Quilt Shop in Cannon Beach, OR

Center Diamond Fabric in Cannon Beach is the place to go.  What a find!  We just happened to park in the public parking next to it.

It's a gorgeous building with beautiful gardens and what's inside doesn't disappoint!  (The only thing that hurts my Canadian brain is the way that 'Center' is spelled.  I keep spelling it wrong right!)

They stock a huge supply of modern fabrics, children's fabrics, batiks, linens.  It is a packed shop but beautifully merchandised.  They have quilts on display but also bags, clothing and more.

I wanted a yard of each and every bolt in the entire store.  But we couldn't fit it in the tent trailer so I held back.

A modern sewist's dream come true.  I'd love to work here!

Lots of flannels!

And pretty much every recent quilt and sewing book on the market.  This was just some of the selection!  So much fun!

If you are in Cannon Beach, OR this shop is a must see!

Quilt Shops in Astoria, OR

I stopped by three quilt shops while in Oregon last week and I thought I'd do a little blog post about them.  I'll cover the two in Astoria today and tomorrow I'll cover the shop in Cannon Beach.  Saving the best for last.

First shop I visited was disappointing.  It was messy and unorganized with hardly any selection.  It was also a yarn store.  I have nothing against yarn stores, in fact I've seen some pretty good ones.  This store didn't have a good mix though.  And I think that a knitter would feel the same way.

The second store we visited (my daughters and I) was called Homespun Quilts.  The address is 108 10th Street.  It was a much nicer store.  They didn't have a huge selection of fabrics in my style, but the store was merchandised beautifully, organized and just plain nice to be in.  It had a higher ceiling in the back of the store with some skylights.  The effect was a nice airy, roomy feeling.

A few antiques to hold thing always looks really good.

I found some Richard Scary fabric in this section.  I've been eyeing it for a long time and finally bought a piece.  Richard Scary is one of my favourite kids authors.

Love this washing machine filled with scraps.  Not that I need any help in that way!

So, if you are in Astoria, OR and would like to visit a quilt shop I'd suggest Home Spun Quilts at 108 10th Street!

Oregon - A photo post

First visit to the beach.  At Fort Stevens State Park.  We all tore our shoes off and ran toward the water.  Amazing!

The Peter Iredale Shipwreck.

Trying to get a nice sunset shot.

My little clam.  She likes to dig and dig.

Whatever is on the mind gets put on to the big canvas of sand.  This is on husband's mind, obviously.  He also wrote out pi to the 25th (ish) decimal place.

Ben always has the Vancouver Canucks on his mind. :-)

So this is me trying to act younger than I am, obviously.

This may look like a cool shot, but it was not so cool about .01 seconds later when I was covered in sand.  I think I still have some in my ear.

Zachary loved everything about the beach.  The water, the sand and playing with cousins.  This is at Cannon Beach.

Sunset at the jetty.  Ft. Stevens Park is huge and gorgeous.  It's on the peninsula between the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean.

My older girls.  Love this pic.

My husband, cycling in the Pacific Ocean.  Just noticed he's on Ben's bike.  Not sure why.

Grilled cheese over the fire.  

View from the Astoria Tower.  You can see the Astoria Bridge in the photo.  It's 6.6 km's long.

The cousins.

Our best investment into this trip were two 'real' shovels.  Not plastic ones that break and bend but real garden shovels.  A ladies size and a kids size one.  They made some pretty good sand castles.

Do I need a caption here?  Stitching at the beach - wonderful!

Here we are at the beach which is really on the Columbia River.  But it is so gigantic that it seems like a bay.

I think it's nearly impossible to get a sunset on the Oregon Coast without clouds.  But these puffy clouds sure are gorgeous, aren't they?

A Swimsuit!

I've wanted to try making a swimming suit for a couple of years now and got the courage to finally do it!  

I bought a Jalie pattern (3023) and I tried to read as many tips as possible online.   Renae from Creative Chicks has an abundance of information that was very helpful!  Thanks Renae!!  The fabric is from my local Fabricland.

The brown polka dot fabric isn't very good quality and looks faded already.  Also, the top of the front sags a little.  Partly the fabric choice but I've noticed other people having the same issue with this pattern.  Maybe I could make that part of the band a touch narrower, or maybe put some elastic in - just enough to hold it flat, not gather.

That said I'm very happy with it!  And glad I've finally gotten over my fear of trying :)

Some new fabric!

While in BC, Alisa and I were able to pop out to the local quilt shop - Hamels- for a brief excursion. It was short but very sweet :) Lots of $2 fat quarters!

My first bits of Sara Jane in the bottom left...and don't you just love that print in the middle?  Not sure what it'll become but the ones on top coordinate :)

Lots to work from now and it'll make my existing stash fresh again!

Mini Pink

So excited to have found this used for my girls to use!  It has hardly been used and was only $35.  Works well and has all the basic stitches.  They bought it with their own hard-earned money.  Think they like sewing as much as I do?!

Hi! from Suzanne

We had a fantastic holiday! So many beautiful sights to see!

Bridal Veil Falls

Harrison Lake - Green Point

Cultus Lake

Playing in the Ocean

Rogers pass

Lake Louise

Badlands near Drumheller, AB

Canola fields in Alberta

Alisa already shared a bunch of visiting ones so I won't do that again but a fantastic time was had by all - the kids will have some wonderful memories. I'm sure after 11 days of us Alisa was ready to have her house back to normal and for us it's so good to be home again!

Recovering

No, not that kind of recovering.  I haven't been sick, just making some chairs beautiful!

Bought them used for $50 (4 of them.)  Add $10 for fabric and we have some nice dining room* chairs.  Left side is the new fabric, right side is the old.  I love it!  I plan to paint my table red so they should go quite well together.

*It isn't really a dining room as we don't dine in there.  We play games and the kids craft in there.  But it's attached to my living room, so I like it to look pretty in there.

By the way, I noticed that this is our 400th post on this blog.  It's actually been three years since we started.  Not sure where time is going?!  Anyway, thanks for reading our little blog and for all of your comments!

Good Times

Karen, Suzanne and me.  Just before we got sewing (and eating ice cream.)

 Two of my girls and one of Suzanne's.  Can you guess which ones are mine and Suzanne's?

Sweet baby love.

These girls love each other!

Our older girls.

My youngest two.  I had to snap this photo because it's evidence that they are starting to get along.

We had a great time.  It was a little crazy at times with 14 people living in my house for 10 days, but it was worth it!  Thanks for coming, Suzanne!