Royal Gorge and Canon City, CO

1200 threads

I learned that the funny little squiggle over the first "n" in Canon City means you pronounce it with a "yu" sound - so it sounds like Canyon rather than a brand of camera. There's lots of interesting stuff about the Royal Gorge - it's where the battle to get a train line through this towering wall of rock was won, and lost - we get to ride on the team that one and take pictures of the left-behinds of the team that lost. Such is life. The largest, single span suspension bridge in the world .. is the Royal Gorge Bridge. Each side has about 1200 bits of wire tied together (refer photo) and that's meant to give all who walk or drive across her some confidence. It did.
Inspired by Leonardo Di Caprio and that boat movie, I flung open my arms and felt the rush of wind and fear - all was going well until the waves created by a small bus going across had me grabbing for the "railing" such as it is.The 1200 lines of thin steel are cold and harsh - metal on metal - lots of possibilities for quilting ...
And here is the moment before the bridge started to .. roll and sway under the impact of the blue bus or trolley as it's called.

 

Crossing the bridge on foot

The timber slats frame lovely gaps of 5 cm or more - so if you are a little height challenged it's best not to look down - then there's me afraid I might trip on the uneven, swaying surface - so down I looked. It's a choice of pain I guess. The Arkansas River way below - about 9+ seconds in free fall (which is what they tell you on the skyrail cable thing about half way across the canyon) - I'm appreciating every inch of those 1200 metal wires that could have been cheap coat hangers in another life.


 

Squishmobile #1 or travelator

We'd been inspired to got to the Gorge through a google search when contemplating the drive from Colorado Springs to La Veta - so glad we found this place ... or rather that it found us.
In keeping with our trains theme, we managed to travel on 3 during our visit - this was the second. A travelator that clicks and cogs 1500 feet to the bottom of the gorge - with travellers squished two abreast and standing in the metal cage - for those with a large proboscis there would have been grid marks on the end of your nose from being pressed in so close - it was a remarkably peace-filled decent as all the cogging and clicking occurs getting the contraption back to the top of the gorge cliff.



Skyrail across the gorge

We descended, literally, between two walls of rock which exaggerated the feel of dropping into the bowels of the gorge. Our third "rail" event for the day was travelling across the gorge in this little thing. It holds about 20 people - again they all squish in - and then you drop the windows so that you really feel alive - and get unfettered photography for the 2 minute trip. I almost had one of those "my body is going to throw me from the carriage" moments again - but too carried away taking photos and a video of our shadow dropping down the canyon wall and across the Arkansas River, now a thread below. Our first rail event for the day had been far more conventional - a 2.5 trip in the Royal Gorge Train at the base of the gorge - following the (you'll never guess) Arkansas River for about 12 miles out the other side of the Gorge. We passed white water rafters (that was another option of making the return trip) and got to see the park form below ... quite a different perspective.

Looking up at the bridge ...

Our mission for the entire holiday was quilting and trains ... and Royal Gorge certainly exceeded all our expectations - it was such a thrill to walk and ride the park, gorge and Riverwalk - all separate events but within easy reach of the other. A great fun day.  Of course, I've got several hundred pictures of rocks - and I'll start working through them for design inspiration - patterns and colourways to use in future quilt projects. So many ideas, only 40+ years left to accomplish everything. It really will be a tight squeeze.

Royal Gorge and the Arkansas River

Last word on the Royal Gorge - and the first part of our adventure with trains- from the train we looked up ... and the thin dark line way above was, of course, the bridge we would soon be crossing.

Stations of the Cross, San Luis Valley

Stations of the Cross, San Louis

En route to Taos in search of uncommon threads, we took a turn at a junk yard and headed into the dust and the dirt to climb to the top of a mesa. We then crossed the top of its flatness until I wondered where we could possibly be going  ... and the beautiful Stations of the Cross church formed in front of us. Looking out over the San Louis Valley, the Mexican Martyrs are buried behind the church on a small incline that looks back over the San Louis valley. 

This was a sombre and beautiful place. For the tourists, and there must be many of them, there are three portaloos (a loose definition) - and as reported in our other blog, three of the four people in the car used them (read that as I decided to put my knees together AND drive to Taos). Three out of four people in the car looked like they required counselling afterwards. So ... go to the loo at Fort Garland before heading south to Taos. This is probably the best and only advice I'd dare to give anyone making a similar trip.



