Sand in my suitcase

We recently returned from a lovely family vacation to the Oregon Coast. We stayed in Seaside, but took many trips to charming Cannon Beach, which is just 7 miles down the road. We enjoyed gluten free crab cakes and fried calamari at Cranky Sue's, and the boys went nuts over the toy stores. Oh, and I found my way to Center Diamond in Cannon Beach where I stocked up on some brand spanking new Amy Butler fabric (which had arrived at the store that day!) and some vintage AB fabric printed by Kokka. Small quilt shops are so great because sometimes you find the most amazing stuff that sells out of the larger stores in a heartbeat.

The weather was quite chilly on the coast. High 50's/low 60's felt shocking to our warm weather systems. My mom and I took a trip to the local outlet mall so I could get some warmer clothes. Always on the lookout for fabric, I ended up scoring some amazing wool suiting at the Pendleton outlet. 3 yards for $5!! I felt like a thief.

We drove to Portland one afternoon because I really wanted to buy more Japanese craft magazines (see trip to San Francisco). Portland is also home to a Kinokuniya book store. It took my a while to find the right section - somehow I got stuck in the crochet section - but eventually I found the sewing magazines and added 3 more publications to my collection, including a Nani Iro book.