Happy February everyone! I have finally cleaned, sorted, and put everything away after Craft Napa retreat last month and guess what I have extra of…SWAG BAGS! I thought I would give a Craft Napa swag bag away once a month for the next six months.

UPDATE: Patti Kaplan, you won the swag bag! I will email you to get your mailing address!

This swag bag is full of great swag from some of the best quilting brands and companies in the industry:

Another angle…

The loot is from the following companies:

• Quiltfolk Magazine Thanks to the publisher, Michael McCormick, Craft Napans received a complimentary copy of Quiltfolk! Want to subscribe? Use the coupon code CN19 for 15% OFF at Quiltfolk.com. It’s “CN19” and can be applied in the cart. 

• UPPERCase Magazine– And more thanks to Janine Vangool who also provided magazines, and has a special discount for Craft Napans and friends, too: Receive $15 CAD off UPPERCASE subscriptions, gift subscriptions and renewals with this link. https://shop.uppercasemagazine.com/discount/craftnapa?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fsubscribe

• Quilters Select—MANY thanks to Alex Anderson, Quilters Select, and parent company RNK for generously providing all of these incredible supplies! Visit https://quiltersselect.com to see all of their offerings!
• Dharma Trading for generously providing surface design supplies for class use and selling supplies most of Craft Napa. They are running a special discount just for Craft Napans and friends. Visit https://www.dharmatrading.com.   Use coupon code CRAFTNAPA10 to receive 10% off your order!

• Craft Industry Alliance—This is an informative and comprehensive networking trade organization for professionals in the craft and art industry. They also have a wonderful online magazine that offers tips for developing and expanding your business. Use code craftnapa2019 to get a discount on your membership! https://craftindustryalliance.org

• Havel’s’ Sewing—This is personally a favorite scissor, rotary cutting, and mat company of mine! If you have not tried their products yet, I recommend doing so ASAP. They cut like butter. Visit https://www.havelssewing.com.
• C&T Publishing & Jennifer Sampou for generously donating door prizes and patterns! https://www.ctpub.com  and https://www.jennifersampou.com
• RJR Fabrics for providing complimentary charm packs for all by CRAFT NAPA teachers Leslie Tucker Jenison, Jamie Fingal, and Victoria Findlay Wolfe. https://www.rjrfabrics.com

• Robert Kaufman Fabrics for providing door prizes of gorgeous fat quarter bundles. http://www.robertkaufman.com
• SOAK Wash for generously providing spray jars of FLATTER, which makes ironing your fabrics for quilting so much easier (and smells great too!) https://soakwash.com 

HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SWAG GIVEAWAY:

Please answer the following question in the comments area below, and I will randomly select a winner next Wednesday (February 6th). I apologize to our international friends, but because this bag is heavy and expensive to ship internationally, I can only ship to those who reside in the United States. 

QUESTION:

I was honored to be asked to give the opening keynote at the annual SAQA Conference this upcoming April in San Jose, CA. The theme of the conference is Threads of Innovation. I have been thinking long and hard how what I might say may have relevance to anyone in the audience–mostly enthusiasts and professionals in the quilting industry. In the context of this theme…what would you be interested in hearing or learning about from me? 

Hope everyone has a great start to February,

Pokey

I can’t believe our 4^th edition of Craft Napa has come and gone!

This year was a lot of fun, thanks to our teachers and all who attended. 16 teachers taught 38 classes over the four-day period, in everything from surface design, modern quilting, free-motion, collage, encaustic work, batik, indigo and shibori, printmaking, screen printing, monoprinting, making dollies and monsters, appliqué, stenciling, and watercolor. We introduced a welcome dinner to Craft Napa this time around, and had a special luncheon lecture with Jennifer Sampou, which was incredibly inspiring.  

Our Artist Market was a hit (some vendors sold out in the first 5 minutes…note to vendors…bring more stuff!), and we held our first- ever movie night!

We also raised more than $2300 for our Stay PAWSitive fundraiser, which benefited animals that were displaced, hurt, or surrendered due to the Paradise fires. I still have a lot of postcards as donations came pouring in at the last minute. To raise more money, I am going to bundle the fabric postcards I still have on hand, most likely in sets of 5, and offer them online on the Craftnapa.com site starting February 1^st.  

Some fun class and event pix:

Sandra Johnson sharing her latest indigo-dyed fabric she made in her Indigo, Dye, and DIY workshop.

