Tag: Travel

Alternatives to Joann’s – ATL edition

February 20, 2025

This post examines brick & mortar alternatives to Joann’s in the Atlanta area for sourcing fabric and sewing supplies.

Garment/Bridal/Cosplay
Gail K. Fabrics (Decatur) and Fine Fabrics (Norcross). Gail K’s Cheshire Bridge location is my personal favorite.

Home Dec Fabric/Trims
Fabric & Fringe Warehouse (Marietta) plus any of the showrooms in the Chattahoochee Industrial area (Lewis & Sheron Textiles, Forsyth Fabrics, etc.). Some of the home dec showrooms at ADAC in Buckhead (wholesale vendors) have warehouse sales. Get on their mailing lists.

Quilting Cottons
Any of the quilt shops in greater ATL/north Georgia can source your cotton fabric needs. Tiny Stitches in Marietta is one of the largest shops in the area. Like to treasure hunt? Check out Thread Bear Fabrics in Cumming. Sew Senoia does monthly pop-up shops at the SQTM in Carrollton.

Atlanta Sewing Centers in Marietta and Duluth have an assortment of quilting cottons, canvas and the occasional dressmaker fabric. They are also a Bernina/Baby Lock dealer.

Sew Sew Studio (f/n/a Discover Sewing) in Bogart and Duluth have an assortment of quilting cottons and bag making supplies. They are also a Janome, Brother, Pfaff and Viking dealer.

Tip #1: There are a number of recently closed quilt and fabric shops that still appear in search results as open for business. Always verify the company is still in business before you head that way.

Tip #2: Attend the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo at the Gas South Convention Center (Duluth). This show comes to ATL every March. If you are a garment sewer, there’s usually a vendor or two selling quality knits, wools and other apparel fabrics at good prices.

ATL is also home to several Hobby Lobby and Michael’s stores. Sewing supplies and fabric selections are available and vary by location.

Most Wal-Marts still have a sewing/craft section – some even have cutting counters. If you need a zipper, thread, scissors, batting, stuffing or interfacing late at night – here’s a source of supply.

Last, but not least – as of now, we’ll still have Joann stores in Kennesaw and Decatur once the bankruptcy dust settles.

Geographically speaking: Other than Gail K. Fabrics and the home dec warehouses on the Westside, the majority of independent fabric and sewing machine shops are located OTP (outside I-285) in the north ATL suburbs. Chain stores such as Michael’s, Hobby Lobby and Joann have at least one location ITP (inside I-285).

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

Be resourceful

September 20, 2024

Sometimes the best laid plans don’t always work out as you intended.

The Asheville Quilt Show is next week. This event has been on my calendar for several months. Originally, I’d planned for an overnight stay in Asheville and hubs would be home to keep the dog. He now has an event with TR next week.

The sticky wicket: What to do with Sadie?

It’s Fall Break for our local school district. Our doggy day care is full. Friends who could keep her are on vacation themselves. The college student who occasionally housesits for us, now has a full-time job. Even Grandma and Poppy are away next week.

I really didn’t want to cancel my trip, so Sadie is coming with me. I understand Asheville is a super dog-friendly city. We’ll see if that is true. I have a pet-friendly hotel arranged AND doggy day care session(s) reserved for her while I attend the quilt show. The weather is also cool enough for her to safely sit in the car if I want to stop somewhere along the way. Let’s hope the 10 day weather forecast is wrong about the rain. We’d both appreciate getting to explore Asheville without getting soaked.

Excited for what’s next

July 10, 2024

Last night hubs and I celebrated my birthday at The Blue Ridge Grille in Buckhead. It’s one of our favorite places to celebrate extra special events. The food and service were superb, as usual. I think the last time we were there was to celebrate hubs retiring from Home Depot. That’s been well over two years ago.

Anyhow, this particular birthday meant I finally achieved the “magic age” for my teacher retirement benefits to kick in. (No more mortgage level health insurance premiums either!) We celebrated what’s ahead as we finally exit the holding pattern we’ve been in the past two years. Retirement officially begins August 1st.

We don’t expect much to change when it comes to our day-to-day activities. We’re just excited to have the funds previously earmarked to pay exorbitant health insurance premiums now available to tackle some minor home improvement projects and put toward a couple more bucket list trips. Sadie is also slated to get a new dogmobile (my SUV) by year end.

We’ve also started thinking seriously about where we’d like to live in retirement. That’s a tough one. We love our location and neighborhood, but are not happy about future plans for our area. I’ll be attending a DOT open house today about the future express lanes coming to the top end of I-285. I’m curious to see how they plan to add toll lanes in each direction with all the multimillion dollar homes along the proposed path between Vinings and Sandy Springs. I’m more interested in how the planned entrance/exit ramp less than 1 mile from our home will impact the surrounding residential neighborhoods.

Dining table decorated for birthday celebration
Cute table decorations that greeted us when celebrating my birthday!