Spring Road Trip

I mentioned in my last post about my Farm Quilt that I mostly finished it while on vacation. So how about a little road trip post? There will be quilt-related photos.

We stayed in East Tawas, Michigan. I was excited to go, not only because we had been there before and I knew about the pretty scenery, but because there is a Ben Franklin store there! 

See it there next to the old time movie theater? 

Ben Franklins are variety stores that have been around in some form or another in the US since the 1920s. There are very few left. Years ago, part of their inventory was fabric and crafts, and last time we were in East Tawas, I bought fabric for several donation quilts. Shortly before our vacation, I read that the BF there no longer had fabric. Waaah. But I did need some embroidery floss to finish the embellishments on my quilt and thought there was a good chance they'd have that. Somehow, I did not find it. I was disappointed, but a check online that evening showed a quilt store a couple miles north of town. Yay! That wasn't there on our last trip. (Turns out they opened just before the lockdown for Covid in 2020. I'm so glad they made it through that rocky time.) So on the one rainy day we had, off we went. Before looking at all the luscious fabric, I asked if they had floss. They didn't but said they were sure BF had it, and even told me where to look in the store. To thank them for that information and because I like to support independent quilt stores when I'm on vacation, I made sure to buy some fun things. I'll show you in a few paragraphs, but here is the store.

We went back to the Ben Franklin, and sure enough, there was the floss right where the fabric used to be. 

When we go on vacation in small towns, we always try to check out a few things: the history of the area, interesting old buildings, museums, the library, antique stores and bookstores. Well, those in addition to the usual sights. By chance, I had heard of a brand new bookstore, so off we went (on the the same rainy day) to take a look. It was just getting started--didn't even have a sign aside from a white board outside with advertising in dry erase marker that you couldn't read from the road. There were no customers. Oh no! We looked around for awhile, and I wanted to get something, but what? In the small art section, I paged through a book with color palettes in it made from plants. It was more of a book for people who dye their own textiles but would also appeal to people to like to explore color for quilts. Me! So, of course I had to buy it to play just a tiny part in getting that bookstore started. (A quick look on social media this week, showed that there is now a proper sign above the door. "Bookish." Yay. I'm sure the owner and town will boost marketing now that the summer season is beginning. I'm hoping her many years of success. I forgot to get a photo, but it's in a cool really old building, shared with a coffee shop.) 

So, here's my vacation souvenir haul:

At Erin Matthew quilt store, I added to my collection of chocolate brown and turquoise tone on tone prints that I started on vacation last year. I grabbed a charm pack of Wallflower by Tilda that I had just seen online somewhere and fallen in love with. And then those precut turquoise prints. So easy to just pick them up without having to have them cut. The smaller one is called a French fat quarter, 19 by 27 inches, just a little bigger than usual. The other two are one-yard cuts. My husband found the socks, which will be perfect to wear for treadle quilting. (Yes, he went into the shop with me and was immediately rewarded by the owner with a Hershey kiss.) The floss, of course, is what I bought at BF (with some non-quilty items). Actually, I bought two skeins--one's already partly used. And then, the book. Not too bad. 

I'm mulling over what to do with the fabric. I downloaded some patterns that I love that are related to the Wallflower fabric collection, but I would need a fair amount of additional fabric to get the right vibe, so now I'm thinking about a design from an antique top I saw on the Foundry section of the Quiltfolk website a couple of years ago. I might be able to mix the turquoise prints and the Wallflower pack. We are expecting a major heatwave this week, so it will be a good time to rest and design and maybe even sew.

So what other things did we see on vacation? We went to the local historical museum, and of course there were quilts. 

                       This one was my favorite. Might need to make a copy.

We saw lots of beautiful nature, some of which I've posted here before, but I'll include just a few photos along with some quilt inspiration.

                                              Beautiful Lake Huron

                                                         Lovely hikes

                     One of my favorite lighthouses, in the sun and in the mist.

                           Rustic buildings on a bike ride (Quilt inspiration?)

                                                    A barn quilt!

                                        And lots of sunsets from the pier.

Okay, that's enough. No, one more. I got my quilt (last blogpost) hung this week, so we can enjoy it awhile this summer.

Our living room is shady this time of year--mutes the colors a bit, but keeps the quilt from fading.

Now I'm done. Thanks for sticking with my rambling. And thank you so much for your lovely comments on my previous post. I've tried my best to respond, but am still having no-reply issues. If you didn't hear from me, know that I appreciate what you said. 

(Just a reminder: I'm not affiliated with any company, so when I mention products, services, or stores, I'm just documenting what I used or liked, not officially promoting anything.)