A Fun Way to Hang a Quilt!

We attended Art in the Park in Morro Bay over the Memorial Day weekend. I was excited to see what the local artists had to offer in the way of unique items. It seemed like everything was rich in sound, color, texture, and uniqueness! Beautifully beaded and wire wrapped jewelry, one-of-a-kind handbags, wind chimes and bells, paintings, photographs, wire wrapped and beaded serving ware, hand dyed clothing and scarves, and so much more! 

One of the vendors was Dan Shattuck Recycled Art. When I’d heard about him from someone else I thought, “making things from old silverware sounds cheesy.” Yes, I thought it! Was I ever pleasantly surprised! This guy does amazing things with metal, adding in silverware, silver teapots, plates, antique lamp parts, etc! Different colors of metal, rusted metal, highly polished silver. It was all beautiful, fun, fascinating and whimsical! Since we’d just moved, our pockets were pretty empty. If it had been payday, I’d hate to think of all that I’d have brought home! I know I’d have at least bought a gorgeous birdbath for the soon-to-be garden out back! Not wanting to leave completely empty handed, Scott found these funky hooks made from forks. The curled tines reminded me of my hair. LOL! He suggested we use them as brackets to hold the quilt hanging rods. What a fun idea! That man surprises me sometimes! 

As I hung them up and placed the rods in them, I had this thought, “Art is in the details.” 🙂

The next Art in the Park will be over the 4th of July weekend. I’ll definitely go with a little more pocket money and hit up this booth again! 

Making a House a Home

It’s been five weeks since we made the move to Morro Bay. It’s been wonderful to spend more time with our son and his fiance’, explore a new community, get to know new neighbors, try the local cuisine, and most especially, walking on the beach. All that being said, I have felt like I was on vacation and not quite at home. It really hit me on Monday, while driving towards San Luis Obispo to pick up Scott from work. You see, that’s the direction we’d go when we’d head for home from a day at the beach. I felt a sudden and unexpected pain of home sickness. Not for Bakersfield, but for home. A place you walk into, and you know that it’s your favorite place. Your sanctuary. Your cocoon. It was then, that I realized I needed to get on with making this house our home.

On Tuesday, I woke up with a new determination to get some quilts up on the walls, special things put out, cookbooks on the shelves, and the last of the random boxes unpacked. At least the boxes that were still in the living room. 😉 As I put up or put out each and every thing, I began to feel a bit more at home in my surroundings. As I unpacked each item, I got excited all over again, over a quilt pattern I’d made, the stitching I’d done, embellishments I’d attached, a gift given by a friend, my husband, or my boys. Special cookbooks that contained recipes I’ve used for years. My mom’s recipes. I also found several baggies of sea glass that Zack collected when he took a vacation with Scott’s sister a number of years ago. I took one of my large jars and filled it with all of Zack’s collection. It feels good to see a little bit of him every day.

Each of the Willow Tree Angels was given to me by my boys and/or my husband, and each has a special meaning. The last one I put out was the one with bluebirds perched on her outstretched arms. She is the Angel of Happiness. 🙂