Design Wall Monday--2/25/19

Design Wall Monday is here.  See more Design Walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts. 

The rest of February will fly by this week, but I have been stitching and my Design Floor has seen a number of projects in progress.

I managed to get the label done for the just-turned-1-year old of a family friend--the pieced backing was all from stash.  The plaid has the same green as the Kona Tarragon solid on the front and binding.  I delivered the quilt to DD Erica on Friday and she'll take it to her friend. Can't wait to see little Sid on the quilt. 

Another backing was cobbled from leftover flannels for the baby quilt version of Falling Charms. It's folded in this pic but really is big enough.

Here's a pic of the finished top.  This is to be packaged up with batting for my sister to quilt, then I'll bind it before handing in to Guild for donation.  I kitted up a couple more charm square groupings to sew in the near future.

More Log Cabin Loonie blocks have been forming, my version of Julie's block are 7.5" unfinished.  Lots of 1.5" strips are getting cut from the scrap bins.

There are now 41 finished blocks and another dozen in progress--80 are required for my setting plan.

I spent some time organizing and culling the scrapbooking drawers I use for precut strips from scraps, separating solids by neutrals and colors to their own drawers.  I really must keep up on the scrap management--my cutting table regularly gets out of control!    

We celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary Sunday--well, we were going to have dinner out but then my husband called with a dead car battery, from the mall where he had been on an errand. The jump from my car didn't work so we had to call my mechanic brother for help, then went to his shop and he put in a new battery.  By that time it was  nearly 7:30 pm, our reservation had been canceled, and I voted for staying home for leftover homemade soup and cookies.  We'll reschedule the nice dinner out :)  Our grandsons have their shared birthday this week and then our youngest daughter has her birthday the following week.  It's a busy time of the year for celebrating--five weeks in a row for our family. 

Next up, I will revisit my Three For September challenge beginning March 1.  I've made my list of quilts and will work on one project every three days for the month of March.  The self-challenge I did in September was very energizing and I'm looking forward to more progress on WIPS, perhaps even a couple of finishes.

Getaway Weekend

Last month my darling husband and I had a fabulous getaway--and it was practically free. Grant was one of the winners of a sales promotion at work and was awarded a free weekend stay at the Bacara Resort and Spa in Santa Barbara.  The prize also included the valet and resort fee charge and a gift card for expenses.  Thank you, Hormel. We were upgraded to a wonderful suite when we arrived, yay!

  Isn't it lovely?  The other half of the suite was the luxurious and huge bathroom. 

Soaking tub, separate shower, generous vanity.

Opposite the bed was a console with TV and amenities, and a fireplace in the corner, with these double french doors leading to the private balcony.

 Our view was unobstructed since we were at the edge of the resort.  Ahhh.

The occasion was our 30th wedding anniversary.  We took this selfie right after arriving, and, I think, before Grant surprised me with some lovely diamond earrings and made me cry!

Before dinner we took a nature trail to the beach (I posted a picture of a bridge on the trail previously).  This shot is looking back to the large resort on the cliffside. 

Some local old dudes were freestylin with a Frisbee while the young surfers headed out to the waves.

Breakfast on the restaurant's outdoor patio was fantastic in the morning. 

This pier is privately owned and boats that service the offshore oil platforms moor here.

The next afternoon we took the Cliff Walk  that passed the restaurant patio--it was steep!  But charming scenery. This is looking south towards home.

We hung out a lot on the patio with our peekaboo view of one of the two pools.  Construction going on just below us was no bother. They were expanding one of the three restaurants on site and building another bar.

I brought some handwork and improvised a Hera marking tool with an iphone and a room keycard :)

This is my long term UFO, Pink Lemonade, from Lori of Humble Quilts' quiltalong a couple of years ago.  Someday I'll finish all the big stitch quilting.

"Fountain" in the resort entrance courtyard. There's a drought here and no water is running.  The reflecting balls are about 2 feet in diameter--gorgeous.  The grounds and Spanish-style buildings were stunning, and the staff could not have been better.  I don't think there was a single time that a staff member we encountered did not greet us or offer assistance.  We finished our anniversary weekend with a real treat, massages at their fantastic luxury spa.  It was a wonderful weekend and since it's just up the coast from home, there was no tiring long return trip.  We did give ourselves another day off on Monday which made the getaway glow last a bit longer :)

Looking Back

Can you read this sign?  Regular gas at $4.37 at this downtown Chevron yesterday (probably the most expensive filling station in town).

