After our fabulous lunch on the water at Chart House yesterday in Tampa –I was escorted to the haven of Lutz, Florida --
Home of Sweet Darling Quilts!
And a darling of a shop it is!
Great classroom space, groups that meet for workshops for quilting, or doing wool applique work, always friendly happy faces going in and out.
While some shops are huge and overwhelming, I felt right at home the moment I walked through Sweet Darling’s door.
You will find fabrics from a variety of genres from civil war to 1930s to Downton Abbey to brights and basics.
There is something for everyone!
And of course, I spotted out right away that there were not one, but TWO Singer 301As on display – BOTH BLACK!
Oh heart, be still!
((You can see one over my head in this photo – long bed…covet covet!))
See it? Perfectly at home amidst a rainbow of bolts!
Great displays and gorgeous samples!
Hello, 99k! You ARE a Sweet Darling!
And there it is – 301 #2! There ought to be a law against this…hahahah!
Oh, the temptation!
Don’t worry, I did some fabric fondling of my own to lower my heart rate!
Oh lovely wall of neutrals!
Take 3 of these and call me in the morning!
The black and white spider web definitely needed to join my black on white stash. And the charms? Well, don’t you know they are the perfect size for my H block project and a girl who visits Florida needs a bit of Florida to take home with her. This will add variety to the meager cabin stash. At least that is how I’m justifying it.
If you find yourself near Lutz, FL, be sure to stop in and tell them Bonnie sent you!
26240 Wesley Chapel Blvd
Lutz, FL 33559
813-994-2994
sweetdarlingquilts@verizon.net
I had a lovely dinner out with Terri last night. And because our wait to be seated was over an hour, ((Friday night, go figure!)) we ran across the street to CVS to stock up on quilter’s essentials for late night hotel room sewing:
Oh Yeah! I’m ready!
Now before you start thinking me a glutton..I’ll have you know it was one small SMALL handful of black jelly beans last night ---and ONE SQUARE of the sea salt caramel that passed my lips. This stash will last me the entire two weeks I’m here, but there is comfort in knowing some goodies are waiting for you in your hotel room in the evening.
No sewing got done by the time we got back though ---however, I did spend an hour just drawing lines on the back of black squares to finish all of the lozenges requiring black squares. I’ll sew them tonight. This is the trip I push this Lozenge quilt as far as it can go. It’s been a leader/ender for long enough and now needs to become primary! Once the lines are drawn, the sewing will be quick.
This morning did start out with a bit of a WHAT!??!
What’s wrong with this picture?
NO COVER!
Who steals ironing board covers?? Do they really think I can just iron on bare metal with holes? I don’t think so!
I’ve left a note at the front desk for either a cover for this one, or a whole new ironing board, cover included.
So my students are going to just have to deal with a bit of suitcase wrinkle this morning ----unless they want me to whip off my shirt and iron it in front of everyone at the library – no – not going there! LOL!
I’m eager to meet my students and have a fun day with Cathedral Stars today. I just met Evelyn from Nova Scotia in the lobby when telling them about my naked ironing board. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!
Stay tuned for details!
We are due in Florida on Friday, travelling from England on vacation. Unfortunately you will have moved too far north for me to come and visit. I am so so disappointed. Hope the weather warms up though.
ReplyDeleteLinda.
Who steals ironing board covers? That's weird!
ReplyDeleteWhen I travel I have an empty small spray bottle. It's really tiny like one inch diameter by four inches tall. I think I got it in the section of the store that has travel size items.
When I unpack I will find two shirts, hang them up and lightly spray with water and run my hand down the shirt. The next am they are wrinkle free. Works well with denim shirts too. It's not quite the same as a freshly pressed shirt but it gets the wrinkles out.
I mean if I'm going to handle an iron it better be that I'm pressing fabric, right?
Hi Bonnie, my hubby travels a lot and has lots of travel tricks. As soon as he arrives at his hotel he takes out his clothes and hangs them in the bathroom, turns the shower on steaming hot, shuts the door and let's it run for a bit until the wrinkles are out. Yer welcome :) enjoy florida it's a beautiful state.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure you're not at South Beach with your naked ironing board? Ha! Enjoy the warm!
ReplyDeleteSuch a nice shop! I am in Ft Myers in May so now I am going to check out the map.
ReplyDeleteI am usually envious of all your antique finds. However, I must tell you about my new acquisition. I picked up an old Singer - pale green - in a cabinet, and along with a small bookshelf at the auction last week for $5! It definitely needs attention - at the very least a new tension knob. I need to find its age and whether it runs at all. I may come to you for some advice in that area. In the meantime, enjoy your warmer weather. Granddaughter says our fresh snow has "completely ruined her spring!"
ReplyDeleteThis has GOT to be a new destination -a city with my last name!
ReplyDeleteLoved the photos of the Sweet Darling shop - just the sort of place I love to poke around in. Like your choice for purchases too. Glad you are all prepped for working on the Lozenge quilt. Funnily enough when you were listing your ongoing projects on Quilt Cam I noticed you had omitted that one! Not sure how many UFOs I have, not too many though.
ReplyDeleteSuch restraint and self-control!! Applies to both the cute quilt shop and the lovely chocolates! I am looking forward to your Lozneges and I am still back in time working on my Split 9 Patch ( I came late to the game, but still...has not become Primary quite yet.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a great little quilt store. I visited there recently and did not come out without a bag of goodies. Wish I had known about Bonnie's visit there. I would have been there to meet her. Love her designs.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are having a great time. Love reading about the different quilt shops you visit.
ReplyDeleteJust happens that I'll be in Tampa in April, so could you visit a few more please. We have a few days before we fly back home to Canada and I intend on checking out a few quilt shops.
There is a place in Vegas that you need to visit on the strip that had old sewing machine floor to ceiling at the front of their store as an art piece - wish I could remember the name - I think it was near the Cosmopolitian. Liberace's car was on display near by.
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ReplyDeleteIf you happen to see Evelyn again, can you find out where she's from? I'm from Nova Scotia and I love knowing where other Bonnie fans are there.
ReplyDeletePlease pass the black jelly beans. :) They are my favorite!! Also, thank you for sharing the lovely pictures of green grass and leaves. It's been well over a month since I've seen these.
ReplyDelete