The Quilt Place - Retail Therapy, Florida-Style

Where have I been, you ask? Well.. it's a long story and a fairly ugly one, so let's just look at the highlights, OK? Just the fun stuff. I've been in the US - very much an "unplanned" visit. At the end of the trip, I took myself on down to Titusville, Florida to visit my family. I stayed with Cousin Toni, who took me to what has to be Quilter Heaven. Oh... my...

The shop is called "The Quilt Place", and it's huge, simply huge.

I'm trying to decide if it really is bigger than my favorite local shop here in Australia ("Patchwork With Gail B") - or if it just FELT a lot bigger. I'd have to say it's at least 50% larger than Gail B in terms of floor space - and that's saying something.

Well- they have more books, that's for sure. Here I am (below) standing next to a book wall that is close to half the length of my house! We tried to get a photo of the whole wall, but it's just too big. Just behind me is rack after rack of panel prints. On the opposite wall in this wing of the store (yes... I said "wing") is an equally huge display of quilt patterns.



Now you'll laugh at this: I fell head over heels in love with one of the display quilts. I asked about it...hoping it was a kit. The clerk who was helping me checked and said it wasn't - but the pattern is in a book that they carry. But... believe it or not... they happened to be out of that particular book! That's OK. The clerk wrote down the name/author and I've ordered a copy from Amazon.com (the book is "Traditions with a Twist" by Blanche Young). It's just as well - my suitcases were already overstuffed, and books are heavy...

Here's part of their "bargain/clearance" area:



Look at the price list (below)! Now you'll be wondering if the fabric they've got in this clearance area is junk... well, no... let me tell you, I saw a couple of prints in that stack which match some prints in my UFO closet (and not fabric I've had long) that I paid about $20 per yard for.



Below is a view of the shop looking from one corner near the front toward the back of the store:



And here's a view from the clearance area back toward the front (strangely - this photo makes it look kind-of small... trust me... it's NOT a small shop):



Poor Cousin Toni - she wore out long before I did. Fortunately, there are chairs near the front of the store - so she had a seat and just let me run wild.

And did I run wild?

Uh...

Yup!

(more about that next week)