April 2nd I left to drive down to Monterey to check out the Cow Parade at Back Porch Fabrics inspired by the book Out Of The Box Patterns by Mary Lou Weidman and Mel McFarlane. I also took along my water can blocks to mail for our current swap. Here they are laid out on my bed in Portland before I packed them up in an envelope.
In Coburg we stopped off for a driving break and wandered around a couple of antique malls. This was a very interesting signature friendship quilt. It was too big to hold up vertically so here is one half.
Here is the bottom half of the quilt.
Here is a close up of one of the blocks. They appear to be appliqued onto the white block.
A lovely basket of tulips quilt.
Across the street is a delightful retro shop, the turquoise syrup dispenser on the right came home with me.
I was also temped to buy the turquoise Pyrex dish but decided not this time.
Our third day of travel took us into California and we spotted Mount Shasta, this time we could see the top, last visit it was not visible. Please note the dark cloud, but we were in sunshine at the present.
A closer look with my telephoto lens, do you recall the soda company called Shasta, their tag line was "It hasta be Shasta" and their logo was this view as I recall.
In Redding we went to Sew What, they have a large open shop with some interesting quilts on display.
This is the view of the shop as you enter, love the kites hanging from the ceiling. The first time I came to this shop they were having a shop hop and their theme was a black and white cocktail party.
Looking over to the right and their cutting area.
Their back classroom and yard area.
Another view of their yarn area.
Love those colours.
Very cute quilt made from three different fabrics that were fussy cut.
Can't you see this in a nursery or made into a growth chart?
The next show is within walking distance and is called Sew Simple. They have more of a country, civil war, reproduction feel to their fabrics. I love the display above the bolts of fabric.
A closer look at the cheddar and pinwheel quilt.
A feathered star in Christmas colours.
Postage stamp blocks, look at the post office time stamp!
Cute apron made from one piece of fabric with the pockets added. This was not a cheater panel, but unfortunately they didn't have any more of this colour way.
Their back classroom with samples...hey wait a minute, I have that pattern on my to do list.
I bought this pattern several years ago it is by Sue Garman, I did her Yuletide Joy and this is Autumn Joy. I would also like to do her Around the town.
I found this delightful top tucked away in the restroom!
Next up the Cow Parade in Monterey.