Students in Leslie Jenison’s Mark-Making Potpourri workshop getting good and messy in my barn.

Teacher and author Gina Lee Kim with her son Steven working the Artist Market.

Frances Holiday Alford coming to night class in her pajamas. (If you know Frances, this isn’t a surprise.)

Teacher Libby Williamson helping a student free-motion a painted fabric collage piece.

Student working on her Picture This! Faces in Fabric portrait in Jamie Fingal’s class.

Soy was batik fabric by teacher Jeannie Palmer Moore that was laying on her teacher table. (It was very tempting to steal.)

Student work in one of Maria Shell’s workshops.

Pup portrait in progress in Jane Haworth’s Pet Portrait workshop.

Students working on their Polygon Play quilts with Jennifer Sampou in the barn.

This one is coming together spectacularly! (Photo credit Jennifer Sampou)

As is this one! (Photo credit Jennifer Sampou)

We were incredibly honored that Tim Jenison joined us at Craft Napa for a viewing of “Tim’s Vermeer,” and to host a Q&A afterwards.

We also learned what Tim has been working on for the last four years in Tasmania, and it is an equally ambitious project that he will be announcing to the greater public very soon.

And on a more personal note, I got to reconnect with a former coworker of mine, Amanda Schlatre (many may remember her when she worked in Special Exhibits at Quilts Inc.). I was delighted when I saw she had signed up for Craft Napa, and it was fun catching up and learning what she is now doing for the Houston Rodeo.

 Lastly Craft Napan, Jollyne Toste who had also attended Jennifer Sampou’s Polygon Play retreat last March in my barn, brought her finished quilt for show and tell. Look how beautiful it is! This picture was taken behind my barn. (Photo credit Jennifer Sampou)

Next year will be our 5^th edition, which I can’t believe has come so quickly. I am planning on some special commemorations, swaps, and gatherings for this anniversary and scheming a fun time. If you have ideas for special events, I am all ears—just email me at pokey@craftingalifellc.com.

Save the dates! CRAFT NAPA 2020

January 8-11, 2020

I want to extend super special thanks to our sponsors BERNINA of America and Meissner’s Sewing for providing sewing machines for classroom use, and being on hand  to help everyone use the machines.

Also special thanks to Dharma Trading for generously providing surface design supplies for class use) and selling supplies most of Craft Napa. They are running a special discount just for Craft Napans and friends. Visit https://www.dharmatrading.com.   Use coupon code CRAFTNAPA10 to rceive 10% off your order!

I’d also like to thank the following companies for donating swag to the totes and also providing materials for classroom use. Note that a lot of them have a discount code on their products (some expire soon) so check them out!

• Quiltfolk Magazine Thanks to the publisher, Michael McCormick, most (if not all) Craft Napans received a complimentary copy of Quiltfolk! Want to subscribe? Use the coupon code CN19 for 15% OFF at Quiltfolk.com. It’s “CN19” and can be applied in the cart. 

• UPPERCase Magazine– And more thanks to Janine Vangool who also provided magazines, and has a special discount for Craft Napans, too: Receive $15 CAD off UPPERCASE subscriptions, gift subscriptions and renewals with this link. https://shop.uppercasemagazine.com/discount/craftnapa?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fsubscribe

• Quilters Select—Did you see all of the incredible goodies provided? MANY thanks to Alex Anderson, Quilters Select, and parent company RNK for generously providing all of these incredible supplies! Visit https://quiltersselect.com to see all of their offerings!

• Craft Industry Alliance—This is an informative and comprehensive networking trade organization for professionals in the craft and art industry. They also have a wonderful online magazine that offers tips for developing and expanding your business. Use code craftnapa2019 to get a discount on your membership! https://craftindustryalliance.org

• Havel’s’ Sewing—This is personally a favorite scissor, rotary cutting, and mat company of mine! If you have not tried their products yet, I recommend doing so ASAP. They cut like butter. Visit https://www.havelssewing.com.
• C&T Publishing & Jennifer Sampou for generously donating door prizes and patterns! https://www.ctpub.com  and https://www.jennifersampou.com
• RJR Fabrics for providing complimentary charm packs for all by CRAFT NAPA teachers Leslie Tucker Jenison, Jamie Fingal, and Victoria Findlay Wolfe. https://www.rjrfabrics.com

• Robert Kaufman Fabrics for providing door prizes of gorgeous fat quarter bundles. http://www.robertkaufman.com

Thanks to all!

