Emily over at JoyfulAbode.com featured my creative space! Very cool!!! Make sure to keep reading her blog all through Feb. for features of creative spaces all over the blogosphere!

Today marks the end of the Southern California Quilt Run. I am sad. I was sad on Saturday as I shopped in the last five stores. But, in order to make this appealing to all my readers (thanks, you two!), I’ve decided to tell you the best shops and what you’ll gain by visiting - quilter or not.

Top Three stores, in no particular order:

1. Sowing Sisters, Carlsbad, CA. First of all, come to Carlsbad. It’s the best little vacation beach town going. You may need to be wealthy to afford the trip, but it will be worth it. Carlsbad is a little jewel located north of San Diego by about 40 miles. There’s a gorgeous beach with plenty of parking, nice sand and freezing cold Pacific Ocean water - so don’t forget your wetsuit. You’ll probably see some dolphins and maybe even a whale. About four blocks from the beach, right across from a great little bar called the Cantina is Sowing Sisters Quilt Shop. They claim to have the largest selection of Amy Butler fabrics and patterns in all of Southern California. I would denounce this seemingly huge claim, but since I have in fact been to (almost) every quilt store in Southern California, I can honestly say they DO have the most Amy Butler fabric. Plus, they’re really nice. But don’t take your quilting to the beach - it will get dirty. Take it to the pool. By the way, this store is so cool - they even have a blog.
2. Quilter’s Coop, Temecula, CA. They don’t have a website - that I could find, anyway, but the store is wonderful. First, Temecula is chocked-full of wineries. You’ll need a driver, so you can get good and schnockerd. Start at Old Town, visit all the cute little antique shops, be sure to taste some Olive Oils, and then go to the best group of shops ever. In one building is a quilt store, a stamp/scrapbooking store, a crochet store, and a jewelry store. Plus, there’s a jail (for show - or for husbands…not sure.) Anyway, Quilter’s Coop has a huge selection of fabrics and patterns. They were the only shop on the run to carry Anna Griffin’s new line of fabrics or the Bleeker Street line. Sadly, they were sold out of the cool dots by the time I got there, but they’re pretty close to my house, so I can go back anytime. Then, get a driver and head over to Rancho California Drive. There are at least ten wineries - maybe more. Have fun with the tastings, then take a load off at one of the spas. Sounds nice, right?
3. Monica’s Quilt and Bead Creations, Palm Desert, CA. I’m not going to lie - this place was HOT (the desert, not the store). But, Palm Springs is just a stones throw away, and according to that new show Hidden Palms, exciting things are happening there all the time. Monica’s was my very last store, and boy, did I end on a good one. First of all, I’m also a jewelry maker, so I was drawn to her huge selection of beads. But even though I lingered over the huge assortment of Swarovski crystals, I was very disciplined. Instead, I only purchased three new patterns and about 10 fat quarters. It really is a beautiful store with tons of options, great classes, super friendly staff, and especially friendly owner. I was happy to turn in my passport and get my “I did it!” bar for my quilt run pin - although there are no spaces on the bar, so it looks like “ididit”…that’s right, idiot. Well, I did drive 1,100 miles and spend a lot of money - so it might not be far off.

I also found this fun virtual shop hop called FabShop Hop. It’s a hop through virtual quilt and fabric stores - good idea, right? When you find the little pink bunny, you click it and enter to win prizes!

Happy Quilting! Completed project pictures coming soon!

My crafting desires ebb and flow. When I started rubber stamping, I would sit at my desk every night for hours (before I had a son) and make cards for any occasion. I was tireless. This went on for months. My interest began to wane as my stamp collection and paper supply grew to colossal proportions.

Then I started making jewelry. Again, I worked tirelessly, creating necklaces, bracelets and matching earrings. I gave away almost every piece I made, and somehow was never smart enough to take a picture of my designs. Now I have bins and bins of semi-precious beads, wire in all sizes, every kind of clasp you can think of, and I haven’t made a piece of jewelry since mid-2006.

When I was 6 months pregnant, I took a beginning quilting class. I quickly completed five quilt tops and one complete quilt. Machine quilted, of course. Otherwise, that amount would be ridiculously unattainable. Towards the last month of my pregnancy, and for a good 8 months after I had my son, my hands were so swollen that I couldn’t do the final hand-stitching for the binding, so I stopped quilting.

My son is now almost 18 months old. With the exception of the odd last-minute gift, I haven’t crafted anything since he was born. This shames me.

Recently, I pulled a half-finished afghan out of the closet and kept it near me as much as possible. I worked on it a few nights a week, and I’m proud to say that I finished it a week ago. It’s not very big, but the basket-weave pattern came out so thick and warm and snuggly. My son loves to lay on it on the floor - and he doesn’t really lay down on the floor, so this is really saying something.

A few days ago, I pulled my big plastic bin of quilt tops out of the garage. Last night, I sat down and quilted one of them - I made it almost all the way through, when my bobbin ran out. Then, as I tried to wind a new bobbin, my bobbin-winder wouldn’t spin! So - I finally get back to sewing, and my machine gives up on me!

But I will not be deterred. I will take my machine to a repair shop this weekend, and hopefully, I’ll be sewing by Sunday. The good news is that the noise doesn’t wake up the baby or my husband, so I’ll be able to quilt at night. I’d like to get all the quilt tops sandwiched, quilted, and the binding sewn on, so I can do the hand-stitching anywhere anytime - like out in the yard while my son swims in the baby pool or whatever. I’m finding that mobility is the key to productivity.

Now, if I could just get motivated about running!