I don’t seem to be able to control my attraction to fabric scraps – various little bits of tasty fabrics. I’ve culled/curated my collection over the years and have donated the scraps I’ll never use to the charity thrift shops to sale in bundles.

I tell myself that I must use up what I have before I pick up more scraps, but new fabric scraps keep finding their way into my life.

I was doing pretty well controlling my obsession until we went on a day trip to Fort Collins, CO last week and stopped at the relatively new retail location of Pink Door Fabrics in Frederick, Colorado on the way to Fort Collins.

And they had toward the back of the store a SPINNING BIN OF FABRIC SCRAPS!!!

They had organized the fabric scraps (which were fat quarter to nearly half yard sized scraps!) by color and/or fabric line. The spinning bin was some type of industrial organization bin that was repurposed into a fabric scrap bin.

They had a “fill a bag” for a flat rate set up and I filled…two bags.

I started out filling only one bag but the staff was so friendly and got a kick out of how excited I was about their spinning fabric scrap bin and one staff member decided to go out to the Pink Door Fabrics Warehouse behind the shop and see if there were scraps for me to choose from.

She brought back this plastic tub of scraps:

So I ended up filling two bags. Very full. They even let me have fabric overflowing the bag. (I am pretty sure they were happy to get rid of the scraps).

I know I should show you my haul but I forgot to photograph it before I put it away in my already ridiculous collection of fat quarters and fabrics scraps.

If you’d like a little tour of the quilt shop here are some additional photos:

Pink Door Fabrics has an amazing collection of well curated fabrics with a focus on modern quilting style fabric lines such as Ruby Star, Tula Pink, AGF Studio, Riley Blake, Alison Glass, Tilda Fabrics, Anna Maria, Tara Faughnan, Moda, etc.

They also have a nice little seating area in case you have someone with you that doesn’t want to wander the fabric stacks – ha! (hint John)

I really loved this quilt they had displayed:

Postscript

After the “spinning scrap bin” incident, we headed on to spend the day in Fort Collins (which is about 1.5 hours from our home) and found a delicious Ramen place we never tried before (we love Ramen); as well as stopped at one of our favorite Fort Collins breweries – New Belgium Brewery and had a tasty sampler!

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Tooling Around Townsend

October 17, 2025October 17, 2025 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Before we sailed out of Port Angeles, WA to Victoria BC for 24 hours (minus sleep) of fun in July 2025, (see posts A Delightful Bead and Button Shop in Victoria, BC and 24 Hours in Victoria, BC) we spent a lovely afternoon in Port Townsend, Washington.

It been countless years since I visited Port Townsend, WA…not since when I lived in Seattle, WA for 8 years and would stop there on the way to British Columbia (which we visited as much as possible)…. Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Washington state known for its beautiful waterfront and natural scenery at the northeast tip of the Olympic Peninsula; and many historic Victorian buildings remaining from its late 19th-century heyday. It is also a hub for numerous annual cultural events, and a maritime center for independent boatbuilders and related industries and crafts. (Wikipedia).

John and I had a delicious lunch at thr Sirens Pub with a wonderful view of the water:

Then we wandering around the shops in downtown Port Townsend including a fiber shop – Diva Yarn & Trim.

A shop with yarn and fabric is always my kind of place.

While walking in the waterfront area we came across two ladies playing guitar and accordion and singing in French. Their music was so wonderful I tried to find their tip jar to give them a little something but they said they did it just for fun not for any money.

They didn’t mind if I filmed the area with their music in the background:

It was a glorious day in Port Townsend, WA!

Postscript

When we first arrived in Washington State via the Seattle (SeaTac) airport, we stayed in Olympia and the next day drove to Port Townsend and then on to Port Angeles to take the ferry to Victoria, BC. On our way to Port Townsend, we stopped in Shelton, WA and visited one of my favorite Washington state quilt shops – Annie’s Quilt Shoppe.

I hadn’t been there in years, not since I used to attend an annual quilt retreat in Shelton, WA (see posts A Drawstring-bagalicious Retreat, Part I, A Drawstring-bagalicious Retreat, Part II, Guest Blogger: Quilt Retreat Report from the tierneycreates Beastie, Part I, Guest Blogger: Quilt Retreat Report from the tierneycreates Beastie, Part II, and Riptide Retreat 2022 in Black and White ) and it was nice to return and chat with Annie the owner.

I bought some very reasonably priced fabric to support this awesome shop (that perhaps I did not. need, ha!).

I always get a kick out of this sign in front of the shop that some of the quilters reading this post might have seen in front of other quilting shops:

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Stitch a Quilt Store in Durango, CO

July 5, 2025 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Well it’s been quite the Summer of Travel (after a Spring of Travel) so far; and I thought I’d dive into sharing my adventures with a little tour of a quilt shop I visited for the first time in Durango, Colorado in June 2025 – Stitch.

We visited Durango, Colorado as part of a Colorado roadtrip. In May I turned a “milestone birthday” and we’ve been celebrating with travel and adventures that I’ll share more about in a future posts.

Stitch is located in charming downtown Durango and has a warm and inviting atmosphere and friendly staff.

Here is the antique sewing machine vignette inside the front window (first image above):

Here are scenes from inside the shop:

And here is where I got into trouble (ha!) and invited fat quarters that I did not need to come home with me:

I mean I got one free, how could I turn down the deal?

And here is the sign in front of the shop to lure you in…

(Because quilters need to be lured into quilt shops…)

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Men Hypnotized by a Computerized Longarm…

November 17, 2024November 18, 2024 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

As I mentioned in my previous post Variegated Yarn Surprise, early-ish in November John and I traveled to the Carolinas (Charlotte, NC and Greenville, SC) to visit our Asheville, NC based friends E and S who needed a break from their post Hurricane Helene life in Asheville.

Originally we were going to visit them in Asheville (we made plans before September’s flooding disaster) and instead of canceling our trip (they are discouraging visitors to Asheville as they try to clean up from the massive damage), we decided to meet up with them in Charlotte, NC and roadtrip to Greenville, SC where my quilt Langston Hughes: Pioneer Poet was showing at the Upcountry History Museum as part of the traveling show Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West. We also decided to attend the Fall for Greenville Fall festival.

I’ll post more about those two events, but for this post I wanted to share a fun stop we made during our roadtrip – a visit to a quilt shop, Carolina Quilt Studio, where the John and E became enthralled with a computerized longarm quilting machine at the shop.

I knew S, who is an elementary school teacher and a very crafting-orientated person, would keep herself entertained wandering around the quilt shop while I looked around, but I wasn’t sure if I would be torturing the husbands if I spent too long in the shop.

Well halfway through my wander around the shop I discovered the husbands had “set up camp” around the shop’s computerized longarm quilting machine that was quilting a quilt.

They were absolutely fascinated with it and didn’t want to walk away from it. They joked that if someone gave them some chairs and a nice glass of bourbon they’d be good for a while! (After we left the shop, John and E keep talking about the “cool machine” that did the quilting and asking how much something like that costs…new career for their retirements perhaps?!?! Ha!)

In addition to the husband-hypnotizing computerized longarm quilting machine, the shop had Shop Dog that wandered about looking for pets:

I am sure if they could have provided comfy chairs and bourbons, John would have placed the dog on his lap and settled in for hours of computerized longarm quilting machine viewing!

I found a couple items at the shop – some Art Gallery Fabrics for 1/2 off in their clearance rack and then this – a bin of FREE fabric scraps where customers could take whatever they wanted:

I was well behaved and carefully curated what I was going to take – only if it was a scrap I could really see myself using in a piece in the future and only larger scrap pieces. I ended up finding some nice Art Gallery Fabrics scraps in the bin. S, who is a teacher, found some free panels to make ornaments in the bin and plans to use them for a student craft project.

