took a little road trip…

It was time for a little road trip, it was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and Phil’s birthday. So we got the animals and house handled by son and wife, gassed up the ’87 Volvo wagon and hit the road!

wonder how the ginko will look when we get back

wondering how this rogue cat is doing

Moose with buddha before we left

left the studio in a bit of a shambles…

Just getting OUT of LA is the harder part but once we hit the open road it was smooth sailing and the coastal views were grand. Made a stop in Pismo and then again at San Miguel Archangel mission. The mission was closed but we walked around outside a bit and down to the little adobe museum (also closed when we were there) and walked around the outside garden area. Just one little photo…

looking down the colonnade

discovered this little agricultural museum which was closed but would be interesting to see.

The missions have a romanticized past of colonization in the name of religion and land expansion where the local tribes were essentially wiped out and their culture all but destroyed (what’s new?). Of the missions I have visited (maybe half+ of the 21 California missions), this one is my favorite. It seems the most authentic and hasn’t undergone a massive restoration or rebuild. But alas, closed on this trip.

We continued on and found a hotel room near some friends and took in the sights and sounds of Niles California. Saw their Christmas tree lighting and parade, ate some nice food, visited with friends. We discovered another much smaller mission in nearby Freemont so wandered over there with the Birthday Boy…

Phil on his 55th birthday…rocking the indigo shibori t-shirt he dyed. Later we went and had Korean soup at a very small family owned restaurant in nearby Union City. (Here at the Mission San Jose)

Moving along to something textile related, I brought along several small projects to work on and ended up working on just one of them. I am stitching together old vintage bow tie quilt blocks made from 30’s feed sack materials when I noticed some printing on the back of a couple of the plain pieces.

The printing says Lincoln Bleachery and Dyeworks. The one in the center I’m not sure.
So of course I looked to see what I could find out about them and ….found this.
In the company history, one of their mills was even named Sinking Funds Mill (I guess they weren’t expecting much?) Fortunately, later renamed. I also read somewhere that some of the companies selling product in feed sacks would have their company name and product info printed onto the feed sacks with washout inks so women could use all parts without any waste if they didn’t like printing in their pieces.

Before I left, I was working on these. They’re still sitting on the work table waiting for me to get back. I did get them into the shop but didn’t publicize the fact. I think I did a short livestream on making them before I left. Seems a blur now. Some Holiday Cheer. I know many of you are as concerned and depressed as I am on hearing the news of the new variant. We will wait to hear the details and continue to follow the protocols from scientists. I spent a couple of days before I left working on the Japan tour for May, but it’s looking grim again…damn!

https://www.shiborigirlstudios.com/shop/holiday-cheer