Shopping

Last Thursday I went to Taos, NM for the day. It's about an hour and a half drive from Alamosa, CO so it makes a nice day trip. I went with my P.E.O. chapter. One of our members lives in Taos. We had our meeting then spent the rest of the day having lunch, shopping and enjoying each other's company. It was such a nice girls day out!

My first stop was Taos Adobe Quilting. The shop is not large, but they carry mostly brights, geometric prints, southwest prints and batiks.

Here's what I bought:

One yard each of every A Stitch in Color print they had. I have an idea now for my A Stitch in Color fat quarters and some yardage might come in handy.

Some Art of Possibility fat quarter bundles. Not all the prints are Art of Possibility fabrics but they all go nicely together.

Art of Possibility is a licensing agency that represents physically disabled artists under the Art of Possibility brand. Some of the prints above were done by a legally blind artist. I just love his work!

Some London Calling fat quarters and two others I just liked (two on the bottom right).

Whew! Good thing I only go to Taos about once a year! I bought a few other things, not fabric/quilt related too. I can't show those because they will be gifts.

In unrelated shopping, Interweave Press had their annual Hurt Book Sale recently. I decided to give these books a good home.

This is the first time I have bought anything from their Hurt Book Sale. I was very surprised when these arrived in what I would consider excellent condition. Maybe they are emotionally hurt because no one wanted them? In any case, I got three great books for less that $50, including shipping. The middle one and left one have been on my wish list for a while and the right one is a brand new release.

Taos Architecture

This rusty old sconce is the last of my photos from our recent trip to Taos that I will share. There were several of these around the play area. I wonder what it looks like lit up at night?

I have been working on some sewing projects that I will share with you soon. My guild is going to be doing another block swap soon. We'll be doing a disappearing 9 patch (or tossed 9 patch), so I have made up a small charity quilt top to demonstrate what you can do with these blocks. I am also making a more planned version using Cub Scout and Boy Scout fabric that will be for Parker. My mom sent me a couple of quilt tops to quilt and then give to charity in addition to one that she wants back because she plans to give it as a gift.

I've also been asked to make a few more thread catchers to sell. A lady who came to our guild's demo day on National Quilting Day bought one and would like two more! I'll probably make three or four and just let her choose two from these.

Carved Columns from Taos

One of the interesting things about going to Taos is the architecture. This column is in the play area behind the toy store Twirl. Here is a detail shot.

The carving reminds me of a traditional quilting pattern and some applique.

Day Trip to Taos, Part 2

Here is Parker in front of the toy store, Twirl. If you go to Taos, just look for the duck. Then you will have found the toy store.

In the play area out back there are musical toys, mainly drums and these crazy xylophones. The xylophones have a surprisingly nice sound.

There are benches for parents to sit, a tree house and a large, nicely designed padded climbing area with a bouncy room, a slide and more. There are hoola hoops lying around to play with and little animals, like the duck, to sit on. As you can tell from the xylophone photos, it is shady area - a plus in my book.

Day Trip to Taos

Yesterday we took a day trip to Taos, New Mexico. It is only an hour and a half drive from Alamosa, CO. I stopped in one of my favorite quilt stores, Taos Adobe Quilting. Above is a photo of what I bought. They sell lots of southwest style fabrics, have tons of the brights I like and feature fabrics designed by local artists. They also have a nice selection of Laurel Burch fabric and other merchandise - bags, mugs, this little wrist wallet/purse. While I shopped in the quilt store, Tony and Parker were at a toy store a few doors down from the quilt store. The name of the store is Twirl. They sell all sorts of interesting toys, have a koi pond inside the store and behind the store is an awesome (free) playground. Parker spent more time on the playground than he did in the store! I'll post a few photos of the play area another time. Lots of interesting architecture in Taos.

On the way home we stopped at the gorge bridge. There is a rest area on the west side of the bridge.

Tony and Parker walked out halfway across the bridge and dropped rocks into the river below. Boys! They see water and have to throw something in it!

I stayed at the rest area and took photos. It is always windy on the bridge. It was a sunny day but with the sun going down and the wind, it was getting cooler fast. With my new camera, I don't need to be very close to get good photos though!