Quilt Shop: Wandering Stitches Quilting Studio; Orlando, Florida

We had a full day yesterday. We first met up with Mike's former co-worker for a tour of the plant here in Orlando. We ended our visit with her around lunch time, and so it seemed like a good time to get something to eat.

At least two of you have told me that a visit to Orlando isn't complete unless we visit Gabriel's Sub Shop, and hey! I'll bite. (Pun intended.) And so we decided to head on over there to see what all the fuss was about.

It was one of those order-at-the-counter kinds of places. They also had a printed menu with more detail.

When I'm in a place like this, I usually pick their most generic sandwich. My choice was the "Regular" sub. It was delicious with ham and salami, and I love those banana peppers on a sandwich.

Mike had the Cheesesteak sandwich. It was good too.

So thanks to y'all who told us about this place. It's always fun to eat local fare.

I'd checked my quilt shop app earlier, and this seemed the most likely suspect. It was the closest one to where we were.

It turned out to be a good choice. It was located in one of those industrial parks, and so the storefront was nothing fancy.

Walking through the front door, it looked like this...a wall of fabric directly ahead of me, and then another room toward the left of the image. Their Christmas fabrics were on a table there in the foreground, and those were all 50% off.

Also directly in front of me...aboriginal prints. It was my opportunity to pick up the one that got away back there in Decatur, and so I picked up a bolt right away and hung on tight throughout my visit.

This was a Bernina authorized dealership, and so there were Bernina products in a room to the right of the front door.

On the opposite wall were scads of threads. You know I love thread as much as I love fabric, but I'm steering clear of it for this trip. I'd say I'm being good, but you know it's already way too late for that.

Toward the back of that room was another room with several long-arm machines. I had a feeling these could be rented.

Heading into the room to the left of the front door were lots of bolts of fabric. The ones in the image below were all children's fabrics.

Behind me were some colorful choices and some pretty polka dots. Those were tempting.

To the right of the children's fabrics was yet another room with a couple of long-arms and those lockers there to the right of the image. That's what made me think one could rent time on the machines with a nice place to secure your belongings. There were a couple of pretty quilts hanging on the back wall too.

The next image shows some end-of-bolt cuts that were on sale. Below them were some specially marked bolts. That yardage was also on sale.

There were plenty of pretty batiks.

And, really, just lots of fabric to look at.

I liked these sewing themed fabrics. The spools there caught my eye.

There were more Christmas fabrics at 50% off in the image below.

There was a whole room full of 108-inch wide fabrics. These are sometimes hard to find, and so I guess I know where to shop in the future. They have an online store, and so one could probably order just the right quilt back here.

Even these "digital" fabrics were 108 inches wide. Nice.

There was a wall of novelty buttons.

And this being Orlando, there were plenty of Disney-themed choices.

Also lots of Go! cutter dies and a good supply of notions and scissors.

There was a good assortment of patterns.

So, I enjoyed snooping this shop. For my regional print, this is the aboriginal fabric I picked out. It was so interesting, but I chose it for the gators. (Being an aboriginal print, those are probably crocodiles, but we won't tell anyone, will we?) They had this print in several different colors. It's a fabric that has lots of potential in its own right, but there are also lots of interesting shapes and colors for future Ruth McDowell-style quilts. I can see some animal eyes there and some great patterns and shapes for texture. With so much potential, I got two yards.

Also, this one was on sale, and so I picked up a yard of it to use for bindings or sashings or who-knows-what. It'll get used for something.

Today, we're leaving Orlando and heading toward the Gulf Coast of Florida. Our next stop is going to be an RV park in St. James City, Florida, which was the closest thing we could find (with vacancies) to Sanibel Island, where there is great shelling. Can't wait to see that. We'll be there through the New Year's weekend, and basically, we're just getting off the road for the holiday again. Our grocery shopping is done for the next week, and so it should be a nice several days of sight-seeing and relaxing.

Oh yes, and don't forget, Bag Lady stitch-along people...the Linky Party goes live on New Year's Eve. It's your last chance to link up, because after that, the party's over.