The quilt shop staff were very nice and I recommend the shop if you happen to be in the Greenville, SC area!

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Taos Adobe Quilting

June 19, 2024June 19, 2024 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

At the end of May into the beginning of June, John and I did a 4-day road trip from Colorado to New Mexico. Our final destination before heading back home was Taos, New Mexico.

We arrived on the evening of the second day of our road trip and went searching for dinner at the Taos Plaza/Downtown Taos which is where our Airbnb Hacienda studio was located (see post Channeling my inner Ansel Adams in Taos, New Mexico for some B&W images of the Hacienda where we stayed).

While looking for an open restaurant we stumbled upon this…Taos Adobe Quilting quilt shop!

But it was closed for the evening! Oh the torture! All I could do was stare into the window:

Oh I couldn’t wait until the next day to wander over there, and the next day I did:

I had a fun time chatting for a long time to the quilt shop owner’s son, who was headed out the next day on a major solo camping trip. He noticed my tote bag that said: “Libraries Build Communities” and being an avid reader himself, a lover of libraries, struck up a conversation with me while I was browsing. We ended up talking about books, fabric and life!

I didn’t go too crazy on my purchases from this lovely shop but I did get a little sampling of their Southwest fabrics and some other little remnants of artsy fabric.

Oregon Coast Adventures, Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Oregon Coast Adventures: First Stop -McMinnville, Oregon

August 8, 2023August 8, 2023 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Toward the end of July we met up with dear friends (the kind of friends that you’d also consider family) on the Oregon Coast.

These are friends I met in Bend, Oregon where I lived for 14 years until my husband Terry suddenly died in 2018. I haven’t been able in the 4.5+ years since moving to Colorado to bring myself to return to Bend, Oregon for a visit (such an awesome life…nearly perfect… was lost there and I still have some trauma from coming home and finding my life partner on the floor dead in the house I’d plan to live in with him the rest of my life…too painful to return yet…) and I didn’t want try to ask my friends to come all the way to Denver again to visit us, so the “compromise” was to meet up the Oregon Coast (via Portland, Oregon).

It wasn’t much of a “compromise” as I love the Oregon Coast; and John (my new life partner) hasn’t been to the Oregon Coast, one of my favorite places in the world (or the places I’ve been in the world), and I was so excited to share it with him.

Central Oregon Coast map from aaroads.com/guides/us-101-or/

The plan was meet up with our friends in Newport, Oregon on the Oregon Coast the next day after flying into Portland, Oregon. We rented a car and here was our travel route (with lots of beauty along the way to see on the Pacific Coast Highway/Highway 101):

Image from Google Maps

But along the way we decided to stop in McMinnville, Oregon for lunch and to visit a quilt shop I had visited many years ago (I think before blogging as I could not find a blog post about it, ha!) – Boersma’s Sewing Center.

John sat in “the husband area” (ha!) with the vacuums (they sell sewing and vacuum related items) while I browsed.

After the quilt shop we headed to a lovely brewery (Two Dogs Taphouse) nearby for a delicious lunch:

We loved that they had a cozy sitting area, actually like a living room, that you could relax in with your beer and your food and watch TV:

After lunch we stopped at Third Street Books (how can I pass up an independent bookstore?) on our way to our car:

And then off to Depoe Bay (the town before Newport as you head south down the Oregon Coast) where we would be spending the night until we met up with our friends the next day in Newport, Oregon.

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

A Lovely Time in Loveland

July 13, 2023 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

A month ago John and I decided to visit Fort Collins, CO for an overnight visit. We love Fort Collins and are entertaining the idea of moving there someday…perhaps.

On our way to Fort Collins, we stopped in the neighboring town Loveland, CO to visit John’s sister and her husband and go on a boat ride with her and her husband.

We had a lovely boat ride around the reservoir/lake area they live in (Colorado is far from the ocean but we do have rivers, reservoirs and lakes to sail on). Their adorable little dog Lacey came on the boat ride with us and had her own little bed on the boat:

After visiting with John’s sister and her husband we stopped at the Loveland Visitor Center to get John a sticker (he collects stickers to put on his toolbox) and took some photos of the awesome “Love” sign outside the visitor center:

(Did you spot John in the photo?)

Behind the “O” of LOVE, which is shaped into a heart, are “love locks” where people promising their love to each other have left locks:

You can see the theme of Loveland is “Love” and inside the visitor center they also had this sign that you could use as a background for photos:

Postscript

A Visit to Pink Door Fabrics

Before we got to Loveland, we first stopped in Frederick, CO to visit the retail store of Pink Door Fabrics, which is only open to the public 2 days a month.

Here are some photos from my wander around the retail store of Pink Door Fabrics, which is primarily an online shop specializing in Tula Pink fabrics.

I was well behaved until I got to this section of the shop:

I filled my bag really full and they did not mind!

Quilt Retreats, Quilt Shop Tours, Scrap Happy Quilt Retreat

Scrap Happy Quilt Retreat Day 3

May 23, 2023May 22, 2023 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

For the previous days, see posts:

Scrap Happy Retreat Day 1

Scrap Happy Retreat Day 2

By Wednesday May 17th, the 3rd day of the Scrap Happy Quilt Retreat at my house, we were read to get out of house and explore some Denver Metro area quilt shops! (Note: we didn’t stay in the house the whole time on the first two days – we did go on daily long walks in the fields and woodlands near my home)

John was kind enough to chauffeur and we brought Mike the Miniature Schnauzer along for the road trip.

But first I gave John a break from cooking and made a blueberry pancake breakfast to start our day. I forgot to take photos so just use your imagination that you see a plate of scratch made blueberry pancakes with a touch of cinnamon and juicy caramelized blueberry bursting from each bite…

John has been playing with our new espresso machine we got earlier this year to celebrate our one year anniversary (see post New Coffee (and Tea) Station and Some Big News), and he continues to try to channel his “inner barista” and do designs in the foam. He made a latte for one of the retreaters K – we aren’t sure what the design can be interpreted to be – but K noticed there was a heart (unintentional) along the upper edge of the cup!

After breakfast we headed out on our roadtrip to visit 3 quilt shops – Holly’s Quilt Cabin, Treelotta and Fancy Tiger Crafts (this shop is not actually a quilt shop, they sell a variety of fiber products including beautiful yarn but they have an amazing curated collection of modern fabrics).

Holly’s Quilt Cabin

I love this shop and my quilting friends and I found many delights!

I ended up buying the pattern for this quilt I fell in love with; and I was tempted to buy the fabric used in the quilt (gorgeous line by Moda Fabrics called “Celestial“) but I need to shop in my stash not add to it:

Treelotta

By the time we got to Treelotta it was time to let Mike the Miniature Schnauzer out of the car for a pee (we spent a ridiculous amount of time in Holly’s Quilt Cabin) and to put him in the backpack so he could get a break from sitting in the car. John took Mike in the backpack to a nearby army surplus supply shop for a wander, and then back to the quilt shop to see what kind of trouble we were getting into with all the lovely fabric choices!

Mike does look like he is concerned about some of our fabric choices (or perhaps the damage some of us were inflicting on our pocketbooks!)

I didn’t take many photos in Treelotta but if you’d like to see more of this awesome shop (where I’ve also taken bag making classes), see the post Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part IV.

Fancy Tiger Crafts

I didn’t take any photos at Fancy Tiger Crafts but you can check out this post to see what the shop looks like – Fancy Tiger Crafts, Denver CO. Or more what it used to look like, it has remodeled a little bit since then but you can get the general feel of the shop.

After our roadtrip we headed back to my house to work our of improvisational scrappy log cabin blocks for a while until John made us a delicious hamburger dinner with homemade french fries and Mexican Street Corn!

We skipped movie night after dinner as we had been away from our sewing all day. Instead worked on our scrappy log cabin blocks late into the evening!

