Thursday, August 29, 2013

Stitching on the Go

So this is happening!
Do you look for fabric stores and quilt shops when you travel? I love to make stops at small, locally owned bookstores and toy stores but I especially love a local fabric store.

On our trip out to Colorado this summer I was thrilled to get a chance to stop by Fancy Tiger Crafts in Denver. It was such a bright, open space with lots of knitting supplies and fabric. Everything was so nicely displayed and the number of samples and fabrics were just right. Enough to inspire but not overwhelm. I was blown away by a display with rolls of Liberty of London fabrics which I resisted. The Fancy Tiger said I had to check out Fabric Bliss. So I did! Much smaller but still pretty great. #patienthusband both times I bribed him with a coffee shop close by and they were disappointing.
The woman who helped me was very friendly and suggested I take a quick drive over to Fabric Bliss. (I love it when local stores support one another!) I was very happy that Roy was willing to stop by one more store knowing that we had an Ikea trip ahead of us. He was nice enough to find a coffee shop near both stores to hang out with our daughter so that I could really have time to look. It was a very nice shop, too. Smaller but filled with great fabric and ideas. Also very friendly! Both stores were in an area of Denver that was very interesting. Both were urban in a busy downtown area. Fancy Tiger was just a block off of a darling historic neighborhood that I would have loved to explore on foot. Fabric Bliss appeared to be in an art district filled with lots of galleries. I'm cutting into this today!
Later in the summer, I made a quick stop in Paducah, KY on the way to see my family in Tennessee. I made sure to stop at Hancock's of Paducah for a nice driving break. It lacks the charm of many shops but it has an extensive collection of fabric from many manufacturers. Heather Ross's Briar Rose fabric had just hit the shelves and I really wanted to make something with the hexie/bee fabric. I suggested to my daughter that I could make a pillow case and with it and she liked that idea but wasn't overly enthusiastic.

I was able to spend one day of my visit in the classroom at my mom's shop while my mom, dad and sister were working. My daughter and niece spent the day with me playing together while I was able to sew. I decided to use the Noodlehead Open Wide Zippered Pouch Tutorial and my new Heather Ross fabric to make a project bag big enough to hold a hoop and cross stitch supplies that I was traveling with. I just had to enlarge the dimensions a bit. It was an excellent way to spend a day!upload
The directions were very easy to follow and it was only my second time working with a zipper. I even added some straight line quilting since I used batting instead of interfacing. This will hold my Woodland Sampler project
Halfway through sewing the bag together my daughter walked up to me and gasped. "You aren't using my pillowcase fabric are you?!" Oh my goodness! I didn't know she REALLY wanted one. So I had to promise to stop and get more bee fabric on our way home. That was a huge hardship to stop and look at fabric again. Ha!

Enjoying the lake view while I stitch. Lots of sailboats out this morning.
It's worked out great to carry my stitching various places this summer. My favorite place to take it was camping at the lake. It was so relaxing to to find a spot in the shade and stitch for a while! I'm hoping I get to do a little of that this weekend.

Do you have a favorite store you like to visit when you travel?

2 comments:

Elfya said...

Those are absolutely adorable! So happy i came across your blog. maybe I will see you around during the BYW course :-)

noreen said...

hello! just found you through byw. i don't sew, but almost know how to knit, if i could just remember how to cast on. the bag you made is lovely! joy to you, noreen

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