On our little road trip to Arkansas this week I prepared a list of quilt shops to visit from recommendations and internet searches. Some of the shops from the internet searches no longer exist, but it was fun driving all over the back roads of Arkansas hunting for them (bless my dear hubby for patiently driving those back roads with me!). I ended up visiting four quilt shops in four days.
Finding the first shop was just pure and simple luck – not on the original list. We had booked a cabin up in the hills of Northwest Arkansas at Locke Mountain Cabins. Here is the sign:
Notice that they also have a quilt shop!!! The cabin was very clean, very comfortable and Patti and Gary were wonderful hosts. And the quilt shop was fun to explore. I picked up some of this pretty Gone With the Wind fabric from Quilting Treasures:
On Tuesday, we set off to find a quilt shop in Fort Smith. Found the address but there was a big fence around it and No Trespassing signs all over. Not the ambiance of most quilt shops at all. So it was off to a shop in Mulberry which had been recommended. GPS took us to a dead end, but we finally found the shop down a 3 or 4 mile dirt road. And what a find this shop was! 
Cozy Quilts and Things is just chock full of fabulous fabric. I took one look at the price on a bolt of fabric and I asked if this was the price per yard or half yard? Holy cow, y’all! $3.95 to $4.97 a yard for amazing high quality fabric. I kind of went a little nuts in this shop!
Look at these Ty Pennington fabrics:
I also got 4 yards of Benartex Muted Transitions, 3 yards of Westminster Calypso Swing fabric and a yard of a pretty blue print by Cranston. I think most of these fabrics are discontinued but they sure were pretty and well priced. The shop owner Linda and her husband were really nice people. Here is Linda and me with my bag of fabric:
On Wednesday the first two shops we tried to find were closed. We were on our way to Hot Springs via the Scenic Route 7. The weather was gorgeous and the scenery spectacular so we had wonderful drive. We ate cheese and crackers, grapes and chocolates on the road. After we settled into our hotel, we were back on the hunt and found Cathy’s Quiltin’ Square in Hot Springs. Here I found some really pretty green’s that I think might work with that Ty Pennington fabric – mmmm – you think there may be a bright green quilt in my future?
Thursday we found one more quilt shop – Hickory Hill Quilts. More fabric acquisition! Isn’t this just the cutest? Designed by Nambooka for M&S Textiles – look at the flying squirrel!
No idea what I’ll do with it but got some coordinating fat quarters to go with it. And many thanks to the sweet lady at Hickory Hill Quilts (I’m sorry, I didn’t get her name) for the wonderful recommendation on where to eat lunch (The Home Plate Cafe – best coconut cream pie I’ve ever had!).
There is something special about going into quilt shops as you travel. If I let them know I’m visiting the area, the ladies (and gentlemen) in the shops are always really nice, very helpful and give you a sense of the people of the area more than you get if you visit a tourist attraction or restaurant.
This was definitely a “Fabric Acquisition Trip” but we also visited my husband relatives all over Arkansas. I loved getting to know them and hearing stories of his wild and crazy youth!
Have a great weekend, y’all and Happy Mother’s Day to all you Moms!!!