Craft Shop Tours, Knit and Crochet Away!, Quilt Shop Tours

Fibre Space – A Yarn Universe (Yarn Store Tour)

January 6, 2023September 2, 2023 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

While we were stuck in Alexandria Virginia after Christmas thanks to the Southwest Airlines meltdown (see my post A Christmas and a New Years Miracle? (Part II) ) we had fun wandering around Old Town Alexandria.

During our wanders, we came across an awesome yarn shop called Fibre Space and I thought those of you who love yarn might enjoy a virtual tour.

I knew it was going to be a cool place when we were approaching the shop. They have outside seating surrounded by sheep sculptures!

Plus the front door looked inviting, so I just had to go in (smile):

My photos do not fully capture the experience but when you fit walk in your get hit with a very visually appealing and delicious looking yarn experience:

Upstairs they have their classroom, more yarn (because I guess there just wasn’t enough on the first floor), and a sitting area for non fiber art aficionados (I put John there and he had a relaxing wait while I browsed):

The shop was wonderful as the friendly and helpful staff were wonderful also. I behaved myself and didn’t bring any new yarn home (there is enough yarn currently living at my house) but I did pick up so cute stitch markers and a cedar needle case.

If you happen to find yourself in Old Town Alexandria and you are into yarn, I recommend a visit to this shop.

Beastie Adventures, Guest Blogger, Quilt Retreats, Quilt Shop Tours

Guest Blogger: Quilt Retreat Report from the tierneycreates Beastie, Part II

July 29, 2022July 29, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This is tierneycreates Beastie and I am continuing my post from yesterday Guest Blogger: Quilt Retreat Report from the tierneycreates Beastie, Part I about our adventures at the Riptide Retreat in Shelton, Washington.

So where I left off on yesterday’s post, one of the days of the retreat we headed out to Annie’s Quilt Shoppe .

Here I am all buckled up in the back seat of the car headed to the quilt shop:

And here is a little video on Mikelet enjoying the fresh air on the car ride through some back country roads to get to the quilt shop:

Mikelet was safe during the car ride, we only let him hang out the window when the car was going slow and Tierney did hold onto his back legs so he would not fall out!

I did look out the car window a little myself, it was so relaxing in the backcountry:

Finally we arrived at the quilt shop:

Here are a montage of images from my visit to the quilt shop, and most of them featured ME – because isn’t a photo better with me in it??!?!

We saw a $25,000 sewing machine while at the quilt shop and I had to take a photo with it.

It seems like a sewing machine would have to do a LOT for you in order to be worth $25,000. I think you should be able to throw fabric at it and it turns it into a completed quilt in 10 seconds or something!

Tierney and I did find some fabric to buy while at the shop, including the Figo fabric she ran out of when making her drawstring bags for her Etsy shop Textiles & Smiles (see post Three Part “Harmony” and Experimenting with “Mass Production” ), which all sold out. Now she can make some more bags! (Tierney really needs to restock her Etsy shop, it is looking pretty empty right now…)

Tierney has agreed to post tomorrow some of the Black and White photos she took during the trip (you know she has this fantasy that she is a real photographer, just check out her series of posts – Life in B&W; yes she is quite delusional..) and then I will finish up with Part III of my series of guests posts about the quilt retreat with a little about what was made during the quilt retreat (yes sewing actually occured).

Fabric Scraps Obsession, Missouri Star Quilt Retreat, Quilt Retreats, Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

MSQC Quilt Retreat Part IV: Greatest Fabric Scrap Sale of All Time

March 11, 2022April 28, 2023 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

This post continues my series of posts on my trip to Quilt Town, USA to attend a Missouri Star Quilt Company (also known as “MSQC”) quilt retreat with my long time quilting friends. The previous three previous posts in the series are:

MSQC Quilt Retreat Part I: What I Worked On

MSQC Quilt Retreat Part II: Quilt Town, USA

MSQC Retreat Part III: Inside the Shops

First of all, do not judge. I have a fetish for fabric scraps – ha! Okay that sounds a wee bit weird, but I would rather make things from fabric scraps than cut into yardage. I only buy fabric by the yard when I absolutely have to or the fabric is so amazing I cannot leave it in the shop (and it looks at me with puppy eyes saying “Tierney take me home…”).

So when I heard that while I was at the MSQC week long retreat there was a “Scrap Bag Sale” at the Penny’s Quilt Shop I shivered with excitement.

This not my first rodeo as they say, I’ve been to lots of fabric scrap sales where you fill a bag for a specific price, with as much fabric scraps as you can fit in (and yeah, I am ALWAYS up to the challenge to see how much I can fit in the bag they provide without it breaking).

But, I’ve NEVER been to a “scrap bag” sale where 1 yard, 2 yard, and even 3 yard pieces are considered scraps!!! Yes there were a couple pieces here and there that you might call “scraps” – like quarter and half yard pieces, but most of what was in their bins were larger pieces that I definitely would not classify as “scraps”.

What I heard from another quilter during the feeding frenzy (photo below) was that Missouri Star will pull pieces off the bolt that are 3 yards or less and put them away for the scrap sale.

Oh my.

What you are about to see was what could be considered a “super spreader event” as no one was wearing masks, but luckily the pandemic is tapering down in my part of the world.

Here is the FEEDING FRENZY:

And yes I was right in the middle of it. I stepped out to take photos.

Actually everyone was so patient, thoughtful and kind. It was the nicest frenzy you could imagine. Quilters would yell out what they were looking for and we would pull for them and toss to them what they were looking for. I got so much Kaffe Fassett fabric this way from the bins.

Also people would take a break from being in the bins and make way for other quilters waiting in queue. Actually you had to take a break for a while as it was sort of exhausting sifting through all those yard pieces of fabric and a bit claustrophobic.

You also needed a break to stuff your bag!

Besides finding AMAZING top quality quilting fabric (of like every fabric line you could imagine) one of the most fun parts of the whole experience was laughing with everyone there as you tried to stuff your bag as full as possible.

Here were the early stages of packing bags with “scraps”:

Notice how no fabric is reaching over the top of the bags.

Here is my pile of bags starting to grow (I did stop at 4 but later got one more) as I left them among the pile of coats (it was getting warm from all those people foraging through all those bins of fabric):

Then we heard that the shop did not really care how full you got the bag as long as all fabric was “touching” the inside of the bag. So things got creative…

Here are a series of photos on my quilting friends and I engaging in “creative scrap bag stuffing“:

We were laughing so hard! It got to be a real game of “what else can we fit in there?“

Here are a couple of my long time quilting friends and I resting after our scrap foraging. We were exhausted but happy! (Note, not all our group attended the scrap sale, some were back at the Retreat Center being productive working on their projects!)

And here I am with another expression of “pure joy” like in the previous post (and note it was not just because of the amazing deals but that I was hanging out with friends, lol):

When we returned to the Retreat Center, Jessica, one of the Retreat Coordinators, challenged us to see how much yardage we had inside one of our bags.

One person had 27 yards of fabric inside ONE of their scraps bag. Yes that was 27 yards of fabric for $10.95! Most people had between 20 and 26 yards of fabric packed into ONE scrap bag.

One of the attendees actually ironed and folded her finds (show off, ha!):

I did not. I took all my scraps from the sale to the Main Shop for packaging up to send home to me! As I mentioned in the first post in this series (I think), MSQC will ship whatever you bought or worked on for FREE to you if you are attending a retreat so you don’t have to figure out how to get it home. (Yes they are encouraging attendees to shop to their heart’s content).

So, a couple days after I returned home from the retreat I received two boxes in the mail:

And here are the “scraps” I got from the sale:

I won’t tell you the total amount of fabric, because I did not even count the yardage.

