Back to my Roots -- Jonesboro, GA January 2008

I grew up and spent my childhood in Fayetteville, GA, south of Atlanta in the heart of Dixie with a strong flavor of "Gone With the Wind." On a recent trip home for my mom's 82nd birthday, I was on my usual prowl for quilt shops that are new to me and came across one in Jonesboro, Ga, called Quilts and Fixin's. (Jonesboro figures prominently in the famous book GTWT.) This wonderful shop is located at the end of a little unassuming strip mall on North Main Street in Jonesboro. The outside of the building gave no hint as to the quilting fun inside!

There was a block-of-the-month club just finishing up as we got there, so there was lots of bustle as the ladies were choosing extra fabrics and getting them cut and checking out with their purchases. Everyone was enthusiastic and helpful including two of the customers who told me that they'd been around long enough that they felt a part of the store. I left my purse sitting on the floor in one room and later found it on the cutting table for "safe guarding." The block-of-the-month for 2008 is a wall-hanging of 13 star blocks made of brightly colored batik fabrics; the project looked so inviting that I decided to join and do it long distance! This will be my first BOTM (block of the month).

Quilts and Fixins occupies 3 large rooms of the building and is much larger inside than it appears from the outside. In the back of the first section, there is a room just for quilting notions and a small baby's room complete with a cradle and baby quilt models including a cute one of a bi-wing airplane. The first room offers a reasonable selection of flannel fabrics, a good amount of black/white prints and batiks and quite a number of fabric bolts in all the ranges of color arranged on shelves around the room and in the center of the room.

In the second room there are novelty prints of all kinds -- they have MANY animal prints but cat prints outsell all the others; they carry over 200 bolts of cat fabrics! The owner told us that dog lovers want to see their specific breed represented on the fabric but cat lovers just seem to love them all. There are lots of projects there involving cats (and other designs) on wall hangings, sweatshirt jackets and stuffed animals. They also have a line of cowboy and western prints and a cute western quilt on the wall. In every room there are so many adorable stuffed animals, snowmen, dolls, critters and other things to bring a smile and make the store feel homey and cozy.

There is a very large room in the 3rd section of the store where classes are held for projects of many skill levels. Lots of quilts on display tempt you to look for the books and patterns that are handily located nearby. Quilts and Fixins will definitely be a stop for me on my semi-annual visits back home to Georgia.

I also learned about the Greater Atlanta Shop Hop 2008; this is an annual shop hop to the 13 quilt stores located within 25 miles of highway I-285 around metro Atlanta. This hop is held during the first 4 day weekend (Thursday through Sunday) of March and sounds like a must do for any quilt store loving quilter. The prizes offered for a drawing for the people who have their "passports" stamped in all 13 stores are really nice, including a grand prize of $100 to spend in each participating shop. That's $1300.00 dollars worth of fabrics, patterns and books! This year's theme is "Cruising Into Spring." One shop owner told me that about 700 women participate in the "hop." Count me in! In fact I'm planning my next year's winter trip so that I'll be able to go.

Quilts and Fixins, 7986 N. Main St., Jonesboro, GA

770-472-0015

Hours: Mon - Sat: 10 AM - 5 PM