Jiggety Jog

Home again, home again...oh.  my.  I left a moist overcast 65 degrees - complete with a threat of rain - in La Jolla, and arrived 12 hours later to a moist, heavily muggy 87 degrees at 10:45pm in Visalia.  I really had to ask myself why I came back.  Really?  I drove 12 hours for this?

Good thing home has more to offer than weather, even though this summer has kept weather awareness on the forefront.  I think part of it is that I'm a lot older than I was even 10 years ago, so I don't bounce back the way I used to.  I feel it more.  Boy, do I feel it!

When I set out for LaJolla, I had four goals:
1)  Completely construct green tree-ish art quilt top, for Sew Eclectic Design Board Challenge.
2)  Completely construct 25 backgrounds for surfboards, and begin writing pattern.
3)  Finish hand applique for Thimble Towne Color Challenge.
4)  Finish cutting and constructing 12 strips of background for this year's (hopeful) show quilt.

Three outta four ain't bad.
1)  Green top:  DONE

2)  Surfboard Backgrounds:  DONE

4)  12 pieced strips for background:  DONE

3)  Hand Applique for Thimble Towne Color Challenge:  not quite done.

I'll give you a sneak peek, on what I'm up to, first the inspiration, then the interpretation:

I am thrilled with the productivity allowed by relief from the weather. 

Yesterday, I hoped to baste 3 quilts, and trim the 12 pieced background strips from Goal #4.

I basted 1 baby quilt, and trimmed 2 strips.  It was almost 100, and quite humid.  That made it tough to get motivated, even though I have very little time for quilting in August.  I have to make the most of the remainder of July.

I'll leave you with pictures of one of my stops on my trip back north.  I was driving through Oceanside, in search of thrift shops as a source of Hawaiian shirts for the surfboard quilt.  I stopped at AmVets, but didn't find any to my liking.  On my way to AmVets, I spotted a banner that said, "Vintage Marketplace - today!"  I turned around and went back.

What looked like an abandoned building, had been transformed for the weekend.  Apparently they do this a couple of times each month.  My timing was excellent!

Various vendors had set up throughout the space, and there was a communal checkout desk in the back.  Simply delightful.  I found a few treasures, that were irresistible:

  I've been fascinated by Franki's succulent wall, as seen on her blog, here.  I've wanted to try it, but hesitated to make the commitment, because of our harsh weather.  The basket was the perfect way to experiment, and see if the plants can survive.

I could not resist the giant S.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I couldn't walk past it without appropriating it.

 

My third and final purchase was this chunk of antique coral.  I'd been looking for a piece, to put with the large conch from San Carlos, and the watercolor from Monterey.  Now I should probably think about framing the watercolor.

And that's about the end of my week away.  It was glorious, but it's already fading into a distant memory.

Until next time...