I just ironed the fabric and incorporated it into my stash…while giggling…

Missouri Star Quilt Retreat, Quilt Retreats, Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

MSQC Retreat Part III: Inside the Shops

March 10, 2022April 28, 2023 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

So I downloaded 81 photos for this post from my Amazon Photos (I backup all my photos to Amazon Prime Photos) account, and then I realized that is ridiculous!

This post continues my series of posts on my trip to Quilt Town, USA to attend a Missouri Star Quilt Company (also known as “MSQC”) quilt retreat with my long time quilting friends.

The first two posts in the series are:

MSQC Quilt Retreat Part I: What I Worked On

MSQC Quilt Retreat Part II: Quilt Town, USA

I tried to make the first post in the series about what I worked on during the retreat, trying to make you think I was oh so productive during the retreat.

Actually I spent a lot of time with my friends wandering around the 13 specialty quilt shops they have in the town (if you’d like to see the full list see this link – MSQC Quilt Shops), in addition to the non quilting shops (like the yarn shop)! Here are some photos from those wanderings.

…and there might have been some purchasing involved…

FIRST STOP: THE MAIN SHOP

Our first stop was the Main Shop where we picked up our badges that got scanned with every purchase.

The Main Shop has numerous little “vignettes” previews of each of the 12 other shops, which are specialty quilting/craft supply shops, so you can see a sampling of what you might find in each shop. Here is a vignette of the Modern Shop inside the Main Shop as an example:

The second day of the quilt retreat, they sent us on a scavenger hunt to see all the shops and get a little treat/prize at each shop. Some of the photos below are from the scavenger hunt on the second day and some of from our first day wandering (as soon as we got into town, our feet hit the pavement to shop!)

Me on the scavenger hunt with my friends, yes that is the look of pure joy 🙂

They gave us cool bags as part of the scavenger hunt, at one of the shops, to hold our goodies from the scavenger hunt.

THE YARN SHOP – ONE BIG HAPPY YARN CO.

A couple photos from inside the yarn shop. I was well behaved as I have a decent stash of yarn and I am not a proficient knitter or crocheter (I get by), but it was fun to look!

Yes are you into the fiber arts, I bet those photos above were “yarn porn”, at least they were for me!

BATIK BOUTIQUE

Now pretend you hear the below statement read by Rod Serling writer/narrator for the classic TV series – The Twilight Zone…

Imagine if you will, a quilt shop, that only has batik fabrics…in every color and style you can imagine…

Here are photos from our wander around “The Batik Zone“!

I just realized, it would be too much to share photos from every shop so I will just stick to some of my favorites.

MAN’S LAND

They had an area connected to the Machine Shed shop called Man’s Land where husband’s could hang out while their wives went crazy shopping around Quilt Town, USA!

Here are some photos from Man’s Land. It was quite cozy, but no they did not serve any “adult beverages” there, even though it looks like it would be a nice comfy pub to hang out in!

THE MACHINE SHOP

The Machine Shop connected to Man’s Land was a cool shop where you could buy sewing supplies. Here are some photos from that shop:

PENNY’S QUILT SHOP

One of my favorite shops was Penny’s Quilt Shop, which was the old JCPenney’s Department Store (Hamilton, Missouri is the birthplace of James Cash Penney who founded J.C. Penney Company) into a quilt shop.

This quilt shop specializes in solids and blenders, and here are some photos from that shop:

It is also the shop that on Thursday of the retreat had the Scrap Sale, so I spent extra time in this shop. I share more about the dream Scrap Sale in another post in this series.

FLORALS

The most beautiful and serene shop (in my opinion) was the Florals quilt shop. The photos I share below do not do justice to how lovely this shop was decorated.

Here is my friend Judy making some yummy selections in the shop:

Thanks goodness I had recently re-organized my fabric stash at home and gave myself a limited budget for shopping (as I do not really need anymore fabric), otherwise I would have gotten in my trouble in this shop!

MODERN

I have so many photos that I had to cut it off somewhere so the Modern Shop is the last shop I will share photos of from our wander. As the name implies it was filled with “modern” fabrics with lines such as Cotton + Steel, Ruby Star Society, Riley Blake, etc.

Hope you enjoyed virtually wandering about some of the shops with me (or you are now really tired and need a nap).

Next post I will talk about the amazing Scrap Sale and the “aftermath” when my boxes of my purchases arrived home post retreat!

Craft Shop Tours, Fabric Scraps Obsession, Quilt Shop Tours

Who Gives a Scrap?

February 15, 2022September 2, 2023 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

We spent some time in Colorado Springs, Colorado this weekend. While there I visited a very cool place – Who Gives a SCRAP, a creative reuse center.

The description from the Who Gives a SCRAP website:

Who Gives a SCRAP is a donation based scrap store that carries an impressive mix of arts and craft and hobbies supplies in addition to unique vintage finds. We carry everything from scrapbook paper to game pieces, used books and sewing patterns, the variety is a crafters dream. We believe that the reuse of goods and materials is the most efficient, environmentally friendly and economically viable way to reduce the waste stream. Our shop is open to the public and our ever changing inventory is based on individual and business donations.

When I first walked into the main shopping area of the place, I was greeted with three (3) tubs of FABRIC SCRAPS!

For my first 20 – 30 minutes in the shop I did not get much further than those three tubs as you could fill a bag for $1.00 with fabric scraps!

I found some amazing fabric scraps, filled my bag and finally moved on to the other parts of the shop filled with donated/recycled crafting and art supplies for EVERY craft you could imagine (painting, beading, scrapbooking, quilting, doll making, knitting, etc.)

It was kind of overwhelming!

Overstimulated from looking at a seemingly endless collection of inexpensive crafting/art supplies, I wandered into the book area to look at their large collection of second handing arts and crafts books:

I behaved and only bought one quilting book.

My partner John joined me in the shop (he went off to get our car washed while I initially wandered the shop); and together we wandered into a room of sort of “antiques” and other odds and ends for sale.

Inside this room we found some unusual items, including several pieces of “shoe art” that John found:

Hmm…

There was more eclectic art and “antiques” in that room.

If you are ever in Colorado Springs, CO I recommend a visit to this place! Oh and no worries, if you like fabric scraps, I did leave you some in those tubs when you first walk in (smile).

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Trip to North Carolina: Quilt Shop Wander

February 6, 2022February 7, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

The week before last, we returned to North Carolina for a week for my partner John’s business conference trip. Our previous trip to North Carolina was in August 2021 and here are the two blog posts from that trip: Wilmington, North Carolina in Black and White and Wilmington, North Carolina in Color.

We needed to return to Wilmington, NC for his work conference, but first we stopped for an evening and 1/2 a day in Raleigh, NC which I’ve never visited before. I will share a little about our trip to Raleigh in an upcoming post, but for this post I wanted to share photos of the quilt shop we stopped at during our drive from Raleigh to Wilmington, NC on Sunday January 30.

For a quilter, besides the thrill of returning home to fondle your new fabric purchases or completing a major quilting project, is there anything more awesome than wandering around a quilt shop you’ve never visited before? For me, it is one of life’s true pleasures!

I may not buy something at every quilt shop I visit but I love seeing the “creative potential” of the fabric, patterns, samples quilts, etc.

So for you, here is my wander around Cary Quilting Company in Cary, North Carolina:

And here is the very patient partner John, waiting while I wandered about the shop:

Hope you enjoyed that virtual wander, sorry you could not fondle the fabric with me!

The staff was very friendly and the wonderful woman who rang up my purchases (I bought a pattern), gave me this wonderful pin as a gift to welcome me to the shop and to North Carolina:

It can be worth chatting with friendly people in quilt shops!

Postscript

Before we went to the quilt shop, we stopped for an amazing seafood lunch at a Farmers Market in Raleigh called the State Farmers Market. We ate at this friendly and amazing fish fry/seafood fry place called N.C. Seafood Market.

