Day 9: Motorcycle trip from Minnesota to Nova Scotia, we are Here!

Today we drove from Truro to the south west coast of Nova Scotia. We visited 3 communities, Mahone Bay, Chester and Lunenburg.  Each community is filled with colorful cedar shake homes, wonderful eating establishments, and shops.

I was excited to see the giant word Quilt on the front of a shop in Mahone.  I walked in and it was filled with finished quilts.  They were lovely but not what I was interested in. 

That shop owner mentioned another shop and said they had Kaffe Fassett fabric.  Boy did my ears perk up 

I walked into a beautiful studio with hand dyed wool fabric and wool yarn.  Hanging on the walls were amazing works of art done in punch/ latch rug form.  The area is know for punch / latch rugs and there is even a museum in Queensland.

But the fabric.....oh my.  If anyone knows me, they know, I have a love of vibrant fabrics and the Kaffe Fassett Collective is my favorite.  Heidi ONLY has Free Spirit Fabrics.  And truly, these fabrics are perfect for the community with the brightly painted buildings and the seaside decor`

To be honest, it is the first I have seen of Free Spirit in Canada and I was thrilled.  The owner explained that there was another local shop and she wanted to carry fabrics that didn't cross over to them.

They have a wonderful selection of FreeSpirit fabric ,largely Kaffe Fassett Collective. She even opened her new delivery of fabric while I was browsing.  Scary, but I own every pattern that she pulled out of the box.

The shop also has a nice selection of Tula Pink with a smattering of other FreeSpirit lines.

There are a few flannels along with the cottons too.  If you live in the area and don't have a good KFC source, here it is.  If you are driving by take a look.  If you have never used these fabrics, try them, you will fall in love.

I had a lovely visit with the shop owner.  She has only been there a year and the purchased fabric part of her shop is the newest part of her business.  

Previously they had a farm, with sheep, and thus leads to the wool dying in her studio.

A beautiful place and kind people, I recommend a visit!

With love from your retired FACS teacher, Jane 

Day 8: Our motorcycle trip from MN to Nova Scotia with a side of quilting. Success today!

We spent Sunday on Prince Edward Island.  What a charming place, full of small communities and beautiful country side.  The crops give everything so much texture.  The potato crops are in bloom and smell so nice!

On Monday, we stopped at Quilting B and more, one of few quilt shops on the island.  

They sell machines, have a classroom and have a lovely selection of fabric, notions, sewing machines and quilting tools.  Fabrics included flannels, east coast fabrics ( lighthouses, seagulls, lobsters, sailboats) outdoors fabrics, winter fabrics, batiks and more.

 Of course they have wonderful patterns featuring Anne of Green Gables.  They have a wall with many other patterns too.

 It is a wonderful shop that meets the needs of the island and the visitors.  Prices are very reasonable.  Of course while requesting I said A yard instead of a meter.  I keep forgetting!

They will ship on request but do not have a online shop.

We drove around the island in the morning and took a ferry to Nova Scotia to give ourselves a break.  A lovely boat ride and a fantastic day!

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With love from your retired facs teacher, Jane

Motorcycle trip from MN to NS with a side of quilting day 6 & 7. Fail!

Hi,

I have searched the Internet far and wide for quilt shops in Quebec.  It seems to be a difficult task.  Quebec is not listed on the Canadian quilters association.  I asked around and the availability of fabric shops in Quebec appears to be a mystery.  There are chain stores but they don't need a review.

Here is a link to shops participating in the Canadian quilters Association.

https://canadianquilter.com/quilt-shop-list/

We intended to get to Maine on Saturday but stores were closed or closed before we arrived.  Sunday we traveled from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island with most fabric shops being closed.

We had a fantastic visit in Fredericton, NB where we happened upon their Scottish Festival.

PEI is charming and full of life!  I recommend.

Love from your retired FACS

Day 5? I am losing count, of our trip to Nova Scotia from MN, on a motorcycle!

Today our journey started in Hawkesbury, Ontario and we basically traveled a few miles to visit the Fabric Box.  The fun and crazy thing about this situation is this shop housed my other passion.  It shares space with a shoe store!

The shop was small but carried lovely cottons and flannels.  It had many outdoor type fabrics, Canadian themed fabrics and just fun prints.  There was a nice wall of sewing notions with beautiful samples.  

This town is surrounded by agriculture and houses a hospital and elder care homes.  The main street had some fantastic older homes worth checking out, especially for history buffs.

The owner and her quilt shop partner were so fun to chat with I felt like we could be friends if there were not miles between us.

