notes from Terry Ann

California Colors

We have been enjoying the outdoors - can't believe we've seen oranges and lemons in January! You can tell we're from Minnesota where everything is covered in white.

Even a rainy day is pretty - love these colors. The flowers were beautiful even though the rain was weighing them down.

 

And the ocean is so amazing that even the birds are lined up watching the waves.

Outside, Inside

Here's the walkway just outside the convention center - I love the shadows crisscrossed on the sidewalk.

Inside the convention center, I had a great time walking the show floor - lots of creativity everywhere - it's energizing! This dress is made from pen caps with a fringe of pens along the bottom - it made me think of all of the fun challenges from Project Runway.

No rain, no snow, no sleet

This morning when we left Minnesota, our driveway was like a skating rink and the van was completely covered with ice. So that explains why I was wearing wool socks at the beach this afternoon. We checked into our hotel, stopped at the Anaheim Convention center to print out my nametag for the CHA show tomorrow, and then we headed down to Newport Beach.

The waves were glorious, and we enjoyed a long walk in the sunshine.

Out and About

I've been traveling a lot lately - several fun retreats and some great test classes. Look who came to one of my classes in Onalaska WI, at Olive Juice Quilts - my old roomate Elaine! (I won't say how old) What a fun surprise to see her in class! We had a really great bunch of quilters - I took some great pictures but I can't show you their projects yet because I'm still working on the patterns. While I was there, one of the quilters had a cute little black Bernette - very lightweight, and they were conveniently selling them at Olive Juice. Here's my great logic - if the weather was really bad, I'd have to stay another night - and if I stayed at a nice hotel it would cost even more than the little Bernette machine . . . so I got one. Now I can leave my big machine at home and travel light when I go to retreats.

 

Here's the first project I made on my new toy - a wrapped basket. I picked up a kit last fall from the Vogies booth at the at the Quilt Expo in Madison. All of the strips were precut and they even had the clothesline and the variegated thread. Although my friend Cindy showed me how, and I read the book "It's a Wrap", I still wasn't sure I'd have the patience to actually make one. But it was really fun - and I've finished two of them. When I get around to unpacking my retreat tote I'll show you the finished basket.

I'm packing for another trip instead of unpacking from the last one. Today we drove all over in the Minnesota sleet and rain, and Saturday we'll be heading out to California for the Craft and Hobby trade show. It better stop raining in LA by then - I'm ready for some sunshine. But if the movie stars can use umbrellas I guess I can too - it's still better than boots and a winter coat.

Who's Who?

Here's our son Derek and his friend Eric - twins!

This is the longest and shortest their hair has been. Last May, the day after Quilt Market, Derek took off for a trip through Asia. He returned in December - and he didn't cut his hair or beard the whole time he was traveling!

 

One of the first things Derek did in 2010 was to visit his barber Murray - what a difference!