Quilts from my road trip to California

I just got back from a two-week road trip through Central California, and I hardly know where to start because we did so much -- beach walks, redwood hikes, restaurants, museums, book stores, a whale watch trip, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Danish town of Solvang and so much more!

But a good place to begin is with quilts, which included a drive up to San Jose to go through the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles (above).

There was a special exhibit of Hawaiian quilts to bolster awareness for the victims of this year's disastrous fires on Maui. Here are just a few.

There were also selections from the annual juried Excellence In Fibers exhibit. My favorite was a large quilt by Terrie Mangat about a mountain climbing excursion by her son.

I was intrigued by Robert Forman's "Dendritic," which is a yarn painting depiction of his father toward the end of his life that merges with the image of a tree and its concentric rings marking the passing years.

I also loved this one by Jean Howard titled "Botanicals 2." How could I not love it with all the glorious color and organic shapes?

Then we wandered into the Institute of Contemporary Art and found more quilts, an unexpected treat.

Here are my two favorites, for their bold abstract designs. Above is an untitled quilt pieced by Sherry Ann Byrd and quilted by William Ette Graham and Johnnie Alberta Wade.

This large quilt made mostly of worn denim fabric is untitled and pieced and tied by "Phoebe."

You may wonder how this glorious view from the Nepenthe restaurant on Big Sur relates to quilts. Well, it's where famous quilt and fabric designer Kaffe Fassett grew up! His parents started the restaurant back in the 1950s and it became THE place for Bohemians, Hollywood types, writers, artists, dancers and other free spirits. Lucky Kaffe, to be surrounded by that when he was a child.

The picture above is the view from our lunch table. Below are some wind chimes hanging in the gift shop, Phoenix.

Phoenix was filled with textile treasures, books, art, and gifts.

Another quilty stop was Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove, where I met the charming owner, Gail Abeloe. When she found out I was an art quilter, she offered me a free stack of art quilt magazines that had been donated by a customer. She has a wonderful, very colorful selection of fabrics.

After that, we drove a little ways down the road in Pacific Grove to see the Asilomar Conference Grounds, where the Empty Spools quilt retreats take place every year. 

The buildings were designed by famed architect Julia Morgan in the Arts and Crafts style. Asilomar exemplifies the movement's style of using local materials to blend in with the landscape. Structures and their furnishings were simple and elegant, often left unpainted to reveal the natural beauty of the wood. The goal was to bring people back in touch with nature and restore balance and harmony, and it sure worked for me as I sat peacefully in several of the rooms.

Maybe one of these years I'll make it to a retreat there.

While in the area, we visited the Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary. I couldn't get good pictures, but there were large clusters of butterflies hanging high up in the trees, fluttering their wings to keep each other warm at night. There was a small, hushed crowd of people looking through telescopes and high-power cameras.

Have a colorful day