Postcards From California

Traveling Show

Postcards From California — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:54:47 +0000

I’m lining up places to take the postcards and will be posting dates and times as they are confirmed.

March 2012

March 15, 2012

Peninsula Rugmakers Guild
San Jose Rose Garden Library
San Jose
11:00 am

June 2012

Week of June 3-8, 2012

Cambria Pines Rug Camp
Cambria, CA

June 28, 2012

Wester McGown Teacher’s Workshop
Riley Hall
University of Oregon
650 E 11 Ave
Eugene, OR
12-5 pm

July 2012

Hooker Hill Rug Retreat
Evergreen Conference Center Oakhurst
Oakhurst, CA

Sailing Away

Postcards From California — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:22:08 +0000

Sailing Away by Val Flannigan

Val Flannigan from British Columbia, Canada, was inspired by a souvenir T-shirt from California to hook Sailing Away. Sailing Away captures the bright free spirit of California. Thank you, Val.

Monterey Fiber Jam

Postcards From California — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:27:26 +0000

Postcard Displays

CA Postcards on Display at the Monterey Fiber Jam

SF Bay Area Postcards on Display

The Monterey Fiber Jam 2012 is over and it was a huge success. The “Jam” kicked off with the CA Postcard Display. See Laura Pierce’s blog for more posts on the “Jam.”

http://laurawp.wordpress.com/

Postcards displayed at Asilomar: 50
Two more postcards have been posted from Australia and should be received any day now and I expect to receive a few more within the next few weeks.

Stay tuned for more posts of the postcards and a calendar of events for the Postcards from California.

Willets on the shore at Asilomar State Beach

Another possible CA Postcard scene.

Tagged: art, Asilomar, California, crafting, fiber, fiber art, Monterey, Monterey Fiber Jam, postcards, rug, rug hooking, wool

Golden Gate Bridge: California Roll

Postcards From California — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:58:59 +0000

This next postcard comes to us from Gigi Taylor in Livingston, Texas. Gigi has many wonderful memories of living in California and this is just one of them.

When my husband and I met, we both worked in San Francisco. Our home was a sailboat in Alameda. We regularly sailed San Francisco Bay and through the “Gate” to offshore waters. When not sailing, we especially liked to stroll San Francisco’s waterfront, from Fisherman’s Wharf to the Golden Gate Bridge. Marina Green was a fine place to watch boats on the Bay. We left San Francisco in 1989, but for us it will always be a special place!

Thanks for the opportunity to send a “Postcard from California”!
Gigi Taylor

Golden Gate Bridge: California Roll by Gigi Taylor

Tagged: art, California, California Roll, crafting, fiber, fiber art, Marina Green, postcards, rug hooking, San Francisco, wool

Grapes & Raisins

Postcards From California — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:42:39 +0000

Grapes & Raisins by Cai King

A conversation about California without a reference to grapes would be, for me, like a sentence without punctuation. And so it is for my sister, Kirsten. When I told her about the postcard challenge and asked her what evoked a California state of mind for her she said the strongest images were raisins drying and driving past rows and rows of grapevines Since she left the San Joaquin Valley 21 years ago she no longer sees the raisins drying unless she’s in Fresno to visit but there are plenty of wine grapes growing near her home in Temecula. And that’s the thing about grapes—California grows ‘em from head to toe; from Napa to Lodi to Madera to Coachella you’re going to find wine grapes, table grapes, or raisin grapes growing. As a kid growing up in Madera, we had many family friends who were ranchers and farmers so the summer brought TONS of gifted produce. All varieties of grapes found their place at the family dinner table. How fast can you peel one with your teeth? Remember getting fancy and freezing grapes for pizzazz-y ice cubes? And memories would be incomplete without a mention of the peculiar putrid smell that engulfs Madera and overwhelms nostrils during “crush”—a late summer agricultural ritual when grapes are squished within an inch of their lives and the wine fermentation begins. Ching, ching!
Cai King

And so it is with grapes and California……
Note: Wine production in California has been in a boom for the last 30 years.
1975–California was home to 330 wineries
2006–California had nearly 2,500 wineries
Since 2000 California has opened 175 new wineries each year
Reference: California Agriculture, Vol 64, no. 1 (Jan/Mar 2010).

Tagged: art, California, Coachella, crafting, fiber, fiber art, Fresno, Grapes, Lodi, Medera, Napa, postcards, Raisins, rug hooking, San Francisco, San Juaquin Valley, wool

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, CA

Postcards From California — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:45:28 +0000

Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport

Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport by Nancy Terhaar

In March of 2000, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted to change the Sonoma County Airport’s name to Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport. This airport is located at Santa Rosa, CA. The name change was in honor of the famous “Peanuts” comic strip cartoonist who lived for many years in Sonoma County, leaving a lasting legacy with his beloved characters’ whimsical antics. Mr. Schulz and his family have made many positive contributions to Sonoma County including the Snoopy Home Ice Arena and Charles M. Schulz Museum.

In 2011, my husband, Ron, and our friend, Frank Fitzgerald, flew in their homebuilt airplane, RV-816RF, to Santa Rosa for some business that Frank had there. Ron came home wearing a t-shirt he bought at the Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport, and that gave me the inspiration for this hooked postcard.