Oh my goodness. We are “landlocked” in Colorado and do not get much access to fresh seafood (unless a Colorado restaurant has a system to fly in seafood fresh each day), so we were in “seafood heaven” at this place.

The food was very reasonably priced and tasty is an understatement. It was so good that on our way back to Raleigh (we flew home to Denver via Raleigh) we stopped there again for lunch (and they recognized us and welcomed us back)!

I did not take any photos, I was just too excited! But here is a photo that I downloaded from Google Images from the restaurant to give you an idea of what our platter looked like:

Hmm…suddenly I am very hungry…

Next couple of posts I will share more about our trip to North Carolina.

Bags Bags Bags, Quilt Retreats, Quilt Shop Tours

A Drawstring-bagalicious Retreat, Part II

September 7, 2021October 17, 2025 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Good Morning and here is part two of my story of the “Drawstring-bagalicious Retreat” I attended August 9 – 12, 2021 with my Washington based friends J and D. In Part I (A Drawstring-bagalicious Retreat, Part I) I shared that what began as a “bring your own project to work on quilting retreat” turned into a “let’s just make drawstring bags for 3 days obsession”!

We did do other things than make drawstring bags during our stay at the Riptide Retreat on the waterfront/beach in Shelton, Washington.

WE ENJOYED OUR COZY RETREAT CENTER

It was cluttered at times (this is what happens when you get a bunch of crafters together) but here are some scenes from the quilt retreat center (including while creativity was in progress):

In addition to the upstairs and its deck overlooking the water, the retreat center also had a downstairs with a cozy seating area, additional beds, and access to the downstairs deck.

There were only three of us at the retreat so we had plenty of space (the Riptide Retreat is set up for up to 10 attendees). J and D took the upstairs bedroom and I had the downstairs to myself – I had my own apartment! I would wake up each morning and look out on the water – it was pretty yummylicious (another fake English word like “bagalicious”, ha).

WE ENJOYED GORGEOUS VIEWS

One of the challenges of being at the Riptide Retreat (okay it was the only challenge) was not getting distracted by the gorgeous views. We keep being lured outside to sit on the upper deck and look at the water, instead of working on our drawstring bags.

I sat outside each morning with my tea and when I was not too distracted with the quiet peaceful views I worked on a blog post or two.

WE WENT SHOPPING!

The owners of the Riptide Retreat also own Annie’s Quilt Shoppe a very reasonably priced quilt shop in Shelton, Washington. We got a discount on some items because we were staying at their retreat center.

All I can say is we might have visited this shop more than once during the retreat!

During one of our visits to this quilt shop (oops I just gave our secret away) I discovered that there is actually a National Sew A Jelly Roll Day on Sept 18, 2021. So quilters get your jelly rolls ready to participate – ha!

WE HAD YUMMY FOOD

The three of us are pretty laid back when it comes to our food selections and when we eat, so we had whatever/foraging for breakfast each morning among what Judy and Dana brought (I didn’t have to bring any food since I flew to the retreat). For lunches and dinners we either ate out, ate leftovers, or J/D made a wonderful meal.

We discovered this wonderful sort of “hole in the wall” place in downtown Shelton which was actually an awesome (and super delicious) family run eatery – T’s Cafe. There I discovered the most scrumptious meatball sub on the planet:

We enjoyed dining “al fresco” on the upper deck of the retreat for several meals:

And yes, those are homemade frozen margaritas in our glasses (and I am happy to report all three of us are of legal drinking age, ha!).

WE WALKED ON THE BEACH

From the downstairs deck you can walk down another level to the beach along the water. I had a nice solo walk and with my friends on the beach.

WE DID A LOT OF RELAXING

I think some people consider a quilt retreat (or a drawstring bag retreat, ha) time to get all those projects done you could not get done at home. Well we consider a quilt retreat time to actually “retreat” from the busy world and do some relaxing.

We spent a lot of time on the upper deck reading, blogging, playing iPad games, walks around the neighborhood, catching up with each other, and watching boats go by on the canal.

Sometimes I forget just how beautiful the Pacific NW is (and I lived there for over 20 years between Washington and Oregon) until I visit it again.

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part V

August 30, 2021August 31, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Here is my final installment on my series of blog posts about my first Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop. Thanks to everyone that made it through the first four posts covering days one and two of my adventure to visit all 11 quilt shops so I could complete my “shop hop passport” and get my Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop commemorative pin:

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part I (DAY ONE)
Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part II (DAY ONE)
Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part III (DAY ONE)
Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part IV (DAY TWO)

On day three of the shop hop my partner John and Mike the Miniature Schnauzer joined me and we traveled to the last three shops I need to complete my passport Ruth’s Stitchery, Sew-Ciety, and Sew in Tune:

RUTH’S STITCHERY

Our first stop was Ruth’s Stitchery in Colorado Springs, the shop we attempted to visit on day one of shop hopping but they closed at 3:00 pm. This is also the shop that is next door to a woodworking shop:

So while my woodworking partner John, with Mike the Miniature Schnauzer in a backpack on his back, wandered about Woodcraft, I wandered inside Ruth’s Stitchery.

The shop was much larger than it looked from the outside. I thought it would be a quick “in and out” to get my passport stamped, collect the mini panel for the shop, but instead I wandered for quite a while and bought a couple items. Here are a couple photos from inside the shop (in the first photo you will see their interpretation of the completed shop hop quilt using all the mini panels and one of the large panels:

SEW IN TUNE

The next shop on our third day shop hop adventure was Sew in Tune in Monument, Colorado. Not only was the shop absolutely darling with it’s camping theme, but the town of Monument was so beautiful! John and I plan to do a day trip back there just to wander around.

Here are a couple images for Monument, CO (from TripAdvisor and from HomesOnlineToday):

Yes it is actually that beautiful and looks like what you think Colorado should look like (at least in my mind). John and I were having a fantasy of retiring there someday!

Okay so back to quilt shop hopping – here are some photos from inside the adorable quilt shop in Monument – Sew in Tune (oh and the staff were super friendly):

As you see in the photos above, they had two versions/interpretations of the shop hop quilt using each of the large panels. I ended up buying the patterns as I really liked their designs (each shop that created an interpretation/design of how the shop hop quilt should look, also sold the pattern).

SEW-CIETY

The last shop I needed to visit to complete my shop hop passport was Sew-Ciety in Castle Rock, CO. We did not watch our time very well (my fault for too much wandering) and we discovered the shop was closing at 3:00 pm! We arrived to the shop at 2:55 pm and all I had time to do was get my passport stamped before they closed.

I did not get to take any photos in that quilt shop but it looked like a nice shop and I will return at a later time to actually look around.

I did however get to turn in my completed stamped quilt shop hop passport to them (to be entered into the shop hop drawing); and I got my commemorative pin for completing the shop hop!

Yes it was a lot of work for a free pin but it was so fun to be introduced to a lot of quilt shops in Colorado.

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part IV

August 23, 2021August 23, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I am now on the 4th installment on my series of posts on the first Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop that I attended.

In my three previous posts (Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part I, Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part II, and Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part III) I was on the “Day One” road trip with my partner John and our Miniature Schnauzer Mike (who was working quilt shop staff for treats). For “Day Two”, over a week later (because I was out of town for a quilt retreat but that is another post) I continued the shop hop on my own.

I visited 4 shops, trying to knock out more on the 11 quilt shop visit requirement to complete my shop hop passport in order to be entered to win the grand prize (and get the lovely pin for completing the shop hop):

The 4 shops I visited on my own have red boxes around them in the graphic below:

Two of the shops really impressed me with their fabric selections, interiors and friendliness of staff. Those are the ones I took photos inside. I spent a very long time at Treelotta – the staff was wonderful, I chatted with other quilters and they had an AMAZING selection of fabrics!

