Roadtrip fabric

My first trip to Christchurch will be remembered for many reasons: my first look at what's left of the downtown area post-quakes, beautiful scenery the entire drive up, my first steps inside a proper mall since leaving Canada, stunning architecture everywhere I looked, and some of the best fabric shops I've ever set foot in.

Up first was Bolt of Cloth. Not your average fabric store, this one is in a mall. In addition to selling a range of fabrics, they have an extensive range of home decor products and designer-y type things. Fabric shopping itself is a little different in this store. They have a wall of folded up fat quarter samples for buyers to peruse before placing their order with the clerk. I was in a hurry so I opted to grab pre-cut fat quarters out of a big basket on the table. They offer discounts the more fat quarters you buy so don't be afraid to load up if you stop in. I walked off with the 13 fabrics in the middle picture.

Then clerk at Bolt of Cloth told me about Stitches which is just a couple of minutes up the same road. This has got to be the best fabric selection I've ever seen in my entire life. There's heaps of it and it's ALL stuff I love. I could quite literally ask for meter of everything they've got and be perfectly happy with all of it. Despite all the fabric love, I held myself back and only grabbed the 10 fat quarters in the top picture.

As Abner and I were driving home to Dunedin, I saw a house on the side of the road that was actually a fabric store. The shop was Annie's Country Quilt Store in Ashburton, and while it lived up to its name (lots of traditional and country style fabrics) I did manage to find a couple of gems (bottom picture). It also made me very happy to add two more to my roadtrip stash since coming home with 23 fat quarters just seemed like such an odd amount. 25 is much better, don't you think?