27 years ago today Grant and I got married and soon started our honeymoon with a road trip.  It was supposed to have been an airplane trip to get onto a 3-day cruise to Mexico, but we missed our plane because we went to the wrong airline hub.  By the time we discovered our mistake, our good friend who drove us was off showing his son the planes landing and we couldn't find him.  We raced to the furthest hub where we were supposed to be but were too late, the plane was gone.  So instead we honeymooned in Carmel-by-the Sea and San Francisco.  Good thing gas was only $1.25 a gallon or so then! I was driving the last leg on the way back home and was caught speeding on a two lane highway as I passed a couple of trucks that had a Highway Patrol unit hidden in between.  Yep, the first time I ever signed my new married name was on a speeding ticket.  Happy Anniversary, darling, you are a keeper.  Here's to the next 27!

Take a little trip

Grant and I got away for the weekend, just up the coast about two hours, to Pismo Beach.  It was wonderful to relax and enjoy a couple of days without work or other obligations intruding into our time together.  By coincidence, a good friend of Grant's and his wife were also celebrating their anniversary by weekending in Pismo and we got together several times, which was fun.  It was overcast on the way up, perfect for driving, and rained hard Friday evening, night, and Saturday morning, but then the weather was perfect. 

Cottage Inn by the Sea

Our room had two king beds!  We had a peek-a-boo view of this:

This pic of Pismo Beach Pier above was taken from the lovely garden at the foot of the Inn's property.

The succulent garden was gorgeous!

Someday I'd like to do my frontyard over like this.  After breakfast we drove the mile or so to downtown Pismo.

We were at about the point of the last palm tree on the left, going to the boardwalk and pier, when a familiar looking woman passed in front of me...it was my Aunt Peggy-- followed by her husband Tommy-- who had driven to the coast for the day from the San Joaquin Valley.  Another 30 seconds and we would have missed each other--amazing coincidence!  We visited for a short while and then they took off to go do their real errand, visiting a vintage guitar shop.

The hotels line the bluff between the coast and the 101 highway.  There is a wide beach that extends for miles southward, ending in dunes that are popular with the ATV riding crowd.

Mr. Pelican agreed to be background in this photo.  We traded portraits with a trio of pier walkers.  It was really windy and the lady caught me trying to keep my hair out of my mouth! 

I loved the little white birds and their reflections in this shot.

Segways for rent!  Pretty entertaining to watch people try these out.  Grant accompanied me to a quilt shop where the only thing bought was a quilter's tattoo.  We did some shopping, eating, and people watching in town, before heading back to the hotel for some lazing about. Grant put the tattoo on my ankle, took a photo and we tried to fake out the girls that I actually got one, which was a bit of fun (though they rightly didn't believe it!).  I was on the hunt for a quilt book so took myself up to Morro Bay--20 minute or so drive north--to The Cotton Ball quilt shop.  Some fabric jumped in my arms and I also found the book I was looking for, Kim Bracket's Scrap Basket Surprises.  Love that book!

The drive back brought gorgeous vistas like this.

This is Bishop Peak, I think.  It's north of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and I remember there are cross country races that take place nearby.  The hills were so green and velvety, it made me wonder if that is what Ireland looks like.

While we were enjoying the fading sunlight in the garden, some wild bunnies came out to play, but didn't wait to get their photos taken.  So we had to take one of ourselves!

Sunday morning we had to pack up and leave, too soon, but before we went there was one more adventure.  The sea was pretty brown and churned up but lacy with foam.

 

We descended  this steep staircase to the beach.

And watched the waves crash for a while.

We headed back down south with plenty of memories from our short weekend getaway. On our way home, we left the 101 for the back road to Santa Barbara, Hwy 154, passing through Solvang, a Danish themed town.

  More gorgeous vistas greeted us on the highway.  Californians savor the short months of green hills--too often they are brown, brown, brown!

A little snow on the peaks of one of the ranges.

A peek at a piece of Lake Cachuma from a fast-moving car.

This beautiful sight from the far end of the valley as we climbed the mountain to San Marcos Pass, above Santa Barbara.

Coming down the other side, our beloved Channel Islands appear off the coast.  Oops, I got in this photo too!  It was a wonderful trip and we enjoyed every minute of it.  We promised ourselves we wouldn't wait another five years to do this again!