Monday, May 31, 2010

Back to Fort Bragg

We've spent our holiday weekend here, in the peaceful (and sometimes rainy, foggy, cool and windy) confines of Pomo Campground in Fort Bragg. This very popular park was filled to the brim with families enjoying the unofficial first weekend of Summer. This is the view out our front window in a rare moment when the lawn was not filled with kids.

We are parked next door to a site we occupied here on our first visit a year-and-a-half ago. It's very nice to be back.

The purpose of our visit to this coastal town was to join friends Robert and Marie for one of their twice a year abalone camping trips. Robert and Marie were parked just across Highway 101 in their new blue bus. It's a beauty! They were joined by several camping buddies who spent the weekend diving for, cleaning, preparing and enjoying fresh abalone. We enjoyed lots of good conversation and laughter around the campfire.

We ventured into town to do a bit of exploring. While Paul washed the squirrel, I checked out a local quilt show. (Can you believe Paul passed on that?)

The quilt show was setup in three buildings in a three-block area. In each venue, visitors were encouraged to vote for their favorite quilt. This colorful quilt, entitled Kumbaya, got my first vote.

This quilt featured "framed" photos of the quilter's family, with an explanation of each. I'm sure it is a treasured family heirloom.

This quilt received top honors for best hand applique and best hand quilting. All of that handwork earned it my vote. It's beautiful!

All I could say about this quilt was "WOW!"

With quilting fans meandering the sidewalks of Fort Bragg all weekend, many merchants created window displays to tempt quilters to come inside. These cute little socks got me...almost!


In between enjoying abalone with friends and admiring quilts, I finished off my California fabric selections for our future quilt. These four fabrics are definitely very "California". Don't you think?

Our very popular park is peaceful once again, as most of the campers headed home today. We're treating ourselves to one more night here on the coast before we head inland tomorrow.

4 comments:

CArol Goodman said...

Any idea where the Kumbaya quilt pattern came from? I've been trying to track it down~ heard it may be from a quilting magazine published a few years ago....I've hit a dead end! Carol

Paul and Mary said...

Carol -
Thanks for stopping by! I don't know if you'll see this, but I went back and looked at my photos from this show. The Kumbaya quilt was made by Angela Bierman, who has entered and won in the most recent Fort Bragg show. You might contact the Fort Bragg Soroptimist Club, the show sponsors. They might be able to help you track down the quilter! Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Kumbayah appears on cover of August 2009 Quilters World magazine - instructions and templates for little men begin on page 54.

Paul and Mary said...

Thanks, Anonymous! I hope Carol sees this!