QuiltQuest: EBHQ: Claire and Pam Roccio! and a week in Northern California

Last week was wonderful.

Friday
My son and I drove up to Berkeley. I stayed with Claire again, so welcoming. Son went on to stay with his friend in Belvedere which is a few off ramps beyond the Golden Gate Bridge.

Claire had food for me when I arrived, then after a little chat it was off to bed.

Saturday
In the morning we packed the car and went to the workshop in Albany. We helped get the room in order - that mainly meant getting power bars out at slightly rearrange tables, setting up ironing boards and getting coffee ready.

Pam and her husband were there at the start and were busy setting up her colorful quilts and fabric. She had boxes of fabric out that later she said were for us to pick from to see if we wanted to try a different color. So generous. It was such a nice gesture.

The demo was very nice, on making curved cuts and fitting them together, and then making a long spine to connect the larger pieces. That day Pam had to step back from the front as she wasn't feeling well, but the rest of us soldiered on and at the end of the day Claire had us go around all the design walls and share what we had done and to receive feedback if we wanted. It was such a nice way to organize the ending.

I believe that evening Claire, her husband and I went out for dinner at a delicious restaurant called Dara. I can't remember all we shared, but it was great. Especially the wide noodles. We ended with fried bananas and ice cream. After that we went home for a bit, then went to synagogue for a service after we heard about the shooting in Pittsburgh. We had been in class all day so didn't know anything about it until she checked her phone. All sorts of people gave brief talks...

Pam Roccio's work

Pam Roccio

My project the end of the first day.

Sunday
We went to a brunch held at Wat Mongkolratanaram a Thai Buddhist temple. Delicious with a capital D!

Then we went to the JCC for a lecture on Jewish and Muslim relations. It was very interesting.

In the evening I filled out my ballot while Claire wrote postcards, then we had chicken and left overs from Thursday and Saturday.

Lib Quilter Claire!

I want to try to make these at home - yummy!

Monday

We packed up and went to the workshop. Pam was feeling 100% and the workshop was full of fun ideas and things to work on! She encouraged us to work on smaller project and to finish them to experience success and to test different ideas. We shared ideas of what to do with the smaller projects too. Claire and her friends are so welcoming. I joined the guild and hope to get back there for at least one more workshop this school year.

A project we all did in class Monday.

What I ended up with at the end of the two days!

After the workshop, we cleaned up, and then my son came to pick me up. We then drove to San Francisco where we checked into a hotel near Union Square. And we had a view! After a bit we walked to get something to eat. We decided on a local place that was narrow and deep into the building. The food was great. Then we walked around in the brightly lit night streets.

Tuesday

We walked thru China Town to Italian section to Fisherman's Wharf, and then back again.

Wednesday
We walked to the Japanese Peace Center and ended up taking a bus to the De Young. Great exhibits! We took the bus back to Union Square.

Thursday
We walked to the Modern Art Museum and had a great day looking at all the pieces on display.

Friday
We packed up, drove to Presidio Park and saw the Golden Gate Bridge with fog and heard the fog horns! We ended up walking to the fort that is under the bridge. It was a great adventure. Then we drove on to Rocklin where we stayed with my friend.

Saturday
We drove to Apple Hill to enjoy the apple adventures there and to have pie and apple juice. Got wine at Lava Cap Winery - will return in May to get more bottles!

Sunday
Had a nice breakfast with my friend then we were off for home. On the way we stopped for tea at Pea Soup Anderson's (got a delicious almond cookie to nibble on in the car - yum!), stopped at Harris Ranch for tri tip sandwich, and at Two-Heys in San Gabriel for a break before getting home that night.