Visiting Meg at Crabapple Hill

Last week Karleen called and asked, "What are you doing today?". "Hmmmm, dishes, some laundry, and a bit of weeding in the yard. Why?" She responded with "How about coming with me on a part of the quilt hop? Crabapple Hill Studios is open to participants this week." That's all it took! I forgot about everything else. Crabapple Hill Designs are my favorite embroidery designs and are especially famous in our area. Meg's studio isn't open to the public, selling instead to quilt shops and online internationally, but she made an exception this year for this special event. It was even better than I imagined! Our adventure started when Karleen picked me up and we headed for a quilt shop in town. There we received our 'secret' instructions and an address. Using the GPS TomTom really helped as we maneuvered from one freeway to the next, finally taking a winding country road until we saw the sign "Quilt Hop" printed on a banner and attached to a fence! A long driveway wound about until we ended up in front of an inviting and cozy studio. Flowering plants and a sign welcomed us from the outside. Inside, cheerful voices and smiling faces greeted us with graciousness. Yes, I was welcome to take pictures for my blog! Yippee! I knew that blog readers would enjoy this little tour. I especially thought of Elizabeth from Turtle Cottage, who stitches daily and loves Meg's designs. Displays of beautiful designs and sample projects, patterns galore, three types of embroidery floss in any color you could imagine, and more were a feast for the eyes. It was difficult to choose between serious shopping and visiting with the pleasant ladies who were working there. I left feeling I did a little of both, but not near enough of either one! Crabapple Hill Studios is my kind of place! Please check out the Crabapple Hill Studio website for awesome designs and project ideas. And if you really love hand-stitching like I do, you'll enjoy Meg's blog, Knot-y Girl's Stitchery Club as well. Now, off to start a new embroidery project --- shall I start on tea towels or a wall hanging? I'm trying to decide. In the meantime, enjoy the slide show. Be sure to go 'full screen' and turn on the sound!