Intown Quilters Shop Visit

This is one of the brightest quilt shops I have ever seen. Walk through these doors on a day you are feeling blue and I think you can't help but come out smiling.

This curvy quilt was made with the curved template at the bottom of this photo...major cute but I already have the "Curve It Up," ruler. The blue quilt on the right is a shop original.

Another shop original quilt...designed by Taffy McLaughlin...only available when purchasing the 48, 10-inch squares needed to make the patchwork blocks. Got it!

Another shop original design, Dry Heat. I also bought the kit for this!

So much batiky eye candy...I was in heaven.

Of course...a shop with so much bright color would have Kaffe Fassett fabrics and similar prints.

I showed a tiny bit of restraint and didn't buy this kit...Ripple Effect.

One last photo... a bit blurry.

There were lots of modern prints...sorry no photos. 

Wonderfully fun shop!

Here are my purchases.

The shop was featured in a 2009 Issue of Quilt Sampler...their shop quilt is on the cover. And a little odd find...peppermint candy buttons. I can't tell you how long I looked for some of these in this size for a Christmas stocking project many years ago...finally got them!

This shop is officially in Decatur but for a non-local...feels like it is just part of the Atlanta sprawl.

Tiny Stitches Quilt Shop Visit

Today is my first full day back in Paris...home sweet home. I had so much fun on my trip back to the U.S., but it sounds like I got out of there just in time. Snow and ice all along the east coast. It is pretty temperate in Paris.

I got to visit three more quilt shops in the Atlanta area before I left and the last three were fabulous!

Tiny Stitches is a gorgeous shop with wonderful large windows that bring in tons of great natural light. I did not do this shop justice with my photos...I was in fabric overload.

I bought this Tonga Sampler kit, Tonga Escape by Cozy Quilts. The sun was shining brightly behind it so it was tough to get a photo..but I loved everything about this design.

Part of the batiks section.

I wanted to buy a kit of this quilt too but it is the shop's Saturday Sampler so they didn't have it kitted up to buy in one package. I am always drawn to samplers.

And then this fun quilt really caught my eye, snowboarders! I should have written down the name of this pattern. Such an adorable line of fabrics.

This shop had such a great selection of fabrics that would appeal to a wide range of quilters...don't miss it if you are in the Atlanta area. The batiks were just a small part of the quilt shop's fabric selection...you know me...monovision when it comes to batik fabrics.

Here's what I bought...the Tonga Escape kit...see all those blue and brown batiks! Probably my favorite colorway. Two magazines for airplane travel and a set of 12 batik fat quarters in an autumn colorway...leftover from the shop's last Saturday Sampler...sew pretty!

Here is  my purchase from Little Quilts. Two Jinny Beyer Batiks...they will make great backgrounds.

And my first quilt shop purchase of the trip at Red Hen Fabrics. They gave me the cat scissors as a gift! Three Robert Kaufman batiks to add to the stash. Their batiks were less expensive than all the other shops I visited in the Atlanta area.

Two more shops to share...later!

Antique Shopping in Atlanta

We had a fun adventure yesterday, visiting the Scott Antique Markets, which are held the second weekend of every month.  Two giant warehouses full of old and new products. 

Jewelry...old and new.

Several booths with porcelain and glassware.

Odd booths...

And outside there were more collections to view. I might have to get some of these glass fishing bouys someday. Good thing I have a resource person to contact in Atlanta.

Bins full of letters.

An outdoor area with vendors.

 There was a salvage yard. This moose wouldn't fit in my suitcase.

Sleds...

Old wooden framed windows.

This was our spectacular find. My friend is an interior designer and we both loved these floor lamps from the 70's era. Both are in perfect working condition and all of the glass lenses were perfect. the cost was $200 for the pair and my friend is going to change the brass/gold finish to a silver. I know they will look spectacular and I can't wait to see the "after" photo.

Austin to Atlanta

Name that state capital.

Austin, Texas. 

We were in Austin for our niece's wedding.

It's good to  get dressed up every once in a while.

One of our son's made it to the wedding with us but he kept running off  with his cousins so I didn't get a picture of him dressed up. I'm hoping the wedding photographers did.

So now I am in Atlanta for a week...visiting my best friend. Today I went to two quilt shops and added to my stash. Both shops are in Marietta, 15 minutes from my friend's house. I don't think I've been to them before...at least not in their current locations.

First was Red Hen Fabrics. A huge space. They are an Innova Longarm dealer so a large room was set up with longarm machines. A large variety of fabric types for quilting. They have several towers of dishes and cups throughout the shop...kind of their little signature decor item.

Huge book racks...

Huge wall of patterns...

This dragon is made completely with thread stitching. 

One small section of this store.

There were some batiks. I bought the pattern for this quilt, Braidwork by Cozy Quilt Designs.

Had to get a picture of some runners made using the Quick Curve Ruler. I really need to try out the ruler...especially since I have one.

Then I went to Little Quilts.

This shop is a small house with little rooms full of fun stuff. I think they have just about everything in this little place. Right by the front door...wool appliqué.

Lots of traditional prints for little bitty quilts.

They had adorable small quilts of Santas, Mrs. Claus, Pilgrims...

These quilts were adorable...but I already said that. They were in a very small space...so difficult to get photos. The patterns were "Applique Patterns by Anne." I googled it and can't find them. They are not on the shop's website. I'm sure I could email them if I ever really wanted to buy them. 

A Kaffe Fassett section...

that crossed to a modern design section. I bought this heart strip quilt pattern. Heartstrings by Black Mountain Needleworks.

And finally...batiks! A small, but fabulous selection of new batiks. For the first time I got to see the Jinny Beyer batiks...and of course I love them.

There was just no time to explore quilt shops in Austin because we were having too much fun seeing all of our family in Texas. Great BBQ and Mexican food was eaten. Yum! I have a constant sore throat from talking and laughing so much since I've been stateside. 

Quickie Update

I just wanted to get my blocks to a certain point before beginning the chore of packing.

This quilt will finish to 48 x 64...not quite big enough for me. I have several strips leftover from a Tidal Pool bali pop that might be enough for a scrappy border. I think 12-inches to the length and width will make it more comfortable as a lap quilt. A project to look forward to working on when I get back to Paris.

Monday Groove

Just one more day in Paris before I leave for Austin, Texas. We have a niece getting married there. I will be eating Tex-Mex and barbecue as much as possible! I'm not sure if I will find time to visit any quilt shops in the Austin area but after the weekend I am heading to Atlanta to visit a friend for a week. Surely I will find quilt shops to visit in Atlanta.

I did not stay awake all night to watch the Superbowl, which started at 12:30 a.m., Paris time. Hubby took a nap and got up at midnight. When he came to bed about 4:30 a.m. I asked him the outcome...heartbreaking for Seattle. Sounds like it was an exciting Superbowl...lots of times the ads are the best part...game...not so much!

Still in the spirit, I started another football themed stocking.

And I have been pecking away at a quilt, Café  Paris...a giant pinwheel block.

Using my Bali Crackers, Tidal Pool. It is going together very nicely. Not the quickest, but an easy pattern to work on for a few minutes at a time.

Finished With Just Hours to Spare

Santa's got his Seahawks banner and is ready for the big game!