Oh what a year… I have a lot of numbers and thoughts about 2018, but I am winnowing down to three numbers, three big accomplishments and events:

6

The number of quilts and pieces of art I made in 2018–all made and given away to children, baby quilts, to charity, and loved ones. I planned on twice this number but hey…I got to six! Here’s one, and the recipient, my best childhood friend’s youngest child’s “baby quilt.” (It was a little overdue, but we all had a good laugh about it.)

$4000

The amount raised for the first CRAFT NAPA Stay Pawsitive fundraiser for Friends for Life animal shelter in Houston for Hurricane Harvey victims. We are on fundraiser #2 for the Paradise Fires victims…so if you want to make something, click here! We have more than a week to create and accepting donations!

And my most important number.

My Number 1:

Dorothy Bolton.

I lost my mother-in-law in August. She has been a mother in every way to me since I was 19, and I was fortunate to be able to have a bed-side conversation and say goodbye before she passed away this past August. We had a pretty heartfelt but funny conversation that day. And I will always be grateful for this final time together. I can’t say I have been totally right since, and I may never be. But I am so grateful for all she taught me and for having her in my life.

After she passed away, a few health issues happened in my own biological and extended family, and it has been a challenging second half of the year.

And so here is my wish for 2019: for all those who have had a hard year, for those who have lost loved ones, and those trepid to go into the new year, let’s step into it together, and  support each other. And let’s be grateful for those who have loved us and taught us to be gentle and loving human beings.

In memory of Dot.

Happy New Year,

Pokey

I hope everyone had a wonderful family-filled and friend-filled Thanksgiving! Mine was very low-key, which was exactly what I wanted.

The fires in Northern CA have left us all speechless. Quilters have been wanting to figure out how to help…can they make quilts for people? Well, some 14,000 residences are lost, so multiply that by the people who are still displaced and have no home to go to and currently living in shelters or temporary housing. Money is what is needed and will be for the foreseeable future. So what can quilters and artists do right now? One option: maybe spend a little time making something that we can raise $ for at Craft Napa, about 100 miles away from Paradise, CA. We have been really successful raising money in the past, and if we can raise a few thousand bucks at our retreat…it is something.

Many families have surrendered their pets to Wags and Whiskers in Chico, CA, which is overwhelmed at the moment trying to take in pets that were lost/found after the fires, and those newly homeless who surrendered their pets because they can’t care for them anymore.

So here is what I am proposing:

The Stay Pawsitive! Pt 2 Art Fundraiser 

How to participate:

1. Make 1 or 2 (or 3, 4 or more) 4″ x 6″ fabric or mixed-media postcards where all proceeds will go to Wags and Whiskers and also to other organizations helping displaced families, their livestock, and pets. These pieces of art can be made of fabric or paper, watercolor, acrylic, mixed media, quilts and stitch, metal, recycled bits, or even a combination of all the above.
2. Think theme! We are open to any theme for the artwork: they could be animals or fantasy creatures (unicorns anyone?), abstract works, depictions of dreamy landscapes and escapes, floral-themed pieces, mini modern quilts, graffiti-inspired work, or whatever your imagination dreams up! (Please, however, be mindful of copyright laws and create original art.)
3. These works do not need to be bound or mounted. Ideally we want to fit these works of art into 4″ x 6″ slim plastic casings for display, but if your work is thicker and won’t fit, we still welcome it!
4. On the back side of your artwork, please sign your name, title, and leave your social media info (i.e. website, blog, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest handle). Contact information is optional.
5. We will sell the 4″ x 6″ pieces for $20 each at Craft Napa 2019, all of the proceeds will go to charities, including Wags and Whiskers to benefit fire victims.
6. The art should be received no later than Friday, January 4^th, 2019. Please note: this is a receive-by date! We will of course accept artwork during Craft Napa but want to have a large starting bank of artwork so would love it if you mailed them far in advance!
7. You can mail as many pieces of art as you would like, but please place them in a padded envelope. This way they will stay in pristine condition to be displayed at Craft Napa.

Please mail them to:

Crafting a Life

Attn: Stay Pawsitive!

