Travel Break... And Happy Mother's Day

I don't know where you stop when you travel, but when I travel by myself, I make it a point to visit a quilt shop or two.  There is just something about a new quilt store that thrills the soul.  Yesterday, even though I was traveling with WH, I decided to make a stop at a new quilt store.  With the help of BD#1, I found a quilt store that had a Dick's Sporting Goods, a North Face Store, and an Orvis store in close proximity.  Oddly enough, WH rejected all of those and chose to wait in Barnes and Noble.  Whatever floats his boat,. I say.

Peggy's Heirlooms and Treasures is located in Market Square in Ocala, Florida.  Peggy's is a nice little store with some very pretty quilts on the walls...

A nice little kid's play area to keep the little ones busy so their mommies can shop, and of course, bolts and bolts of fabric.  The fabric selection was a little disappointing to me, as it had only about 20% as many bolts as A&E, and almost no pre-cuts.  When I asked, they showed me 2 honey buns and a Robert Kaufman jelly roll.  I did manage to find a few FQs to take home and a couple 1/4 yard pieces.  They had some magazines on clearance, and I found a couple to look at on the ride back that were half price.

It was on the way out though that 3 things caught my eye...

First was this gorgeous Grandmother's Fan quilt that had obviously been well loved.  It reminded me of the quilt I loved so much when i was little - it was about in the same condition.  The second was the treadle sewing machine it was draped over, which reminded me of my grandmother's treadle machine that will be mine, if I can figure out how to get it from Seattle to Florida for less than the $1000 I was quoted.

Finally, there was this jar of buttons.  When I was a very little girl, my grandmothers would keep me busy all day by giving me their button jar and letting me string the buttons.  It was a very important job, because once the buttons were strung, they wouldn't get lost.  There always seemed to be more buttons to string, every time I came to visit.  It wasn't until I was much older that I suspected that the buttons I had worked so hard to string would be sitting loose in the jar the next time I visited.  Tricky grandmothers!  Anyway, the trip down memory lane made my visit to Peggy's a pleasant experience.

My mom and grandmothers are gone now, but Mother's Day always seems to trigger a kind of deep nostalgia.  Odd that now I am the grandmother. Hmmmm...  maybe one day little Abby will string buttons for her grandmother.  Maybe.

So, to BD#1 and to all the rest of you moms and grandmothers out there, I wish you a very happy Mother's Day!