It is about time.

I made this quilt top for my son several years ago, but I have been slow to get it quilted. I am calling it Matthew's Maze as it is for my son Matthew and it looks like a maze to me.

When I took out the backing fabric, I found that I hadn't sewn it together yet. So I trimmed all the threads from the quilt top and ironed the quilt and the batting fabric. I sewed the backing fabric together and trimmed it to the correct size. I will be bringing it to the long-arm quilter sometime soon. Since my son will be moving into his first apartment soon in PA, I think it is about time that I finished it for him. 

I have also been spending a little time each night crocheting the background color on these Granny Square Roses.

 It is about time that I managed to connect these into an afghan as they have been around since before I began this blog in 2013. I have to see whether I want to put a plain square in between each rose or connect them right next to each other. I think it will depend on how many roses I actually have right now.

Finally, it was about time that Hubby and I managed to get to the beach to walk at night. We actually went down to the local town beach and saw a beautiful sunset!

The ducks are an added bonus in the picture.

If you look carefully you can see an egret in the middle of the bay.

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8 down, 2 to go!

I was waiting to update you on my Baker Beach progress until I finished the 8th page! I beat my end of June goal by almost a week.

I have turned the scrolls and already used that bright green floss to make the grid for the next two pages.

The left edge of this project is one column in from the green line you can see just by the shadow. Page 9 has a little bit of blue started at the very top. 

When we came home from CA my tiger lilies were blooming profusely. 

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that bunnies love to eat them. These two, baby and parent, have absolutely decimated them. 

Next year I will have to put a small fence around them to keep the bunnies out. 
Isn't the baby cute though?

I hope the don't like the day-lilies that are about to bloom.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today. I think I will continue to work on Baker Beach. On Monday I will join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape. She showcases vintage embroidery patterns that are really something.

Speaking of embroidery, I have joined the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design "Stitch at Home Challenge". The theme is "The Summer of Love" as it is the 50th anniversary.

I chose the challenge floss of "Peace and Love". I just started designing my piece. I have had this book for ages, but have never really used it. I always embroidered using kits. I will be winging it with this Challenge, but I am just going to enjoy the process. Since I really want to finish Baker Beach, I am not sure whether it was a smart idea to join, but I will make the most of it. Now I have to order my fabric. I am hoping to mostly use floss that is in my extensive stash although I may not have enough psychedelic colors. We shall see.

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Proud parents 2

Now Hubby and I have to congratulate our daughter who just passed her 11th and final actuarial exam making her a full-fledged Actuarial Fellow. She spent  2500 hours studying over the past 5.5 years to pass all those exams.

I also want to share a few more pictures of our trip to CA.
On our last day in CA our flight was delayed early in the day, so we were able to spend some time looking around Stanford University. Hubby wanted to re-visit Stanford Memorial Church.

There are inspirational panels around the church. This was my son's favorite.

The stained glass windows are beautiful.

We also had time to visit the Rodin Sculpture Garden. All of these are reproductions.

 These are The Gates of Hell.

An up close view of the Gates of Hell.

 The sculpture garden is outside of the Cantor Arts Center. If you ever get to visit the Palo Alto area, this is a free museum. There is an area for Asian art.

 The Jade items were gorgeous.

Look at the delicate carving on this plate.

An Asian exhibit is not complete without a dragon.

 Can you believe the beauty of this blue and yellow urn?

 Being an avid tea drinker, I had to take a photo of this teapot. 

Blue and white porcelain has always been a favorite of mine.

 There was also an Ancient Americas exhibit (Peru and Mesoamerica)

 Almost all the bowls had holes in the bottom.

Aren't the decorations on these pots just gorgeous?

 I was fascinated by the juxtaposition of this beautiful black pot and the small graphically decorated one below it.

 Hubby and I posed by a Totem Pole in the Native American Art Exhibit.

 A ceremonial mask.

 We also visited an Art & Its Histories exhibit.

 There were also some Egyptian items.

 There was even a wool and linen fragment of fabric from the Byzantine Era of Egypt circa 330 - 641 CE (also known as BC)

 You know that I would find and share a piece of pretty fabric.
That was the end of our trip. We are home now and my school year will be done on Friday. I am so looking forward to summer vacation and a whole lot of crafting.

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Proud parents

Hubby and I have returned from California which is why my internet access was limited. We attended our son Matthew's defense of his thesis for his PhD in Chemistry from Stanford University.  

 He passed and celebrated with some champagne....

 and some cake.

That night we went to dinner at a steakhouse that had this menu for him.

They also treated him to dessert!

We are so very proud of him. 

He will be moving to PA to work as a Chemist for a major pharmaceutical company.

This was a fairly quick trip as work and family obligations prevented a longer vacation. We did get some sight-seeing in though. On our first day we visited Loma Prieta Winery. This vineyard is in the mountains. You drive along a winding two lane road. At one point, half of the road was blocked by construction cones as the upward lane had collapsed down the mountain. 

 Aren't the views beautiful.

We enjoyed a tasting followed by a bottle of chardonnay.

The view from the vineyard was beautiful, but the drive had me on edge the whole way up. I sat in the back seat on the way down the mountain and didn't look out the windows.

On our second day we visited the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA. You can read the story of this house here, it is quite fascinating. You aren't allowed to take pictures in the house, but you can take photos of the gardens and of the outside of the house.

The fountains were pretty.

 My two favorite guys.

This topiary will be pretty when she is covered with ivy. 

The following day was my son's defense which I highlighted at the beginning of this post. On our last day we visited parts of Stanford University which I will update in my next post.

I managed to stitch a little bit of my Prairie Schooler Santa on the plane. 

 I had a great view of the Rocky Mountains.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. On Monday I will join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape. I will be working on Baker Beach this weekend. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

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