More About Charleston

I have never been to Charleston, hard to believe growing up on the east coast and living in various places up and down the eastern seaboard; it's a place I've always wanted to visit. It is the ultimate charming city.

One of the most fun things to do is to visit the market in downtown Charleston. It literally goes on for blocks and blocks - very narrow and long.
This was the entrance where you see lots and lots of sweet grass baskets, all hand crafted and so pretty with such interesting shapes.
Parts of the market are air-conditioned and parts are au-naturelle.

The vendors go on forever and of course you want to see everything first before you buy and then to find your way back to a particular vendor was a challenge.
One of the stores was a candy store, don't you just love all the barrels of old-fashioned candy with NOT SO old fashioned prices. We used to call it Penny Candy - not a penny anymore!
And a display case of hand dipped chocolates and chocolate and caramel apples, these apples were huge!
The streets were charming with sculptures and beautiful landscaping.
Little outdoor places to sit and eat.
And the beaches and the sand dunes.

But the best part was the sunsets- spectacular!
Hope you're all enjoying this last official weekend of summer, staying cool and safe.

A Very Charming Quilt Shop

This week, my good pal Mary and I went on a road trip to visit a former student of hers, Bev Cone. One of the fun places we visited was the "People, Places, and Quilts" Quilt shop in Summerville, SC (also in Charleston).

There were many rooms, each more delightful than the one before and often with "wooden" people to greet you and always dressed in a featured pattern.
There was a room specifically for baby quilts with bright colored fabrics in both cottons and flannels - a feast for the eyes - you just wanted to run your fingers over every one.

This quilt tickled my fancy  - little purses that opened up to store treasures. For a little boy, I could see pockets of some sort. What a fun quilt for a child.
And a gorgeous and very spacious classroom with wonderful samples all over the walls.
This long hallway led the way to the many rooms.
This huge room had wonderful fabrics including a large selection of Batiks.

And a designated area for books and a place to sit and peruse the books.
I usually don't take pictures of bathrooms, but this one was way too cute to pass up (and with a bunny to keep you company).
Some lovely antiques mixed in with the decor.
So many of you don't know my obsession for wanting an American Girl doll to make clothes for. I've been waiting for a granddaughter to do this. My daughter asked me "what if I have a boy".....well, I'll be making American Girl doll clothes for him also. So when I saw this hanging on the wall, it tickled my heart strings - a little girl apron and one for her doll!
Mary was picking all these wonderful bright colored fabrics, dots and stripes,  and me, I was getting my usual "putty" colored fabrics which I use a lot in my work. We had to laugh with the contrast in our fabric piles.