Every Quilt Has a Story

And in the case of this (not yet made) quilt, it even has a journey!

It all starts innocently on a Wednesday afternoon in March (the 24th to be exact) and I had just recently discovered a store on etsy through a blog (jaybird quilts if I'm not mistaken) and I came across Anna Maria Horner's "Little Folks Voile" fabric in her shop.  Chatting with my friend Nay, I asked if she thought I should buy the bundle.  She said go for it, and so I did.. plus I bought some really cute ribbons!  What was great is that she lives in my city and was kind enough to do a local pickup.

So, anyways, one touch of the buttery softness of the voile and I was hooked!  I decided I wanted to get at least one fat quarter or at the very least 1/4 yard of each fabric in the line.. all 28 of them.  However, we were due to leave on our vacation in the next few weeks, so I didn't order anymore offline.  I did however, take the 10 fat quarters I already had with me, in the hopes of being able to stop and buy some more on our trip.  The tricky part of my plan was A) convincing Jeff to stop and B) finding stores on our route that carried her fabric, since according to her website only 18 brick and mortar stores carry it in the United States.

Luckily, on our way to Virginia we were driving through Kansas City, Missouri and there's a store called Urban Arts + Crafts that was JUST off the interstate and Jeff consented to stop!  I had the sense of course to call ahead when we were about an hour out of the city to see if they had any, and of course they did.  I ran in, waving my bag of fat quarters and explained that I was planning on purchasing more of the fabric, but was wanting to avoid duplicates, and that's why I was bringing it in.  Had I had more time I would have LOVED to browse the store, but we were on a super tight schedule.  I was able to buy 4 more pieces of the collection, and after taking a potty break and clearing out some trash from the van -the shopping center/strip mall had public bathrooms so we took advantage- and we were on our way.  We got a bit lost getting back on the main interstate but it was well worth the stop!  Or at least I think so anyway.  I should add that customer service was fantastic and I highly recommend if you're in the area to go stop and visit.  It's a really beautiful store and I love how they have each type of craft in it's own corner; very neat and tidy and very open.

Unfortunately, there was no stores in the state of Virginia that carried her fabric, and thus we headed home.  However, on the way home we drove through Iowa City, Iowa and of course since I discovered there was a store there called Home Ec, we stopped again.  It wasn't quite just off the interstate; I think we had to drive about 3 or so miles into the city to get to the store.  After paying the meter, we all headed in.. since it was time for a pit stop anyways.  Again, I walked in waving my bag of fabric, and was able to purchase two more 1/4 yards.  Of course, once again I called ahead and made sure they had it.  And they had the fabric I needed and more... they had a decent selection of Japanese imports in fabric and ribbons... I didn't take the time to look around at EXACTLY what they had, but I was able to take a cursory glance.  Had we had the funds, I KNOW I would have easily walked out spending around $100.. because in addition to fabric, they also have yarns and in addition to sewing, I enjoy yarncrafts such as knitting and crocheting.  Alisa -the gal who helped me out- was awesome and even said if I wanted to call back later in the summer when they restocked in Anna's fabric, they would be more than happy to ship some to me!  Of course silly me forgot to ask when approximately they were going to get it back in stock; however based on what I've read online, the company that prints her fabric will be pushing more out later this month, so I'll probably end up calling or writing an email next month inquiring after it.  I was briefly browsing their selection, saw some very hard to fine Heather Ross fabric and regretted not purchasing any while I was there, so last week I called and I now have 1 and 2/3 yards of one of the prints from her Rabbits and Race Cars line on it's way to me.  I bought the rest of the print they had, so it's gone.. muwahahha.  And in addition to yarns, fabric and other types of craft stuff, they also have a little cafe/bakery inside of the store.. which smelled absolutely scrumptious.. but we didn't buy anything from the bakery.  Maybe someday if we're ever in the area again, I'll be able to stop in and sample some of their wares.

I bet you're wondering what my collection of the fabrics look like so far.. so here it is.

I should have labeled the picture with letters or numbers to indicate which of the fabrics I got from where, but alas I didn't.  But so far I have 16 of the prints, and I'm on a quest to get the last 12 that I need.  Of course I'll update when I get more!

Oh and if you're wondering what I'm going to do with them.. here's a hint... That's the floor of the Steak and Shake in Dayton, Ohio that we ate dinner at when we stopped in Dayton for the night on the way to my sister's house in Indiana.

That's all I'm sayin.