We spent the afternoon in Quebec City Village Centre and then drove 30ish miles to La Plage Hotel and Restaurant, Berthier-sur-Mer, Quebec.  The picture is the view from our deck.  ♡

A fantastic day!

With love from your retired FACs teacher, Jane

Day 4, Our adventure from MN to NS, with a side of quilting

To find a shop today, took a bit of research.  Plus the phone service for us is not great.  But we did it. 

 The shop we found is in

a community on the Ottawa River and the area houses a near by military base.  The shop is several miles ( sorry my Canadian friends) off of hwy 17.

The Algonquin Sewing Center in Pembroke, ON, is our shop today. I walked in and immediately saw a nice batik selection and tons of blenders.  Love! 

As you can see from the pictures, they have a nice Canada fabric supply too; with a small selection of flower prints and holiday fabric.

 This wonderful quilt is their block of the month, so happy!  They have garment sewing lessons and house a weekly crocheting and knitting group.

They carry a nice supply of yarns, notions and quilting tools for your creative pleasure.

They do not sell on line, but do have Facebook page, and sell kits from there by request.

Fantastic, friendly people.  Yes, I purchased something. :-)

We are spending the evening in Hawkesbury and had a fantastic meal at Stephanie's on the patio.

With love from your retired FACS teacher, Jane

Day 3 of our motorcycle journey from MN to Nova Scotia with a side of quilting

Today I visited Life's a Stitch.  What a great quilt shop, wonderful people and so much to look at and want, want, want.

They have the Northcott, Solstice fabrics and will ship their square.  Only $8.99, Canadian.

You can see their shop on line, but of course it will be measured in meters if you are a U.S. person, 39 inches to you. :-)

Their selection of Canadian fabrics is so amazing I purchased a batik with Maple leaves.  I know, why?

They have tons of panels, sewing supplies, tools.  Great shop.

They even came out and looked at our bike.

We drove from Sault Ste Marie to North Bay Ontario. It was a beautiful drive. Along the way we had a nice lunch in Spanish, Ont, snacked on wild blueberries and had an amazing meal in North Bay.  

A fantastic day of travel.

I am not sure if I will find a shop tomorrow but I will try.  Sometimes the communities are very small.

With love from your retired FACs teacher, Jane

Day two of our journey with a little quilt fabric on the side.

We left Green Bay, which was difficult, our #1 son and his family live there.

Quickly into the trip driving along Lake Michigan I said into my mike, "Stop, quilt shop."  The response was, "Seriously?"

What a silly question!

We stopped in Marinette, WI.  A lovely community with ship building and tourism.

The shop called Pine Street Quilts had a fantastic selection of fabrics at prices you would expect.  Along with a nice wall of patterns and notions too.

They are not online but will ship if they have what you need.  

O.k. yes, com rads I purchased that fabric under the card......and maybe another.  But that is it, really.

We crossed a bridge and we were in Menomonee, MI  another beautiful community on Lake Michigan.  And, they house the famous Lloyd Flanders Wicker factory.

We traveled 300 miles and rolled into Sault Ste Marie, MI.  More about that tomorrow. 

It was a fantastic day with beautiful weather, lovely things to look at and nice people along the way. 

With love from your retired FACS teacher, Jane 

A Motorcycle trip with a side of quilting

Today my husband and I started our 10th annual summer motorcycle trip.  This years journey will be from Minnesota to Nova Scotia on the Canadian side of the boarder and home on the U.S. side.

Today, we went from the twin cities to Green Bay, WI.

I am going to try and talk my husband into  stopping at and investigate small quilt shops along the way.  Why, because I love quilting, I love small business and I love people.

Today I got to stop in Rhinelander,WI.  This is in Wisconsin's lake country.  The area is beautiful.

I stopped at Sew Creative, a lovely shop owned by a rather young husband wife team.  They have machines and fabric for sale, offer long arm services and have a rather large classroom area.

I asked them if I could take pictures and blog about them, they said sure. They have wonderful fabrics, lots of Tula Pink (and maybe some hard to find items) and other FreeSpirit lines.  They also carry several Moda lines.  Along with that a huge wall of blenders.

Their prices are AMAZING and they said they are just starting to sell, today, on Facebook.  So, look them up and check out the packages they put together.  Spend $75 and get free shipping.

Nice people!  Fun shop! I recommend.

Oh yes, I went in there and said, "I won't buy much, it is the first day."  Bahahaha

I had to go back.  I forgot my helmet.

Love from your retired FACS teacher, Jane