TUESDAY QUILT SHOP HOPPING

Things are open on Tuesdays in Missouri, so we hit some quilt shops.

I had just planned on two, the first being Quilting is My Therapy in Liberty, MO.  I need to find the fabrics I don't have for the Elizabeth Hartman's Fancy Forest quilt I want to make.  I found a few there, they didn't have much fabric. The gal working there told us we had to go visit Missouri Star Quilts in Hamilton about an hour north.  Darrell agreed and off we went.

Quilting is my Therapy 

 I'm so glad we did, this place is amazing.  They have 12 stores, taking up a city block.  Each store specializes in a different style of fabrics.  I headed for the Modern store, looking to find the fabrics I needed.

The Modern store.

THREE QUILT SHOPS IN NEW YORK

Saturday morning  I dropped Darrell off where he was giving his all day workshop and I headed out to see some local quilt shops.

The first on the list opened at 9:30am, which I was happy to see.

IVY THIMBLE QUILT AND GIFT SHOP

in Victor, New York

A very nice store, they had everything you could possible want.  There was a class or workshop going on in the classroom and they were having a ball.  Everyone was laughing and talking and it sounded like a lot of fun.

I had decided I had enough fabric and would limit myself at the shops I saw today.  Now I'm kicking myself that I didn't buy more at this first stop.  They had some wonderful fabrics that I passed by.  (I would have gladly made this my one and only stop if I had only known).

On the road again, headed to the next shop.

PATRICIA'S FABRIC HOUSE

in East Rochester, New York

There's a banner on the outside, saying 30 years in business.  (It looked it).

Their fabric choices were not my fabric choices.  I was hard pressed to  pick out a few things to buy.

They did have a triangle ruler that looked like it would work better than the one I have at home that I've been using on a current project.  Plus they had a bowlful of what they called "Quilter's Candy"   - little 6" by 6" pieces of fabric folded up into little squares.  They were only 25 cents, I couldn't resist.

Off again, this time to:

JACKIE LYNN'S FABRICS

also known as Discount Sewing Center and Jackie Lynn's Fabrics

in Rochester, New York

Nothing much happening here.  There were shop cats, but they were standoffish.  I found a few things and was happy to move on.

If you want a sewing machine, this might be the place to go.

That green is a fabric I had before and I used it all up, so I had to buy more, I love it.

Done for the day with quilt shops, I went back to the room.  My phone was almost dead.  I didn't have a charging cord with me and I was afraid if my phone died I'd never find my way back without Waze.

QUILT SHOP HOPPING IN CINCINNATI

While Darrell was busy working on a video for Popular Woodworking, I spent the day quilt shop hopping in the Cincinnati area. 

I had done a little research before our trip and was armed with a map, addresses and a GPS.

What I love about this is driving around and getting impressions and a feel for the countryside.  I then try to buy fabrics that reflect those impressions and feelings through their colors and textures.

First stop was The Quilt Cabin at 1703 State Route 28 in Goshen, they open at 9am, which I love since I'm a morning person and this allowed me to get a earlier start.  I had a nice chat with the lady that owns it.  She and her husband built this cute little cabin after she retired to have something fun to do.  I hope she does well.

The Quilt Cabin 

Inside the Quilt Cabin

The fabrics I purchased at the Quilt Cabin

  The next stop wasn't really a quilt shop.  I found it online, it's a fabric store that features home decor, bridal and apparel fabrics.  Sometimes you can find some very interesting and different fabrics at these kind of stores, things you won't find at a quilt shop.   Their website made it sound like a huge place, I was a little disappointed to see how small it really was.  There wasn't much cotton fabrics to choose from.  This is Banasch's Fabrics at 3380 Red Bank Road. 

Banasch's Fabrics

Banasch's Fabrics inside

Fabrics I bought at Banasch's Fabrics

Next, was a short hop to Sewn Studio at 3212 Madison Road.  It's a very charming little shop featuring modern style fabrics, which I must admit I'm drawn to, but hardly ever use.  They have a small collection of fabrics, but a very interesting collection.  It looks like they go through their fabrics very quickly.  I found some irresistables in the leftovers/fat quarter basket near the checkout.

Sewn Studio

Sewn Studio inside

Fabric I bought at Sewn Studio

After a quick stop at Whole Foods for lunch, which was right on the way, I headed to the one I've been anticipating,  Silk Road Textiles at 6106 Hamilton Avenue.  My GPS took me through some questionable areas, but the store was in a nice little neighborhood with plenty of parking in the rear of the store.  Their website had enticed me with promises of batiks, Japanese fabrics, hand-dyes and other exotic treasures.  I was not disappointed.  This is my favorite quilt shop of the day.  There was lots of interesting fabrics from all over the world to choose from plus there was all of these beautiful skeins yarns everywhere in the most beautiful colors I've ever seen.  It made me wish I was a knitter so I could buy some, but I resisted.  I still managed to spend a pile of money!

Silk Road Textiles

Silk Road Textiles inside

Fabrics I bought at Silk Road Textiles

Next, the GPS took me to a posh neighborhood in search of Aunt Ruth's Quilt Shop.  It told me that this big house was the place.  I think not, on to the next I go.  

As it turns out, people at the next quilt shop told me this was the correct place.  Apparently, Aunt Ruth had a store front at one time, but has closed that and installed a small store in her home, which is opened on a limited basis.  I had failed to notice that they aren't open on Tuesdays.  I'm going to assume she puts out an inviting sign on the days she is open.  

The next and last shop on my list, was Stitches at 16 Village Square.  Village Square is a delightful little collection of quaint shops in a historic square. Stitches is in a building that features a bunch of little rooms, with nooks and crannys jammed with surprises and collections.  It was hard to get a good picture of the inside.  There was a group of women there enjoying the classroom where they gather to sew and chat.   

Stitches Quit Shop

Stitches Quilt Shop inside

Fabrics I bought at Stitches

 They told me about another shop I should visit, Lavender Street.  But, by this time I was too hot and tired.  It is still 87 degrees and very high humidity. The sun is very intense.  I think I've spent enough money, too.  Turns out, it was very close to our hotel, but I was quilt shopped out.  I found out from their website, when I got back home, the store is closing and they will be online only.  That seems to be the way of things lately.  It's a shame.  How will we be able to quilt shop hop if they are all online!

So, to sum up -  it seems I've got a great little collection of fabrics. Now I just have to come up with a quilt pattern for them (and make it), that will commemorate my visit to Cincinnati.  I've been taking pictures of stone walls, which are everywhere. I'm thinking there's inspiration there somewhere....

Drive by photography

FABRIC SHOPPING IN KENTUCKY

While on our trip to Kentucky, we stopped at a few quilt stores so that I could buy some fabrics to make a Kentucky Quilt to commemorate our vacation.

Those of you familiar with this blog will know that I have been making these kinds of quilts for a while now.

First place we stopped was only because of our annoyingly stupid GPS machine.  He programmed it to take us to Midway, which was only a few miles northeast of Lexington.  The machine thinks Midway is somewhere on the other side of Louisville (a difference of 75 miles).  So, we're driving along, I'm kind of sleepy and dozing, pretty soon I say how much farther are we going?  He says the GPS says we have another hour or so to drive (in a rain storm).  I wasn't happy.  I kept thinking, the farther we drove out, the farther we would need to drive back.  So, we punched in the nearest Starbucks and headed there.  We got some coffee and connected to the internet with his computer and looked up Midway.  Ha!  We had passed it by probably an hour back.  I don't know where the stupid GPS was taking us.  While we were sitting there talking about what we were going to do, I looked up quilt shops in the area, turns out there was one just a few miles up the road.  So we went there.  It had to be one of the nicest (and biggest) quilt shops I've ever been in.  There was a great selection, laid out nicely.  Lots of samples on the walls, books, and gadgets, and all kinds of interesting things.  Darrell even found something he had to buy.  Here it is, Among Friends Quilt Shop in Louisville, KY.  

It was pouring down rain when I took this photo

Cutting the 'theme' fabric

And the fabrics I picked out, with the 'theme' fabric on the bottom

My usual way to do this is: I pick a 'theme' fabric and then pick fabrics that 'go with' it.  Not usually liking something so obvious, when I saw this fabric I couldn't resist, being in the "Horse Capitol of the World"    It's possible it will end up only on the back.  At this point there is no plan.  After that, I don't take these fabrics with me into the next stores, I just buy what appeals to me at the moment, with a general idea of color, texture and value, trying to remain true to the fabrics already purchased.

Next stop, much later, after a day of sightseeing in Frankfort and the elusive Midway, was a very nice shop in Lexington called "Q-first in Quilting".  Odd name, but a very nice store.  They haven't been in business long, but they are doing a fantastic job.  Darrell immediately noticed the ceiling was painted flat black, he found that much more appealing then the usual all white everything in most quilt stores (I think I was guilty of that myself).  I liked it, too.  It's easier on the eyes and sets off the colors very nicely.  This too was a big store with lots to see.  The people were very nice and even stayed open past their closing, since I was still shopping.

The GPS had a hard time finding this place, too.

Inside Q-first, and no, those are not my fabric picks she's cutting.

Here are the fabrics I bought. I had to stop myself, they had great choices. 

I also ended up buying a book because of one of the samples they had on the wall.  I have a lot of Kaffe's books, so what's another one, huh?

Game Board Quilt by Liza Prior Lucy

The book is Kaffe Fassett's Quilts en Provence.  I love Kaffe Fassett's fabrics.  In fact, they had a very nice selection here at this store and I kept going back to look at them, but I only found one that fit in with my 'theme', (that would be the second up from the bottom on the left, above.)

The next morning, we had some time before our plane left, so we did some more sight-seeing and went to this last quilt store as an after-thought, since it was so close to where we were.  This one wasn't as nice as the last two, but the people were very friendly and we had a nice chat with the gal cutting my fabric.  Her daughter had just moved to Seattle and we talked about that.   They do have a very nicely organized 'color-wall' (as you can see on their website).  In all the excitement, I completely forgot to take pictures of the place.  But here are the fabrics I bought at The Quilter's Square in Lexington.  I was thinking I needed more greens because Kentucky is the greenest place I've ever been!

The colors of Kentucky: greens, grays and whites.

I don't have a plan yet, but ideas are bubbling around in there.   Stay tuned.