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Monday, May 20, 2013

Trip to Windsor

Not the castle, the city in Ontario.  A week or so ago, I visited Windsor for the first time.  I was there for a conference at the University, and tacked on a couple days vacation, so I could visit the place, and, of course, do my own little shop hop.  I brought Mr CQT with me - now that he's retired, he can come along, whenever he wants.  That's kind of fun!

We stayed at the Windsor Hilton.  I highly recommend this hotel - lovely rooms and great service.  This was the view out of our window.



This is the Detroit river, and the Detroit skyline.  Detroit is NORTH of Windsor, which really got me confused with directions - I couldn't wrap my head around the US being north of Canada.  Of course, my family would tell you that I'm confused with directions most of the time.  Thank goodness for Mrs. Garmin.

Here is the skyline at night.  Our view was spectacular!



We did not visit Detroit.  Somebody forgot to bring the passports.  (OK, OK - it was me.)  But we did tour around the Windsor area.  We visited Rose Cottage in Amherstburg, which was a pretty store, in a new building.  Amherstburg is a very pretty town, on the edge of Lake Erie. Then we went to Essex, and visited Sewcraft, which sells all kinds of fabrics, not just quilting fabric.

We then visited Ella Quilts in Tecumseh.  This is in a tiny house, hidden from the street.  We couldn't find it, even with the help of Mrs. Garmin.  But we phoned and got directions and I was pleasantly surprised.  The store was packed full of fabric and supplies, and the owner was very welcoming, even treating me to a quick lesson on how to do a disappearing four patch block.

Finally, we went to Quilting Confections in Windsor itself.  Mrs. Garmin got confused by the address, and wanted to send us in a strange direction.  We knew from the ads for the store that it was across from the airport, so we ended up finding it ourselves.  This store is in a strip mall, but very bright and cheerful, and a good supply of fabric.

I didn't buy a lot.  Ontario has 14% sales tax, so that made the prices a little steep, when comparing them to home.  But, I couldn't go away empty handed, so I did buy a few fat quarters.




Birds, owls and monkeys!  I seem to be on an animal kick lately.  The fabric lines are Song of Joy by Victoria Hutto (Timeless Treasures);  Owls in the Hood by a Danish company called STOF and Lollipop by Sandy Gervais (Moda).

3 comments:

Cathy said...

I was born in Windsor, and grew up there, so the view in your pictures is very familiar. There weren't any quilt shops there then, tho. At that time quilting hadn't been rediscovered yet. LOL! And I agree with you on the sales tax thing.... 14% is awful to have to pay.

MarneyMay said...

Sounds like you had a nice time finding fabric stores. I have stayed in the hilton in Darwin and Sydney and I agree with you about the service.

Cheers Pauline

Unknown said...

Wow. I came across your blog. I am so happy to see that you purchased my collection, Songs of Joy. Exciting to know it is available in Ontario! :) Victoria Hutto