On the road again Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Pismo Beach

We stopped in Santa Barbara for lunch and found the pelicans on the water.

 If you look closely you can see two splashes on the right side of the water; these were from two pelicans diving for lunch.

 We drove over to Carpinteria to find Roxanne's.  She was the original owner of The Treasure Hunt until she sold it.  She then bought the property back and re-opened as A Wish and A Dream.

 Great play on word on this quilt.

 Lovely little corner for the knitters in the group.

 Some things we all should do on our bucket list.

 Great collection of wool.

 Wool patterns, threads on this wall.

 Need some jewelry?

 Featherweights of all colours of the rainbow.

 I'm partial to this one.

 Kaffe Fasset's fabrics on display.

 More fabrics, love the lime green wall beside the turquoise one.

 Toy kitchen furniture on display.

 Great design.

 Every day you should make a wish.  Check out Roxanne's when you are in the neighbourhood here is her link http://www.roxannequilts.com/

 May your crown never be empty.

 I love the flamingo pink showing off two of Mary Lou Weidman's Out of the Box quilts.  The turquoise booth and chairs below make this a favourite corner of mine.

 Farther north up the coast we dropped in on Quiltin' Cousins a great little beach house quilt shop.

 This place is small, but just crammed full of inspiration and fabrics.

 A great selection of books.

 Love all the flamingo themed items.

 Be careful, the king is watching you!

 An old hoosier is filled with trims.

 Cute owl mini quilt, aren't those eyes great?

 Watch out for those flamingos.

In Pismo Beach, make sure you check out Quiltin' Cousins.  Check out their link http://www.quiltincousins.net/

On the road again to San Diego, Coronado, Thousand Oaks.

The Country Loft in La Mesa is a lovely house that has been converted into an amazing space.  Even the back garden and garage have hidden gems.  I came upon this shop several years ago and then discovered JoAnn Mullay and her association with the shop.

 

The shop is just filled with fabrics and beautiful samples of dolls, quilts, stitchery along with antiques and gift items.http://www.cloft.com/

 Everywhere you look there is something to admire and desire. 

 One room beckons you to come to the next, but tread slowly so you don't miss a thing.

 JoAnn has just released a new book called Folk Branches, it combines the same design in stitching and fabric, wool or cotton your choice. http://www.jampatterns.com/

 Her sister Kathy was busy hanging samples and JoAnn was expected in about an hour to teach a class.

 

The book is a keeper, try and get a copy if you can.  Please check out JoAnn's blog http://www.woolcrazy-jam.blogspot.com/

 The book is a keeper, try and get a copy if you can. Go to JoAnn's blog

 Afterwards we went to the Del Coronado hotel and had a walk and enjoyed an ice cream cone on the sun deck.

 This iconic hotel was featured in Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis.

 It is truly a lovely place to visit, relax and enjoy the view for awhile.

 The Del Coronado Hotel, a real beauty.

 Walk along the beach and enjoy the sites.

 Mom sitting and enjoying the sun, the sea and the breezes.

 A closer view of the beach.

 Back at our hotel in San Diego the sun breaking through the clouds.

 Filippi's Pizza Grotto one of our favourite places to visit in Little Italy, first night we had pasta the second night we had pizza.  Leftovers for breakfast the next day.

 We headed north along 101 and then I-5 until we crossed over to Malibu.  Saw a sign on the side of the road saying Thousand Oaks 14 miles and decided to check out Cotton and Chocolate Quilt Shop that is currently being featured in Better Homes and Garden's Quilt Sampler Magazine.

 They have some wonderful samples and inspiration all over the shop.

 This is a large bright shop with very helpful staff.

 Love that basket quilt.

 Wonderful samples all around the shop.

 This mini quilt was hanging in the rest room!

 Lots of wool samples and beautiful wool for sale.

 When you go to Southern California check them out. http://www.cottonandchocolate.com/

On the road again next stop Temecula

After leaving Bakersfield we decided to make a side trip over to Palm Desert.  My cousin and her husband have a condo just of El Paseo and we dropped in to see her husband after having dinner at the Thai Smile.  If you are ever in Rancho Mirage go and enjoy a meal there.  I didn't go to either of the two quilt shops in the area this time; after all you have to save something for the next time you visit right?

 In Temecula we stopped into the Quilter's Coop in Old Town.  I went there many years ago to their old shop but had not been in this new bigger store.  They are at 28677 Old Town Front Street you can find them on line at www.quilterscooptemecula.com

 They have a lovely mix of civil war, wool, and contemporary fabrics.  The ladies in the shop were very helpful and enthusiastic about quilting.

 Lots of coop related items to show off their collections.

 Bright and cheery children's corner to inspire quilts.

 Just across the street I found The Wool Lady, Paulette from http://sweetp-paulette.blogspot.ca/ often blogs about this store when she is in Palm Springs for the winter so I had to check it out.

 Here is Ruth Molina with a wool piece hat she did, she brighten up the sunflowers and made them look like they were following the sun that day.  She is a lovely lady and I have not shown you all that she does.

 Ruth dyes her own wool and yarn.  She has needle punch, cross stitch, wool for quilts and also for hooking rugs.  This was my first visit and will not be my last to this wonderful shop.

 She recently expanded from a one room shop to a two room one and it is just loaded with samples and inspiration.

 She has some very whimsical collections of antiques and signage.  Check her out at 28690 Old Town Front Street Suite 310-320.  www.thewoolladyl.net

 Also in Temecula, but in a different part of town is the Temecula Quilt Co.  She just celebrated her 5th anniversary.

 This is the quilt she offered on her blog to celebrate the anniversary.

 This lovely quilt is for the 12 days of Christmas...started with one patch, then two for a half square triangle and finished with the 12 pieces for the rail fence in the bottom right corner! Check out her blog for the instructions at http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.ca/

 She has a lovely bright shop to show off the civil war reproduction fabrics along with some 1930's fabrics.

 In the left corner you can see a peek of her wool collection and also below the hanging quilt.

 The Temecula Quilt Co. is located at 33353 Temecula Parkway Suite 103.

Spotted this lovely iris just outside her shop on this warm sunny day.