The Creative Needle, Littleton, CO

Treelotta, Englewood, CO

I also have this photo but I am not sure which shop it is from! It might be from one of the other two I visited, but is it is a lovely interpretation of how to make a quilt from the mini panels you collect from each shop and one of the larger panels you can purchase during the shop hop:

So that was “Day Two” of the shop hop. I have one more post to share with you about the shop hop and John and Mike join me again for “Day Three”.

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part III

August 19, 2021August 20, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I am sitting my hotel room in Wilmington, North Carolina as I’ve joined my partner John for the week on his business trip. It’s been a surprisingly very busy summer of travel (and we’ve careful, safe and are vaccinated). I wonder if all this “make up” travel post 2020 pandemic is only a brief moment in time as things may return to 2020 lockdown levels. I am thinking of/sending good thoughts to my blogging buddies in NZ and AU and anywhere in our world else facing 2020ish lockdowns again. I do know how fortunate I am right now to be able to travel.

This post I am continuing my series of posts on my partner John, my Miniature Schnauzer Mike, and I attending our first Rocky Mountain Shop Hop (which included quilt shops from Englewood Colorado to Pueblo Colorado). If you are just joining us, here are the links to the two previous posts:

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part I

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part II

So in the previous post we had traveled to the wrong quilt shop (First Stitches in Canon City) which was not part of the Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop and returned to Pueblo, CO to stop at the correct shop:

Here was their version of the completed 2021 shop hop quilt using one of the large panels I mentioned in the first post on this series:

I do not remember if I mentioned it or not, but I did buy both the large panels from the 2021 shop hop – the “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” one; and the Colorado Map one.

Then it was off to lunch on the Pueblo Riverwalk, which according to puebloriverwalk.org:

The Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo (HARP) is a 32-acre urban waterfront experience open to the Public daily. The Riverwalk returned the Arkansas River to its historic location at the heart of downtown Pueblo, after being diverted in the 1920s due to a devastating flood that destroyed much of Pueblo. The Riverwalk’s current location serves the community by revitalizing a segment of the downtown area that was previously unsightly and unusable. This urban development transforms the community and has been vital in attracting new businesses, thereby helping to stabilize the economic base of the city. The Arkansas River has been the lifeblood of Pueblo for over 300 years. Native Americans followed the river for hunting and trapping. Early settlers came as sheepherders and cattlemen. Agriculture blossomed in Pueblo’s warmer climate and the steel industry used the bountiful water resources to build a massive manufacturing center.

Before eating lunch on the patio (so Mike the Miniature Schnauzer could join us) the Brues Alehouse Brewing Company, we went for a walk along the Riverwalk in Pueblo and were surprised how cool it was (I love the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas and I did not think it would be as cool as that one).

Here are some photos from our stroll on the Riverwalk in Pueblo:

We wander the Riverwalk while waiting for our table to become available at the Brewery and were sort of disappointed when we got the text that the table was ready sooner than they originally said. We wanted to explore the area a little longer.

We had a delicious lunch at Brues Alehouse Brewing Company, I had the vegan tacos with fried avocados and John had a local speciality called a “Slopper” which is an open faced hamburger smothered in green chili.

Mike had some doggy snacks were brought and glared at his imaginary nemesis – another dog dining outside on the patio (Mike I guess wanted to be the only dog on the patio).

It was a little warm in the shade of the patio so we put an ice cube on Mike’s head to help him cool down from walking the Riverwalk:

Here we are enjoying our craft beer at the brewery:

I know, I know, another masterfully snapped selfie by me (should find an online selfie snapping training program!)

After lunch we headed to Colorado Spring, CO to continue the shop hop and arrived at High Country Quilts, one of the friendliest quilt shops I’ve ever been to!

I had fun chatting with the staff at the shop as well as other quilters/shop hoppers. I spent much longer in this shop than I had anticipated (and bought more than I had anticipated, ha!)

Little did I know that the second shop in Colorado Springs, CO closed at 3 pm and I was about to miss out crossing it off my shop hop list because I spent too long at the first shop I went to in Colorado Springs!

When we arrived (too late but did not know it yet) to Ruth’s Stitchery in Colorado Springs, my partner John (whose hobby is woodworking) was greeted with a wonderful surprise: the quilt shop is next to Woodcraft a woodworking shop!

He and Mike the Miniature Schnauzer (in his backpack) headed into Woodcraft for a wander and I headed over to the quilt shop to discover it was closed. I was so disappointed as it meant we would have to drive 70+ minutes back to Colorado Springs before the shop hop ended on August 21; but I was able to entertain myself while John and Mike were wandering the woodworking shop – there was a large charity thrift shop in the same shopping center!

After Colorado Springs we headed home from day one of the 2021 Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop – we were tired and I had reached my limit (too many quilt shops in one day makes going into quilt shops less special).

However there are more quilt shops to come in the next post in the series as I was determined to visit all 11 and complete the shop hop!

Here are summary of Day One – 4 shops total (red stars):

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part II

August 18, 2021August 18, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Now it’s time for Part II on my 2021 Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop Adventures, which started with the post Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part I.

Our first Colorado Quilt Shop Hop adventure began in Fountain, CO and in this post we have made it to Pueblo, Colorado for the second leg of our adventure.

But first let’s talk about this:

This is Mike the Miniature Schnauzer working a quilt shop staff member at Stitcher’s Garden in Pueblo, CO for treats! Curiously they happen to have a bag of doggy treats in the back stockroom and Mike was fed many of them!

It was very warm during the shop hop and we wanted to bring Mike the Mini Schnauzer on the road trip but not leave him the car, so it was backpacking into the quilt shops for him!

All the shops were “dog-in-a-backpack-friendly” and I think he gained a couple pounds from treats during the shop hop!

Luckily there we some nice local town parks or scenic walks that my partner John could take him on if I needed some extended time in any quilt shop. Mike enjoyed riding around in the backseat of the car with this cozy blanket and the cooler filled with our sparkling waters, soda, and snacks for roadtripping. (He just wished he had opposable thumbs so he could open the cooler when he wanted and grab his own snack!)

The first quilt shop we visited in Pueblo was Stitcher’s Garden and here are some photos from that shop so you can have a virtual shop hop experience:

Did you see the Batik fabric cowboy boots in one of the above photos? Those made me laugh! They were not wearable but they would be a funny decorative/storage item for your quilting room! And did you notice the giant bag of treats the quilt shop staff member had in her hand while she was petting her new friend Mike?!?!?!

So far our quilt shop hop was going well until….

After our visit to that first quilt shop in Pueblo, CO, my understanding was that we had one more quilt shop in Pueblo on the 2021 Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop but when my partner John put the shop’s name “First Stitches” into his Google Maps the directions said the shop was in Canon City, CO. So we listened to Google Maps instead of our COMMON SENSE and headed out 41 miles to Canon City (do you see where this is headed…not in the right direction…).

The staff at the First Stitches quilt shop were warm and friendly and when I asked for them to punch my Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop ticket (which gives you credit for visiting each shop) they said: “Oh we are not participating in the shop hop, our ORIGINAL SHOP in PUEBLO is participating”.

Oh my.

So we drove back to Pueblo, tried Google Maps again and found the correct shop.

But, I had a lovely time at the wrong shop and here are photos from the First Stitches quilt shop in Canon City, CO:

I even bought some beautiful Ruby Star Society butterfly fabric at the unnecessary-stop-quilt-shop. John felt bad about the accidental side trip but it was just as much my fault as his for not using that thing called COMMON SENSE and double checking the Rocky Mountain Shop Hop quilt shop list!

After going to the correct shop which I quickly ran into, go my shop hop “passport” stamped and ran out because at this point we were so hungry, we went to the Riverwalk in Pueblo lunch, which was more beautiful than I anticipated.

I’ll save that and our next quilt shop adventure along the shop hop for my next post.

