Shakin' and Bakin' in SoCal......

Yes, we had a good earthquake today. Well, maybe that's not the adjective I should choose, but we had an impressive one. Yes, that's better.




















We live under that bright blue square with the smaller red squares. I was at a stop light, in my poor tired Tody-yody (which is in neeed of new shocks and struts), and was suddenly being bounced around at a pretty good intensity. What was funny was the SUV in front of me, which was jostling like an elephant on a trampoline....

And then it was over, except for one smaller (3.1?) aftershock I felt a few minutes later. (there have been more aftershocks; I just have not felt them.) To read the write-ups and listen to the television, we were just panic-stricken here....

LOS ANGELES - The strongest earthquake to strike a populated area of Southern California in more than a decade rattled windows and chandeliers, made buildings sway and sent people running into the streets on Tuesday. But there were no immediate reports of serious injuries or major damage.

The 5.4-magnitude quake — considered moderate — was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego, and as far east as Las Vegas, 230 miles away. Nearly 30 aftershocks quickly followed, the largest estimated at 3.8.

Not so. Didn't seem all that dramatic to me....but I was in traffic. Still, didn't see anyone running screaming from the strips of shops and businesses on either side of me. Daughter Laurie emailed me to let me know that evacuating from the 7th floor (likely in heels) wasn't a lot of fun.... Daughter Karen said that in spite of a small fire, maybe not even earthquake-related that resulted in air conditioner failure, sadly, she was not being dismissed to come home....

Sheesh. Of all the places I've lived (and I realize I'm tempting the universe by making this comment), California has been the most benign. We're veterans of:

Three Mile Island in PA,

a polio outbreak in PA,

blizzards in Chicago,

-9 degrees at the school bus stop in Chicago (-22 with wind chill),

tornados and fire ants and scorpions and well, blast furnace heat in Texas,

The earthquakes thus far haven't really fazed us. The yearly wildfires, mudslides, and tanker-sized black widows are a bit more concerning to me, but, that's just me....

Well, moving on....

I wanted to post some pictures from the International Quilt Festival at Long Beach! I went with Karene and Yvette and Karen..... We're now the Three Amigos and the Lil' Amigo.... and we had a ball! We had looked forward to this for MONTHS and it was like a high holy day in the Quilting Kingdom!

Here, we are approaching holy ground.....The convention center in Long Beach.
















Lots, and lots to see...............























































And look! Eleanor Burns! She was so nice, greeting every one patiently. She took a few moments to admire a new quilter's first quilt, applauding excitedly and making her feel wonderful about her accomplishment.
















I turned into what Karen would call a total "fangirl" at this point, and started hyperventilating.

(In my defense, it was 211 degrees on that aisle and I may have been having hot flashes to boot - so I gave up and stuffed my hair up and turned the corner and wouldn't you know it, THAT'S when we found Eleanor!) I hastily bought a book (hey, they were 20% off!!) and she graciously signed it for me!
















After she signed it (and I gushed about how she has influenced my quilting and I love her books and I love her methods and I have gotten my sister started even, and now SHE'S using her books, and, and......) she also graciously asked if we'd like a group picture.....
















Didn't have to ask us twice! We got done with the picture and she gave us each a souvenier boa as we left her booth. Yes, I was star-struck.

We plodded on, craning our heads and looking in all directions until our necks were using our entire range of motion......including backwards... There was So. Much. To. See.

Wait - who's that sweet lady in that booth?




















Whoo hoo! We found Marti Michell's booth! We got to meet her too! Fangirl Joy gushed again.....in tandem with Fangirl Karene (I love your templates, I love how your templates fit together, I will own all your templates one day, etc, etc!)















Karen grabbed this picture, and we mosied on down the aisle.

I also got to see the Last Supper. I had heard about this quilt on a couple of Yahoo group boards I read.....





























This lower picture of the Last Supper was NOT taken by me - but it shows the cute gentleman who designed it. The 15.3-foot-by-5.5-foot quilt, created by Donald E. Locke of Waxahachie, Texas, is comprised of 350 fabrics, some hand-dyed, cut into 51,816 half-inch squares. The quilt was machine quilted by Linda V. Taylor of Etna, Wyoming.

I really fell down on the job as picture-taker this time. I didn't bring my camera, and I completely forgot to ask Karen or Yvette to take a picture when we located Leah's booth and found Teacher Extraordinaire there, smiling and working hard! That was one of the high points for me and I was so excited to see Janet and grab a quick hug, that I forgot about a picture. Sigh.

Another highpoint happened around lunch time. We bumped right into Ellen and Jenny and had a quick lunch with them. Anne was there too!! It was like being at class, only no machines! I loved seeing everyone and I can't wait to get back to class for the month of August. I miss them all! Ellen looked so good! She is feeling much better and had her familiar twinkle in her eyes, and that makes me smile!! :)















This picture was taken by Eva after we returned to Yvette's house - still grinning....

And wishing we could go back and walk through it all again!

:)