Originally Posted by tropit

I'm always on a textile hunt when I travel. I had posted on another thread about my upcoming trip to Japan and I was surprised about how many other people on the QB had been there and knew all about the fabric shops and textiles. Have any of you been on a foreign country quilting/textile experience? If so, where did you go and what kinds of quilting places did you find?

As for me, I recently went to Great Britain and came home with a big box of hand-woven woolen blankets and pillows from Wales. Their loom was water-driven by a stream tha ran next to the building. The place was so charming and the blankets were so beautiful! Now that they are in my home, I hate to put them on the bed for fear that the dogs, or people will wreck them. Plus, they're very warm. Not quilty, but they are textiles, none the less. I also saw a few places that sold Liberty cottons, but I didn't buy any...I should have.

I also took a trip to Portugal a few years ago and wondered into a fabric shop in Lisbon. This place was amazing! All of the fabrics were very high-end, mostly suitable for formalwear. Everything was heavily beaded, gold threaded and handsewn with sequins. You just don't see that kind of stuff in the US anymore. I thought I would find more cottons there, but I never ran into a quilting shop.

Where have you been and what did you buy?

~ C