amy butler gypsy caravan

Hi all, yes this is Paige. I don’t get much time to blog but I’m hoping to change that so I can share some of my quilting journey as well. A couple weeks ago, I spent a wonderful relaxing vacation in Austin with one of my dear friends and her cousin, who lives there. We did a little bit of everything from touring caverns to live music to helping a bit at a bicycle race for MS to the best tex-mex cuisine and margaritas! Definitely hard to come back to the cold and overcast skies.

Of course, all quilters know the best way to plan a road trip is to layout the route based on where the quilt shops are located, am I right?! Well, Karen and I developed our own shop hop and visited 10 shops over the week. I did my Google Maps search and here are the shops we chose based on location, their websites and images of their shops. I must say, they were all worth the stop.

*Stitch Lab -Austin, TX stitchlab.biz
*Las Colchas -San Antonio, TX    lascolchas.com
*Creations‎ -Kerrville, TX   creations-online.com‎‎
Honey Bee Quilt Store -Austin, TX honeybeequiltstore.com   (Will be featured in the 2012 Quilt Sampler Magazine)
The Quilt Store, Inc. -Austin, TX    quiltstore.com
Ready To Sew Bernina   -Cedar Park, TX readytosewbernina.com
Poppy Quilt ‘n Sew‎ -Georgetown, TX    poppyquiltnsew.com‎
B & B Quilting & Gifts -Buda, TX   bbquilting.com
Quilt Haus -New Braunfels, TX   creativesewlutions.com

Here is a little bit about my top three favorites:

The Stitch Lab in Austin was such a cool place. Leslie, the owner, was so kind to take a moment and tell us a bit about herself, her journey and how her place was evolving. Her selection of fabrics included cottons, voiles, linens and home dec – all were current and vibrant. There was lots of energy flowing thru the rooms and lots of busy hands cutting and folding the new fabrics that just arrived. We fell in love with the quaintness of the shop and wanted to hang out all day –click here to see more pictures of her shop.

Las Colchas was another must see shop in downtown San Antonio. A charming cottage home converted into a quilter’s paradise filled with fabrics from modern to folk, a cozy classroom and deck off the back. The staff was pleasant and very helpful.

When we walked into Creations in Kerriville (NW of San Antonio), I was instantly drawn to the 100’s and 100’s of bolts of Batiks. Their selection was amazing…I had to touch each bolt and wanted a yard of each for my stash. About 15 minutes into the shopping spree, my phone started beeping -I had a new text…hmmm, who could it be…it was Karen texting me from the front of the store telling me “this place is huge!” and before I knew it she was at my side saying “you’re still here? You’ve got to see this place”. Creations had a separate room for every style quilter and do-it-yourselfer. The staff was so personable and helpful I didn’t want to leave –a definite must see!