"Hurrah for the USA" Southern Indiana Shop Hop--June 23-26, 2011

I had a chance to go with some friends to this year's Southern Indiana Shop Hop last Thursday (June 23). It was an ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS day. It doesn't get much better than spending a day with great friends doing what you love! I got a few pictures but got so excited at some places that I forgot to take any. I apologize to those shops. Also, I didn't get to go to two of the shops included in the hop, but I will include their information.

First, let me show you my "booty" from the trip. This picture is missing a great pair of scissors I bought, because I'm already using them. They are tiny scissors with a serrated cutting blade. I'm using them to cut out VERY detailed fusible applique pieces. I will be reviewing them later, so stay tuned. Actually, I'll be reviewing several of these products since they are new to me.

1. I had been looking for the Heat and Bond Feather Lite since seeing it on The Quilt Show. My preferred fusible is Heat and Bond Lite, but Feather Lite is supposed to be less stiff. I'm VERY anxious to give it a test. I have had trouble finding it. The places where I normally purchase Heat and Bond Lite haven't had it. I found this at Craft Town Fabrics at Salem, IN. Look for a review once I have used it.
2. The egg-looking item is a packet (called a Pebble) of John James beading needles. I love the needle holder. I always have trouble finding my beading needles and haven't, as of yet, found a good way to store them. I'm hoping this will help. I've also heard these are nice beading needles--we'll see.
3. I'm SO lazy that I REALLY hate to sew pieces of batting together to get a piece large enough for one of my projects. I'm also frugal enough to want to use all those pieces. I'm hoping I have found the product to help me out with this situation. It is called Heat Press from Jeanne Harwood Designs. I bought 10 yards of the 1 1/2" wide size. A narrower size is available, but I didn't feel like it would work as well for me. This is another product I will review once I have tried it.
4. Next is the Clover Embroidery Threader. It is supposed to make it easier to thread those pesky embroidery threads into your needle. The older I get...the more trouble I have threading needles of any kind. The problem with embroidery thread is that when I use multiple threads, one of them always seems to wiggle its way away from the others and not go through the eye of the needle. I'm hoping this will help. I'll let you know. I thought the price was a bit high (almost $10). If it works, though, I will think it is worth it.
5. The last product on the table is Clover's tracing paper called "Clover Chacopy." It isn't a real "exciting" product, but it is something I need. It is sort of like the paper I remember using in my home economics class in high school--the yellow paper that we used with a tracing wheel to place the marks from a pattern onto our fabric. Did you all use that paper too? You get five different colored 12" X 10" sheets in the package for $4.25.

The item below wasn't purchased during the hop but appears on the table with my shop hop purchases. I did purchase it the same day, though. I'm really excited to try this product, because it is designed to thread small needles--sizes 9-12. I REALLY have trouble getting those tiny needles threaded, especially if the light is not great. It is made by Sewline and is called the "Sewline Quickthru Needle Threader." They also make a replacement mechanism for the threader. (I'm not sure if that is good or bad. It made me wonder if they have already had to replace a lot of them.) The only place I could find this product is at Shiisa Quilts in Bloomington, IN. They have an on-line store too. Check them out at http://www.shiisaquilts.com/.

The shops included in the hop were as follows. (Some of them have websites--for the ones that do, I have added a link so you can easily visit. Just hover over the shop name. If they are linked, you'll see it.)

• HollyHock Quilt Shop is located at 1148 Hwy 62 NW in Corydon, IN. This is one of the places where I didn't get a picture. This is a nice little shop with a friendly, knowledgeable staff. They really have a great selection of patterns for hand embroidery. Their selection of Crabapple Hill (one of my favorite companies) patterns is really good. They are one of the few places that carry some Cosmo embroidery thread.
• Craft Town Fabrics is located at 21 Public Square in Salem, IN. They have over 7,000 bolts of fabric, a large selection of books, patterns, and quilting notions. They do ship orders made on line.

• The Quilting Bee is located at 4904 Old Georgetown Road, Edwardsville, IN. This shop is located in a red metal building across from the UM Church. I didn't get a picture of this shop either. They have a really nice staff and lots of great fabric, books, and patterns.
• I didn't make it to the Stitching Post located at 401 East St, Washington, IN, but I have been there many times. This store is LOADED with fabric. They do a bang-up Internet business and have VERY reasonable shipping prices. Again, you'll find a very friendly, knowledgeable staff. Check out their website.
• L & L Yard Goods is located at 1814 Taylor Street, Madison, IN. This quilt shop looks small on the outside, but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of fabric (and other items) on the inside. Longarm quilting is available at their shop.
• Margie's Country Store is located at 721 West Main Street in Madison, IN. The owner, Margie Webb, has a GREAT eye for fabric and patterns. The shop is very small, but you will be surprised at the treasures you will find if you take the time to visit.

• Sharynn's Quilt Box is located at 1551 North State Street in North Vernon, IN. The shop is an authorized Janome sales and service dealer. They have over 2,000 bolts of fabric along with kits, notions, books, patterns, sewing classes and clubs at this shop. Call 812-346-4731 for information.
• I didn't get to go to The Village Mercantile which is located at 123 South 2nd Street in Boonville, IN. I have spend some time (and money) there too, though. It is only 10 minutes off of I-64 at Exit 39. Betty has over 6,000 bolts of fabric at the shop. She has a huge amount of beautiful samples made up along with patterns, books, and notions.

I hope you enjoyed reading about the shops. If you don't live close by, you can visit the websites. Have your own little Southern Indiana Shop Hop on line!

Hey, leave me a comment every now and then. I hate to think I'm just talking (typing) to myself all the time!