Lorraine at Stations of the Cross

The interior of the church is beautiful - polished and serene timbers - encouraging quiet reflection. The adobe construction means it is cool inside - the thick walls make for perfect insulation, although maintenance is high.

We strolled around the gardens and statues - taking in the views of the San Louis Valley - and the town below us - and considered the sacrifices made by many for their faith. I gave thanks for my own toilet.






San Louis Valley from Stations of the Cross

Okay - it's not quite the "valley" but I think it shows (1) clouds - and we'd only had pristine blue "big sky" country since we arrived, and  (2) the high desert dry - and what manages to survive and thrive in the climate.  Seriously - it was so dry I was slapping ultra thick body lotion on my face - my skin was in danger of resembling an adobe wall sans paint job.

Some quilts and Bardstown KY

Joanne's quilts

Our host in Bardstown was Joanne from The Homestead B&B. By her own admission, Joanne says it is impossible to describe her place properly - and we agreed. The house is one of only three in the area that survived the civil war. Joanne purchased it some 13+ years ago and as an avid collector, has filled it - literally - with all sorts of things. The house itself is also her "shop" where you can do a tour or look through the place - if it has a price tag on it, then it's for sale!

Joanne has a number of quilts, surprisingly not for sale, strewn over benches, chairs and railings throughout the house. Some of the quilts in the house are not "old" as such, but have been made in more recent years by a friend, in her nineties, who uses fabrics that are ... older than the maker. The quilts are made completely by hand ... and Joanne then acquires them. Others, of course, are simply very old. The tray in the front of this picture contains (everybody cringe) a left over piece of cut up antique quilt. It seems that it is quite acceptable when the quilts get "old and worn" to cut them up - we found evidence of small rugs and "blankets" in the doll's house, made from chopped up bits of antique. I am not a poker player ... so I think my cringe factor expression was leaking all about the place when I kept finding "bits" of quilts around the place.

Door hangings ...

Quilts adorn doors - everywhere throughout Joanne's home. I did take my white gloves (you never know what you might get to see on such a trip) but they stayed in the suitcase - everything gets handled here - and I did resist the urge to fondle - but I did wash my hands first. Perhaps I am just not used to being in the presence of such aged objects - I felt obliged to be so careful with them - yet most places we visited, quilts were taken in and out of storage and tossed around the room for all to see - with lots of love I might add - but handled just the same.  This particular quilt was beautifully made - I loved it. In spite of its age, it felt "fresh". 

Below are two pics of a quilt made by Joanne's grandmother - from hankies - hand pieced and stitched and now behind glass in the hallway that leads to the guest rooms. The guest rooms were added onto the original homestead in the early 1800s to they were way more modern that the rest of the place!

Hankie quilt

Twelve hankies were joined with sashing - although there appears to be a join in the middle that I couldn't figure out what had happened. In any event, it was pieced and quilted with contributions from different aunties of Joanne's. A beautiful piece of work.


Close up of hankie quilt

 The quilting has been completed in diagonal rows - and while it's not the sort of thing I'd rush out and start making now, I marvel at the quality of work and the sense of history and family it oozes. Is ooze the correct word?

Quilt made by slaves

This is the quilt made by slaves - I think from The Homestead area itself - comprised of course, thick and scratchy fabric stuffed with raw cotton from the plantation area. This quilts hangs from a railing above the kitchen - which it shares with taxidermied crows and a few other things. I climbed to the upper level - another incredible experience in its own rite - and was surprised by the sheer weight of the quilt. Heavy! It has been quilted diagonally - and there are several holes where the raw cotton can be seen.

Close up of quilt made by slaves

A close up shows patches, fraying and places where the fabric is so worn the strands of weft or warp struggle to hold back the compressed cotton. I really struggled with this - the history, the stories and the matter of factness about slavery in the 'south.  Pictures of the Homestead slaves - including their age, state of health and "value" adorned the walls - it IS the history of the place, I just felt uncomfortable immersed in it - my head wouldn't shut down.  Al I could see was the shackles ...

Hexagon quilt ...

This quilt took up a fairly casual residence on the back of one of the benches at The Homestead. It has been made by Joanne's friend, again out of antique fabrics - and has been pieced and quilted entirely by hand. I hope that when I'm in my nineties, I can still thread a needle!

