I believe that the first quilt shop I ever shopped at was called Stitches n Stuffing in Naperville, Illinois. I remember going there on occasion in high school and college. I remember that they had a ton of patterns (which is what drew my Mom in) and a huge classroom, and a very large shop. I remember that they had pre-pleated smocked bishop dresses and bubbles so you could just smock and finish them. On several of my trips home over the last year, I'd meant to get there, but never did.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from a shop I discovered this summer--quiltfabric.com. They were having a great sale--quilt fabric for $6/yard. Of course, I couldn't make it to the sale because it was one of my weekends in Milwaukee and those are precious to me. But they continued the sale the next weekend--a weekend I would be back down in Chicagoland. Of course I went. Of course I found some fabric that I wanted to bring home with me. But the strange part was that I notice some labels on the fat quarters marked "Stitches n Stuffing".

Turns out, Stitches n Stuffing closed over the winter. One of my Mom's friends had gotten an email about it. Finally, the tags and the great deals on the fabric made sense. And though I love my finds, I feel sad that the shop closed. But I'm grateful for the shop that first introduced me to quilting.