I’m in LOVE with Roxanne’s, A Wish and a Dream!

I have been to Carpinteria before (year after year, except for this past summer).  Guess what happened while I was gone?  The Treasure Chest Quilt store closed.

 

Well, we stopped by today on our way home from Pismo Beach.  A new store has opened!

 

A Wonderful Store

Roxanne’s, A Wish and a Dream!

Just gonna give you a tour!  Check out this sign, it caught my attention.This little sitting area was quite adorable!  Check out the color of the booth and chairs.  Wow!The black and white fabrics are displayed on this great shelf!So much to took at.  It’s like eye candy everywhere!!!  I loved this sign!The furniture in the store is quite eclectic.  Can you see the pink dresser at the bottom of this picture.  I would never think to put pink with the fall display, but it totally works in this store.Check out this creature!!  How cool is she?Oh, side note!  I noticed that there were many, many Featherweights in this store, so…  I asked if they happen to sell just the cord to plug them in.  Remember the machine my Grandma Toni gave me a while back?  I needed a cord.  Well, they had one.  I bought it, brought it home and look it works!!!  YIPPY!Ok, a couple more shots before we headed home.One more look back.  Look at the colors Roxanne painted tis shelf?  Roxanne was quite a sweet lady.  I am so glad I got to stop by the store!One more close up, and by the way, I do luv the beach!My goodies were packed up in the adorable bag.  There were boxes and boxes of them in the driveway.  They had just arrived and I was the first lucky customer to get to take one home!

I have arrived home, safe and sound.  Tired and ready for dinner. 

So I will have to blog at you later,

Tiffany

Time to head home.

This time away went by really fast!  It started off a bit tough.  Lindsay (my youngest daughter) dislocated her knee shortly after I arrived at the condo.  She was at home and I was 180 miles away.  She was with a group of people.  911 was called, she traveled to the Emergency Room in an ambulance.  They gave her pain killers and popped her knee back in.  She was home within a couple of hours.  She is one tough cookie, and beautiful (but I am her mom, so I can say that)!

I can’t show you much of what I did for the past few days, I have been testing blocks for a magazine and although I am sure you would love to see them, I don’t think that would be a good move on my part.  Here is a consolation prize…a picture of my trash bowl (just wanted you to know I have been a busy girl).  Ok, I must pack up and check out.

Blog at you later,

Tiffany

A Hidden Gem! Sew Stitchin’ Quilt Shop!

I found a quilt store in a little beach town called Grover Beach.  As I walked in the door I must have let out a happy little sigh!  Batiks, I love Batiks (did you know?).Here is another row of fabrics.  See the fat quarters just above the bolts?This display is just inside the front door.Aren’t these cool.  I think there are 5 yard cuts (I could be wrong, my listening skills were not working so well, there were way too many fabrics talking to me).

Isn’t this just adorable?So, if you ever find yourself at Grover Beach (or anywhere even close), may I suggest you don't miss stopping in at Sew Stitchin’ Quilt Shop!  Oh, by the way, here are the fabrics that sang to me the loudest!  I needed some grey batiks, and here they are!After the quilt store, I took myself out for a little more shopping.  I found these dishes, there is fabric coming in to Bolts in the Bathtub to match.  My kitchen will be displaying not only these dishes, but some of that fabric as well!Guess what else I found?  A spider ring!!  This is so unusual for me to make this kind of purchase, but I talked myself into it!  I plan to display it right there on my finger until Halloween!  So, if you happen to see me, ask to see my spider ring!Now for some pumpkins!!!  I love Autumn & Pumpkins!!  Aren’t these just gorgeous?

Those ones with all the bumps on them are actually kinda pink under the bumps.  The sign said they were princess pumpkins.  Very unusual indeed!I did sneak Scott out of his work/meeting commitments tonight.  We walked the pier in Avila Beach (another awesome place to visit) and had dinner together. 

They are supposed to let him out of this Manager’s Meeting tomorrow about noon, then we shall head on home.  I have had a great time here in Pismo Beach. Hope I can make it here every year for long, long time!

Blog at you later,

Tiffany

Looking for Inspiration

Where do you go for inspiration?  Where do you look?  I went to the Mission.  Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa to be exact.  Look at the flowers painted on the walls.  Do they inspire you?

I looked at their shapes for applique.  I try to find different flowers and shapes in the art I see.  Sometimes I feel the need to let it be the beginning of a creative path.  These were different and pretty, I just wasn’t ready start a project from these.  I think I will keep on looking.

I do enjoy visiting the Missions.  They are usually very peaceful and beautiful.Here is a look out over the city from the top steps at the Mission.  It was an overcast day, but I didn’t mind it’s a bit different from the sunny desert I normally inhabit, besides I had the car washed yesterday, of course it was gonna rain!The shape of this fountain intrigued me (but not the green water, glad I wasn’t on the hunt for refreshment).

