crafty nyc spoils

Last week I shared a few photos from my trip to New York, and I hope you don't mind, but today I'm going to show off my souvenirs. Being a crafty kinda gal, my primary purchases were fabric and other supplies! I find that souvenirs like this are perfect for me because they find purpose in projects, but I always manage to remember where they came from.

My big shopping spree was at Purl Soho. I usually have reverse buyers remorse, regretting the things that I didn't buy, and that happened with the bag above. It's a zip top project bag, and they had some canvas bags too. Why didn't I buy more of these? They are perfectly useful, very cute, they show off where you've been shopping, and they were a deal too. Silly Mollie. I guess I'll have to go back.



Essex linen by Robert Kaufman has always been something I've wanted to try out for embroidery, so I got a big piece of that, as well as a couple chambrays. I don't have an official plan for them yet, but I'm thinking of starting with some zip pouches. Maybe they'll make up for the project bags I didn't buy?



My sister and I both picked up this little fat quarter, so that told me I "needed" it, and why not grab some matching felt too? I have some of this heathered felt in other colors, and it's super soft! Just before my trip I bought some expensive Japanese embroidery needles (I'll be writing about them soon), so I really didn't need more fancy needles. But these cross stitch needles came in a sweet wooden case that says Purl Soho, and I couldn't resist. My friend Katie bought some needles for the same reason!



These fabrics do have a real purpose. I've been growing my collection of small cuts of prints that will work in the English paper piecing mega quilt that I'm slowly stitching. I kept looking for fabrics in colors that would be perfect, and the purple and pink here were perfect.

As for the Liberty, remember my reverse buyers remorse? The last time I saw my friend Katie was in London, where I didn't buy any Liberty fabric, and I've regretted it for years. Since we were seeing each other and were at the next best crafty place, I decided it was meant to be. I'm in love with this print too!



Meanwhile, at Brooklyn General, I bought a quarter yard of Cotton + Steel, again, planning to use some for my EPP quilt. I had hoped that they would have the All the States prints so I could use them for something special for my 50 States Stitching Club, but alas, no such luck.

And that was my big crafty shopping. However, I managed to forget to take pictures of the Japanese craft books that I bought at a delightful Japanese bookstore. I think they might deserve a post all their own...