I started my day with quilt shops that were closer to the cottage. They're shops I've visited many times before so I knew right where I was going and pretty much what they carried. At shop hop time there's always bound to be surprises though.

My first stop was Liberty Bell Quilts in Cedar. It's a quick trip down a couple of country roads and I'm there. In fact, I was there a couple of weeks ago for a book signing by Amy Barickman from Indygo Junction. She was introducing her new book Vintage Notions..





The book is one of the most interesting and well presented books I've seen in a long, long time. If you like vintage and I don't mean just quilts, this book is a must have for your library. You can go back to it again and again for interesting reading and inspiring ideas.
Amy and her Mom share a cottage on Torch Lake so she's here for a few weeks every summer. I hope to see her at one of the shops again.




There's a table just inside the door at Liberty Bell Quilts and it always has interesting finds or something new on it.




These are some of the new vintage hankies from Moda. The children's group you can purchase individually or already sewn together by the yard. How cool is that?




This is just a glimpse of the fabrics you'll find. Lots of great modern and repro collections, flannels, batiks, Kaffe and more including wool and embroidery supplies.





While not part of the official shop hop, I couldn't resist going in Wool & Honey that's next door to Liberty Bell.




Inside is a wonderful selection of beautiful yarn, supplies and even handcrafted jewelry. She carries lots of hand dyed yarn from local artists so you can always find something unique and the inventory is constantly changing.




I hope to be back there later this week. I saw the most beautiful shawl knit with a fine gauge, hand dyed yarn in the most yummy colors. A trip to a nearby fiber festival over this past weekend should mean a phone call letting me know more of the yarn is in. I'm going to get some of the beautiful stitch markers made from Michigan stones too when I'm there. I promise to take more (better) pictures for you.
Beautiful yarns, great samples and ideas, friendly and helpful. You can't ask for more!

From Cedar I made my way to Interlochen which is about 6 miles from the cottage. It's known world wide for the Interlochen Center for the Arts. I spent a lot of time there growing up. We attended concerts, plays and church on Sundays among the talented artists attending the six week summer camp held each year. Every year there are at least 2500 students in grades 3-12 from over 40 countries attending camp. Felicity Huffman, Josh Groban and Norah Jones are all alumni of Interlochen.



The Interlochen Theme - music to sooth your soul.........

This is Interquilten, a new shop that opened last year. They've already moved once after growing so quickly. Their current location is a charming spot that I remember as the Music Box Gift Shop growing up. I love seeing it now as a quilt shop.





The high ceilings make for perfect quilt display and their fabric offerings are growing each week. Earlier this summer I was able to find just the right pink print to complete a baby quilt I was working on.




There's a nice yarn corner with both basic and specialty yarns for knitting and crochet along with patterns, books, needles, hooks and such.





Each time I stop in I admire the beautiful handcrafted bird houses they have. They are all a little bit different and some have rings on the top if you want to hang them from a hook or ribbon. They cost about $45 which is a bargain considering all the materials and work it takes to create each one.





You'll find a great mix of fabric styles with something for baby quilts, landscapes, brights, flannels, traditional, holiday, batiks, basics and more. Don't miss their music theme prints in honor of Interlochen.







They have a growing selection of wool fabrics, patterns and kits. If you are in the area I encourage you to stop in and enjoy a bright and cheery new shop. They have some very nice classes listed on their web site too.
I forgot to get a picture of their version of the shop hop quilt. Oh well, that means I get to take a drive over there and see if I can snap one for you.

That was my last stop of the day. There's two more shop on the hop before I share the spoils of my labor.