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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Back Home in Virginia Again.

Hi friends,

I have been away again - caring for my sister in Michigan for the last week.  I'm back home again as of today, and am happy to be back by my sewing machine.  No sewing was done for the past week, but a lot was accomplished, and progress was made in my sister's care.  

While gone, I took a big ball of yarn with me, and here is how far I got with it:  It's to be a baby blanket for an infant - a donation project
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I made a mistake in the pattern about two inches into the blanket, before I memorized the repeats and the pattern changes.  I left it there, as I don't think the baby will notice it.  I asked the little dolls, Sophia Grace and Rosie, and they said it looked fine to them.  I am starting the second ball of yarn, and it is going quite fast.  Knitting is a great calming project when I am dealing with stressful things.

The trip back took me two days, and for the second day, I drove across lower Ohio and West Virginia, and across Virginia.  Much better plan than the boring PA turnpike route.   I picked out four quilt stores to visit, and here is my rating on them:

(1) Sew Many Blessings Quilt Shop
     1925 Adams Avenue, Huntington, WV
Wonderful shop, with helpful staff, and I found several things I wanted there.  They asked if they could help me, and when I said I was just looking, they let me wander around and look at my pace.  The store was very nice, with beautiful displays.  I bought several things on sale.  I gave it an A!

(2) Textile Mills Cloth Shop Inc.
     5303 MacCorkle Ave. SW, South Charleston, WV
I should have researched this one better on the web before I drove there.  When I saw the sign outside "Custom Draperies and Bedspreads", I knew it was not going to give me what I wanted in civil war repros and shirtings.  I looked around a little bit, but didn't find anything that wanted to come home with me.  I gave myself a D- for choosing something that wasn't a quilt store.

(3) Nancy's Fabrics
     218 W. Edgar Avenue, Ronceverte, WV
When I arrived at this quaint little town, the storefront had a "for rent" sign, and was closed and empty.  I have looked at their website now that I'm home and see that they have closed the store and plan a "quilt store on wheels" in a school bus. My disappointment was not too great, as I thought the most promising quilt store was yet to come.  I gave this store an incomplete grade.

(4) Old Trinity Schoolhouse
     3200 Trinity Road, Troutville, VA  
The shop owner was very helpful and the shop was full of all the kind of fabric that I love.  I could have stayed there browsing for hours, but since I arrived at 4:30, I was the last customer out the door at 5:00.  I will come back to this store.  Several shirtings, and reproductions of civil war era fabrics came home with me.  I also bought a beautiful 108" wide quilt backing fabric.  
Grade A+
Here's a picture of the Old Trinity Schoolhouse quilt store:




It was a great way to break up the long trip, as I was traveling alone, but I am happy to be back home and am looking forward to sewing on my sewing machine later today.

I am frustrated with Blogger in that I no longer get emails when someone comments on my blog.  I don't know how to find your email to reply to you.  I used to get an email when someone commented, and I could then just hit "reply" and answer any questions, or thank you for a comment.  But I do not get emails of comments now.  If anyone can help me fix this problem, I would be very grateful.

If I reply to your comment right at the blog, do you get the reply?  There is so much I do not know about Blogger, and Blogger+, whatever that is.















11 comments:

Janet O. said...

That last quilt shop looks very cute.
I don't know what to tell you about the comment thing. I still get an email when someone comments on my blog. When you reply directly in the comments it does not go to the individual's email. I do know that much. : )

The Tea Lady's Journal said...

The knitting looks perfect. Very pretty. Nice that you were able to stop and see some shops. Happy Sewing! Not sure what to tell you about the Blogger thing. Sorry.

JoAnne said...

Judy,
I'm not sure what to tell you about the blogger/email issue. I know I left a comment a while ago and you replied. Thanks for the review of the quilt shops. If you remember, I live in Yorktown. The Penninsula Piecemakers quilt show is this weekend at Poquoson Middle school and I'll be there the whole time. Do you belong to the Williamsburg guild? I hope to go to the next meeting to join.

Ranch Wife said...

What a lovely blanket! That will be an heirloom! Happy to hear that you are home again. I know you were a great blessing to your sister. I like to explore new shops when I'm on the road too. Its something to look forward to when the miles are many.
As for Blogger - I am the wrong person to answer your dilemma. I have my blog set to approve all comments and once they are approved, they do go into my email.

sandi s said...

You baby blanket is so pretty! Thank you for the shop names. I get up that way about once a year.

Leah Rubin said...

Judy, I'm sure you were a huge blessing to your sister. She is so fortunate to have you on her team. I will keep you both in my prayers.

The baby blanket is so beautiful. You were right to keep it as is-- the baby will still love it!

I love visiting quilt shops when we travel, but I never thought of rating them, as you did! Great idea!

Lori said...

Nice you could help out your sis. The knitted blanket is very pretty.

Go into your dashboard, settings, comments, and look thru that area. Comment location should be embedded and then update and maybe that will get the email started again.

Nancy said...

I love your blog header! Your blanket looks lovely and I couldn't see a mistake.

About the post comments. Sign in to blogger. Beside the blog that needs changes (to the right) you will see a little down arrow. Click that and go down to "settings." In the left sidebar under settings click on "mobile and email" and you'll be able to check whether you have the correct email address there. If that doesn't work, I can't help. So sorry. (But I hope that works!)

If you reply to my comment, I will see it if I come back to the post on your blog or if I click the "notify me" button with this comment. I hope you can get it figured out.

Kindred Quilts said...

Lovely baby blanket... too lovely to notice any change in the pattern!

Enjoyed reading about the shops your visited and your grading system! Quilt shop hopping is the absolute best way to break up the hours of driving... one doesn't need any other excuse to stretch the legs!

Good luck with resetting your e-mail notification on blogger. Nancy gave you great instructions!

TLC said...

Thanks for the quilt shop reviews. I will definitely add Hunington and Troutville to my list.

Miranda said...

I don't have troubles with my blogger...but I saw you were visiting the Old schoolhouse...
It was one of my favorite quiltstores when I lived in Forest VA. I still have a lot of fabrics, wool and books and of course memoiries from then. My first time I didn't see it laying on the top of that hill so I drove by...anyways, thanks for sharing!