Best Little Quilt Shop - Northern Hemisphere

I've been keeping a little secret here: hubby Stephen and I went overseas for 4 weeks - two weeks in Paris, then a few days in Florida (visiting my cousin and fellow-quilter Toni) and then on to Colorado (visiting long-time friend Katherine and her partner Kathy).

I didn't go anywhere near a quilt supply shop in Paris - just the usual museums, historical monuments, cemeteries, and touristy places. But no trip to Florida would be complete without a visit to "The Quilt Place" (heaven on earth for quilters).  If there's a better quilt supply store in the US, I'd sure like to see it!  I love this place.

Yes, I know I was just there last October. Yes, I know I bought a boatload of fabric at that time. But when Toni said "let's go" - I just couldn't resist.

I asked for (and recieved) permission to snap some photos of the shop and of some of their sample quilts and here's a few:

Here's their wall of quilting books.  I couldn't quite get it all into the photo - but you get the idea... plenty of reading material and ideas here:

On the opposite wall - their collection of patterns (again - too big to fit into one photo):

I recognized some of the sample quilts hanging around the shop from my trip last year - but there were quite a few new ones, too:

This one (below) is intriguing. I stared at it quite a while before I realized how it was done (border prints):

 The Christmas tree applique one (below right side) is VERY clever!  Christmas-ornaments in various colours applique'd and placed to "suggest" the shape of a tree.  I haven't done applique yet (although guru Pauline is predicting I will, and that I'll love doing it) but this design has me tempted to try:

Miles and miles of lovely calico!

 

There are a few other photos to share - a couple of interesting samples that really caught my eye, plus a handbag one of the other customers had with her (she graciously permitted me to have a photo for this blog).  Stay tuned for those...