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop 2021, Part I

August 13, 2021August 13, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I’ve lived in Colorado for over 2 years now but I’ve never been to a “Quilt Store Shop Hop” like those I used to attend when I lived in Seattle, WA (where I began quilting) and Bend, Oregon.

On August 6th my partner John, my Miniature Schnauzer Mike, and I attended our first Rocky Mountain Shop Hop which included quilt shops from Englewood Colorado to Pueblo Colorado.

To enter the big drawing you had to visit all 11 shops but they give you 17 days to do it (August 5th through August 21st). You also get a special Rocky Mountain Shop Hop completion pin unique for 2021.

The coolest thing is that each participating shop has a unique Colorado themed mini panel that you can collect (for $5) to create along with the major panels, a Colorado themed quilt.

Here are all the mini panels:

And here are the two larger panels which can be configured into many different quilt designs (each shop had their own sampler quilt, pattern and kit for a Colorado themed quilt.

This is the Colorado map large panel:

Here it is shown in a Colorado themed quilt at the first quilt shop we visited on the hop, Na-La’s Quilt Shop in Fountain, Colorado. (sorry that the photo is a little blurry)

The other large panel focused on the famous/iconic “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” sign located near the Utah and Colorado border:

Here are a couple quilts from different shops on the Rocky Mountain Shop Hop featuring that panel:

As I mentioned earlier in this post, the first shop we visited on the shop hop was ed quilt at the first quilt shop we visited on the hop, Na-La’s Quilt Shop in Fountain, Colorado.

It was a wonderful place to start our shop hop as the staff was so inviting and friendly and they provided yummy snacks!

So you can have a virtual shop hop experience, here are some photos of the shop I took as I wandered about.

The shop had a fabulous collection of antique sewing machines all around the shop, here are a few:

An interesting thing about the shop is that you did not enter via the front door. Instead you entered through this really cool side door. The shop was located in downtown Fountain, CO and the building where the shop was located was obviously historic.

I overheard while in the shop, when another customer asked, the reason for the side door entry was a leftover from having to control entry during COVID pandemic restrictions.

More to come on my first Rocky Mountain Quilt Shop Hop adventure but I thought I would get started sharing with this post.

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

The Fig Leaf Quilt Shop, Fort Collins CO

March 4, 2021August 18, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I know what you need right now, you need a virtual quilt shop tour don’t you?

(Actually, Mike the Miniature Schnauzer thinks what you need right now is a follow up from his guest blog post Guest Blogger: Obsession with Making Crocheted Dishcloths, and show you he did finally get a haircut:)

Okay now back to the quilt shop tour post…

A couple weekends ago, Mike stayed with his babysitter and John and I headed to Fort Collins, Colorado for the weekend (it is only like a 1.5 hour drive from Denver). While in Fort Collins, we stopped at The Fig Leaf Quilt Shop (and Furniture Store)!

John had some errands to run (he bought a new bike in Fort Collins and had to go pick it up) so he left me unsupervised for an hour at a quilt shop!

Here are some images from my leisurely wander about the shop:

It has been a long time since I wandered around a quilt shop, I cannot begin to tell you how delicious an experience it was! They shop also had a friendly staff and I enjoyed chatting with quilt shop staff.

While wandering I came across a quilt I absolutely wanted to make. The image does not do it justice but it is an awesome relatively simple pattern with a panel in the center:

I could not control myself and bought most of the fabrics (and the panel) as well as the pattern card:

I also bought a couple extra items like a some cool canvas fabric with Edison-style light bulbs; some random Cotton + Steel fabric yardage; a random fat quarter on sale; and a fat quarter set (that I absolutely did not need!).

The Fig Leaf Quilt Shop is also a furniture store! I guess they went with a multipurpose shop concept!

We did more than visit a quilt shop while visiting Fort Collins for the weekend, we also went new bike for John (who is an avid cyclist), visited some of the awesome craft breweries, visited some thrift shops (I love thrifting, see my series of posts Thrift Shop Adventures), and we had some wonderful meals.

One of the most memorable restaurant visits while in Fort Collins was to The Farmhouse at Jessup Farms. I love farm-to-table restaurants and this one was wonderful. In addition to the main restaurant (and farm of course), they also had an onsite brewery, smaller eatery areas, and gift shops.

Here are some photos from the complex and our delicious meal at the main restaurant (which included pork belly on grits which was 1000 times more delicious than it sounds!):

It was also awesome to go on a road trip, we were going a little stir crazy at home and I really enjoyed the post of one of my blogging buddies, The Library Lady Travels – Covid Car Trip? Be Safe and Have a Blast., which inspired my idea to go on a road trip!

I love the scenery on the drive from Denver to Fort Collins (we took back roads to make it even more scenic), and I will close this post with an image from my passenger seat:

Quilt Shop Tours, tierneytravels

California Quilting Sisters Adventures, Part III

February 24, 2020August 18, 2021 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

If you are just joining us, you can check out these two previous posts:

California Quilting Sisters Adventures, Part II February 21, 2020
California Quilting Sisters Adventures, Part I February 17, 2020

This is the third post closing out the series on stories and photos about a visit with my Northern California based “Quilting Sisters”, Kathy and Lisa in April 2019.

This post is all about our Northern California QUILT SHOP HOPPING 🙂

The quilt/fabric shops we visited included one in Auburn, California:

Leal’s Coop: Farmhouse Decor and Fabric

And three in the San Francisco “Bay Area”:

New Pieces Quilt Store & Gallery (Berkeley)
Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics (Berkeley)
Bay Quilts (Richmond)

bay area quilting — *Image: Google maps*

As you can see by the map image above there were move quilt shops in the Bay Area but we could only fit in so much in one day (smile) and still have a proper Quilting Sister visit (to include lunch, ice cream and wandering about window shopping at non-quilting shops!).

Leal’s Coop

The first quilt shop in our Northern California quilt shop hop adventure was Leal’s Coop in Auburn, CA which was both quilting fabric shop and home decor shop. Lisa had another commitment so Kathy and I began the shop hop adventure on our own.

The shop owner was delightful and she was working on gift boxes for customers with her monthly gift box subscription:

After a wonderful wander about this shop and delightful chat with the shop owner, we wandered around the other surrounding shops:

We stopped for a delicious lunch at a vegan restaurant:

And I snuck in some Black & White photography time.

New Pieces Quilt Store & Gallery

The next day, Lisa joined us and we drove to Berkeley to continue the quilt shop hop adventure beginning with New Pieces Quilt Store & Gallery.

This shop had an amazing and eclectic collection of fabrics and a wonderful and friendly staff. We spent a very long time in this shop!

They also had an amazing collection of Japanese fabrics.

And here are some unusual patterned fat quarters I bought at the shop (who knows what I will make with them but I just loved them and I do not know why!)

After an extensive amount of time we were ready for lunch and had a delicious lunch as well as dessert at The Public Market.

Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics

Another amazing fabric shop we visited in Berkeley was Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics.

This shop immediately made me smile with this Rumi quote on the glass window in front as you enter the shop:

This shop was not a quilt shop but a fabric and sewing notions shop. It was crammed full of fabrics for all types of sewing – home decor, apparel, quilting, etc.

I ended up buying these amazing pieces of canvas fabric (yes, impulse buy!):

Bay Quilts

The third fabric/quilt shop we visited in the Bay Area was Bay Quilts. This quilt shop also had an art galley inside with rotating exhibits by local fiber artists.

Are you exhausted from all the virtual quilt/fabric shop hopping in this post (smile).

I had a wonderful day of quilt/fabric shop hopping with my California Quilting Sisters!

By the way my Quilting Sister Lisa was able to take her fabric purchases from the day back home to be sewn on with her newly custom painted Singer Featherweight:

Postscript

While staying at Kathy’s house during my Northern CA trip, it was fun to revisit several of my fiber art pieces she owns which includes as batik rope basket I made her as a gift; and a table runner she bought from my tierneycreates Etsy shop* years ago.

