Monday, July 30, 2007

Mary Jo's (and) Fabric Giveaway #2

I guess I'm giving away fabric so that I can buy more....which is exactly what I did Friday. My daughter and I rode up to Mary Jo's Cloth Shop in Gastonia, NC , which is just outside of Charlotte and just a bit more than an hour away from us. When I go to Mary Jo's my palms sweat, my stomach gets jumpy, my heart races and my blood pressure rises. I leave there planning to sew 24/7. I can conquer the world!






When my sister married 25 years ago, she and her husband lived within minutes of this shop and when I visited we would always go to Mary Jo's. I imagine my brother-in-law broke out in a sweat when we mentioned we were going there and I'm sure he knew he wouldn't see us again until nightfall.

Mary Jo's has the lowest prices I've seen anywhere, from the high quality cottons to wool felt (yes they carry wool felt at $9.99/yd - solids and two-color) to linen to.... they carry everything! Some cottons are grouped by pattern like these coordinating dots and stripes, and this picture shows only part of that group.




They have groupings by category like sports, florals, babies, Christmas, fall, etc. and also groupings by color. Then there are groupings by design name like Aunt Grace, and these by Loralie. (I had to have some of the "Bathing Beautys" here.)



Batiks...






...and look at the Michael Miller group. These Michael Miller fabrics are all priced from $5.49 - $5.69 per yard!! I bought several of these for projects and some for tops I'll be making my DD.





This photo doesn't let you see how amazing the Bridal department is. I purchased the fabric and laces for my wedding gown here nearly 20 years ago and still when I go to Mary Jo's there are always young women and their mothers in this department planning their formal gowns or wedding gowns.





And my 2nd sewing obsession after fabric is..............rick rack! And look at the rolls of rick rack! Every color you can hope for! When I told DD I was headed to the rick rack, she just sat down on a bench. She knew I would busy for a while.


Oh how I love this store. I wish all of you who sew could visit it. They are online too at http://www.maryjos.com/ and for now you can order from them by email. The nice lady who helped me Friday (and they are ALL very nice - seriously) said it won't be long before the fabrics are on their website to see, but for now you can link to a fabric manufacturer like Marcus Brothers or Free Spirit, etc. and tell Mary Jo's the design name you're looking for and they will order it and mail it to you. I had ordered some yardage of a particular Michael Miller design and they called me last week when it came in, so I had a GOOD reason to drive up there Friday instead of having them mail it to me.

I hope ya'll don't mind my promotion of Mary Jo's Cloth Shop but I just want you to know there IS somewhere to pay reasonable prices for these beautiful cottons that so many of us love. I don't personally know anyone at Mary Jo's but I do know their prices and I know their service, which is top notch.


Looking at all of this fabric at Mary Jo's makes my fabric giveaway look pretty puny, but I'll give it a whirl anyway. If you're interested in helping me make room for my new fabric, leave a comment and I'll draw a number on Tuesday.
This will include:

- about 1.5 yds. of Mary Englebreit cotton (this is the 2nd piece that I have. Yes I had an obsession.)

- about 1.5 yds. of "Crazy Patch" by Daisy Kingdom

- a small piece of cotton with cute kittys

- about .5 yd. of multi-color cotton with gold design

18 comments:

Very Mary said...

You can leave me out of the giveaway, because I really CANNOT stash more fabric, but I did have to pipe up about my utter envy at Mary Jo's. The rick rack made my jaw drop!

Dinah said...

I know what you mean about the rick rack Mary Ann! After I took the picture of the rick rack I mowed down those in my way of reaching it. LOL.

Christy said...

Wow, I wish I lived close to something like that! How wonderful...and dangerous. :)

Jenn Maruska said...

I am also on a fabric diet - so I'll take my name out of the drawing.

But I wanted to thank you for sharing those great photos of the fabric store! What a treat! Looks like a place I could spend all day in.... and the rick-rack...I'd be right there with you, saying: "I'll take that one, and that one, and that one..."

: )

Anonymous said...

wow! Thanks for the fabric store tour! I loved that! I miss NC and their big old stores full of fabric! I am from Black Mtn/Asheville area and used to go to the factory outlet all the time! sigh* I miss that! I would love to take that Daisy Kingdom crazy quilt fabric off your hands! I came to say hi and now I I feel guilty begging to be in your giveaway! Thanks for visiting my blog btw, and thanks for the nice things you always say. I appreciate that, very much! xxxooo kim

Katherine said...

I'm left breathless looking at the fabrics at Mary Jo's. Oh, my. I could blissly spend hours in a place like that... unfortunately for me (and probably happily for my hubby ;o), I live too far away to enjoy the experience of Mary Jo's in person. Thanks for sharing the fabric fun!

Jodi Ohl said...

Now now now....Gastonia isn't too far from me..LOL....what an couple of hours?? I'll have to check out their website and see how to get there---so many choices, I bet you were in hog heaven!!

You asked the other night if I was planning on selling the collages I made recently and I am going to put them in an Etsy shop or on my secondary blog when I get it up and running. I'm thinking 15 dollars each for them or 2 for 25...I went into more specifics on my last post comment if you want to check back. :)

Have a good weekend!

lucy

Amanda said...

Why oh why can I not live near awesome fabric stores?!

comfortable said...

ohmygoodness I wish we had a store like that over here!!! I would fall in love with every fabric in there !

Dana said...

WOW! I'm cleaning the drool off of the keyboard LOL!We have a large fabric outlet close by, but I don't think it compares;) I just saw that bathing beauties fabric this weekend at a craft show! What are you going to make with it ? It's adorable!


I've already been lucky enough to win your fabric giveaway, so please count me out of this one.


Thanks again for sharing those great pics!


Dana
d07@goldingers.com

Anonymous said...

ohh wow that fabric store is soooo fab I wish I had one near me . I would love to be in your draw I am stash building at the moment heheheh .Have a fab day
Beth AU
bdasecke@westnet.com.au

Unknown said...

My gosh what a wonderful store, thanks for the link. I think I'd be in there for days.

SweetDaisyDoodles said...

OH! I am speechless. I don't believe I have ever seen that much fabric before. What an amazing place to shop. I can only imagine the sighs from my husband and the screams from my charge card, however. Please enter me in your giveaway. I would be happy to help you with your purging! :o) Thanks so much!

Jodi @ Happy House Quilts said...

love that ribbon stand!!!

Emily Cole said...

OH WOW!!!! I live in Wake Forest, NC - I haven't heard of Mary Jo's !!!!! I will have to make a trip over there one time or twenty! I love your blog - I wish I had found it in time for your giveaways, but I'll keep checking it now that I've found it! Em (emandmikeyATaolDOTcom)
www.emandthegang.blogspot.com

YASSER Faraco said...

hello
Im a up and coming fashion designer very creative but in need of litter help i use any kind of fabric if there still avelable email me to xjeteveux@aol.com
thank you
yasser

Anonymous said...

All clothes and other things are beautiful.

Zafran ali said...

Wow!Theses are all gorgeous I like so much How wonderful...
Plastic Card.