Vacation Time

My husband and I had a wonderful vacation this month. We went to St. Louis, MO, which I will be the first to admit is not a top ten vacation destination for everyone.  But, we were attending a family wedding and both of us have aunts, uncles and cousins in the area that we wanted to visit, so it was the perfect for us. 

Our trip north was divided up with an overnight stop in Paducah, KY. And since I have been a good girl this year, it just so happened that Hancock's of Paducah was at the exact same exit off the interstate that our hotel was! Imagine that! 

I'm not sure what I had expected on my first trip to this fabric mecca, but it was different than I had thought it would be. I guess I was expecting more of a quilt shop atmosphere with lots of samples up to tempt you. 

But, Hancock's is all about the fabric! It was one HUGE room with bolt, after shelf, after aisle of fabric! I was speechless.

The first thing that caught my eye when I walked in was this huge table piled with "end of bolts" for $5.99/yard. I grabbed a cart and started digging. Some time later my husband roused from his nap in the car and came in to check on me and see what all the fascination was about. I was still standing in the same spot I had been since I walked in the door! Oh, the treasures I was finding! 

As it turns out, that was all the time I had! I never even walked up and down the aisles to look at all the beautiful bolts of brand new fabrics. I took my fabric to a table to be measured and then to the register to pay. I bought 38 different fabrics! And I had a purpose for each and every one of them-no "stash building" for me. I found 12 different fabrics from Moda's 3 Sister's Wintergreen line. I am going to be able to make a gorgeous Christmas quilt with them. I found a Snoopy fabric to use in a quilt I am going to make for my granddaughter, Madison. I bought some fabric for gifts for friends. I bought two identical 2 1/2 yard pieces that will be a wonderful backing on a quilt. I found two that I knew my daughter, Melissa would like. I was very pleased with my purchases. :)

We needed to finish our trip, because we had a wedding to attend that night. It was a gorgeous lake side ceremony at a winery. The weather was perfect and we danced the night away. 

We did some sight seeing while in town too. We toured the Anheuser-Busch brewery. I got to see my first Clydesdale horses up close and personal. They are huge and beautiful creatures!

The tour was fascinating. 

 The brewery is so ornate.

A true St. Louis landmark.

It was fun to learn how they make the beer.

And at the end you get to sample their wares! Cheers!

No trip to St. Louis is complete without a trip to the top of the arch. And so we did....

What a spectacular view!

We spent an afternoon strolling the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

We also visited the towns of St. Charles, MO and Lebanon, IL. Both have lots of little shops that are great for finding gifts to take home with you. 

Even with all of the fun sightseeing we did, our favorite part of this trip was the time we got to spend with family. Every minute we shared with loved ones were treasured times. It is so wonderful to be able to just sit and relax and visit one on one with each and every one. It's a vacation that we will never forget. 

The Quilted Moose

I took another field trip while I was in Omaha. I just HAD to visit The Quilted Moose in Gretna, NE. I recently purchased Four Seasons at Minglewood  (I did a book review about it here) that the owner of The Quilted Moose published. The shop was also featured in American Patchwork and Quilting magazine Quilt Sampler magazine in 2007. 

After breakfast Saturday morning, my other BFF, Anne, and I headed out of town, with her husband as our chauffeur. The shop was fabulous and worth the 30 minute trip from downtown Omaha. It had all the fabrics that I just love-Jo Morton, Blackbird Designs, French General, etc. She also had wool and Diawabos-two specialties that are so hard to find! I was not as good as I was at the quilt show and all restraint went right out the window. I bought 2 yummy pieces of orange  plaid wool to make some pumpkins out of, a few fat quarters of Jo Morton's for my "collection" and ordered a book for my next applique project. 

The shop owner, Deb, was soooo sweet. I loved chatting with her. She told me that I could take all the pics I wanted to in her shop, but I was so busy taking it all in that once I got home I realized I only took a few photos and that I didn't capture the feel of her shop at all! I will share these three with you and apologize for not taking more. If you are ever in the Omaha or Lincoln area, this shop is worth the trip! 

Anne loves Diawabos and these quilts were gorgeous examples of how to use them.

The quilt on the left is The Quilted Moose's quilt that was featured in Quilt Sampler magazine--it was on the cover!

Here is Deb-surrounded by fabric! 

The Old Country Store and Other Amish Quilt Shops

I have to confess, I LOVE FABRIC. I have a lot of it--and I mean a LOT of it. I am sure that  my shelves of fabric could be labeled as S.A.B.L.E. (Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy) and yet I buy more. I tell my husband that "collecting fabric" is a hobby completely separate and different from quilting. He should not expect me to use all of my fabric. Some of it is just too gorgeous to ever cut into it. :)

A trip to Amish quilt shops is always fun and hard to resist, no matter how much fabric you already own. My very recent trip to Lancaster County, PA yielded a few more yards for my stash. I was very good and used a lot of restraint, though. I did not buy fat quarters or even half yard pieces just to build up my stash-I stuck to shopping for borders and backings, so my purchases were two yards of this one and four yards of that one, etc!

The first two quilt shops that we went to were in Intercourse, PA. The Old Country Store was our first stop and it is always a favorite of mine. 

The shop has a wide variety of fabrics at great prices, and their book selection is awesome. I shop their website when I am at home in GA and even with shipping, their prices are still great. Upstairs is a gift shop and quilt museum. I was thrilled that there was an exhibit of Jo Morton quilts when we were there. 

I am a huge Jo fan so it was so fun to see her work in person!

And all of the Jo Morton fabric was on sale for $5.99/yard!!

Our second stop was right down the street-Zooks Fabrics. A lot of Amish women shop here, so there are a lot of solids for their clothing needs, but they also have a great selection of quilting fabric for the rest of us. Their prices were great too-I didn't see anything over $8.00/yard!

Sauder's Quilt Shop is located off the Pennsylvania turnpike in Denver, PA. It is in the basement of a house, but has thousands of bolts of fabric, lots of notions, and even carries spices, flours, and grains.  In addition to fabric, I bought four packages of batting. I am determined to finish up UFOs and if I can save money on borders, backing and batting, so much the better. EVERYTHING in the store was 20% off, so the bargains were even sweeter!

Our last stop was at Burkholder Fabrics, also in Denver. I do think that they had more bolts of fabrics than any of the other shops. The store has a great notion wall, is very well lit, and is super organized. The employees were so friendly and helpful. We were pressed for time and could have shopped a lot longer here-there was so much to see and buy. They have a great website and I am going to be buying from them in the future too. 

There are many other great quilt shops in Lancaster County, but these were the only ones we went to on this trip. I hope to go back again soon (maybe in March for the Lancaster quilt show) so that I can check out a few more. In the meantime, I need to use up some of the fabric I bought on this trip--or not. :)

Oh, So Proud!

The new Better Homes and Gardens Quilt Sampler magazine is out! I have been looking forward to this issue for months. You see, my favorite quilt shop is in it. On page 58 is the write up for A Scarlet Thread in McDonough, GA. The owners, Karen and Ken Taylor, are two of the nicest people you would ever want to meet and I just could not be happier for them. 

Karen and Ken have made their shop into a fabulous quilting destination. Walking through the front door will awaken and excite your senses. Everywhere you look, you are inspired to create. If this shop doesn't get your juices going, nothing will! The staff is friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. 

A Scarlet Thread offers everything a quilter or craft sewer needs-from applique to zippers and everything in between.