(*believe or not this blog began in 2013 as vehicle for my Etsy shop – the blog kept going but the Etsy shop did not!)

Oh and let’s close out this series of posts about my trip in April 2019 to Northern California, with one more image of the sweet (and insane) Chocolate Labrador puppy Riley that was one of the special treats during my visit.

Here she is taking a break from her very active puppy-ness!

Quilt Shop Tours

The Fabric Incident

December 1, 2019June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Recently, I’ve been traveling a lot. I’ve become very familiar with the Denver International Airport (DIA). This post is about one of those recent travels and how I got into trouble at a fabric shop that had a ridiculously low price on Moda Grunge.

Mid-November I traveled to Washington State to visit two of my “Quilting Sisters” Judy and Dana. You may remember their names from previous posts including two recent posts (The Tale of Three Tulas, Part I and The Tale of Three Tulas, Part II).

We had a little quilting retreat at Dana’s house and you know when you get a group of quilters together for a long weekend, the chances are high that there will be an outing to a quilt shop or two…

There are NUMEROUS quilt shops in Washington State, so we visited a curated collection of beloved shops selected by Judy and Dana.

The first shop we visited, Calico Creations in Mount Vernon, Washington, did not allow photos inside their shop, so the only photo I have to share is of the outside.

It was a lovely shop but I was well behaved in that shop.

The next shop we visited, Gossypium Quilt Shop in Issaquah, WA. They were photo friendly and the interior was beautiful and inviting.

I bought a couple yards of fabric there and felt proud of how little damage I’d done to my pocketbook.

But then they took me to Annie’s Quilt Shoppe in Shelton, Washington!

Annie’s Quilt Shoppe is home of the $7.99 a yard fabric deals. High quality, major fabric brands at $7.99 a yard (that’s U.S. dollars and for my readers outside the U.S. if you check the conversion to your currency and yards to meters/metres, I think you will all join me in a communal “Wow!”).

I have a secret weakness for Moda Fabrics’ “Grunge” line of fabrics and when I spotted an extensive offering of Grunge fabrics in an extensive palette, I lost my mind and started pulling bolts for cutting.

Hopefully you can see from the photos above that the Grunge line of fabrics are beautiful textured solids. They are printed in Japan and come in 200+ amazing colors, textures, and shadings (according to The Fat Quarter Shop).

We had a delightful time with the store owners as they tag teamed cutting my huge pile of fabric. Here I am with my Quilting Sisters Dana and Judy with the delightful shop owners in the background (who were happy for the large sale but likely quite exhausted from cutting all that yardage):

Forty-five (45) 1 -2 yard cuts later, my pocketbook was damaged but my dream was realized – to have an extensive collection of Moda Grunge fabrics!

I wasn’t the only one who went a little crazy with the $7.99 a yard fabric offerings. For example, my friend Dana bought yardage from this beautiful selection of fabrics:

When I got home I had to make room in new fabric storage area for them. Initially I though I could fit them all in one cubby of my IKEA cubby bookcase:

Alas, they needed two cubbies but I did add in any other Grunge fabric I had already in my collection. In front of the Grunge, I placed my beloved Marcia Derse yardage (see post Fabric Fangirl Frenzy).

We did not spend our entire long weekend together just shopping, we also spent time sewing together (actually I brought knitting), having wonderful meals, and catching up. Long weekends with good friends are wonderful for the spirit!

Postscript

So you might be thinking: “Okay Tierney, that is a lot of fabric shopping, where are your recent posts about making things with fabric?!?!”

Well I have not posted about my current quilting project because it is emotionally difficult. I am finishing up the last quilt my husband who unexpectedly died last December, started; and it is a gift for one of his family members. But once it is complete and that person receives their gift, I will blog about it.

I do have a follow up to my previous post The (Ridiculously Large) Library Stack.

Even more library books came in! So my stack got even larger! It would have been unwieldy to add the additional books to the stack for a photo, so here is a photo of those additional books on their own:

Believe it or not, I’ve made a significant dent in my very large pile of library books. Lots of pots of tea and early mornings browsing through the wonderful books!

Quilt Shop Tours

Fancy Tiger Crafts, Denver CO

August 9, 2019June 22, 2022 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

As promised in my previous post, this post will be about TEXTILES!

A couple of months ago, my dear quilting sister Dana was visiting the Denver, Colorado area (see post Greetings from Colorado) and we got together with her and her daughter Kaite (and darling grandchild) and went to a magical crafting shop in downtown Denver – Fancy Tiger Crafts.

This was my first visit to this shop as I am new to the Denver Metropolitan area.

Upon entering the shop, I quickly realized that if your needs are related to the textile arts – they have it: spinning, knitting, needlework, other needle arts, dressmaking, quilting, bag making, etc.

Here detailed look inside their shop (which we suspect is outside the normal space-time continuum because we spent a lot longer in the shop that we thought we did…).

Knitting, Spinning, Crocheting, Felting, Wool Craft

And don’t forget the spinning wheel!

Dressmaking & Garment Sewing

Quilting

Other Fun Stuff in the Shop

The shop also had all sort of fun things – like cool tote bags:

And Crafter Merit Badges!

I bought this one:

I loved the decor – here are a couple images of the fun and funky decorations in the shop:

Photos of Friends Shopping

Here are a couple photos of my friend Dana delightfully shopping at Fancy Tiger Crafts for the first time:

Her talented crafter daughter Kaite and Kaite’s delightful 4 year old daughter selected this fabric during our shopping adventure for matching outfits:

We tried to leave the shop after we made our initial purchases several times. Something kept drawing us back as we tried to leave the shop. I think we revisited the counter/register at least twice!

A Return Visit

After my initial visit, which I did post some photos from on my @tierneycreates Instagram account, my Central Oregon friends Wendy and Pat sent me gift cards for Fancy Tiger Crafts!

So a couple of weeks ago I returned on my own and bought some goodies:

All pieces are canvas weight and I am thinking about some cool pouches or tote bags with these remnants.

Postscript

If you’ve following my blog for a while and Dana’s name sounds familiar, she has been featured in several other posts include the series of posts – Tula Time! (someday I need to post her completed Tula Pink All Stars quilt as well as my friend Judy’s completed quilt); and more recently Fabric Fangirl Frenzy.

Quilt Shop Tours

Hawaiian Quilt Exhibit: Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum

May 19, 2019May 19, 2019 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

According to Wikipedia:

A Hawaiian quilt is a distinctive quilting style of the Hawaiian Islands that uses large radially symmetric applique patterns. Motifs often work stylized botanical designs in bold colors on a white background.

Hawaiian quilt applique is made from a single cut on folded fabric.Quilting stitches normally follow the contours of the applique design

The other day I paid a visit to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden, Colorado for the first time, and saw an incredible exhibit of Hawaiian Quilts.

Most of the quilts were from the 1930s and 1940s but there were several from the late 1800s.

Here are photos of many of the quilts in the exhibit. Most of them were Queen-bed sized, though a several appeared to be King-sized bed quilts and there were several wallhanging sized pieces.

The quilts were absolutely amazing!

After wandering around the exhibit, I stopped in the gift shop which was also a miniature quilt shop.

While browsing the gift shop, I discovered this book – an exhibition catalog for the show Rooted in Tradition: Art Quilts from the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.

I ended up buying the book as not only did it contain amazing art quilts and profiles of quilters, but there were also at least three renown quilters in it that I’ve met and admired for a while:

Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi
Ed Johnetta Miller
Wendy Hill

I am so lucky in my art quilting journey so far I’ve had such fortunate brushes with greatness and inspirational talent in the quilting medium!

If you are a quilter, or someone who loves quilts, if you happen to be in the Denver area, I highly recommend a visit to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum!