Welcome to the Road to California Blog

 

Kathy Mc Neil

www.kathymcneilquilts.com

Kathy will be teaching two two-day classes on landscape quilts.  She will also be a judge for the contest.

Carolyn:  How many years have you been quilting?

Kathy:  Twelve years, waking up every morning wondering how many hours I can quilt today?

 Carolyn:  What motivated you to start quilting?

Kathy:  Charity quilts given to the patients at my hospital, have always captured my heart. Those geometric shapes intimidated me though. When I discovered applique and pictorial quilting I became obsessed.

 Carolyn:  Where have you traveled in your quilting teaching career?

Kathy:   All over the country. A nurse till the day I die, the surprise of becoming a quilting teacher in my “golden years” is a complete joy. I have learned so much and made so many wonderful friends.

 Carolyn:  What is the most, unusual, frightening, funny, frustrating experience you have had in your quilting career?  Kathy: Being put up in a tool shed loft, with no heat, and no running water. The loft was up a metal ladder into the ceiling, just high enough to crawl in. There was a mattress on the floor, with pitch dripping on my head. I was

 the guest instructor for a two day class. The program chairperson who invited me, lived in a house about 300 yards away and told me to come use her bathroom if I needed to get up in the night. Yes, I did stay there without complaint. I do not think the guild ever knew about the accommodations and thought I was staying in her house. I got a terrible cold when I left. It was October, cold an raining.

Carolyn:  What would be on your “bucket list” (like the movie) if you could do anything and money was no object?

Kathy:  Save the Polar Bears. You said ANYTHING!

 Carolyn:  Who is your favorite author?

Kathy:  Jodi Picoult. Always a page turner.  She makes you look at difficult situations from all different perspectives.

 Carolyn:  What is the last book you read or are reading?

Kathy:  Forest Lover, an Emily Carr Biography. She was one of the great female artists from the America’s. Independent, spirited and quite the adventurer for her time.

 Carolyn:  What is your birth order, only child, first, second, third, or ??

Kathy:  Third. The caretaker of the family.

 Carolyn:  Where did you grow up?

Kathy:  In a tiny logging community in the Mt. Baker National Forest. My back yard was a 10.000 acre forest. Drawing pictures from my fairy tale books and looking for animals was my favorite activity.

 Carolyn:  Where did you go to college?

Kathy:  St Lukes Nursing School in San Francisco. Registered nurse for 35 years and still working.

Carolyn:  Do you have children – grandchildren?

Kathy:  Four children, two adopted from Korea and one little Grand daughter born 2 months early, weighing 2 pounds. She is a whopping ten pounds now and 4 months old. Red hair.

 Carolyn:  Do you have any pets? 

Kathy:  Chester, the Mountain High Hound. He showed up at our house, beaten, starving, at about 6 months old. The best dog in the world. Red hair.

 Carolyn:  What is your favorite food?

Kathy:  Cheetos

 Carolyn:  Do you have any other hobbies besides quilting?

Kathy:  Kayaking and hiking.

                                     

]]>

Thom Atkins:

www.thomatkins.com

Thom will be teaching two two-day beading classes

Carolyn:  How many years have you been quilting?

 Thom:  My grandmother taught me to sew on her treadle sewing machine when I was four.  I’ve been sewing cloths, etc, for almost forty  years.  I’ve sewing beads onto quilts  for seven years now, and the application of the beads does the quilting so I guess one could say I’ve been quilting for seven years, if one calls what I do quilting.

 Carolyn:  What motivated you to start quilting?

 Thom:  I had been doing sculpture for some time and when I was rear-ended on the freeway, pushing clay around was no longer an option so I needed a new job and decided I wanted to find a balance between bead embroidery and the fabric it was done on.  I’m still looking.

 Carolyn:  Where have you traveled in your quilting teaching career?

 Thom:  San Juan Islands, Tacoma WA, Seattle WA, Portland OR, Central California, Phoenix and Jerome AZ, St. Paul MN, and Huston TX

 Carolyn:  What is the most, unusual, frightening, funny, frustrating experience you have had in your quilting career?

 Thom:  Finding out that a quilt that I had entered in the Small Treasures section of the International Quilt Festival, and was accepted for the show, had been used on the invitation for the next years show.  What a surprise to receive my invitation and see a picture of my quilt.

 Carolyn:  Who is your favorite author?

 Thom:  My wife belongs to a ladies reading group and they read a lot of fiction by women authors.  I’ve enjoyed reading their choice of the month and observing the different perspectives, types of characters, and subject material of male and female authors.  Ariana Franklin is new to me and I have enjoyed her books so far.

 Carolyn:  What is the last book you read or are reading?

 Thom:  Waxwings by Jonathan Raban

 Carolyn:  What is your birth order, only child, first, second, third, or ??

 Thom:  Second child of five.

Carolyn:  Where did you grow up?

Thom:  I am a native Californian but we moved to Minnesota when I was 5 and I stayed there until I left to go to college in San Jose, Ca.  I really did my growing up during my four years in the Navy and that included Japan, California, D.C., North Carolina, and Cuba.

 Carolyn:  Where did you go to college?

 Thom:  I graduated from San Jose State College with a B.A. in Interior Dec since that offered the widest range of art courses and I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up.  In fact I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

Carolyn:  Do you have children – grandchildren?

 Thom:  Nope, no children except the ones I’ve sculpted in clay or bronze.  My wife was sure, early on, that she didn’t want children and that was fine with me.

 Carolyn:  Do you have any pets?

Thom:  No pets unless you count the goldfish in the pools in the back yard.

Carolyn:  What is your favorite food?

Thom:  That’s a tough one.  When asked what’s my favorite kind of pie, the reply is usually what ever is available.  I don’t care much for turnips or rutabagas or banana cream pie.

 Carolyn:  Do you have any other hobbies besides quilting?

 Thom:  Quilting/beading (the two are inseparable for me) is not really a hobby, it’s more of an obsession/job.  I don’t have hobbies as such,  but I do enjoy gardening, walking, cooking and eating, and watching movies, especially contemporary productions of musicals like the new release of Oklahoma.

 Carolyn:  What would be on your “bucket list” (like the movie) if you could do anything and money wa

s no object?

 Thom:  Go for a ride in a hot air balloon and/or glider plane.  See the Ilse of Skye and the Scottish highlands.  Go scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.  Eat in a REALLY fancy restaurant

 My sister, Robin Atkins, is nationally known as a Bead Embroidery teacher, at least in the bead world and peripherally in the quilt world.  In some circles, I’m still known as Robin Atkins’ little brother, even though I’m 6′ 5″ tall, and weigh over 200 lbs.

 

]]>

Pearl Periera

www.P3Designs

 

Pearl is the owner and designer of P3 Designs.  She will be teaching her appliqué methods in one two-day class and also a one day class.

Photo is of Pearl, on right, Nancy Amidon and friend on cruise to Cabo.

 

 

Carolyn:  How many years have you been quilting?     

Pearl:  18 years

 

Carolyn:  What motivated you to start quilting?           

Pearl:  I was going to a quilting class with my sisters.

 

Carolyn:  Where have you traveled in your quilting teaching career?   

Pearl: Mexican Riviera , Sea of Cortez, Texas , Nevada

Carolyn:  What is the most, unusual, frightening, funny, frustrating experience you have had in your quilting career?           

Pearl: While I was standing on stage during my quilt guild lecture, a gang member ran through the hall followed by a Sherriff yelling “down in front” and holding his gun. The gang member ran through the aisle carefully around the patterns table and around the quilt rack leaving the building. Funny thing was his pants were baggie and hanging so low that it impaired his ability to run very fast. He was arrested outside the building.

 

Carolyn:  Who is your favorite author?              

Pearl:  Don’t have one

 

Carolyn:  What is the last book you read or are reading?          

Pearl:  I am reading The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America by Carrie A Hall & Rose G Kretsinger

 

Carolyn:  What is your birth order, only child, first, second, third, or ??

Pearl:  second child

 

Carolyn:  Where did you grow up?       

Pearl: Texas, Hawaii, Californian

 

Carolyn:  Where did you go to college?            

Pearl:  Did not go to collage

 

Carolyn:  Do you have children – grandchildren?         

Pearl:  Seven – 3 boys, 4 girls

 

Carolyn:  Do you have any pets?           

Pearl:    cats

 

Carolyn:  What is your favorite food?   

