Sidetrips...

Certainly the highlight of our recent trip to Wisconsin was our granddaughter's swim meet. There's no question about that. However a few strategically timed sidetrips while we were there are certainly worth talking about. The first was a trip north of Madison to Larsen and Primitive Gatherings. Oh, my goodness; what a shop! There aren't enough positive adjectives to describe this experience, I was in Heaven! Cross stitch, wool applique kits, a fully equipped quilt shop, notions and souvenirs; all extremely well organized and beautifully displayed. You can see here a few of the items that followed me home. While I was taking in every square foot of this shop Mr. Goodneedle took the car to get it washed. When he came back to pick me up his first statement was "this is the nicest quilt shop that I've ever seen".  This was completely unprompted and something that he's well qualified to pass judgement on; over the years he's seen quite a few, coast to coast! 😉

This is the outside of the shop, I borrowed this from the Internet, 

I was too excited to get a shot myself while I was there!  

The inside of Primitive Gatherings, (another online pic) the quilt samples

on the walls and displays are phenomenal and so very inspiring!

This sign was strategically placed within one of the displays. It struck a chord within me. It is most certainly true and I do not thank God nearly enough for all the many blessings that He has bestowed! I look around my sewing room today and recall how my first sewing space was in a small bedroom until our children came along and then it was moved to the unfinished basement, under the stairs, where I made the blocks for my very first quilt while the children took their naps. SEW many things for which to be grateful today. 🙏

And, as if that wasn't enough, this is the Retreat Center right next door! If I lived closer I would be in big, big trouble; this would become my home address. As you can tell, I can't say enough good things. They have a wonderful online presence, take a look! Dig around on the site, read about Lisa Bonjean and scroll through the offerings, you'll have almost as much fun as I did!

Our second sidetrip was south of Madison to Brodhead and the Decatur Dairy. A friend from church had recommended this detour and declared that this place would serve the "best grilled cheese sandwich that I'd ever eaten". I smiled but wondered to myself, how could there be much difference when it came to grilled cheese, am I right?!! A grilled cheese sandwich is a grilled cheese sandwich. Oh, how very wrong I was! Take a look at this photo and you get the idea! We ate our sandwiches outdoors on one of the few picninc tables, this is a very small place, a hole in the wall, really; but a HUGE operating dairy farm! It was such a great experience that we drove back a second time to buy cheese to bring home... and as long as we were there we might as well have another sandwich, right?  We did just that! If either of these locations are within reasonable driving distance from you, by all means check them out. Now, I am faced with a dilemma. I have these precious wool kits tempting me to begin stitching. Where do I start? I thought with the strawberry pincushion but those Itty Bitty two inch stitcheries are whispering to me loudy: "pick me, pick me"! 😉

Decisions, decisions!

Life is Good!