The Good Old Days….

While traveling down the California coastline we stopped at two Missions.  This one was in Lompac and has been there for over 200 years…

Can you imagine making a quilt back then?  First you had to shear a sheep, wash and card the wool….  It’s really stinky too! Spin the wool into yarn..

And then weave it into cloth…

Maybe gather some berries to dye the wool….Sounds like a lot of fun doesn’t it?

They called these the Good Old Days… who were they kidding…? 

I think we have got it pretty sweet TODAY!  These are the good old days right now!  We want fabric- we go to a quilt shop!  Think of the variety, the colours, the prints!  Next time you’re in a quilt shop think of your ancestors and what they had to go through to make a quilt!  Makes you really appreciate the quilt shops of today..doesn’t it? 

Now I think I’ll rustle up a bit of dinner…

But that’s another posting...

Have a super Saturday and Happy Quilting.

Open for business….FINALLY!!

Yesterday was laundry day for me (see it’s not always paradise around here- although I was in the pool while the clothes were in the washer and dryers ;o)) Ahhhh, the good life…

OK, OK back to my post …so I could show you pictures of my dirty sweats or of me floating around in the pool like a very white beluga whale OR I could show you something that you might REALLY enjoy?

Do you remember this sign…?

This was the Pismo Beach Quilt Shop located within walking distance from our RV Park (Quiltin’ Cousins)…remember it was closed on Sunday AND ON MONDAY!!  Well guess who went back on Tuesday!  ME!

Whoopee…IT’S OPEN!!

Isn’t it cute? 

The owner was busy cutting up fat quarters in preparation for the Road to California as she is one of their vendors. She didn’t want me to take any pictures of the quilts that were hanging-  which was a realistic request… but darn…I do like you to get the full meal deal!

There were lots of books and patterns…

And the shop went WAY back…it’s a lot bigger than it looks from the outside.  

She had tons of fabric…

BUT this is what I got excited over…wool!  And lots of Sue Spargo patterns and books.

Look at all the Weeks Wool…all the wonderful colours and all hand dyed! Loved it! I just bought a little bit….  She is going to be at  the Road to California and will be bringing lots of wool so I need to check my patterns and plan out what to buy…it’s $17.99 for one fat quarter so it’s not something that you can buy a lot of without breaking the fabric budget… 

 

This is what I bought…two purples, as it’s hard to come across nice purples and these were lovely.  A burnt orange, a lighter orange (for pumpkins) and this lovely blue hounds tooth check.  Loved them all..

I also bought this book as it has tons of embroidery ideas for crazy quilts and for quilt blocks.  It also has some nice wool quilt ideas…I will really use this book.  Here are two quilts from the book…look at all the embroidery ideas on the first and on the second I was thinking wool…There are ten such quilts in this book and they are all lovely.

I enjoyed this Quilt Shop and I think you will too!  If you are in Pismo Beach it’s easy to find…Look for the Pier in the heart of the town and follow the street that the pier is on…go up maybe three or four blocks and you’re there.  Tell her I sent you…(just remind her of the lady who was busy fondling the wool in the backroom…I’m sure she’ll remember me….;o)

Did you notice the two new buttons on my side bar?  One is a map of where we’ve been and eventually where we are heading…this will help our kids keep track of us.. :o)

The other button is The Friday Night Sew In Button.  The idea is if you join the group you commit yourself to work on a project on Friday night, take pictures and post about what you accomplished on Saturday….AND you might just win a prize in the process….Sounds like a win- win proposition  to me!  BUT there goes my Friday night partying!!  Oh well, life is all about sacrifices…;o)  If you want to join in on all the fun just click on the Friday Sew In button….  Ah come on…you know you wanna-ah…!

Have a friendly Friday and Happy Quilting!

“You’ve Arrived at Your Destination….”

We pulled out of Pismo Beach bright and early yesterday morning, followed the coastline down to Santa Barbara before turning inland toward LA and on to Palm Springs.  We “arrived at our destination” as Gidget the Gadget likes to say (our GPS).  Just once I’d like her to say something different like “Hey you’re here!” or “You dodged another one!!” or “Shake a leg” or “Wakey Wakey”.  The dogs get all excited when they hear her say this..so I guess someone appreciates her! 

It is SO good to be here…like coming home as this is our third year at coming back to the Sands RV Resort!   More importantly we get to REALLY unpack…everything comes out…the lawn chairs, the satellite dish, the big table, the three little tables…it’s amazing what you can pack into a 5th wheel…and we are not even going to mention the stuff that’s UNDER the bed :O).

Let me show you around the place…  This is one of the cul-de-sacs leading to the RV sites as well as some of the permanent Park Models.

This is my favourite part of the park…all the palm and date trees that line the streets.

This is the back of our 5th wheel. Look at the light over head…it is about 4:30pm and the sunsets are always spectacular.   No one is behind us…yet.  We had a nice couple from Salt Spring Island last year(just off of Vancouver Island).  Rick called them the bats as they never left their camper before noon…later, after we met them, we learned that they were both writers…they got up early and wrote (in their camper)and then would explored the area later in the day. 

And this is the golf course…with the San Jacinto Mountains in the background…I sit and drink my morning coffee and look at these mountains from my ‘living room’…except now that I’m a blogger I have better things to do! Like blog surf…and have my coffee with you!

ON THE QUILTING FRONT~

I completed two more blocks of Fit to Frame Thirteen by Lori Smith.  I’ve got to admit I have really enjoyed working on these little blocks.  Stitching on wool is very soothing, relaxing and satisfying.

Have a terrific Thursday and Happy Quilting!!