Stan's the Man!

Do you have any favorite eBay fabric sellers you'd like to share?  I thought I'd let you in on one of my "secret" sources for "vintage" Thimbleberries fabrics--Ideas Unlimited.  I try not to visit too often because they always have fabrics I want, so it can get expensive.  In fact, just in finding the link for you, I was compelled to order three yards of fabric, darn it!  Lucky for me, most of the fabrics are priced under $7 a yard.

I'm terribly tickled at my latest find, though.  I know some of you have followed Thimbleberries for years, right?  Do you remember the Safe Haven BOM with all the bird house blocks?

For years after that BOM came out, I'd hear off and on from people searching for the focus fabric, which was very scarce and was even harder to find because a whopping 3 yards of it were needed for the quilt.

Well, Stan, one of the owners of Ideas Unlimited, must have unearthed a bolt somewhere because when I stopped in last week for a peek at the vintage Thimbleberries fabrics on offer, there it was!  And yes, I had to order four yards.

And oddly enough, at the country store at the quilt show in Yuba City last weekend, I found a set of the patterns--it was meant to be!  Of course, since the patterns first came out, the whole set has been reprinted in one of the Thimbleberries BOM books so they're widely available.

When I opened my fabric package, not only did I find the Safe Haven fabric (and another yard of vintage Thimbleberries), but I found Stan had tucked in an Australian magazine, Machine Embroidery.  What a sweetie, eh?!  There are some very lovely things in this magazine, including a baby's christening-type gown that would surely become an heirloom, but since I don't have an embroidery machine, the magazine isn't much help to me.

So I thought I'd share Stan's bounty.  If you live in the US (or can receive mail here), have an embroidery machine, and think you'd enjoy this magazine, please leave me a comment and I'll draw a winner Saturday night (posted on Sunday's blog post).  And stop by and visit Stan from time to time.  If you're not a Thimbleberries fan, you should know that he also carries vintage Jinny Beyer and some Moda as well.  You just never know what you're going to find there!