notes from Terry Ann

Quilts and Fabrics and Chickens, oh my!

Yesterday we visited a little slice of heaven. We pulled in to Country Village in Bothell and Keepsake Cottage was like a giant magnet!

Right away we got a great sewing tip - this is not quite how we do it in Minnesota.

What fun to see the owner, Julie Stewart - it's been over a year since she was in the midwest for our retreat. We explored the shop and found lots of good stuff around every corner.

Tons of fabric,

lots of quilts, including Urban Cabin and Fire Escape,

 

and fat quarters bundled in every color.

After we had our fill of fabric, we wandered around the Country village. We met a few chickens and found some other fun shops - beads, coffee, decorating, scrapbooking and antiques. We found "Lots of everything".

When we got back to the hotel, I opened up my bag and played with my new fabric. Wish I had a sewing machine in my suitcase!

Crazy Days of August

This is NOT what my summer has been like - instead of calm and peaceful it has been non-stop. We traveled, helped our two kids move into apartments, worked on our new website, and in between all of that worked on a new pattern and some projects for our Groovy Girls club. Whew! 

In August I had the opportunity to go to the Checker Open House event in Ohio where I was so busy I forgot to even get my camera out of the bag. I talked to lots of shopowners and had a chance to meet new people and catch up with some old friends. What fun! The Checker showroom has every quilting notion a shop could possibly want and the warehouse is packed full of fabric too. Talk about sensory overload!!

On the way home from Ohio, Kirk and I spent the day in Chicago. Love this amazing skyline made out of Legos.

Our big plans for rollerblading and biking along the lakefront didn't happen because it rained all day. So we had fun wandering around downtown in the rain.

On Michigan Avenue one of the shops had a collection of sewing machines in their window - too bad they weren't for sale.

Lots of interesting architecture and detailing on the old buildings.

Good night Chicago!