So, what did I accomplish today?  Well, I pieced together 7 blocks for my next Photos to Fabrics class (I had one done already).  Then I assembled them into an interesting table topper.  Here it is on the floor…

and look, here it is as a Table Topper!!  It still needs a border and some quilting, but I am having a good time with asymmetrical blocks.  There are so many layout possibilities.

I went out wandering this afternoon.  Here is a pic of the beach about 3 this afternoon.  I love the clouds, I think Autumn is actually here (not sure we have been able to claim that in the California desert).

What else did I see?  Some fish, not real ones, but mosaic fish in a bench at Pismo beach.  Maybe a little inspiration here…

     

I was still walking around town when I came upon a mosaic table, more inspiration.  I had to flip this picture so you could see there were dolphins here, but then the table looks like it is hanging from the sky (not true).  It is just a table not represented well due to my unprofessional photography techniques (trying to work on those).

I was pretty sure the local quilt store was closed today (and it was).  That’s all right, I think I will walk on over to it in the morning and have a visit.  I peeked in today, and they still have fabric (yippy)!  There was also a board out from with some quilt related events posted on it. 

Here is one that caught my eye. First off because it is in Lake Havasu (a destination I visited for the first and second time this past summer). Second, because of that name I put an arrow next to.  Stephanie Prescott is the owner of A Quilters Dream. She is also designing batik fabrics. Her name has crossed my path a few times recently. I know Stephanie from years ago when Nick was in and out of the hospital. At that time she had a store in Pasadena and that wasn’t too far from City of Hope when I needed a break. Stephanie was always kind and had a wonderful smile for me when I needed it most. I am so happy to see she is still active in the quilt world! I hope our paths cross again.

Now for tomorrow, I plan to visit at least two quilt store and report back.  Til then…

Blog at you later,

Tiffany

A Personal Retreat

I am pretty much on my own for the next couple of days.  No agenda, no work, no housework.  I am in a one bedroom condo at Pismo Beach.  I snapped a few pics to show you my set up.  Here in the living room, next to the fire I will blog, check email, Facebook and all that other stuff.  Over here in the dining room I will be cutting, stitching (unstitching) and all around creating.

I will have to do a little pressing for sure, so that is what I shall use this cute little kitchen for.

I will go out exploring and eating and shopping, but then I shall return to create again and again.  This is my plan from now til Wednesday! I just wanted to share this little bit of space with you.  I hope to use this time to regroup, I always have so many ideas swimming in my brain (not sure if this will help or hinder).  We shall see…

Blog at you later,

Tiffany

New Class! Photos to Fabrics!

I was challenged a few months back to create a new class.  Dawna thru down the challenge (I don’t think she expected me get so involved).  I can’t just pick a pattern and some fabric, oh no no no!

I started with a photo I took on my vacation last year. these flowers were at Pikes Place Market in Seattle. Have I told you I love tulips? 

Next,  I put the picture into a program that picks colors from the photo (I used Colorschemer).  These are the colors that were pulled from the photo, pretty cool, huh?

Let’ keep going…  I designed a block in EQ7.  Here is my block with the photo colors inserted.  This block was made using 2  1/2” strips (that way I could use the Accu-Cut at work)! 

I used this block and put it into different setting on the EQ7 program. I have done the math and have a pattern for 4 sizes, ranging from Table Runner to King Size.  I made the blocks so they are not symmetrical, this way there are sooo many variations to the quilt based on block rotation.

This pattern is available on my website: 

Needle in a Hayes Stack.

This one shall be named:  Adalia

Table Runner (4 blocks).

Lap (12 blocks).

Twin (35 blocks).

King (64 blocks).

Now it was time to pick out fabrics!  I printed out my  fabric card and went shopping.  I don’t seem to have a picture of the fabrics before I cut them up, so here is a close up of the Table Runner with my fabric choices:

My sample table runner still needs a binding, but here it is…

I am teaching this class currently at Bolts in the Bathtub.  We have had the first monthly session.  Each student brings (or sends to me in an email) a photo to start with.  Each quilt will be so different depending on color  and fabric selection, quilt size and block orientation.  This should be such a adventure each and every month.  There will be a new block each month (based on 2  1/2 “ strips).  Let me show you some of the photos and colors/fabrics chosen last month.  I hope to see some finished projects at our next class.

Sheryl:

Beckie:

Sandy:

Peggy (she wasn’t able to come to class, so we played with her pictures and gave her 2 color cards to choose from, I haven’t seen her fabric choices so I will be surprised next class as well):

June (she couldn't come either, so we chose 2 sets of colors from the same photo):

Here is a sneak peak at next months block…

 

The next class at Bolts in the Bathtub will be October 27th from 2pm – 5pm.  At  first we called it Jpegs to Colored Threads, but have changed the name for November on to be:  Photos to Fabrics.  I think I like that better.  Well, that was quite a long blog, yikes!  Gotta go work on my Block Base Sew Along Block.

Blog at you later,

Tiffany