There is nothing like visitors to get you out and exploring local tourist-y attractions! I have long wanted to visit Ireland, but I’m told Belfast, Maine is the closest I’m gonna get without an Atlantic crossing. We had family all week and perfect weather– throw in a quilt shop and it made for one perfect day.

Here is the main street– those with a traveling bent, please let me know if I could have fooled you and said this was Ireland. The street is too wide, perhaps?

The shops were all one of a kind treasures and we leisurely made our way downhill to the harbor.

I will bet Belfast, Ireland does not have fresh from the trap lobster rolls! We ate lunch at a cute li’l diner with fabulous murals.

I doubt you’ll see a moose in Ireland, either. But come to think of it, I’ve never seen one here anyway.

I may or may not have known the town has a shop called Fiddlehead Artisan Supply before suggesting the outing. Okay, I did know, because they’ve had a fabulous booth at the Maine Quilt Show three years running. Their fabric lines are truly unique and beautiful. This is one-half of the store– I’m a bit gun-shy about taking photos in fabric stores, since a time in Arizona where a shop owner got very upset at me and threw me out! So you’ll have to believe me when I say this is in my top two or three quilt shops, ever.

The fabrics were all bright and trendy– they seem to avoid the typical things you see elsewhere. I stopped short of checking what designers were represented, but I did see Rifle Paper Co. and Makower UK. They had all kinds of trendy patterns and kits, as well as clothing fabrics and patterns.

I snagged this cute advent panel!

And I’m a sucker for The Twelve Days of Christmas– I purchased another small panel.

Then I bought a little hand embroidery kit as a gift, a skirt pattern for the DD, and this Pen and Paper quilt pattern. I have seen their patterns online and I love all of them.

The other side of the store had all kinds of art supplies– watercolors, paper, kid’s art section, craft supplies, hand embroidery materials and more.

Around the corner was a yarn shop! I do not knit, but I know a lot of quilters do, so this is for you. There was a greater willingness to get kicked out of this shop, thus more pictures, as you can see.

I just love all the colors… and look at these cute buttons– this picture is a fraction of what they had! The prices all seem reasonable, based on what I know about yarn, which is nothing.

Finally, we bought ice cream and sat looking out at the harbor. The Maine coastline is a series of jagged inlets, so there really wasn’t a view of the Atlantic. A lot of these people still have their boats in the water– I bet some of them head for Florida for the winter. Those birds in the upper right hand corner were little kites flying. It was glorious and, after all the walking, we could have sat forever.

So that was my day– when I got home, this was in the mailbox!

I was so hoping to do some Halloween stitching this October on my five years running Night Flight quilt– only eight blocks to go, as outlined in red.

But Fat Quarter Shop had other plans for me. I’m a sucker for cute animal quilt blocks. The kitty kat sank me. That being said, I even made it to when this had sold out. Then they put a few more on sale from people who don’t end up paying– these usually sell in minutes. So I considered it “a sign” and I snagged one of them.

I did see an unboxing which cemented my decision– in my opinion, this is one of the best subscription boxes they have ever put together. The box included scissors, twelve fat quarters, a mug rug kit, a spray bottle, and a keychain, (not pictured because my son-in-law has a black cat and I immediately gave it to him). All of this for $55 with shipping.

Originally, I liked the pattern, but not so much the fabric– the colors just look a little harsh to me. But in person, the fabric is so cute, and I’ve already starting cutting it up! I even picked a pink print for the background in lieu of the white– me, an avowed pink hater–what is wrong?! I think it will kind of soften the look and make the white stars stand out more.

I have had no fewer than five starts in the past couple months– and there is an opportunity coming up next week to sew my head off. I’m eyeing the end of the year coming up like that train headlight at the end of the tunnel, and I’d like to close out as many projects as humanly possible, both cross stitch and quilts.

So that’s another week in the life! Will Night Flight get a couple more blocks finished this month? Will I remember my Posh Penelope class next week? Will anything get done at all? Stay tuned!

xox
Carol