Shifting focuses and New finds

On June 25th, I drove my husband and teenage son to the airport in Atlanta.  On the way up I saw a billboard for The Scarlett Thread Quilt Shop.  Of course that was enough to intrigue me but it also proclaimed it to be the biggest quilt shop in the state of Georgia.  As you can imagine I was caught, hook line and sinker.  There is also a little quilt and fabric shop on State highway 300 that I had to go by every time we went north.  I made up my mind that the following Saturday when I went back up to the airport I would leave early enough to visit both the shops.

The week did not progress normally,  weird hours at work, only the 2 youngest at home and they had their activities to get to.  Finally Friday arrived. The last day to plan the shopping trip.  That morning I got up to check out the website and directions to the two fabric shops before going to work.  Only to find that the last item I sold on Etsy was destroyed in transit.  Despite the careful wrapping in bubble wrap and layering it in 1 inch foam the glass turtle which I really loved was cracked and scuffed and the cord was completely gone.  I ended up refunding the money to the buyer. I have grown very discourage with the jewelery business.  No planning that morning and we had dinner plans that night at our adopted grandparents.

At dinner that night, the Boughtons, our "adopted" grandparents (the ones my 19yr old daughter was staying with and helping while they healed) informed me that they were sending Tatianna along with me on Saturday.  Don't get me wrong but I don't particularly like shopping for fabric with Arianna and Tatianna.  They aren't fabric addicts like I am  and they keep reminding me of the size of my stash.  Not helpful when your imagination is swirling around all the different patterns, textures and colors.

So my day to myself shopping and dwelling in fabric stores was not going to be as I had planned.  But I determined that I was still going to enjoy myself.  Add to that Tatianna's new found desire to have 10 quilts in her hope chest, and the day still held plenty of promise.

Tatianna laying out her quilt

So bright and early Saturday morning we departed for Atlanta.  A quick stop in Ochlocknee to get Tina T's doughnuts (YUM!!!) and some water and we were on our way.  We stopped and filled up with gas just south of Albany.  Then onto that first little fabric and quilt shop in Cordele.  I have passed this shop several time in the past 3 years and never been able to stop.  At about 10 am we pulled into the parking lot only to discover it was only open Monday through Friday.  Tatianna even commiserated my disappointment. But all was not lost for somewhere north close to Atlanta, there was The Scarlett Thread. 
We got ourselves back on the road turned onto I-75 and chatted about the quilt Tatianna was laying out.  A scrappy patch work of 4 inch squares that we had accumulated.  

Tatianna's quilt laid out on flannel backed table cloths

At the first rest stop we put the address for the quilt shop into the GPS.  The GPS kept trying to turn us around so disappointed we abandoned the quest for the Scarlett Thread and headed north to Atlanta.  We figured we could stop at an outlet mall and kill some time.  At the Second rest stop (we were staying well hydrated) we noticed that the town where the Scarlett Tread was located was still up ahead.  We plugged the address in again and were back on our way. 

We finally found The Scarlett Thread.  It was all it purported to be.  Long arm quilting, Baby lock Dealer, Handi Quilter dealer, all sorts of quilting notions and of course, fabric.  Plus a first for me, a Quilt shop that actually had clothing supplies as well.  Tatianna fell in love with a few different quilt patterns that she will have to adjust to make them fit a full size bed.  I fell in love with a Sashiko Machine (another wish list item) and several different fabrics.  Tatianna did keep reminding me that I still had 7 bins of fabric at home but several of the other quilters did come my defense saying that my stash was actually kind of small of course I don't think they knew the bins were the 50 gal size.  Anyway I bought two Ast. bundles (on clearance) 5- 1yd pieces that go together and come with a free quilt pattern.  Tatianna got one that she wanted.  I bought a jellyroll of reproduction fabric that I think will become log cabin squares.  I also bought a quilter's magic wand - 1/2 inch wide strip of lucite with a line etched down the middle.  A great tool to mark quarter inch line on either side of the diagonal of a square. I also bought a chalk marking pencil set and some needle pullers.  All in all a very satisfying shopping trip. 

Today I got online to find out more about Handi Quilters and I found that there is a shop closer to home in Moutlrie, Ga and they have 1930's reproduction fabric.  I will be making a trip there to find the fabric I need to finish my mother's quilt.  So another shopping trip will be happening soon.  And this time I look forward to taking Tatianna with me.