PO BOX 10368

Napa, CA

94581

8. Come to Craft Napa to buy as many pieces as you are able! Just think: if you bought four (or more) and had them framed, it would make for a very nice collection!

As soon as we start receiving artwork, we will post examples online and in social media channels.

There will also be a silent auction, and we will try and make this part of the fundraiser open online, too, during live updates on Facebook.

We hope you will get creating!

~ Pokey

I have been blessedly out of touch for the most part the past couple of weeks as I recently attended the Knitting & Stitching show in London. I had the best time! I attended the show for three days, saw incredible exhibits, talked to artists, watched them in action, and met up with old friends.

Cas Holmes proudly displaying her new book in front of her mixed-media stitched piece “Medway Gap.”

As a show attendee with little responsibility, it was fantastic to enjoy the show for the sheer love of going and marveling at everything. I did write a full show report for The Craft Industry Alliance, and you can find my report of the show here with pictures of what I saw.

Just before I left, I got the news about Cloth Paper Scissors, Modern Patchwork, Quilty, and KnitWear, all being shut down immediately by F&W.

To say this was a total punch to the gut is an understatement and I am sick and heartbroken about it. I am saddened for consumers who are passionate about these publications and just feel awful for the staff who lost their jobs.

The Cloth Paper Scissors Facebook page, however has recently posted that there is a potential buyer, and I guess we will see how that plays out.

I have thought so much about the publishing industry of late, watching magazines shutter, including legacy pubs we’ve counted on for years (think Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine). It is never fun to watch something we cherish that has been a part of our lives go out of print. We all know the digital age—as great as it’s been in its ease to access free content—is the dagger that’s killing print.

But to me there is nothing like laying down on my sofa, dogs at my feet, and tuning out social media to tune into what reading about I love: stitching, quilting, and making. Especially in this political climate, it’s how I keep my sanity and find goodness in the world.

So I am curious and have a question…what do you pay money for these days for print publications?

I’ll start. I subscribe to Curated Quilts, UPPERCASE, and Quilt Folk. I also grab Simply Moderne as well as Flow when I can. I am a frequent newsstand goer and also nab others that appeal like Modern Dog (too cute!) and sometimes soup magazines (what can I say…soup is my thing).

So what do you buy copies of or have subscriptions to?

Ah summer…to me this season means lots of time dyeing and printing fabrics outdoors, and this summer I’m trying my hand (for the very first time) at indigo dyeing. As someone who loves surface design and fabric printing, I don’t know why I haven’t played with this process before as it is extremely gratifying, fun, and easy!

And you don’t need the summer heat to indigo dye, you can do it in winter, of course, too. The picture below was taken this past January at Craft Napa in the outdoor courtyard of the Embassy Suites/Napa. We quite literally took over the entire hotel, drying fabrics indoors and out. Below are some images of fabrics drying everywhere at the hotel from Sandra Johnson’s Craft Napa Indigo & Shibori workshop.

We draped the bushes too…

And all of the outdoor furniture. (All were unharmed afterwards, I promise.)

This kit (below) is what was used for indigo dyeing, which I recently bought too so I could give a go at this process. It is a dye kit by Jacquard that we got from Dharma Trading, and it’s so cheap (only $9)! This kit includes all of the ingredients, conveniently measured so all you have to do is pour everything provided in the kit (wearing your protective gloves and gear) into a five-gallon bucket of warm water. This mix can dye up to $15 yards of fabric, too! There is a lot of value packed into this tiny box, and when covered when not dyeing, can last for days:

This is what it looks like when all of the ingredients are poured into a five-gallon bucket of warm water. The top of the dye vat has a bit of a film on it–it looks a little strange but it’s normal. And when you fold the fabric and clamp it (as shown below), everything emerges as green; it’s the oxidation process that turns the fabric blue.

Below are some first samples of mine drying in the sun:

They get bluer as they dry:

Below was a very simple, accordion and triangular folding process I used, but it yields such amazing, graphic results! (And note to dyers: if you are going to indigo dye, set aside a special dye bucket for this. I had used this same bucket for Procion-dyeing and evidently had leftover pink dye in it…hence the pink spot on the lower right side.)

I also bought a blank cold-shoulder t-shirt from Dharma Trading and tried my hand at what is called kumo (basically wrapping an object with rubber bands to resist-dye). I just used rocks from my gravel driveway for this experiment:

And then I also tried some screen printing of imagery on top to get more layered effects:

This is just the beginning of indigo work for me, and I cannot wait to really explore this process, and also try traditional stitched, shibori techniques.