I inherited a couple of shoe-boxes of hexagons from my aunt, Maxine - and she "inherited" them from a customer of their Pharmacy in Sydney many years ago (Both the pharmacy and inheriting the shoebox). I've been plugging away at joining them over the past 2 years or so - and am inspired to complete the project - at the rate of one flower per train trip to Brisbane, averaging one trip per week ... hmmm ... I might be hand sewing when I'm ninety after all.

Royal Gorge and the Rio Grande

Cactus @ Royal  Gorge

I've been looking back through 1000 plus photos - that's after deleting the 200+ that were blurred, not what I expected and not what I'd put my name to. Travelling across the mid- and west of the US for 2.5 days on Amtrak from Chicago to LA I noticed that many of the photos became similar - a tree here or there and suddenly there were 5 shots of it. There are whole periods of time where I've not clicked a thing. I think it's what Steinbeck referred to in "Travels with Charley"

"And I sat in the seat and faced what I had concealed from myself. I was driving myself, pounding out the miles because I was no longer hearing or seeing. I had passed my limit of taking in or, like a man who goes on stuffing in food after he is filled, I felt helpless to assimilate what was fed in through my eyes. Each hill looked like the one just passed ........"

I can see that there came a point where I got overloaded. Lorraine has commented similarly - and my memory of crossing the Continental divide in the night remains a piercing pain in my ear as it refused to "pop" in the darkness descending through New Mexico to California. It still hasn't "popped" although I've given it plenty of chances to do so. The absolute beauty of this - is that unlike Steinbeck I can go back through so many images and take them in as a connoisseur of fine scenery might. Inspiration is everywhere ...  such as the cactus shapes where ever we went  through the mid-west and especially the high desert plains of San Louis. I love the interweaving and coral like effect of running stitch across itself, like the many "branches" of cactus.

Rio Grande a mile below ... leaning over the bridge

We visited the Rio Grande proper en route to Taos from La Veta (via the turn off at Fort Garland). Almost into Taos, Jude says "turn here" and we travelled about 7 miles into the flatness until we came across this - a massive canyon not visible from simply driving along the highway. It's the windy and scary Rio Grande - so we parked and of course walked out to the middle of it. Judith has not managed to conquer her fear of heights - as I had done only weeks previously at the Royal Gorge - and except for a little moment when I thought my body would hurl itself over the edge without my permission - it was exquisite. Breathtaking on so many levels. I am fascinated by the lines of rocks, the geometry of the bridge, the spans, metal and the swirls of the river cutting through the bottom of the canyon. More stitching ideas for sure ...

Adventures in La Veta, CO

What a design inspiration - the loo in Judith Baker Montano's studio - which comprises a wall of books (opposite said loo) although no one was in there long enough to be able to make a decision. Surrounded by fat quarters and magazines it was almost tempting to stay in there ... a great way to use extra space and the handbasin was a gorgeous ceramic hand painted and oh-so New Mexico - perhaps from the Jesus Sale we attended - another form of inspiration for another blog ... the real lesson for me was to maximise all available space - no matter where it is!

Judith's garden ...

...
High desert country gardens have lots of .... pebbles, rock and stone. Whether it's the altitude, the way the sun filters through or simply a lot of love ... the colours of flowers, any other flora and weeds is electric. Beautiful colour combinations that smack you in the face - no need for the colour wheel here - nature demonstrates the possibilities and I'll try to capture some of that in future works.

Fencing al la La Veta

Design inspiration is everywhere - and there's no need to go overseas to find it - perhaps it's the heightened awareness that you'll never be back in that place, at that time ever again that ensures I take the camera everywhere ... I loved this fencing in La Veta. Not sure what it would keep in, or out but it was exquisitely constructed and I can see the lines and miles of it travelling over a project.

Time to get cracking while I have a few weeks left to contemplate fabric, thread and completion of a few "on the go" projects.

La Veta magic

Ali and JBMs dog

Well it's been a wonderful few weeks away - and all the details are on my travel blog  - and to say we had some adventures is an understatement. I've also taken loads of photos of quilts, design ideas and everything else and will start putting the story together from a slightly different perspective. I promise to include all the good bits again too! This pic was taken at Judith Baker Montano's teaching studio in La Veta - and yes, I'm actually cuddling one of her dogs - and more importantly wearing my "Ernest Tribute Tie Dye Tee" - in the words of his wife, "Ernest has not really left the 70s". And it was absolutely true! As part of our week in La Veta, we were treated to the entire experience - this entailed frequent trips out and away from the studio - and it is these that in retrospect will stay with me always. It was so much more than "visits" to other studios or artists - I think my inspiration overload syndrome is, at least in part, due to the interaction with so many beautiful and gifted talents - in areas other than fabric, quilting and material pursuits.

