Road Trip

My husband, son and I took a road trip last weekend.  With everyone's busy schedule, it was necessarily short, but fun.  We drove to Port Angeles, WA and took the ferry to Victoria.  I hadn't been there since the summer of '62 and didn't actually remember much from that trip, so nearly everything was new to me. The city was gearing up for Victoria Day, which was the following Monday.  Sunday was the only full day we were there, so we packed a lot in.

We found a great little bakery for breakfast and then headed out to Craigdarroch Castle.  It has an interesting history and is worth a quick Google.  One of the things that struck me (after the fabulous woodwork) is some very cool stained glass windows.  The colors and shapes will inspire some quilt designs.

                                                      Even the transoms were cool.

The views from the castle are lovely and would be amazing on a clear day.  

For the afternoon, we drove out to Butchart Gardens.  What was once a quarry is now acres of pure beauty.   

The tulips are just finishing up and the roses have yet to bloom.  If I lived nearer, I'd be there every season  just to feed my soul a dish of beauty.

I don't think I've ever seen blue poppies before.  

Now I have a couple million ideas buzzing around in my head.

We had dinner that night at a Scottish pub.  I had my first lamb burger.   It had a sauce on it that had a bit of a kick.   Now THAT's tasty!

The day was full of inspiration for both quilt studio and kitchen.

We finished two new patterns before leaving on the trip and both will be available on the website within the next week.

Here's Spring Sampler -

And In Full Bloom -

Plan for summer:

Worry less.  Quilt more.

Candy