A couple of Youtube videos for this process that I found helpful:

Sandra Johnson will be teaching not one but two Shibori classes at Craft Napa this next January, and you can find more information here! She still has a few spots left in both workshops.

I am also really pleased that Dharma Trading (in neighboring San Rafael) is joining the sponsorship team at Craft Napa by providing product for teachers and doing live dyeing and fabric printing demonstrations during all of Craft Napa next January!

Indigo Kit Giveaway!

To celebrate the love of indigo dyeing, I am giving away an Indigo Dye Kit (as shown above). Here’s how to play: Answer the following question (in the comments section for this post), and I will randomly select a winner this next Tuesday (July 17th). This is a global opportunity; everyone (within the U.S. and beyond) is invited to participate. On Tuesday, I will update this entry with the winner’s name. Good luck!

Question:

What have you learned lately (or maybe revisiting) that is fueling your creativity at the moment?

Happy Creating!

~Pokey

UPDATE: Congratulations to Sherri Cox–you are the winner of the Indigo Dye kit! Please email me at info@craftingalifellc.com and I will ship it out to you directly! 

Craft Napa 2018 came and went, and frankly, it was such an amazing time–so much so–I needed a little rest afterwards, and hence the late recap. For this past third edition, we had 17 teachers, 41 workshops held over four days, with 230 students–more than double the amount the first year.

Whether it was politics or natural disasters, most everyone came off a hard 2017. To be able to kickstart 2018 in such a positive, color- and stitch-filled, creative way, definitely felt incredibly gratifying.

We built a wall—a community Graffiti wall–where over the course of the four days people freely added their creative hopes, dreams, drawings, and doodles. (Special thanks to Dharma Trading for providing materials and paint supplies.)

Before:

During:

After:

We also hosted the Stay Pawsitive art benefit for Friends for Life, Houston’s premiere no-kill animal rescue that provided safe haven, triage and vet care during Hurricane Harvey at one of the largest emergency shelters (and home to Quilt Festival)—the George R Brown Convention Center. Through artwork created and purchased, we raised $4000 for them!

When I say Craft Napans took over the Embassy Suites, I mean, we took over the entire hotel, including outdoor spaces as well. Some shibori with the swans in the courtyard:

We offered 3-hour, 6-hour, 9-hour, and two-day workshops, both at the Embassy Suites and in my art barn. A copious amount of art was produced—from art quilts, mixed media, modern and improv quilts—to books, assemblages, dyed and painted fabrics, monoprints, and encaustic work.

On Friday night of the event we hosted an artist market with our teachers, non-profit organizations, local shops, and an extra bonus: a quilt guild raffle quilt. Our Artists’ View Luncheon went well, too, where teachers candidly shared ideas and inspired all to set the tone for a year filled with creating.

I see a lot of opportunity for growth for Craft Napa, and making this event even more meaningful, and so that is what I am working on right now for both next year and beyond for (gulp!) the 5^th anniversary edition.

I want to sincerely thank the sponsors, swag and door prize donators, because these companies proved themselves in gold for their generosity. I hope everyone who reads this blog will support them, check out their websites to see what they have to offer, buy from them, stop at their booths at quilt, trade, and craft shows, and follow them on social media:

Meissner’s Sewing (Northern CA’s premiere sewing and vacuum company that facilitated and provided the BERNINA sewing machines for classroom use)

BERNINA of America (My hands-down favorite machine!)

Dharma Trading

Pro-Chemical & Dye

QuiltFolk Magazine

Mistyfuse

Havel’s Sewing

Quilter’s Select

Craft Industry Alliance

Windham Fabrics

RJR Fabrics

Aurifil Threads

SOAK

Tacony Corporation

Lastly, thanks to all who made the trek to join us! It’s you who make this community come alive and make this event so special!

Next year’s dates for Craft Napa are January 9-13, 2019, and if you want to join us for our five-year anniversary, the dates for 2020 will be January 8-12, 2020.