Judith's studio complete with grapevine

We spent 5+ days at the studio- and Ernest would bring platters of fresh fruit (as well as those nasty things called cookies, and chocolaty delicious bits) - the grapes falling from the vine almost replaced the need for other refreshment!  Almost. Loved the colours and brightness of La Veta, especially Judith's and Ernest's place. High plains desert can support gorgeous gardens - different from what I expected but riots of colour, and peacefulness ... it permeated the studio and while the course was a real struggle for the first few days - the ultimate product was worth the persistence - and that included one block I simply ditched in the bin - and the improvement in karma was instant.

Ernest completes a coffee run, work in progress continues

Ernest truly looked after us - including the night he cooked ribs for dinner - using lots and lots of bourbon for flavour. We had never eaten anything like them - and it was a memorable evening at the end of our 5 days in class. There were, of course, many more days to follow including Judith leading us south into New Mexico to Taos. Another story ... but a MUST do is a visit to Common Threads - a most unusual fabric store carrying uncommon fabrics. Silks, specialty fabrics and all things unimaginable - worth the visit. I acquired 2 sets of buttons - with playing card theme for my Dad's collection of playing cards and memorabilia - well worth the trip and expense just for those!

Work in progress ... a labour of persistence and patience

Back to the class ... our mornings started around 9am La Veta time, we broke for about 1.5 hours each day for lunch, then returned to the studio for another couple of hours work in the afternoons. Our evenings and breaks were filled with various activities - including getting together for dinner, visits to such places as The Dog Bar in Cuchera - what a place and what atmosphere (in spite of the altitude). Now that I'm home, and almost unpacked, I can see the blocks I created in a different light - standing alone from the studio and everyone else's work - and I'm really pleased with the final product - took it to 2QAQ on Saturday and continued the laying of ribbons and lace - in a few more weeks I might be able to start the embellishment proper - that's the part I enjoy most. The quiet restfulness of sitting in the studio, creating with thread ...

Crazy and New Mexico

I'm about to head to the US with my friend and neighbour, Lorraine, to visit Judith Baker Montano where we'll participate in one of Judith's residential workshops at La Veta, Colorado. We've already been emailing two of the other participants, Susan and Sarah from Boston - and we're all looking forward to meeting on Friday.

From  1992 Jacket panel

I did a workshop with Judith Baker Montano in 1992 - through Ruth Stoneley's shop Patchwork Supplies. I'm doing the same course - and debating whether or not to take the jacket I made out of the 1992 panels - I'll make a decision pre-Wednesday morning. So why do it again? I've come to the conclusion that the evolution of my sewing and stitching has been like learning to drive. I'd only had needle and thread together for 5 minutes before I had enrolled in and completed a "Sampler" course with Ruth Stoneley, a Mola Applique course with Denise Lawson, Crazy Patchwork with Judith Montano,  a colourwash course with Judy Turner ... oh yes and a residential weekend with Ruth Stoneley for my first art quilts in 1991 and then there was ... Looking back I can see I was exposed to and was taught by some of the absolute greats- I was part of something rare and beautiful but hardly aware of it, nor able to appreciate it fully. And my piecing skills ... sucked. I had my Leaners / P Plates and was offering to drive everyone everywhere just to get behind the wheel. It was all about the car, rather than the trip. It's 20+ years since I first rang a shop I found in the telephone directory and asked "do you sell stuff for patchwork so I can make a quilt?". The response was the husky laugh of the beautiful Ruthie. I can still hear that laugh, see the champagne glass raised and that mane of tustled silver framing an enigmatic smile. I need to re-visit - now that I've got a quite a lot of miles and kilos under the belt I want to go back - and this time take it in  from an art quilt perspective. I want to say a proper goodbye to Ruthie. I want to sip champagne in Taos, New Mexico - a place Ruth adored. I want to absolutely let go and soak it all up .... and be a vessel rather than "that" student in a class. I want to have a yum-gasm in a thread shop and intravenous creativity for the next 3+ weeks ...  and I can't wait.