My most recent adventure took me to the Laguna Beach and Huntingdon Beach areas in California. When I arrived at the Orange County airport Pam picked me up and took me on a wonderful tour of the Laguna Beach area. After lunch we stopped at the Sawdust Festival. www.sawdustartfestival.org This was my second time to walk through this festival. I was lucky enough to go to this art festival last year when I taught in Long Beach. It is a large show that features only local artists. If you live in or visit this part of the world, the Sawdust Festival is definitely worth a stop. We then proceeded to the coast. We stopped at the Montage hotel and walked through their fantastic gardens. Here are some of the things I saw on my walk.
The flora in California is very different from that which I see in Pennsylvania.
This is an amazingly intricate metal gate designed by a local artist. It is so beautiful and located in the rear grounds of the Montage hotel. You can see more amazing photos of the Montage at www.montagelagunabeach.com
And of course another thing you cannot see in Pennsylvania is the ocean and I love the ocean. I once had a lady ask me when I was in North Carolina at the beach why I did not go to the beach in Pennsylvania. I guess she did not know her geography!
The two guilds I visited were the Flying Geese Quilters in Irvine www.flyinggeese.net and the Orange Grove Quilters Guild located in Garden Grove, California www.orangegrovequiltersguild.com
At my first workshop with the Flying Geese Quilters one of the students, Kathy Tamosaitis, came up to me and asked if she could show me a project she completed in a workshop she took with me when she lived in Delaware. Of course I could hardly wait to see it. We don’t need to mention how long ago because Kathy and I are not that old! Thanks for sharing Kathy. Very well done.
My visit with both guilds was wonderful. I have not received so many fantastic compliments on the workshops and lectures ever.
One of my favorite stories is about some of the ladies from the Orange Grove guild. When I was teaching last July for the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach five ladies from the guild took one of my workshops. When these ladies came in to the classroom they moved one chair in the row of 4 seats so all 5 of them could sit together. I did not realize they all knew each other and told them they did not need to squish together as there was plenty of room for just 2 people per table. But they told me they all knew each other and wanted to sit together. At the end of the class they came up to me and said we voted during class today. And I said, “About what?’ They told me they were all on the board of the Orange Grove Quilters Guild and they voted to have me come to their guild! Since I was already scheduled to teach and lecture for the Flying Geese Guild in Irvine they asked if I would also come to their guild. They told me the guild did not normally meet in July, but if I would agree to come they’d happily make an exception. That made me feel really good. It was a pleasure to work with everyone involved in this adventure. I am already dreaming about my next trip to their little piece of heaven.