I was really happy to go to Quilt Market and Festival this year, if anything, to get some respite from the aftermath of the fires in Northern California. I was not nearly as prepared as I would have liked to have been for Houston, given the disruption, but I was thrilled to go! I shared a lot of images on Facebook and Instagram, but for this blog entry I am culling the list down to just a few images that gave me great joy:

Leslie Tucker Jenison’s second fabric line “Urban Garden” with RJR Fabrics made its initial debut, and Leslie employed the talent of both Jamie Fingal and Deborah Boschert (to name just a couple) to make art with her line. This fabric line will be on sale at your local quilt shops in early spring, and I can’t wait to hoard some!

This booth below was a Market favorite, it popped up in a lot of social media feeds, and it is understandable why: “Foundation” by Shayla Wolf for Windham Fabrics.

Next up, Playful Fabric Printing co-author, Melanie Testa came out with her debut fabric line, “Floribunda!” with RJR Fabrics. If you like a jewel-toned palette coupled with unique prints with a personal touch, this line is for you!

Another quilt in detail:

I too had a formal presence and promoted “Playful Fabric Printing” in the Craftsman’s Touch booth at Festival. I was so happy to promote this book. It truly is a great resource if you are curious about creating your very own, unique fabric collection.

Below was a busy lady! Victoria Findlay Wolfe promoted her new Partial Herringbone Seam Quilt with tireless enthusiasm during the show. This class is sold out at CRAFT NAPA, and it is understandable why. The construction of this design is pretty brilliant. (Victoria still has a handful of seats for her two-day, four-ring double wedding class, though!)

On a quilting business note,  F&W and Quilts Inc. collaboratively came out with the latest Quilting in America 2017 survey. Survey says our industry is still doing gangbusters since the last survey was conducted in 2014, and the industry is seeing a strong buying power from people under 45. I mentioned to John when we discussed the study, though, that it would be nice if maybe next time, this study delved a bit more deeply into specific social media channels, time spent on each, etc. Anybody who is investing advertising dollars into paying ads on social media would find this breakdown helpful.

Back to quilts…this was my favorite one from the show. It is called “Home.”

This piece is by Kate Themel and her narrative reads, “My studio is where I feel most at home. It’s a place where I I can dance around, sing, talk to myself, swear, or drop things on the floor. I can express myself without worrying about having nice manners. I never need to dress up to spend a day I’m in the studio. Blue jeans, or pajamas, it’s all good.”

I agree. I came home, and took a hike in my neighborhood. Vineyards in autumn, my patchwork view:

I am definitely looking forward to cooler weather and hibernating in my studio. I, too, am getting ready for Craft Napa, which is just a few short weeks away, and ordering all of the loot for attendees. If you are thinking of coming, there is still space! Please join us! We also plan for a fun and unique opening ceremony to ring in a creative 2018.

In the meantime, it is raining here…what is not to love about this picture?

With gratitude,

Pokey

The last eight days have felt like one, long extended night. It is hard to believe that more than a week ago, I was awakened by my dog Nellie a little after midnight, followed quickly by a text from my friend Patricia Trimble, and then a Nixle alert on my cell phone saying evacuate immediately. I did not have long and quickly grabbed my animals and threw some things in a bag and fled.

I went down the street and saw this fire behind my place:

I went to Patricia’s house for about an hour (3:00-4:00 AM), but then I drove around again, went to the shelter to see if I could get any information (and get some water), got back in my car to drive some more, and this was what I saw the next morning near my place. This was as close as I could get:

Another shot from my neighborhood–Browns Valley (this is a portion of southwest Napa where Carneros is, and just over the hill from Sonoma). My fire is the “Partrick” fire, which joined and became part of the Nunn’s fire. From this perspective, I am looking across the Napa Valley basin to the Atlas Fire, which devastated the Silverado area:

That day (Monday) I checked into the Embassy Suites where I stayed for several nights. I stayed with a number of families, many of whom had already lost their homes. There were a lot of tears and hugs all around. Tyrion tried to provide some comfort:

Next afternoon, my street was barricaded by CalFire, but they looked on the map and said I could “check” my place quickly. I put my iPhone on video in my lap. I was surprised, scared, yet relieved to see this…

I thought everything was ok by then. But it was not. It had also been two days and I still had no cell service–no one did in Napa. We were all trying to get reliable information, which proved difficult.

It is hard to tell from this photo but by Wednesday evening, things had flared up again. The valley was absolutely toxic, a ring of fire and smoke so thick you couldn’t see 10 feet in front of you. It was also hard to leave the valley–Sonoma was ablaze and roads closed.  I got a text that evening that said “Bulldozers at your place, fire coming south, looks bad.”

