First, my mom dug out an old quilt she has (we're guessing it's from the 1920s) that her great aunt made. She was foolish enough to let my brother and me play on it as children, so it has stains and a lot of wear and tear, but it is truly amazing. Completely done by hand and very detailed. It has crossed my mind that I should try to recreate it as a project... we'll see if that happens.
THE most exciting thing that I did was go to the most amazing quilting fabric shop I've ever been to. When my mom's best friend (a long time quilter) told me that we would be driving 40 minutes to a store called the Fabric Shack, I have to admit, I was quite skeptical. I sure did eat my words when we finally got there- this place is AMAZING! If you are ever in the Cincinnati/Dayton/Columbus area, you must go. First off, they have great prices and a truly amazing selection. They still had bolts of Lizzie House's Castle Peeps (which I've been eyeing for months) for only $7.99 a yard (needless to say, I bought quite a few half yards of this). I even could not resist buying fabric for a baby blanket for when one of my closest friends has an other baby- please note that she just gave birth less than two months ago... I think I'll be sitting on this fabric for quite some time, but it was just too good to pass up!
They also have great remnants tables, that were only a few dollars a yard for anything. There is room after room after room of fabric. We spent a couple of hours and around $100, I probably could have spent all day and four times that amount, but $100 goes a lot further there than in NYC. I also got a lot of quilting tips and some new items that are supposed to make quilting a lot easier (although I did have to pass on the walking foot because it was like $90).
Not only did I get a bunch of amazing new fabric, but tons of books and magazines to add to my collect which, before my trip, was only a few magazines and photocopies of stuff from books from the library. I finally got Elizabeth Hartman's book for Christmas from my parents. I also got a fun Asian fabric inspired book from family friends, and then my mother bought be a really great book called "Fresh Quilts" (mostly I think because she felt sorry for me to being stranded in Ohio). I also took a quick trip to Half Price Books and bought a hand full of old quilt books at a very dicounted price. Thanks to all this new stuff, I now have about a million projects I can't wait to start (and hopefully finish).
I also was able to see the wedding dress exhibit and the Thomas Gainsborough exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Both were really wonderful exhibits. I always love to see old and amazing gowns and it was pretty amazing to see the actual pantings that I've studied and used as research. I, of course, bought a book on the wedding dress exhibit.Well, that was my trip- twice as long as planned, but turned out really nice and productive. I'm happy to be home though- with a cuddly kitty cat and tons of new projects on the horizon! Happy New Year!
