I have a Ben Franklin near me that has a wonderful selection of fabrics and helpful staff. There is an independently owned one called "Our Gathering Place" that is even better! And the sales people take an interest in your project, providing newbies like me with helpful input which boosts my confidence.
It is interesting that you mentioned a quilting trip. My husband and I are
flying to California in June to see our youngest daughter and her husband off to New Zealand (2 years for grad school for her), then we are driving
the car back across the country. We will be in LA, San Francisco, then Albuquerque, Amarillo, Az, and so on over to Memphis and then up to Paducah, KY, then home. I bought The Quilters Companion and plan to
visit as many quilt shops as I can. I plan to get some fabric from each
state and then eventually use it to make a block that is symbolic of that
state and put them all in a quilt.
Any of you familiar with any great shops along that route? I think we will be following Interstate 40 for a lot of your trip.
Thanks for any suggestiongs.