Saturday, April 28, 2012

I met Vanessa from Sew Filled to the Brim!

Hey hey!


Vanessa, me and our fabric purchases at Gail K fabrics
Vanessa, me and our fabric purchases at Gail K Fabrics

I just returned from the ATL, where I met up with Vanessa from Sew Filled to the Brim.

We've been reading each other's blogs for a while now, and when I found out I'd be in Atlanta for a work conference, it was the perfect chance to meet Atlanta resident Vanessa.  (I wanted to also meet Faye  from Faye's Sewing Adventures but sadly she couldn't go.)

PatternReview.com is such a great resource--I looked up Atlanta fabric store reviews and three shops were consistently listed with positive reviews--Gail K, Atlanta Fabric, and Whipstitch.

So last Saturday Vanessa and her niece Whitney and I met at Gail K's Fabrics first.

Vanessa and Whitney at Gail K Fabrics

It's a lot like a mini-version of Mood in NYC: floor to ceiling fabric-fabric-fabric and more fabric focused on fashion fabric, yes!
It's all on one floor and organized by type, but not labeled.
The aisles aren't as wide as they are at Mood. But they definitely have good stuff.   We spent quite a while there.
At Gail K Fabrics
Here's Vanessa with her favorite fabric of all:
Vanessa and her favorite fabric at Gail K Fabrics
If I lived in Atlanta, Gail K is definitely a shop I would buy at frequently.

I would have bought the plum double knit but I needed to pace myself...

I was also glad we got there at 10am when it opened as we easily found parking spots. The store filled up quickly and when we left, people were waiting for spots.

Next we went to Atlanta Fabric, a very small shop, especially after Gail K's.  I purchased decorative underwear elastic.
Next stop:  Atlanta Fabric

Then it was on to Flip Burger Boutique, which was ultra cool. (it is co-owned by Richard Blais, winner of Top Chef All Stars.)  I wish I had taken some pix of the booths; they were unlike anything I had ever seen before!

Here's what I had, the Butcher's Cut burger.
Butcher's cut burger at Flip Burger Boutique
It was excellent.  In continuing with my "year without fries" I had the broccolini instead.  I'm not eating a lot of red meat anymore, so when I do have it, I want it to be as good as that burger!

It turned out that Gigi's Cupcakes was in the parking lot of the Flip Burger so of course we stopped there!

Gigi's cupcakes

But then it was time to say goodbye.  I was really glad I got to meet Vanessa--she was just as kind and sweet in person as she is on her blog.  I'm glad she met up even after her husband voiced concerns about her meeting someone she only knew from online.   Thank you Vanessa for meeting up--and to Whitney too for being such a good sport.

Then I headed over to Whipstitch fabrics which is in a very cool spot near midtown? downtown?  I don't know, it was near town.  :)

If you've been to Austin's Stitch Lab before, Whipstitch is a lot like it, but with lots more space. Fabric here is more on the crafty/novelty side, but they have a lot of garment patterns by new-to-me designers and companies.
 Outside Whipstitch
Sign outside Whipstitch 

It was only me and one other shopper in the store the whole time I was there.  I spent quite a while looking at the patterns and fabric.

So here's what I bought in total:
fabric and elastic purchases, ahoy!

The meetup and shopping was a really nice way to gently scrub away the memories of the day before.

I hiked Stone Mountain where I lost the key to the rental car. It was a situation that took 5.5 hours to correct, involving calling roadside assistance, having a car rental employee show up and then drive off without saying goodbye, waiting for the tow truck driver, watching the tow truck driver use a rod to unlock the door (after being told by the car rental company that the car could be electronically unlocked), towing the car back to the airport, getting a new rental car.... After discovering the key was missing at 4:30pm, how it all played out was better than many alternative scenarios.

The key is still somewhere on the mountain. car-rental-key
Top of Stone Mountain 

This reminded me of the 99 steps up Diamond Head:
 Stone Mountain

Then it was on to my work conference, held at a swanky downtown hotel, the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.
I gave a talk which went really well, met up with new and old colleagues, and generally enjoyed the conference.
Conference hotel: Hyatt Regency Atlanta
Conference hotel: Hyatt Regency Atlanta
Conference hotel: Hyatt Regency Atlanta

DSC08307
Now I'm off to Communiversity this year instead of Rutgers Day (why are they always on the same day???)

Be well and wishing you all wonderful moments!

12 comments:

  1. Sorry about the rental car incident but I'm glad that you got to meet Vanessa and engage in some fabric retail therapy!

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  2. Oh Kyle believe me, I really, really wanted to meet with you two. But as often happens, things come up - thanks for being so understanding. Please, Please let me know when you be back in Georgia. I would really love to meet you!!!

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  3. I agree! It's great to meet sewing enthusiasts thru Pattern Review. I think I would love the shops you visited.

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  4. Hey Kyle! I'm glad you didn't mention how I kept calling you the wrong name (Ky-lee)!! I had a wonderful time too, and will definitely be going back to Gail K, and Gigi's cupcakes.

    It looks like you enjoyed the rest of your trip. I am truly glad to have met you!

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  5. Aww. Sorry you had trouble in Stone Mountain. I'm glad you met another blogger in the ATL.

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  6. Sounds like you've had a memorable adventure. Enjoy your trip.

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  7. It sounds as if you had a great time. I haven't been to Hotlanta in a while (except for the airport). I have to check out the fabric stores the next time I go. Thanks for sharing!

    Lynn

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  8. Sounds like you had a fantastic time even with the keys incident - and your pictures of the hotel look amazing!

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  9. When I was still young and slender, and when DH was a Mighty Man of Muscle, he tossed me over his shoulder and carried me down the path from the top of Stone Mountain. I still marvel at that feat of physicality. Glad you got safely back to the hotel!

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  10. Wow! I am admire how you managed to pack so many activities into you travel. And what an adventure!

    Best,

    Rose in SV

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  11. I totally stayed in that hotel when I was at the ACC basketball tournament (playing in the pep band) in March! And I totally took very similar pictures of the crazy balconies!

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  12. With Car Rental 8 you can discover the most affordable rental cars from over 50000 international locations.

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