Cousin's Quilt Shop, The Little Quilt Shop With A Big Heart and Sue Spargo

Hello Everyone,

I am back to blogging after a wee break this past summer.  I have missed you all.  I can hardly believe the Summer has come and gone so quickly. My Sweetie and I have been very busy and I've had very little time to even visit my blogging friends.  

We have been going on short and long adventures, working on my sewing room renovation, and attending and giving family parties.  This past Summer has been the Hottest on record since the beginning of keeping weather records which was sometime in the 1800.  To say the least it has been a Summer many of us will not forget for a long time.  I hope I  will never experience another one like it in my lifetime.

Soooooooooo where do I begin to share some of my adventures with you all.  I think I will begin with our short Labor Day trip Up North this past weekend. I wish My American Friends a Very Happy Labor Day.  

To start I have been working with hand dyed wools for sometime and decided I needed to add to my stash.  I ended up being referred to a shop called, The Cousin's Quilt Shop in Bellaire Michigan which is about a 3 1/2 hours drive from home.  I called them up and talked with the owner Carmen who told me yes she carried hand dyed wool.  I said, great and that I would come for a visit to her shop on Friday.  She told me that most of her supply of wools would be over at a workshop taken place that day but I was more than welcome to come over to the class site and visit and take a look at what she had there.  I ask her what kind of class was being taught and she told me "Sue Spargo" was teaching for 4 days.  I could hardly believe it.  I have admired "Sue's Folk Art" for ages and have bought several kits and wools from her online.  Sue lives in Ohio and has a wonderful blog, "Sue Spargo Folk Art" which will connect you to her website. I have followed Sue's blog and knew she was recently in Australia teaching and so I was pretty excited about meeting her and seeing what kind of goodies she had for sale at the class. 

First I would like to introduce you all to Carmen the owner of "Cousin's Quilt Shop, The Little Shop with a Big Heart"!! I met Carmen as soon as I arrived at her shop.  She had come back from the class to pick up so more "Goodies" to take back over to the class  and kindly told me that I could follow her back to the class. The photo below is of Carmen sitting organizing some of her supplies for us all to see.  Oh, My Goodness what a grand array of neat threads and wools to look at and of course I could not resist buying some unique things I had never seen before.       

Below is the very unique sign in front of the shop.

And this photo is of the shop which is filled with heaps of great wools, fabrics, threads and on and on.

Below is another photo of some of the supplies that were available at the class.

The lady with the big smile is Annie who works with Carmen.  She is proudly showing me one of Sue Spargo's Block of the Month she has been working on. We chatted for sometime and Annie was telling me about an upcoming retreat in November the shop was planning and how welcome I would be to come and join them. I was also invited to come to Bellaire and stitch with them anytime. The logo of the "Little Shop with a Big Heart" was certainly reflected both in Carmen's and Annie's kindness toward me.  They both warmed my heart with memories I will not forget.  

Below is a photo of the classroom.  Very spacious and look at those very comfy chairs. I think I counted 26 persons having a very grand time stitching together.  Each of their projects were very unique despite being the same pattern.

Below is Sue Spargo teaching a lady how to do a special embroidery stitch. Sue's assistant very kindly took me over to meet Sue and it was a "Joy" chatting with her and seeing some of her lovely stitching projects.  Very inspirational indeed.

Below is a some of the goodies I bought from Sue's collections of things.  I absolutely loved the "Cotton Candy  Bundle". It had all kinds of fancy ribbons, Silken Chenille Thread, Beads, Silk Thread from Milano Italy, a very lovely piece of pink velvet fabric, and Sea Grass cotton thread in a lovely Dusty Rose. I was so taken with the "Thread Gather"  Silken Chenille and had to buy more lovely colors of it.  I also found a crocheted flower button cover which I thought was very unique.

I also bought some very lovely "Hand Dyed Wools", "Valdani Pearl Cotton" in array of delicious colors,and some more "Pure Silk Chenille" threads that was much thinner in size. They are wrapped around a very unique wooden spool which I plan to use again after I have used the Chenille.

The town of Bellaire I had never visited before and found it to be a quaint village with many lovely shops.  I also discovered this Victorian Bed Breakfast which I thought was very special indeed so I took a photo of it to to share with you all. Isn't is very lovely. 

Below is Bellaire Lake, (I think)that has a beautiful aqua color like you would find in a Mt. stream.  Loved it. Unfortunately, this photo was taken on a very blustery rainy day and so the photo did not turn out that great.

I also visited 3 yarn shops along our travels.  I bought a bundle of Debbie Bliss "Donegal Luxury Tweed" yarn made from 85% Wool and 15% Angora from Ireland. It is so very soft to the touch and the color is gorgeous, don't you think!! I am not sure what I will create with it yet. I am very new at crocheting so my skills are still very limited but I am thinking of something for winter wear.  

I am very very Happy to be back blogging with you all again.  I hope to catch up with you all soon. 

Oh, I forgot to tell everyone that I have also been doing some stitching this past Summer just for My Special Friends.  Yup, I have made 4 special gifts to give away to celebrate my 4 years of blogging.  I hope to have this giveaway towards the end of September.  I will give you a wee clue on the theme of the gifts.  Because it was soooooooooooo very HOT this Summer I decided to make everything in an "Autumn" colors.  Please come back and join me for my give away soon.

I would also like to thank everyone for their kind and lovely messages they left me on my posting last May. They all made me feel very special.   

Take care all, 

Hug