Pearl:  chocolate

 

Carolyn:  Do you have any other hobbies besides quilting?       Pearl:  painting

 

Carolyn:  What would be on your “bucket list” (like the movie) if you could do anything and money was no object?           

Pearl:  Travel the world

 

]]>

We have put the 2009 Road to California Quilters Conference to bed. The bills are paid, taxes are done and all the other loose threads have been tied into neat little bows.

I thought you would like to know some fun facts about the show.

· The attendance over the four-day period was 17,000.

· The largest attendance was on Saturday, then Friday, then Thursday.

· Sunday was the least attended.

· More than 2200 hotel rooms in Ontario were booked.

· Over 5,000 cars were parked in OCC parking lots.

· 32 busses brought quilters from all over Southern California, Central California, Arizona and Nevada.

· 1,056 rolls of toilet paper and 180 rolls of paper towels were used.

· It took 64 rolls of black tape for electrical outlets.

· If you walked the whole show at least once, you walked almost 2 miles.

· You drank 120 gallons of milk and more than 9,500 bottles of water and soda.

· More than 1,500 salads were sold.

· You ate 1,152 hot dogs, 1,560 bags of chips, 782 pulled pork sandwiches, 300 bags of popcorn.

· 200 Dove ice cream bars. – You must not have known they had them for sale.

· 589 pounds of turkey breast were used in sandwiches.

· The average daily temperature was 75°.

· Road to California gave more than 2,000 candy bars to vendors as a treat.

· Attendees came from 28 states, 4 provinces in Canada. 6 other countries.

· Entries in the quilt contest were from 38 states, 4 provinces in Canada, Australia and Germany.

We have been working on classes for 2010 and will post a list of teachers as soon as we have the signed contracts returned to us.

Photos by Gregory Case.

]]>

The 2009 Road to California Viewer’s Choice Winner Fragrant Memories by Rachel Wetzler of St. Charles IL. This is what she writes about her quilt: “One of my favorite childhood memories is coming home from school to the aroma of Mom’s freshly baked bread. Mom is 86 and she’s still baking bread. Celebrate the sense of smell!” This award was sponsored by Quilters Rule International. We thank Quilters Rule for their support!

]]>

Two of our faculty members and our Featured Artist for January, 2009 were winners. We would like to congratulate them for their beautiful work.
The $2000 Future of Quilting Award was won by Gina Perkes for her quilt “Silken Defiance.”
Gina is our long arm teacher this year. Gina also won Honorable Mention in the Wearable Art Division for “Teal Elegance.” Patt Blair from Mt Baldy, California is the Featured Artist at Road this year and she won a Third Place in the Art Painted Surface Category for her quilt “Windsong.”
Pamela Allen of Canada won Honorable Mention in the Art-Whimsical Division for “Three Guinea Fowl.”]]>

Carie and Kevin Ruiz were married on Sunday evening, October 12. The wedding took place beside a small lake in Lytle Creek, just above Cucamonga. Carie and Kevin have spent the past week on Kauai. Later this week they will be moving to Alexandria, Virginia where Kevin will work for the Department of the Navy. Here are a few photos.
These photos are not in the correct order, but you can enjoy them anyway.
Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Ruiz.
The Rose Ceremony
Saying I Do
David escorting Carie down the aisle.
My grandson, Glenn is escorting me down the aisle.
My Mother, Marie is being escorted by another grandson, Matthew.




]]>

We would like to introduce our new mascot, Rhonda Roadie. Expect to find her cropping up in many places. Today Rhonda has been helping Nyla and Terry process the quilt entries. Boxes of quilt entries arrived the last week before our October 1 deadline and it has taken the girls some time to enter them all in the computer. We hope to begin the jury process after Terry, Carolyn, Carolyn’s Mother and Rhonda get home from Houston Quilt Market.]]>

Ayres Country Suites, The DoubleTree Hotel and the Residence Inn by Marriott.
We have added rooms to our room block at The Airport Marriott Hotel.
There are also rooms remaining at the Sheraton, Country Suites by Carlson and also the new Holiday Inn.
All of these hotels are listed on our website and have a link to make direct reservations.
Please be aware that if you cancel before 6:00 PM on Monday, December 8, 2008 there will be no cancellation fee. If a reservation is cancelled after 6:00 PM on December 8, 2008, the credit card on file will be charged for one night’s stay at the group rate plus applicable taxes”.]]>