Alright, friends. Last post about our trip to the US East Coast in June. We started the trip in Virginia and drove through 10 states over 17 days with stops in major cities like Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York as well as rural areas such as Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Our final stop was with my husband's parents in southern New Hampshire.
From there we visited Portsmouth, NH as well as the coast of southern Maine. (This lovely setting is the Nubble Lighthouse near York, Maine.) We were all pretty ready to just relax and absorb the surrounding beauty after covering a lot of territory during first part of our trip.
Found a new favorite spot this trip: the cliff walk in Ogunquit, Maine. I found at least 7 houses I'd like to move into for my summer home.
More nautical scenery in Ogunquit.
I also visited a couple of local quilt shops in New Hampshire. The Portsmouth Fabric Company is in downtown Portsmouth. (Which is one of the most picturesque seaport towns surrounded by water views and lots of historical homes and buildings.)
The shop specializes in bright, modern fabrics from designers such as Alison Glass, Cotton + Steel and Carolyn Friedlander
as well as a large selection of Kaffe Fassett prints and batiks.
They also carried a large selection of custom fat quarter bundles. It was a fun shop and definitely worth the stop!
There is also an ice-cream shop down the street - handy for family members who for some reason aren't as excited about fabric. 😉 And the ice cream shop is right around the corner from the tug boats in the harbor, for extra entertainment.
I also visited a new-to-me shop for the first time - Pintuck and Purl in Exeter, New Hampshire.
Their fabric collection consisted of modern fabrics from Cotton + Steel, Robert Kaufman and Art Gallery. It's not a huge collection but it's so pretty and well-curated.
A beautiful selection of yarn in lots of pretty colors to choose from.
Pintuck and Purl specializes in sewing classes including quilting, garment and knitting classes. They have machines in the shop for students to learn on and use and are a welcoming atmosphere for building a sewing community.
Pintuck and Purl is located in a big, rustic red barn across the road from a large home-dec fabric store, the Exeter Handkerchief Company.
We made one more quick stop at one of my favorite places in the area - Rocky Mountain Quilts. It was fast this time, but I always look forward to the inspiration from the stacks of antique quilts and fabrics. It's a little bit mind blowing. You can read more about Rocky Mountain Quilts and a previous visit here.
I know there are other quilt shops in the seacoast New Hampshire/southern Maine area. If you have recommendations, leave them in the comments. With family in the area, this is a place we look forward to visiting for years to come. Plus, the scenery is pretty hard to beat.
Carla Bataran
This is so fun, Selina my local quilt shop featured on a blog. Portsmouth Quilt Shop is wonderful and the people who work there are fabulous. With reading this, I'm going to head to the Hankerchief Factory next week and also check out the quilt shop mentioned in Exeter as I haven't Ben there yet.
The photos are gorgeous. Thanks for your posts.
Carla Bataran
Oops, my finger hit the post button on accident. Selina was supposed to have been "since" and no period following the word fun. Back to finishing my baby quilt for the shower on Saturday. Happy quilting
Diane
Knight's Quilt shop in Wells, ME
Amy Smart
Thank you!
sarahquiltswithcats
Oh, wow. The Portsmouth shop...I could spend hours, days there (let's not think about how many dollars! :).
theslowroad
I love Portsmouth Fabric Co. such a big collection of contemporary fabrics. Another NH favorite, about an hour from Portsmouth, is Quilted Threads. Large collection of both contemporary and more traditional fabrics and one of the best notions dept I've seen. Definitely worth the drive.
Amy Smart
Awesome! I will look forward to going on our next visit. Thank you!
Carol g
Second this comment. Portsmouth is fabulous, but Quilted threads is really fantastic, too. I have never seen more Japanese fabrics in one place!
Robby H.
We loved Ogunquit for our 10th anniversary. About time to head back that way, and now I have some not too distant quilt shops for my list.
Paige
My aunt lives in York and I've spent several summers there enjoying the beaches and the lighthouse - it's so beautiful. And, of course, there is the lighthouse ice cream shop. 🙂
Kerry Leach
What a beautiful area. Lovely quilt shops too. Thank you for sharing the photos. It's raining here, so a little sea and sun while on the couch is rather nice! 😀
BERMD
Great post. The Portsmouth Fabric Company is wonderful. The Seacoast Sewing store in Portsmouth and Biddeford is nice too also with great people. Further up the coast The Fiddlehead Artisan Supply in Belfast is lovely. There is also a really nice knitting store a few doors up on Main Street. Lots of options. Thanks so much. BER
BERMD
Just read several more of your posts and saw that you are a Baby Lock sewer. I should have mentioned that the Seacoast Sewing store sells Baby Lock. The Portsmouth Fabric Company has quite a collection of Berninas. As I said there are many good choices in Maine! Happy summerBER
Rosemaryflower
Amy, it is fortunate to have family up there. Are they into boating?
My brother lives on New Castle Island. He has a zillion boats.
I have been to that quilt shop and the ice cream shop in Portsmouth
It is a really nice place to walk around, all kinds of artsy shops
Jean Biette
Can't miss Alewives Quilt Shop in Nobleboro Maine, right near the mid coast. Lots of Fassett, Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, Cotton and Steel, and lots of other fabrics and goodies, kits, patterns and fat quarters galore, and wonderful classes too.
Ardene
Wonderful trip you had. My husband and I took a similar trip on the west coast. From wash. State to southern calif. He kept his eye peeled for quilt shops for me. It was amazing. The shops let me photo graph their shop. They were all so special. We went to cental oregon as well and a long drive through calif. Park. What memorues to cherish. "QUILT SHOP!!!"
Patty
I've loved every post on your vacation as I can remember the trips we have taken to those towns and the states. I'd love to go again but my car couldn't hold what I would like to bring home. Thank you.
Joni
Loved living in Oregon myself, and all the wonderful quilt shops there. And I will never forget the Sisters Show every year! Here in Maine there are some great shops to, like the ones already mentioned above, Alewives being one of them. But also there is a shop in Freeport called Cotton Weeds, one in Windham named Calico Basket, and Quiltessentials in Auburn, all worth a trip. There are many more, but these are a few of my favorites! I love fabric!
Linda Nowak
I love Portsmouth Fabric Co, visit yearly while visiting family. Would have been wild to run into you there. I also recommend Quilted Threads in Henniker,NH. It's NW a bit but worth the trip. Another must do in NH is Keepsake Quilting. About an hour NW of Portsmouth in Lake Winnie, also worth the trip.
I'd skip Knights in Cape Neddick, ME. Went there this summer--dark, dreary and unwelcoming. Only thing of interest was a tiny room upstairs with whale and lobster fabrics and a small collection of wool on bolts. Definitely not on the bright and cheery side of the list, literally and figuratively.
Linda Nowak
We also went to a really nice shop in Bailey, MA. Sew Creative. Small shop with great fabrics and great service.
bullet force
Nice pics!
Deb W
If you're ever in the Kennebunkport area, be sure to stop in at Camp Wool. It has a great selection of patterns, kits and lots of wools. It also carries some antiques and some cross stitch patterns but the main focus is wool.
Quilted Threads located in Henniker, NH, as mentioned before, is a favorite too.
Deb h.
Knight's Quilt Shop, Rt. 1, York, Me....wonderful....
Amy
Fantastic! Thanks!
Janet Hines
Sanford Sewing quilt shop is special
Amy
Thank you!
Susan Leslie
Primitive Quarters in Shapleigh Maine. Lovely shop and the owner Donna is wonderful
Amy
Wonderful! Thank yoU!