Victorville and Apple Valley, Ca

So Victorville has it's own Route 66 Museum and they are so proud of being on the old Route that the highway name spans overhead in Old Town. Apple Valley hosts a ( now deteriorated) homemade ancient history sculpture. There's a great bit of home grown fun represented along this route. I must admit I took artistic license and repaired the sculpture. :-)

California here I come...

At last, I can begin the final panel for the Route 66 traveling exhibition. Painting a giant Route 66 map seems like all I've done since Late April so I'm looking forward to this one. First I review the map locations/cities artists had pre indicated an interest in representing. So again a long paper roll came out using pencil drawings, then permanent marker over final drawing by location. The prepared fabric atop and here we go. Again moving from east border of the state heading toward the Pacific Ocean, I did a quick representation of the Mojave Desert National Reserve.. specifically Kelso Sand Dunes because they are so danged artistic. Beautiful dunes. Moving west thru the town of Amboy to"Roy's" famous diner. These images are around 6 inches high on the road map also containing city names. They are intended to help exhibit viewers identify the location the larger accompanying quilts represent.

Friendship Project DONE

Each month at my Wanabe Quilters Friendship group.. we exchange projects for a month. This month I get to make a block for a crazy quilt with the theme defined by the owner. "Make something" like it has been in my grandma's closet for some time, the owner said... so here 'tis. First I had to restrain myself from adding additional colors I would also love. I kept dragging myself back to the owners original comment about grandma would have had these fabrics. So todays jewel tones were out for my thinking anyway. Please don't examine the handwork embellishment. I love crazy quilts but admit it's not my thing to make so we all agree... when we pass off a project, we do what we can and nobody whines. maybe wines.. but no whine! ;-)

West To Seligman and Hackerry

Going west from Flagstaff, Route 66 traveled thru williams and then to Seligman which still celebrates and has access to a good amount of the original Route 66 highway. If you ever wanted a momento honoring this route, this is the town to shop in. One of the successful businesses in this small town has quite a sense of humor. The ROAD KILL Cafe offers fresh food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's quite a large place too so they must get plenty of business. Buffalo Burgers are one of their specialties. Route 66 went slightly north heading out of Seligman to a town called Hackberry. I don't know it's history but it had a quaint general store in it's day.

Lettering for Flagstaff

One each of the BIGGER cities in each state is lettered as follows. My 2 1/2" ruler is sure a help for this effort. First a pencil draw of parallel lines 2 1/2 inches apart. Then a line at bottom 1/2" up, and from top line 1/2" down. These become the top and bottom of 1 1/2" letters. Add 1 more line... slightly below the mid point between the last 2 lines... then sketch in pencil each letter. It's not so difficult to do when you have guidelines. Once through making subtle corrections to penciled letters, outline each letter with a permanent marker. Light box under for easy viewing, red marker for outlining letters, then fill in with matching red ink. Lower photo...A black marker line around the 'callout' box which will point to the city name... and an added drop shadow for emphasis. A 2 stage process of placing texture and color around the callout box. I first did a rubbing with a textured 'light fixture panel' then added yellow color for interest. The final effort on the lower photo includes a darker outline of each letter. I used a darker purple for this as lots of color variety for this effort seems a good idea. nnn

Don't Forget Winona

Driving west into the city of Holbrook, one comes across a wigwam motel. Such a sense of playfulness was present all along this old route and remains present today. Moving west past Winslow, I remember Bobby Troups "Get Your Kicks on Route 66 song" so I can't forget Winona ( the place with enormous arrow sculptures embedded in earth.) The message really is clear "DON'T FORGET.. here we are!!!!! The names of these cities will be added later. Some preprinted on fabric, then machine appliqued on. You'll see.

Can't Help Myself

I'm drawn to post a note of pride. My grand daughter is growing up as a sweet,smart, and gorgeous young lady. YEAH! I can't believe how she has changed/grown in the last year. She loves music,art,science, math and last week, Mom Allyson took her to a special event concert and Meet and Greet with one of their family favorite music acts...Daughtry. Kaley girl poses here with the band leader/song writer Chris Daughtry.