Nancy Terhaar, Albany Oregon

Tagged: art, California, comic strip cartoonist, crafting, fiber, fiber art, home ice arena, peanuts comic strip, postcards, rug, rug hooking, Santa Rosa, sonoma county airport

Golden Gate Bridge

Postcards From California — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:42:00 +0000

The Golden Gate Bridge by Laurie Wiles

Golden was hooked by Laurie Wiles from Edmonton, Canada. As her inspiration she used a photograph taken on a trip to California in 2011. She writes about her decision to hook the Golden Gate

I finally decided to use the picture I took of the Golden Gate Bridge, the first day I arrived. It is so big and beautiful!!!! I hope people will recognize the bridge and love it as much as I do.

Well, I certainly love it as much. In fact, when I was a kid the first time my family drove across the border into California we sang….

California, Here I Come
Right back where I started from
Where bowers of flowers
Bloom in the spring
Each morning at dawning
Birdies sing at everything
A sunkissed miss said, “Don’t be late!”
That’s why I can hardly wait
Open up that golden gate
California, Here I Come

Then every time we left the State and returned we sang “California Here I Come” as we reentered the State. Even as an adult I sing this song (either out loud or in my head) coming into the State. The Golden Gate Bridge came to represent coming home to me. I’ve always loved seeing it, although the first time I saw it I was disappointed because I thought it would be gold, not red. Now, I can’t imagine it being any other color. I know the Golden Gate represents many things to many people, but for me it means coming home.

Laurie hooked Golden in bold, bright colors. She used embroidery floss for the cables between the towers. Her rendition illuminates the grandeur of the Golden Gate in all its glory. Thank you, Laurie, for your contribution to Postcards from California.

Monterey Pine

Postcards From California — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:09:20 +0000

Monterey Pine by Gerri Shaw

Gerri Shaw sends us a postcard of the Monterey Pine.

The Pacific Coast around Monterey has many of these trees hanging on to cliffs looking over the ocean. This scene was created from my memories of driving along the coast road going south towards Carmel.

Wikipedia tells us that

Pinus radiata is a species of pine native to Central Coast of California, in three very limited areas located in Santa Cruz, Monterey Peninsula (Monterey), and San Luis Obispo Counties.

It is fitting that in just four short weeks we will be gathering on the Monterey Peninsula at Asilomar Conference Center celebrating fiber art. I hope to see and, thanks to Gerri, identify many Monterey Pines.

Tagged: art, Asilomar, California, Carmel, Coast road, crafting, fiber, fiber art, Hwy 1, Monterey, postcards, rug, rug hooking, Santa Cruz, wool

Ripe Fig

Postcards From California — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:56:38 +0000

Ripe Fig by Cai King

Ripe Fig designed and hooked by Cai King of Fresno, California

Cai dedicated Ripe Fig to her husband

For my husband Daniel-
Thanks for the bountiful love & the countless miles we’ve walked together exploring the world.
Love you!

Cai King writes about her Fresno, CA neighborhood–it’s history, personal observations, and anecdotes. Her words speak for themselves…..Enjoy!

I live in an area of California that figuratively and literally is the “Fruit Basket of the World.” Harvests from vast acres of the San Joaquin Valley have made their way to all corners of the globe since the turn of the 20th century and the invention of refrigeration. My own little corner—well actually, cul-de-sac—of this modern garden of Eden was once part of a 12,000 acre fig orchard in Fresno that has slowly been carved away at to build subdivisions that provide, for people like me with less hearty farmer-stock DNA, a touch of Greenspace and a sense of heritage. Fig Garden, or “Old Fig,” as you’ll hear Fresnans call it is one of my most favorite areas to walk. Besides the cycles of citrus that mark the time of year, the sharp aroma of eucalyptus, the historic homes, and profusion of rose hues, you can find the proverbial, albeit mostly neglected, fig trees quietly repeating their destiny to ‘go forth and prosper.’ I once heard one of Fresno’s better known chefs remark that in New York he would find figs lovingly wrapped and nestled in individual tissue paper for sale for $3.00 each while at home in Fresno countless figs lay squished on the sidewalk. Ahhhh, Fresno!

Tagged: art, California, crafting, fiber, fiber art, Figs, Fresno, postcards, rug, rug hooking, wool

California Poppy

Postcards From California — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:24:24 +0000

California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica)

California’s state flower grows wild all over the state and in the springtime the hills are ablaze with golden orange color. Gerri Shaw from San Jose designed and hooked our state flower in sharp contrast to the golden hills that represent our state for most of the year. Our rainy season is short and we see green hills for only a few months in the winter and early spring.

I took a second picture of this postcard in our garden beside a California poppy that is growing there now. The green vegetation that you see in the photo is an actual California poppy.

Hooked poppy among the poppies.

Here’s what Gerri wrote

California Poppy

I have thought of hooking California poppies for a long time, but didn’t find a design I wanted to hook until now. Inspired by the California Scenic Highways road signs, my poppy is backed by the sunny blue skies and golden hills that are so common here in California. The light and shadows on the hills, with the oaks tucked into the valleys have a unique beauty, especially when the sun is low.