Fabric Road Trip

A few weeks ago, I headed down to sweltering Alabama to see my folks and on the way home, instead of blasting through Atlanta at 80 mph, stopped to visit fabric stores and add stash to my stash. First stop, Whipstitch, a glorious little shop close to Georgia Tech

in the Brickworks development.

They specialize in bright cottons perfect for quilting or making eye-catching clothing. And they have a roster of fun classes at their

"Atlanta Sewing Lounge." While I was there, a sewing camp for girls was in full swing and there was lots of mad dashes around

Whipstitch to pick out the perfect fabrics and trims. I so wanted to dash madly with them, but that would have been creepy, so I pondered quietly instead.

I don't use quilting cottons much, but I've been inspired lately by The Snug Bug. She is so great at combining fun fabrics into cute dresses and tops. So I bought two fabrics with the idea that I would make a Claire Cami top, probably my last summer top before I dive into purple wool for fall.

Whipstitch has a beautiful space with high ceilings, exposed brick and lots of fun examples of garments and quilts

made with their whimsical fabric. Put it on your to do list if you ever find yourself in Atlanta with an afternoon to spare. Then try a very respectable Thai restaurant called Spoon just up the street. It hit the spot and fortified me for my next endeavour...Gail K.

A right royal mess in here!

Where Whipstitch is new, dignified, well-organized, and devoted to "modern prints, Gail K at 2216 Cheshire Bridge Rd, NE, Atlanta, is a chaotic madhouse of fashion fabrics--piled, stacked, leaned, buried, mixed and mashed all over the place. Not much to look at from the outside, once inside, a girl who relishes fine fabric could do some damage to her checking account. Honestly, I was there so long, at one point one of the clerks said to me, "Are YOU still here?" It was heaven. But the kind of heaven you have to be in the right frame of mind for. Sort of like the flea market. Or IKEA. Easy to get sucked into the undertow.

Like I said, I don't sew much with quilting cottons and even less with Home Dec fabrics, so anytime I don't have to

eliminate half a fabric shop automatically, it's

right up my alley and I'm already planning when I can return before I've even hand

over my credit card. Gail K is like Mood of the South with everything from linens to silks to wools, cottons, novelty fabrics, knits, shirtings, you name it, it's there. Good luck finding it, but it's there. Actually, there were plenty of people working and the staff is helpful and friendly even if they get tired of seeing you after three hours. Customers come from everywhere, too, and now I know why. Gail K rocks!

HERE is a stash post to see my lovelies from Gail K.

And look at these buttons!

Way more where these came from.

On another note...does anyone besides me get frustrated with Blogger's photo upload deal? Why can't I just put the pictures where I want them

and not where Blogger put them out of order and weird? Any hin

ts anyone? Somebody help me!