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)