The end of last year, the best quilt shop in Maine, the Fabric Garden in Madison, closed their doors after 43 years in business. It is a real loss for the state and central Maine in particular. They had the BEST selection of quality fabrics, were always helpful and it was so much fun to visit and see what treasures I could find to spark my creative juices.
And in just a week, another fine quilt shop will close its doors - Mainely Sewing in Nobleboro. Their home was an iconic yellow two-story older home set on a hill overlooking Route 1 along the coast. They had, without a doubt, the best sale room in the state - I always found many fabrics there that just couldn't wait to come home with me. They also are very nice people.
Just this morning, I discovered that another of my more infrequent fabric haunts has disappeared - J Madeline's in Rochester, New York. I only visited there twice but was impressed with their selection and service. My last visit I stocked up on several colors of my favorite "blender" fabrics - Maywood Studios Shadow Play line and I'm happy I did. But where to find them going forward? The search is on!
One bit of happy news is that the former Fabric Garden location has been taken over by another concern and they are holding their grand opening this weekend. They are continuing that location's tradition of carrying Janome sewing machines and are getting in some fabric as well. I think I'll wait a bit for more stock to arrive - fabric stores are not immune to the supply chain issues plaguing all businesses right now.
I'm continuing on the placemat journey, hoping to build up my reserve to eliminate that end of season rush to fill in for the next show with only 2 weeks to do so. It was a bit hairy there last year! And my schedule of shows is set for 2022, starting off once again with the USM Athletics Show the end of April. I love this show because of the ease of setting up in their fieldhouse - we can drive right inside and if I have my usual spot, I can park 3 feet away! Can't get any easier than that! (There was a bit of a kerfuffle with my acceptance notification but thanks to a fellow UMC member who is also doing that show alerting me she had received her acceptance, I was able to contact the USM folks and get my invoice which I promptly payed. Another show returning to my scheduled is the New England Music Camp show - it's only a Sunday afternoon but it's 5 minutes from my house and they have returned it to its former spot between the 2 sessions they hold so I no longer have a conflict with the Flaherty show.
Time to get the Pfaff serviced and I have an appointment later this month for that. Once it's back in top running order, I'll quilt Luna by Starlight so she can go to Gorham with me. I sold a lap quilt there several years ago so I have my fingers crossed.
