Call for Help!

Not for me but for Carol at Brown Quilts. If you haven't read about the call for pillow cases you can read the story here. Maybe you can make a few as I did.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Quilt shops from Trip

I had a fun time looking for quilt shops in each town we stopped while on vacation. My husband has a blackberry that he can search for places using Google. We would do a search and then put up a map to find each place. One thing you might want to do is call before you try to go to the spot if you can. We found out the hard way that some places had closed.
The very first quilt shop I got to visit was Odegaard's Sewing Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. As you can see this shop was huge with a fabulous selection of fabrics.
Next shop was not too far from one of our campsites. This shop was in Williams, Arizona. It was called Quilters Mercantile on historic route 66.

Next shop was the Fabric Boutique Quilt Shop in Las Vegas, Nevada. (no picture) This was another big shop.

Next stop was Harts Fabric in Santa Cruz, California. (no picture) If you live in California you need to take a drive to Harts Fabric. Oh, what a great selection of fabrics they have. They also carry other types of fabric besides cotton plus ribbons and trim.

Oh, you talk about being overwhelmed when going into a quilt shop. When I stepped through the doors of The Material Girls Quilts it took my breath away. There was so much to see. I didn't really buy much because I couldn't make up my mind. This store is where Lori and Nanette sell their patterns. I saw some of Lori's new fabrics too.

After we left our campsite in Colorado we went into Fort Collins to eat breakfast and to do a little antique shopping. A lady at one of the shops told me about a quilt shop downtown so we went to check it out. It is called Mama Said Sew. Cute name! A small shop but nice selection. Fort Collins is a college town so there was a class going on with lots of young women sewing which was so cool to see.

The next shop was advertised on a billboard as we were driving along the highway. I was doing the driving and I decided I needed a break to stretch. This was another huge store. It was called Quilt Cottage Co. in Hays, Kansas. (no picture)

Onto the next shop which was The Quilted Corner. We googled it as we were driving through Cheyenne, Wyoming looking for a place to eat. It is located downtown and we got a parking place right in front of the shop.
This next shop my husband spotted the sign as we were looking for a gas station. Keamas's Quilts in Green River, Wyoming. A really nice shop too. Check out her Singer sewing machines on the top shelves.
The owner has this old Singer. She said it was a hemming machine. Check out the old washing machine her husband found for her.
The last quilt shop I visited was in Mascoutah, Illinois. The shop was located in an old house on 200 N. Jefferson St. No picture and she doesn't have a web site. If you live nearby drive fast to her shop because I bought Moda fabric for $7.49-$5.49 a yard. She doesn't take credit cards so bring your cash. The shop was full of fabulous fabrics. Here is her phone number just in case you live nearby. (618)-566-2652.

During our quilt shop stops we also did an little antique shopping. In the first photo of the collage I found a Magic Stitcher. It still has the thread in it. I have not had a chance to try it out to see what it does.

Last year when we went cherry picking I wished I had a cherry pitter. I finally found one in the original box.

I also found some sewing goodies.
I bought a few souvenirs. The first shows two fat quarters representing the west and route 66. I bought a scarf from the Grand Canyon. I also found this table cloth made by Moda representing California. As I looked closer at the cities listed on the map I noticed some are misspelled. Not sure if they did that on purpose or not.
I also found this cute tea towel with the embroidered lady shaking out a rug on the guys head. Also found a table scarf with pine cones on each side. Both were so different. I had to have them.
I bought these two books, some patterns, (not shown), and check out my stack of fabric. I bought something from each quilt shop I visited. What fun. My own cross country shop hop. lol
Well, that is the last post about my trip. I have lots of photos and lots of memories I will never forget. Now I am ready for the next trip but it will have to wait until next year since my husband used all his vacation time up on this trip.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Fun Sights from Trip

Hey Kids, look at some of the fun stuff we saw on our trip.




wishing you could have been with me and your dad to experience it all,

love,mom

On the way Home

We finally made it to Belleville, Illinois. We stayed with my husband's parents for a few days. My father-in-law was nice of enough to take us to some small towns which included antique stores, quilt shops, and one rug hooking store. If you are a rug hooker or just like working with wool and you live near Lebanon, Illinois you must visit the Calico Moon. The downstairs is full of primitive decorations. Upstairs is full of beautiful wool, fabrics, patterns and many other primitive items. I wish I would have had more money. I did buy a rug hooking frame and a book. While visiting Illinois we also went to check out the giant catsup bottle water tower in Collinsville. We saw a story on the PBS tv channel one night that talked about the water tower and since we were going to be nearby we had to check it out.

I am sure many of you heard of the tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri. While we were staying at the in-laws house we experienced bad weather and the tornado sirens went off three times one day. It was scary to me since I have not ever heard them before. I kept a close look on the weather outdoors and on TV.

We enjoyed our visit and we really enjoyed mom-in-law's cooking. We had missed home cooking while on our trip. We hated that we couldn't spend more time with them but we wanted to get home before all those people took off for the Memorial Day weekend.

We traveled through the bottom portion of the state of Indiana.
Next state, Kentucky. Included is a photo of the city of Louisville, KY.
On through West Virginia. Getting closer to home.

This was a very long tunnel we had to travel through. I think it must have been at least a mile long through that mountain.

One more state!
Made it to North Carolina. We know when we see Pilot Mountain we are getting close to home.
We drove 7236 miles on this trip. We traveled through seventeen states. The most expensive gas we bought was $4.19 in California. The cheapest we saw gas was in Utah for $3.55.

Before we left home we got Roadside assistance which we never needed. We also took the car in for routine maintenance before we left. There were some things our mechanic caught and recommended we have done which we did so that we would not break down on the "loneliest road."

The trip was worth every penny we spent. I enjoyed the simpleness of living in the tent or cabin and not having to worry about a thing except getting to our next camp site.

We went to our public library before leaving and checked out audio books to listen while we drove those thousands of miles.

I took magazines and a book to read but only read one magazine. We were so busy seeing all the sights that by the time we set up camp we were ready to relax and go to sleep. I took embroidery with me but did not do a single stitch. I enjoyed spending 21 days with my husband.

We had the best time on this trip. God gave us great weather when we were scheduled to see the sights. He kept us from harm on the road. He kept our car running well too. We saw His hand in this whole trip and I am thankful for that. God is good!

I have one more post to share with the kids and the next one will be about some quilt shops I got to visit while on our trip.

Yesterday I caught up reading all the comments and checking on your blogs. Thanks so much for coming along on our trip with us.

Until the next post,

Carrie P.

Heading East

Next morning we left Salt Lake City, Utah. I really liked Utah. It is a beautiful state with lots of different countryside to see.
We drove through Wyoming. They got lots of snow. Along the highway we would see some fences which had big snow banks along the fences. I am not sure why the fences were built like they were but it was neat to see.
Next stop was Colorado. We camped in a cabin at a KOA. Here are a few sights from another great state.
Kansas had a flatter landscape at least the part we traveled through. We stopped at the visitor center and inside was this beautiful sunflower quilt. Lots of wheat was growing in the fields. We saw buffalo and I think the other animals were pronghorn antelope.
Next states, Missouri to Illinois to the In-laws house. By the time we got to Illinois it was dark. More photos to come.
With Passion,

Carrie P.