Thursday, June 24, 2010

A Day of Laughing, Shopping, and Sharing

Yesterday was my Illinois road trip with my dear friend Terri...and even though we spent most of the day in rain and storms, we had THE BEST time! We met first thing in the morning and headed out to Welcome Stitchery in Crystal Lake, IL...and oh my goodness, this shop did not disappoint....it was incredible! To say we were blown away would be an understatement - I kid you not, this shop had the most needlework inventory I have ever seen in one place - they must have thousands of charts. This quaint shop had what seemed like room after room of merchandise...and it was so neatly organized and clean! We were there for 2 hours and I know we did not see everything. We had so much fun looking through each area and filling our shopping baskets! We even picked out matching heart-shaped magnetic needle minders by Puffin & Company to commemorate our day together. I also managed to pick up three new charts (Plum Street Samplers - Paradise Lost, Carriage House Samplings - Matter's Choice, and The Drawn Thread - 12 House Sampler), a The Heart's Content Kit (Fruitful IX), a couple Just Nan Charm Garden Pins, a very cute button (a heart with wings)...and not pictured (because it is already in my stitching nest), a scissor block with matching laying tool. It would be easy to spend a small fortune in this shop (and we both did)...and before we left we had already decided we would be returning!






























After Welcome Stitchery, we were ready for lunch, so we walked across the street to the highly recommended Benedict's La Strata - our meals were very yummy...and we had homemade raspberry lemonade...everything was DELICIOUS!...we decided we must return to this great little restaurant, as well! Then we were on the road again to a quilt shop I have wanted to visit for quite some time...it is called Pieceful Gathering Quilt Shop and is located in Fox River Grove, IL. With a little help from my GPS we were able to find this great shop that specializes in reproduction fabrics....and I managed to do more power shopping. There were wonderful models throughout the entire shop and I think I drooled on most of them. Something else fun about this particular shop - they have pre-cut "snippits" and "snippit bundles", which are 10" square cuts.


















Next (as the sun made a short appearance) we visited A Touch Of Amish in Barrington, IL...and bless her heart, even though Terri is not a quilter (not yet, at least), she was a trooper and was happy to visit this HUGE quilt shop with me. Rooms and rooms of beautiful fabric...and I even found some great fabric in the sale room! I purchased a few yards (my favorite, shown below, is Home To Roost by Renee Nanneman of Need'l Love for Andover Fabrics) and we were off again on our adventure...



























Our final stop was a cozy little quilt shop called Quilt In Joy located in Huntley, IL. This shop had lots of bright colors and fun projects throughout. I was immediately drawn to a cute pillow on a chair next to the front door - it was made from an adorable fabric panel (Dolly Dress Up by Holly Holderman for LakeHouse - shown below)...of course, it had to come home with me! Along with several fun fat quarters featuring apples, strawberries, and martinis.

As we drove back to Rockford, the storms were really brewing and tornado warnings were once again in effect...but it didn't matter to us after our fun day together laughing, shopping, and sharing...







10 comments:

  1. Oh, sounds like a wonderful day!! I love stash shopping with friends! I'm glad the storms didn't affect you.

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  2. What a wonderful day you shared with your friend even with the storms you encountered! Great finds, Belinda!

    Robin

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  3. What an awesome way to spend the day with a friend! You came home with some great goodies too!

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  4. What a fun day, shopping with a friend is always the best....love all the goodies you found....hugs, Linda

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  5. Welcome Stitchery is my absolute favorite cross stitch shop! I am so fortunate to live nearby. Glad you were able to see it!

    Julie

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  6. Sounds so wonderful. Thank you for sharing your day with us.

    hugs
    -missy-

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  7. Sounds like your trip was devine! So if you remember or have it out and can look, who's line is the third bundle in from the left and if you know the name of the fabric? It's so sweet...sounds like you're trying to convert your friend to the evils (but not evil) of quilting. I am relatively new to that particular addiction. So is it weird to go into a shop and see your designs up for sale? I'm sure the shop you visited must have had your things - my fav is still "initially your's" (I think that's the name) and is still a work in progress at this house.

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  8. Hi Sherry - I hope you see this, as I do not have an email address for you...

    The little bundles of fabric you are referring to are bundles of 10" squares, therefore, they do not have selvages or fabric information - the shop they came from cuts their own bundles, so not all the pieces in the bundle may be from the same line. The most information I can give you is that they are reproduction fabrics. There were hundreds of these bundles - I just picked a couple I really liked....sorry I am not much help...

    Belinda

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  9. What lovely shopping you have done Sherry! It's always nice to browse and touch the fabrics and pick up some special things! I have enjoyed reading your blog and will visit again and again! thanks, fiona x

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  10. Belinda, So glad you and Terri enjoyed your time at Welcome Stitchery. That is my LNS! And I try to only go there when I have a good amount of money to spend as I know you will understand now that you've been there. LOL Sounds like you both had a great crafting day!

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