Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Sew Austin Sew Baby! Quilt Store and Fabric Store reviews TOP 3 PICKS

TOP THREE BEST FABRIC STORES IN AUSTIN, TEXAS and surrounding areas
BASED ON UNIQUE FINDS, LARGE SELECTION, AND CURRENT AND TRENDY INVENTORY

Well I have been all around this big vast city since I moved here last August searching for the perfect quilt stores.

I just wanted to do a quick review of my top favorite for maybe the new crafty gal in A town. If you are a long time Austinite I would love to hear feedback in the comments or email me at Joyestallard@gmail.com to give me more details that I can add to this post!

1) The Silk Road Fabric Store close to downtown Austin-

NOT a quilt store but has beautiful, no make it GORGEOUS silk fabrics that are bolts from designers that are hand beaded, etc. This is the place if you are making a bridal gown or sewing silk flowers such as the Starlet La Fleur PDF Tutorial in my Etsy shop. They have a HUGE selection of vintage looking buttons that will knock your socks off. I highly recommend checking this out if you love unique fabrics! I went in looking for batiste and found a very high quality cotton batiste for around 9.99 a yard which I was very pleased with the quality for the price. You won't find STUNNING silks like this, unique cotton prints, cotton batistes, or these fabulous buttons anywhere else that is for sure!
*Note the silks in stock are VERY HIGH QUALITY so expect to pay for it but I would say she is right on the money to what you would pay on the internet and isn't ripping anyone off.

The only negative was that the lady working was terribly unfriendly and this store is NOT KID FRIENDLY because it is really tiny and there are bolts of $100 dollar a yard fabric just sitting everywhere waiting for some little goldfish fingers to grab!

2) Honey Bee Quilt Store
Now for all of you Amy Butler fans, you will love Honey Bee! They have a large selection right now of Amy Butler's Love fabric line. I was just in there two weeks ago and was surprised to see so much Love! :) I went in for their nice color selection of felted wool for a wool flower I was making. I wish they did have just regular wool felt which I haven't been able to find anywhere in Austin. I also liked that they had a great variety of patterns for the youthful crafty gal. Sandi Henderson makes an appearance here as well in her flannel fabrics for Michael Miller. Love them but not sure what to do with them since I don't like to sew blankets much. What do you do with flannels other than blankets?

They also have the sweetest owner in the whole wide world. She was just a doll and interested in what I was working on. I love people who are in the business with passion! She definitely fits into that category!

They are also very kid friendly and have a little play area for the kiddos! Love it!

3) The Quilt Haus
Ok I know this store is not in Austin but when I first moved to Austin I went to every quilt store I could find in town and out of town in the surrounding areas and I have to say that this one would be #1 on the list if it was in Austin but since it is in New Braunfels which is a bit of a drive from Austin it is #3. If you are headed to the outlet mall in San Marcos then this is the place to stay on the highway for!
I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! In fact, it is right there with the Cabbage Rose quilt store in Fort Worth which is my #1 favorite quilt store in Texas.
The Quilt Haus is really large and has a fabulous selection of Amy Butler Love's line (twice as much as Honey Bee in Austin), has almost all of Sandi Henderson's new line for Michael Miller fabrics- Meadow Sweet (which I haven't found in Austin at all- correct me if I am wrong here), lots of children's sewing boutique patterns, Anna Maria Horner's fabrics, Michael Miller's fabrics, and on and on.

The staff here is really nice and this place is very kid friendly. They welcome children and are really sweet to them. I also love that they have a place my daughter could sit with my iphone and play games while I shopped.

DEFINITELY WORTH THE DRIVE!!!

Let me know if you know of anymore shops around that are worth mentioning!!!!

6 comments:

Leslie Bonnell said...

How about the Stitch Lab and the Common Thread? Fanny's, too :)

Snazziedrawers said...

Leslie,
Thanks so much! I just heard about the Stitch Lab which looks fabulous and heading down there this weekend. I do love Fanny's and I haven't been to the Common thread. I will have to check it out!

Courtney @ Sweeter Than Cupcakes said...

I just found your blog. I love that little skirt with the ruffles. I've put it on my list of things to by when my sewing budget looks a little better. I love The Quilt Haus! I was just there last weekend.

Anonymous said...

B and B Quilting in Buda. Awesome friendliness. A little smaller quilt shop with tons of fabric and a wide variety of it. Amy Butler Love is there also...did I mention how great the staff is?

Thais said...

Ready To Sew Bernina in Cedar Park - near HEB on Parmer/1431. Great fabric selection, classes and service.

Anonymous said...

Love the stitch lab...i have found the greatest fabric selection there over any place...unique and funky...they also have the staples but def not the stuff you see everywhere...got a fabulous kokka cat print there for my daughter who is in love with kitties....cat fabric is hard to pull off...and this one did it...have you been to craft city in dallas? great too! i am going to the quilt haus per your rec....thx!!