My Fabric Rep Trek: Pickleweeds Quilt Shop

There's always room for one more! One more quilt shop, that is. Joan Orsi, the owner of this shop, and her husband had a life-long dream of opening a quilt shop and the time finally came to make Pickleweeds Quilt Shop a reality.

Pickleweeds Quilt Shop, Douglasville, GA

Pickleweeds is located in Douglasville, Georgia (west of Atlanta) right off I-20 in a shopping plaza with plenty of parking. The store is spacious and, listening to the excitement in Joan's voice as she talked about all the plans for Pickleweeds, it's being filled with fabrics, notions, threads, classes and fun activities ("Elegance" Block of the Month, Mysteries, Sit and Sews) for quilters and sewers of every level.

Here are photos from my recent visit while the shop was still being set up. These shelves are now filled and ready for the Grand Opening Celebration this weekend (October 12). Check out this expansive color wall.

The color wall is being stocked.

There are color-themed collections like patriotic, holiday red and green, and black and whites...

Patriotic prints and black and whites.

neutrals and tonal prints for backgrounds...

Neutrals in several shades and tones.

classic geometric prints like chevrons, argyle and stripes...

Chevrons, zig-zags, argyles and more...

novelties and juvenile prints in bright, happy colors, as well as flannels, batiks, and my can't-live-without favorites, wide backings.

Cute prints for kids quilts and baby accessories.

These pumpkin placemats, hanging above the wall of notions, are the project for an upcoming class.

Notions wall.

There are calendars, pre-cut 2.5" strip and charm collections, zippers and buttons.

Calendars, buttons and pre-cut fabric collections.

Pickleweeds also offers convenient "Take It and Make It" quilt kits. 

Quilt kits.

Class samples adorn the walls...

Class samples 

in the lounge and book preview area...

Lounge area where quilters can sit, relax and peruse the books.

and behind the cutting stations.

Two large cutting stations are located at the back wall.

What a great idea for a fabric panel or scene print! This sample is hanging in the huge classroom...

Looking through the window at a winter scene.

that is set up with individual tables, ironing stations and white boards! (A teacher's dream classroom!)

Large, spacious classroom.

Joan offers machine quilting services on the two Gammill long arms at Pickleweeds. A very cool thing that she has build into the shop's web site is the waiting list for quilting services. You can monitor the progress of your quilt... 25%, 50%, 75% ... through the web site. She is also a Gammill dealer.

Gammil long arm quilting machines.

Did you know that Gammil now has a sit-down machine, called the Charm? To all my free-motion machine quilting students: notice the orientation of the head in relation to where the operator sits... just like your domestic sewing machine!

The Charm sit down machine quilting machine by Gammill.

There is a play area to keep kids occupied while parents and grandparents shop.

The front counter (left) and the play area for kids (right).

If you want to enjoy the beautiful October weather this weekend and you're looking for a quilters road trip... Pickleweeds' Grand Opening Celebration is this Saturday, October 12. I've heard there will be prize drawings every 30 minutes, great 30% discounts, a raffle quilt and a grand prize drawing at the end of the day.  

If you can't travel, you can still enjoy the savings through the Pickleweeds on-line shop. If you go in person, tell them Veronica reminded you to ask about the "key fob." With this, you'll get extra savings. Joan has thought of everything!

Pickleweeds Quilt Shop, Douglasville, GA

My Fabric Rep Trek: Tiny Stitches

I hope you had an opportunity to visit YLS on Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day, January 24. If life's craziness stepped in, however, and foiled your best laid plans, check class and event schedules and see what's on the horizon at YLS (your local shop).

In my region of the country, the Greater Atlanta Shop Hop is coming up, March 14-17. One of the participating shops is Tiny Stitches, in Marietta, Georgia.

Tiny Stitches quilt shop in Marietta, Georgia

Shop owner, Maetha Elliott, took ownership of this 20+ year shop about 8 years ago. Before my Blank Quilting fabric rep days, I had been to Tiny Stitches a handful of times—on a quilters' bus trip, in conjunction with attending a quilt show, and returning home from a business appointment in Atlanta when I popped in with 15 minutes to spare to purchase the perfect red-and-black striped fabric for a quilt binding. [I knew of their great fabric selection, so was sure I would find something appropriate.] On my recent visit as a fabric rep, I was delighted to find the shop had expanded... adding a large, spacious classroom.

The large classroom at Tiny Stitches.

The diverse fabric selection was even more than I had remembered, and did not disappoint. Fabrics are sorted by color with plenty of focal prints and supporting blenders, ...

The penguins sit atop shelves of cool blue fabrics, feeling right at home.

by theme (reproductions, traditional prints),...

A great selection of the classics.

by style or print (florals, stripes, checks, geometrics, chevrons)...

Zingy geometrics and funky florals.

and batiks...

Oh, the batiks!

there is a full color gamut of solids...

A selection of solids greets you at the entrance.

and themed prints (holiday, Christmas, winter) with precut fat quarters near at hand.

Fabrics are sorted by color and theme.

Projects and quilts to inspire and delight are found throughout the store and in the classroom.

Left: blue and white house quilt hangs above the selection of whites and neutrals.
Right: a patchwork jacket and cowl among the batiks.

Are you ready for Valentine's Day?
"Let Me Call You Tweet-Heart" quilt above the classroom doorway.

What used to be the classroom, has been transformed into a fantasyland for the little visitors. 

Brights, novelties and panels abound.

The charming hand-painted mural features baby animals and friendly wildlife.

A mural adds to the fantasy and whimsy of the children's area.

Small quilts, panels and pillowcases hang from the clothesline strung between white-washed wooden fence posts.

"I Spy with my Little Eye" mural.

Brights, themed prints and novelties appeal to the young and young-at-heart alike. You'll find fruits and vegetables, popcorn, candy and cookies.... bugs, fish, frogs and spiders... 

Left: Fruits, vegetables, popcorn, candy and cookies.
Right: frogs, fish, spiders and other bugs.

elephants, bears, tigers and other zoo animals... dogs, cats and coordinating paw prints in a variety of colors and backgrounds... with coordinating stripes, dots, spots, whimsies and doodads of all sorts. 

Dogs and cats are featured with coordinating paw prints.

There are even shelves of landscape fabrics and animal prints. You can let your imagination run "wild and free" in here!

Landscape fabrics and animal prints.

A pint-size table and chairs is located in this room with several toys to keep little hands and minds entertained.

A small table and chairs with toys for children.

What was new to me were the woolens...

A selection of woolen plaids and solids.

and a large wall of snuggly flannels.

A wall of assorted flannel prints.

On the other side of the classroom wall is the book, pattern and notion center at the front of the store. It's complete with a "Husband chair" or two.

Books, patterns and notions.

The eye candy doesn't stop here. Another artist has painted and embellished the door and inside of the restroom with these glamour girls.

"Painted ladies" at Tiny Stitches.

"So, where's the sale fabric section?" you ask. 

Visit the Tiny Stitches Quilting Studio, two doors down from the main shop.

It's two doors down... at the Tiny Stitches Quilting Studio... with the Handi Quilter machines. (There are some fabulous machine quilting examples on the walls in there as well.)

Tiny Stitches Quilting Studio.

Whether or not you can make it to the Greater Atlanta Shop Hop, the Tiny Stitches quilt shop is a must-stop any time of year.