Many friends have "noticed" that I haven't blogged the past couple of weeks. (Once I missed a few days I felt really behind, and even less motivated to try and catch up!) But you're lucky - Susan posted about it on her blog today, which has pix/descriptions of the ranch, plus the class. I managed to make it into a few shots, and those of you who really know me may even recognize the back of my head during one of her morning lectures.
Partly I was tired at the end of each class day in Tucson (it was intensive), partly I was discouraged (apparently after that first day I was not the only one wondering if it had been a mistake to shell out all that money) and partly I was not at my best (woke up with a migraine around 1:30 Tuesday "morning" and was then up for the rest of that day.) It didn't help that several of the women had taken a class with Susan before, and thus had a pretty good handle on the process, or that many of the others were talented women who taught quilt classes of their own, or had written quilt books, or not only had had their quilts accepted into the Houston show... but had won ribbons there. So I really am not exaggerating to say I would have had to improve my skills to "just" be at the bottom of the class. Still, by Thursday I was finally getting the hang of things (even Susan was pleasantly surprised when she got around to me that day) and Echo was starting to look like a real project. Here she is now.
Did I mention that it was much too large a group (20) for that sort of class, which required one-on-one consultations. That meant that she really only got around to me once a day... and I definitely needed a lot more help than that!
The good news is that despite worrying about who my roommate would be, and whether I should have shelled out even more big $ for a single occupancy room (turns out she'd had the same thoughts) Barb and I got along quite well and our worries were for naught. It turned out we have a lot in common... both early birds who woke around 5:00, we'd get back to the room after dinner around 7:30, ready to crash and wondering it we could even make it to 9:00, much less our "targeted" 10:00. Though she was really discouraged Monday night, she was on a real roll starting Tuesday. Here are her babies Bryan and Vinnie:
They look just like her photo!
We hope to get together sometimes, even though she lives WAY on the other side of town. She was happy to hear about the wonderful quilting services at The Flying Pig, and we hope to connect when she brings her quilts to Cindy.
And I haven't mentioned how absolutely incredible the food was at Rancho Tanque Verde! Not even going to try, though I will admit that from the HIGH prices (even though meals were included in the fee we paid for our stay we got a zeroed-out bill each meal so we could compute our tips) they were quite proud of their food.
I left for home early Friday afternoon, knowing I'd be hitting Phoenix during Rush Hour (made worse, if possible, by it being the start of a 3-day, MLK weekend) and there was a lot of stop-and-go. Not surprisingly it took about 90 minutes longer to get home than it did to get there, but (surprisingly!) I found myself thinking about my next collage project, when I'd have a much better idea of making a pattern (I'd made mine too detailed, thinking along the lines of fusible collage.)
The next morning I was off to the Flying Pig for a day of sewing with Valley of the Sun Quilters, most of whom will be at the Retreat coming up on February 8. I worked on my scrap quilt started at Jessica Dickenson's Scrap Mountain class from years ago. (She did a presentation at last year's VOS retreat, and this year is returning to do another presentation and a class, so I'm hoping to get the next row of blocks attached before then to show her.) The ladies loved the fabrics in it, many of which made it into Echo collage. I'd also brought along Echo for show-and-tell, and everyone was quite impressed. Of course they didn't have any of the truly spectacular work from the other 19 ladies in the class to compare it to, which certainly helped.
After seeing some of the realistic projects in the class (like that Scottish cow!) I actually am sorry I didn't do Echo in her real colors. But most of the work I'd seen from blog posts of Susan's classes were colorful, and I felt like that's what I "should" be doing. Tom's only comment when I brought her home was that she was the wrong color.
On Sunday afternoon, when Marcie and Latina were over here, Cindy called to say that my fruits and veggies were ready to be picked up, so the 3 of us popped over there. It did turn out lovely, with the fruit/veggie quilting motif in a bright green, and this past week I got the binding done. My hang-it-dang-it arrived while I was in Tucson, so once the quilt gets the sleeve on it'll grace that blank wall in the kitchen.
Though I was a little draggy on Sunday, I thought it was just from the busy and intense week I'd had. Monday I didn't realize how sick I was, and that morning headed over to the Lazy Boy showroom to pick out a new recliner with Marcie's help. By the time we finished I was ready to be horizontal - and spent that afternoon and all the next day sleeping in front of the TV. The rest of the week wasn't too much better, horizontal on the couch doing a TCM marathon.
Watched a lot of old movies for the first time, like 1955's Kismet - when (during a less-than-15-second bit part) I recognized a much younger Jamie Farr... aka Klinger, on M*A*S*H. (FYI at that time he was acting under the name of Jameel Farah.)
Of course I had to cancel a lot of things this past week, like the gym (of course!), the chiropractor, picking up my quilt from Jessica Gamez, etc. I'm really anxious to see what magic she worked on it after I gave her carte blanche.
Quilting Makes the Quilt
Yesterday Paul's tree crew made their second visit, this time working mainly on the olive trees and mulberries, but also having time to deal with the cape honeysuckle hedge and the bottlebrush tree. Everything looks great, and ready to explode with new growth as soon as our 'spring' season starts... shortly! We have already had our two weeks of winter, and I really feel for those around the country who have been dealing with record-breaking cold... and yet soon are about to experience an even worse Polar Vortex.
My new recliner was delivered yesterday morning. It looks lovely in the room, and I'm liking the electronics that allow me to keep it at whatever intermediate "slant" I like. It also has a handy USB port, which I'm using to keep my iPad charged. Of course this recliner (literally!) cost 3 times that of the chair that didn't work out, but I'm hoping it turns out to be worth it. (You probably don't want to be around when Tom gets the Discover bill, though.)
Tom is really hoping NOT to catch the crud I've had all week, but of course there's nothing to done about it since I expect that I was contagious for a couple of days before my symptoms surfaced. Wayne (Tom's Florida friend with the house in Bimini that he and Alex visited last year for that spectacular trip) is arriving February 2 for a couple of weeks. Tom will take him to Tucson for several days of drooling at the rock show, there will be lots of fire obsidian show-and-tell (and knapping?) here at the house, and various road trips (including ones to the Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon) are planned. Tom cannot afford to be sick the first half of February! If he must get sick, it would help if that happens soon so he's over it by Wayne's arrival. Jimmy (from Modesto) has been here since Tuesday, and left this morning with a vehicle much heavier than when he arrived. He is quite the accomplished knapper, and brought Tom a number of stunning points to add to his collection. The guys had a very successful trip to Tucson on Thursday to pick up more rainbow obsidian, so Jimmy can keep churning out his beautiful points.
Hopefully I will be able to keep up-to-date with my blog now,
and am ending on a glorious note:
Mom is being released from Rehab this afternoon, heading back to her apartment after her 3-week "vacation" that started in the hospital. When I spoke with her last evening she (not surprisingly!) was very excited at the prospect!
She also mentioned that while chatting about 6 Degrees of Separation with another "inmate" in Rehab, they discovered that 80 years ago they attended the same Jr. High in the Bronx!
No doubt there are some typos in this - but I'm tired of editing and just anxious to get it posted.
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