Next day:

There is a clear and visible burn behind my hill to the left.

On Friday I was able to go back again for a few minutes and see all still standing, but still a little bleak.

Finally, I was able to go home on Saturday. And while wearing my N95 mask, start cleaning.

It was therapy to clean and try and gain control what has felt like a totally out-of-control situation this past week. These fires were unprecedented and historic.

I have changed the air filters in my house, and for the most part wearing that N95 mask as I clean, wipe down, and pitch stuff, including pillows, dog beds, etc., and all food in my refrigerator and cabinets. I also have ordered two HEPA air filters from Amazon to help get rid of all of the residual smoke inside my home. I am GRATEFUL and LUCKY, my place is still standing, and I know it.

I am forever indebted to our first responders, for those firemen who kept watch on my porch that first night and next day.

I am thankful for Eli Ponce Construction who volunteered his time and energy and for almost 24 hours straight, bulldozed around my place and my neighbors’ homes in Browns Valley to create a fire break. I am thankful for SO MANY family members and friends from the Bay Area who called me and reached out (multiple times), offering me a place to stay, and kept checking back in with me. I am grateful for Napa…I have made some incredible friendships here, especially Patricia Trimble from The Roost Napa and those in my neighborhood; our bonds have only deepened.

I also want to thank everyone, too, on Facebook, who gave me so many cheers and just overall words of support and comfort when I was distraught, confused, incoherent and tired. I needed it, and I hope I can return the favor to you some day.

I learned a few things, that I hope are helpful, too. There have been so many devastating floods, fires, hurricanes this year…I think this is good generic  info. to prepare, no matter what the threat may be:

APPS to download on your cell phone:

-Next Door, a neighborhood APP to keep in touch with each other.

-Nixle, which coordinates county and state emergency services, letting you know timely updates of threats or concerns in your area.

-MyTuner Radio (this allows your iPhone to access AM radio and local news–great if you don’t own a radio anymore)

If on Facebook, make sure to follow both the official page of your county/city and local police. I found this invaluable, especially when I had no cell service, but was able to go to a hotspot for WiFi to learn the latest from county officials.

What I wish I had done (and will now do):

-Get a fire proof safe/ container to put photos and important docs in.

-Have water and batteries and other emergency misc ready. I thought I did, but it wasn’t organized as well as it should have been.

-Have an extra bag of clothing and toiletries to grab and take.

-Make sure my pet carriers (leashes, medicines, etc.) are easily accessible. (I had to dig around to find my cat carrier.)

Here is a picture of Clarence tonight in his new, plush, smoke-free dog bed. His face says it all:

We are all looking forward to catching up on sleep, to finding our humor again.

And I don’t think I am alone in saying this, but after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and the Vegas shooting, can we all just scream UNCLE!?

With my deepest gratitude for all your support this past week, and my sincere well wishes that we all stay safe and find a sense of calm,

Pokey

A couple weekends ago I brought my pup Tyrion to Quilting in the Garden at Alden Lane, a dog-friendly annual quilt show in one of the finest nurseries in Northern California. Tyrion was a little nervous to get into the car, thinking that since this was a solo trip sans his canine siblings, I was taking him to the vet. He was pleasantly surprised (albeit a little spooked) to see quilts swaying from giant oak trees.

Jennifer Sampou, Tyrion and me. (Photo courtesy of Todd Hensley)

At the show, artist Jennifer Sampou and I met to scheme the final touches on her quilt retreat she’s teaching at my art barn next spring:

Jennifer just came out with a hot-off-the-press pattern with C&T Publishing called Polygon Play, a riff on hexie paper piecing. (Click here to read her really fun story of how she came up with this idea.) It is such a playful pattern with so many possibilities, we felt it was worthy of a two-day weekend workshop in wine country.

Every season in Napa is beautiful, but my favorite time of year is spring when the mustard flowers bloom riotously in the vineyards. There are also a lot of art, wine, and music festivals that take place all over the valley the month of March.

A picture from my art barn porch last March:

Polygon Play will take place March 24-25, 2018, and retreat particulars can be found here on the Crafting a Life website. Registration opens next Wednesday and is limited to 8 students. Hope you will consider joining us next spring!