
Originally uploaded by USA TODAY

Bounty from Rainbow Grocery

Bounty from Rainbow Grocery
Originally uploaded by sarahjb2007

We spent Tuesday in SF with Mom. We hadn't been to Rainbow Grocery for quite a while and I needed some green lentils, so we packed Mom's wheelchair into the trunk and the three of us headed out for an urban foraging adventure.
Mom started shopping there about 30 years ago when it was near 16th and Mission. She would walk down there and buy all sorts or interesting things. They were the first store I remember that had a lot of items in bulk - every kind of flour you can imagine, spices, teas, coffee, grains, beans, even olive oils and peanut butter.
I'm not sure what I'll do with the red lentils but I'm sure I have some recipes that call for them. The green flageolets are new to me but I'll probably cook the first batch the way I would fix any other beans.
I've been hoarding the farro in my pantry because it's not only rather hard to find, but very pricey when you do find it. This 3.3 lb bag was $11.95. I don't really know if that's a good price but I think it is.


Photo courtesy of margie b who posted it on yelp.com
We had planned to have lunch at the St. Francis Fountain on 24th St but they are closed for remodeling this week; so we went a few doors down to the Roosevelt Tamale Parlor.
When I was in third through sixth grades at St. Peter's school we lived at the top of 24th Street and both these places were on my way home. I wasn't too interested in Mexican food but the St. Francis was a kid magnet with its soda fountain. I rarely carried any money but I almost always slowed down and looked in the door and wished.

Socks Finished

And they fit the Husband pretty well. I used Knit Picks Felici in the Nutmeg colorway. He wears a size 13 shoe so the pair took two entire 50 gram balls. I think in the future I will buy 4 balls of any sock yarn I want for him. That way I won't have to worry about running short and there will be plenty left to knit a pair for me.

This yarn was part of a sampler package of various sock yarns that I bought a couple of years ago. All the yarns were in shades of brown, from very dark to very light. I think there was only one stripe and also at least one tweed. I don't remember what I paid for it but I don't think it was anywhere near what their sock samplers cost now.

I used the Universal Toe-up Sock pattern from Knitty.com; I never have a failure with that one.