Vacation Souvenirs…

Quilty Life

Aug 3

A wonderful change of scenery on a perfect summer day.

Last week, my husband and I did something that we have not done for a long time…we went for a roadtrip for a few days away from the house. Once we were both fully vaccinated, we began to make plans to resume a somewhat normal life - which means travel. I am very leery of airplane travel at this point, so a roadtrip in our little car up the coast of Maine seemed like a perfect compromise to begin with, and we headed up to Camden Maine for a few days. We are having a rainy summer here in New England, and that continued a bit….but we had a wonderful time.

I spent many summers in Maine in my childhood - but Camden is one place neither of us had ever made it to before this. I am happy to say that vacationing is a life skill that comes back to us quite easily and effortlessly. We had a rough plan of where and when we were heading to, but weather changed our plans one day, and we wound up (in the rain) on a short hop of a trip to Belfast Maine (about 15-20 minutes north - to a quilt shop. I know you’re shocked!

Fiddlehead Artisans Supply in Belfast Maine is a creator’s oasis! Click on the photo to visit their site!

Fiddlehead is a shop that caters to many creative endeavors…sewing, quilting, handwork, painting, felt, artwork, and paper crafts are all there. While I’ve never been in the shop before, I have shopped their booth often at the Maine State quilt show, where they are a staple - and I was always amazed at the variety of items in their booth - things you don’t see often in a quilt store, but which called to you to come and play. I’ve often wanted to see the shop, and they were close, and opened on a Sunday. When you travel, and especially in these times, you always want to double check when the shops are open.

The cross walk in front of the shop in Belfast - you know you’re about to see color! I wish this was something we saw more of!

When you enter the shop, you enter into the fabric side of the house - and I’m sorry, I didn’t snap photos in the shop, I was overwhelmed with the color. I have visited a very few quilt shops since the pandemic began, and there was o much to see! Truthfully, I had in mind to check out the embroidery and handwork section, but the quilting fabric was calling me. Loudly. This shop definitely has a modern feel to it, and the patterns and magazines reflect on that - and on a rainy Sunday morning, the shop was busy. Not so busy you were uncomfortably crowded or on top of other shoppers, but it had a definitely cozy (and comfortable feel to it). Am I allowed to use cozy and Modern quilt shop in the same sentence?

So I restocked the stash a bit - forgetting that I was riding in a two seater sports car!

Fabric is the best souvenir - and I can’t decide which of these is my favorite. The Panda from Tula Pink’s lineworks? the Peacock? That green!!!

When you see the fabric you love, buy it! And while online shopping has been a lifeline for many of us, there’s nothing like walking into a shop (or a booth at a show), and experiencing the absolute rush of color. I’ve always enjoyed collecting souvenirs from shops in my travels, and I do support our local shops when I can. But remember when I said that Fiddleheads struck me as a modern shop? I did see something in person that I haven’t seen before, and I’ve been intrigued since I saw it online.

I don’t subscribe to many magazines (of any genres), but this is one I’ve been intrigued about since I saw it shown on Karen Brown’s you tube channel. Their website looks cool, but I had wanted to see it in person to check it out for myself - and Fiddlehead not only carries it, they had a discount on older issues - so I know have two issues to explore. It’s packed, and I hadn’t realized how much I missed the experience of leafing through a book with a cup of Earl Grey nearby. It’s not the same thing as looking at a thumbnail on a screen.

When you are traveling in a two seater convertible, you need to be flexible (and creative). We had forgotten this compartment was behind the seats - and we needed both of them.

So that’s the story of my recent trip to a shop - have you started traveling again? And do you regularly put quilt shops on your list of places to explore?

Meanwhile, I’m back to my regular Tuesday Live feeds - and Peacocks!