Monday, April 29, 2013

New York Shop Hopping

I have lots to share this week so look for all the upcoming posts in the next couple of days.
First up is the NY Shop Hop that my friend Alana and I did on Friday. We didn't get to all the shops (we weren't planning to) but we did find a bunch of ones that we hadn't been to before.

Flying Geese was our 1st stop. I've only been to this store a couple of times in the past and I have to say that we were both very disappointed, both in what she had to offer and the overall condition of the shop.
At each shop on this hop, you received a free fat quarter and this is the one that I chose from the pile she had on the table. 
 I did learn later that of the 3 original owners of this shop, only 1 is left and she is trying to do it all by herself. From what I understand it is only a matter of time before she closes for good. In some ways, that is a shame, but in others I personally won't miss it. My 1st visit there back in 2007 was pleasant but the couple after were not. Their attitude certainly was less than friendly and from what I've heard many other shoppers feel the same way.

Quiltbug in Esperance was next up on our list. It is a really cute shop in an older town in an older building. I just love these sorts of places. They have so much more character than a strip mall or modern building. And to make this particular stop even more fun, I finally got to meet in person Sharon of Vroomans Quilts. She lives nearby and haunts this shop frequently. We are both looking forward to our next get together.
The shop was busy, there was lots to see and some great goodies. I spotted these Michael Miller blender and I want some! But I couldn't decide which colors.
Since we are definitely planning a return trip soon and since we had a lot more stops to make that day, I held off getting some of these. I need to check my stash to figure out which ones that I will buy.
I did grab this fun Halloween panel and a yard of the bolder pink fabric. I'm not sure why it called my name but it did. The pink fat quarter was my selection from this shop.
Next up was The Yardstick in Cobleskill. It was a pretty non descript building but the offerings inside didn't disappoint.
I grabbed a 1/2 yard of the Boo print and a yard of the green blue/green fabric. I couldn't find any of the coordinates for that one so I'll have to hunt online to find it. Again I chose a tan/brown fat quarter as my freebie (yes there are plans for all this woodsy bits) and they gave everyone a Sulky color card which will surely come in handy.
The bonanza at this shop was finding the bags offered up for a bargain price of $9 and each bag was chock full of various size bits, some pretty large. All in all there was 2 1/2 pounds of fabric in this sack. Alana bought one too and we are going to get together and do some swapping soon.

Our next visit was to Log Cabin Fabrics which recently moved to this new location. It was much easier to get to and I'm sure the better location will help with sales. I ran into a friend there whom I hadn't seen in a while so there was a bunch of catching up that happened before I took a look around.
As you can imagine from their name, they specialize in Colonial and Civil War type prints plus wool projects. There was a bit of other items but not a ton. Since I didn't find anything there that screamed to be taken home with me, I walked out with just my free fat quarter.
Our 5th shop of the day was Foofsique in Chatham. It is another small shop but it did have a bunch of fun goodies inside. This is the shop where I spent the most money though I still kept my acquisitions to a minimum.
Here is another free fat quarter, of course in the came brown/tan color way, the crayon quilt pattern that I could not, would not resist and a bundle marked 60% off.
In that bundle that cost me all of $12 was these 2 Halloween panels and the coordinates to make 2 wall hangings. I forgot to take a picture of their samples but no matter...they will be fun additions to my Halloween decor.
The absolute best find was this panel and coordinate from Loralie Designs. I found out about these fun ladies a couple of months ago and have wanted to get some. They are hilarious! You know they will end up a great wall hanging for my studio in time. I also got one for my sister Tina since I got her hooked on these ladies too.
I forgot to take a picture of the last shop of our day, Pumpkin Patch in Lee, Ma but it was again a small shop in an old house in a great little historic town. I was pretty tired and starving at this point and only decided to purchase this adorable Pixywood Holiday panel from Michael Miller with a couple of the coordinates.
Isn't she just great?
They were sold out of the other prints in this line so again there will need to be some online hunting to find the rest. This is the shops wall hanging from the line.
I'm not going to do mine exactly the same as this one but at least their version gives me ideas.

Dinner was definitely our next need before the hour drive home and on the way to the restaurant we stopped to snap a picture of the fantastic firehouse for hubby and Jammer. It is new but it was built to look old.
And then down the driveway behind the firehouse we saw this cool truck.

We texted the picture to hubby and inquired as to whether our fire company should get one like this ourselves to use as our next brush truck.

All in all we had a great time. We saw a bunch of shops that we are most definitely going to visit again. I was happy that I kept my spending low and since I wasn't looking for anything in particular, other than thread on large cones and long arm rulers and such (I struck out on those btw), I had no preconceived notions of what purchases would strike my fancy.

As usual though finding the time soon to make all all my new little projects won't happen for a bit. My projects in ready baskets are beyond overflowing so after the teacher quilts are done I need to get some of them done so that I have space to buy more new ones.

4 of you added your own colorful comments:

Katie said...

looks like a wonderful weekend to me

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Looks like you are planning Fall sewing - you had quite the successful hop! AND it was wonderful to meet you at last.

Needled Mom said...

It looks like you had a great time and came home with some fun goodies.

Anonymous said...

You got some cool stuff! So nice to get free FQ!