I spent this last weekend in Columbus, Ohio with my husband. I love the shopping in Columbus. They have about every store you can imagine and we visited many of them. On the top of my shopping list was finding a fish print fabric for my next quilting project. I wasn't just looking for any fish. I was looking for game fish, preferably salt water. I visited many fabric stores on this quest and while I bought some fabric and added yet another quilt to my list, I came up short on the fish fabric. I've learned that when I have such a specific item that I'm looking for, it's best to look and buy online. I finally found the perfect fabrics at Fabric.com. But along the way I visited some great fabric stores and thought I would list them here:
Red Rooster Quilts: This is actually in Dublin, Ohio which is northwest of Columbus. But it is well worth the trip. They have a great collection of quilting fabrics, a large clearance room and a lot of patterns and kits. The staff is both friendly and knowledgeable. I ended up buying a collection of Wizard of Oz prints since (as already established earlier) this is one of my all time favorite movies.
Sew to Speak: This is a small store with a great blog. Their fabrics were bright and cheerful.
Hobby Lobby: This is a chain that I had not heard of before. They don't have any stores around my home. They are sort of a cross between Michael's and Jo Ann Fabric. They had quite a bit of variety and would be certainly worth a visit. Of course there is not the small store atmosphere of individually owned shops.
The Glass Thimble: This store goes on and on and on. It also has a great variety and a staff that knows their stock. Best of all, they have a great "man couch" and a stock of magazines where my husband could wait for me to browse through the maze of rooms. I found the perfect fabric to bind my garden quilt here.
Quilt Beginnings: This is another great quilt stores in Dublin. I believe they have two stores, but the Dublin one was where I visited. Another great assortment of fabric! Every one of these stores could rate as better than my local options for variety.
Quilt Trends: And yet again, great variety, great service, and very inspiring. This one tied with the Red Rooster as my favorite with the Glass Thimble right behind.
My husband often goes to Columbus for business and our son will be starting at Ohio State next month, so I expect to have reason to return to the area. I put my name on several lists to receive email and snail mail about what is going on at the stores. While Columbus doesn't have much geographical attraction, it seems to be a very livable city. The people are friendly, they are free of the religious self righteousness that is prevelant in my area and they have a dynamic infrastructure that provides many opportunities for activities and interests.
On the last day of my visit we went to the Columbus Zoo. It was one of the nicest zoos I have every visited. It was well planned, clean, and resonably priced. We planned on making a return visit there soon also.
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