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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Carside Critique:You'll LOVE this place!

I just got back from a week plus down in the sunny south with my daughter where my favorite aunt had shoulder surgery.  On the way to Alabama from Michigan, I had another chance to visit one of my FAVORITE quilt shops, The Quilt Box of Dry Ridge, Kentucky.

This shop is perfectly located 4 hours south of my home in southeast (Ypsilanti) lower Michigan.  If you are traveling south on I-75 through Ohio, it is just south of Cincinnati in northern Kentucky, just off the highway at exit 159 (Dry Ridge).  As I-75 winds southeast toward Atlanta, GA, I-71 splits off to the southwest towards Louisville, KY, which is the way I usually go as I motor towards Alabama.  But it is super easy to continue south on I-75 for a few miles, get off at the Dry Ridge Exit, go to this charming shop, then travel a little west through the scenic countryside until I meet up with I-71 south.
Owner Natalie Lahner buys what she likes to fill her beautiful shop, and I LOVE what she likes!

This shop on Walnut Springs Farm started out as a log cabin, which was enlarged to make the shop.  The grounds are INCREDIBLE!

You can see the "log and chink" construction on the left side of the store.

As you meander down the long, gravel driveway, you pass Natalie's log cabin home and continue on, following the signs, to the shop on the scenic hilltop.


My family always packs a picnic lunch to eat under the tree while gazing at the rolling hills and pond.  Riley and my husband like to wander around while I enjoy browsing and shopping.



 This shop has been open almost 30 years and was featured many years ago in Quilt Sampler.


The shop carries mostly reproduction and batik fabrics, along with a few 30's.  What is so fabulous about Natalie is that she carries more obscure lines in addition to the favorites you look for everywhere.  I love her fabric eye, and load up on things that just aren't available anywhere else.


Just look at all these shirtings (and this is not all of them)!

 
Yummy chocolate browns and hard-to-find black and grays.


Just some of her many green bolts...

 
Reds, with blues and batiks peeking through from behind...

 
New, featured lines are placed in the "cabin," in front of the hearth.


 My favorites, the blues...

The shop is sprinkled with inviting samples, patterns, magazines, books, quilting tools and supplies.  They have a nice selection of wide backings, as well.






If you are traveling south on I-75, take exit 159 at Dry Ridge.  Then right off the ramp, then turn right on KY 467 at the next light.  Go 2.6 miles, passing a barn with the Little Mermaid painted on the side, then turn left at the sign on the mailbox onto a gravel driveway.  After a short meander through the woods, and passing the first log cabin home, drive on to this fabulous shop.  Well worth the drive!!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

24 comments:

  1. Wow what a wonderful shop!! I sure wish I had a good reason to head that way. Maybe when I retire I will have to make a special trip that way. Kentucky is one of the few states I havent' been to yet :0)

    Crispy

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  2. what a fabulous setting for a quilt shop and it looks like she stocks it with great stuff! thanks for the tour

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  3. My kind of shop - looks a little like our Windham store. Just could go nuts in the shirtings and those blues!

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  4. looks like a wonderful place to stop and shop!
    Karen
    http://karensquilting.com/blog/

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  5. What a wonderful shop! I can't find shirtings anywhere around here! Sigh....

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  6. Ooooh, I am speechless!
    I wanna be in America....!!
    Jane

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  7. WOW!! I would love to go there with a lot of cash. LOL! I wish she had an online shop.

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  8. Nice write up Teresa, I love a good quilt shop "stop" on a trip.

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  9. I love Kentucky. I think I'll just move next door to this place. ;D

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  10. A beautiful shop. It would be a perfect place to sit outside and page through a quilt book. Thanks for taking us shopping. I need to find out how far that is from here........

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  11. Thanks for sharing your visit to this lovely shop. You forgot to show us what came home with you :0)

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  12. What a fabulous shop - much, much bigger than most UK quilting shops!

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  13. I am so glad I read your blog today. On Thursday, my husband and I are heading from mid-Mich to KY! What a co-incidence! Can't wait to visit The Quilt Box.

    Thanks. Margaret

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  14. I can see why its a favorite stop for you!!! I'd think I had died and gone to heaven. I'm gonna find that place on the map and see I can't arrange going by there one of these days during our travels. Thanks for the info.

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  15. I want Natalie's life...live in the country in a log cabin...down the road from my well stocked quilt shop...surrounded by the beauty of nature.
    Wow! I am putting her shop on my bucket list of quilt shops to visit...with a big pocket book!! How do you ever decide what you are going to buy?
    Sometimes I walk into those kind of shops, I am so overwhelmed I can't make up my mind on anything!

    Deb from clutteredquilter.blogspot.com

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  16. makes me want to get in the car and drive there right now!
    wow beautiful wall of browns send me a yard of each please ;)
    and oh the reds...too!!!
    glad you were able to stop and shop !
    so what did you buy????
    Kathie

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  17. wow, what a great place. All of it. I think I would just like to live there. lol
    Great selection of fabrics.

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  18. Thanks for sharing this wonderful shop. Wish I had one like it closer by. I'm convinced the best shops are in or near the midwestern part of this country! Just my humble blogging observation.

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  19. Thanks for the wonderful memories. When I lived in KY it was my very favorite qult shop. Natalie looks great. Will have to stop next time we're back in KY.

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  20. Thanks for the great shop tour. Next trip to Tennessee I'll make sure we exit at Dry Ridge and check this place out. It looks yummidy!

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  21. wow~great looking shop! wish I could visit that one.

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  22. What an amazing quilt shop. Thanks for sharing insights. I definitely want to visit this shop someday.

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  23. What a beautiful shop! Thanks for sharing. I may head that way as I'm from Midland, MI.

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  24. tomorrow is my b-day, my husband is on vacation this week and part of next. (see where i'm going with this?) i'm not sure how far this little jewel is from Louisville, but i will be checking it out. i'm always about pinks!!! the blacks, grays, and shirtings are things i really really need. and Teresa, i have a serious sheet protector problem, not a tear sheet person (yet) but i'm liking how it's working for you. i spend lots of time printing things from internet, sliding them into their little plastic then placed in appropriate binder. love it :>)

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