Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Quilting in Monterey


This weekend our family friends took us for a vacation in the Monterey, California area.
We had a lot of fun and spend some quality time together, away from the noise of real life.  

My favorite part was taking photos at Point Lobos, which is land set aside for conservation as a state preserve.  Tons of animals, including sea lions and their babies.  Cute, although they still smell like sea lions!

You can see many photos of this place online, they will give you a feel for how dramatic it is.  Hiking around is not difficult, but it was a little tricky for our 3 yr old at times due to uneven ground and rocks.

Not far from there is the town Monterey, where we ended up playing around a little bit.

Here's the scoop:

1)  Quilting: Back Porch Fabric 
(photo above)
Great selection of fabrics.  Very friendly staff.  Tons of Kaffe Fassett Fabric.  Quilts hanging up on the walls are clean looking and inspirational.
Best Find: awesome selection of batting, my favorite kind was there for the taking - Quilters Dream in request (super thin) loft.  Also loved some fish themed fabric by Anna Griffin.  Lastly, near the counter, they have hand blown glass seam rippers.  I didn't buy one since I would lose it, but they were beautiful.


2)  Knitting and Spinning:  Monarch Knitting and Quilts
Large shop, excellent collection of various kinds of yarn, tools, books, and supplies for spinning.  Not a huge selection of fiber that is pre-dyed, but lots of un-dyed fiber and huge selection of acid dyes.  The shop itself has 2 dogs that seemed to spend a lot of time there, very cute.  Staff was extremely friendly and informative.
Best find:  Kromski Spinning Wheel Oil - very long nozzle for getting in those hard to reach places of your spinning wheel.  Super cool.  $8.

3)  Lunching: Victorian Corner
Cozy lunch spot with American food, sandwiches, salads, and they offered us a choice between both breakfast and lunch menus.
Best find: Meatball Sandwich - home made sauce.  Don't miss it.  2nd generation family business, yummy food, friendly service, great for families and super cute vibe.


3 comments:

  1. Looks like a really nice vacation! I too prefer using Quilter's Dream batting. I brought a stash of it to Japan!

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  2. looks like a great quilt shop! what is it with seam rippers I also seem to misplace them a lot!!!!!
    Kathie

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  3. Bonjour,
    je vois que vous donnez des adresses de quilt shop ,je vais à san francisco dans un mois est ce que vous en connaissez là bas si oui pouvez vous me les indiquer ,merci d'avance (voir mon blog )
    amicalement martine
    google traduct
    Hello,
    I see you give addresses quilt shop, I go to san francisco in a month is what you know out there if so can you tell me, thank you in advance (to see my blog)
    friendly martine

    ReplyDelete