Treasure Hunting

Brandon and I skipped work last Friday and made a beeline for the lake Thursday night for some much needed R&R. The typical lake weekend goes something like this:

1. Get the heck out of dodge as soon as work ends on Friday
2. Wake up Saturday morning and park it on the dock/boat
3. Go to sleep
4. Do it over again Sunday
5. Cry the whole way home on Sunday

Since we had an extra day it was hotter than Hades outside we decided to visit some of the local shops and stop being so selfish about our lake time, as is the usual routine. We headed first to a little antique/consignment shop which was fairly new in town. It is right next to the Fred's, which is also fairly new in town...so you get the idea...anyway I am sure Brandon is relieved I didn't find anything I couldn't live without...but I have my eye on that place....

Then we were off to the Strickland Cloth Barn...I can't even type that without getting chills down my spine. The cloth barn is located in downtown Eclectic...and if there was ever a name for a town this one is the perfect fit. Let's set the scene shall we?



This is the lovely downtown of Eclectic. This is all there is....well and of course this



Strickland's opened in 1947 as a 5 & dime and then slowly made the progression towards fabric and let me tell you they still have every bolt of fabric from the beginning. What I am about to show you really needs to be experienced in person to get the full effect...but please don't have a stroke when you look at these pictures because it is possible....Brandon couldn't believe his eyes and he was there with me.





Is everyone still with me??? I'll give you a minute...ok.... let's take a closer look at some of the gems you might find.







Now before you ask...why would you even waste your time....you haven't asked that already, right? The cloth barn does have some redeeming qualities...numero uno it's cheap...and they do have some more modern up to date things too....they might just take a little longer to find..there is no apparent rhyme or reason to the location of fabrics...other than upholstery fabric and then everything else....However, if you ask the owner they can walk you directly to it.


While the next two are not so modern I still kind of like them...I guess they know what they are doing at the cloth barn...just let it sit there long enough and styles will come back around.



I thought the vegetables would make an especially cute apron...I may have to go buy some of that over Labor Day weekend....if I can manage to find it again....and learn how to sew in the next few weeks...

These pictures don't even begin to cover this place...there is a whole upholstery fabric room and wall of trims...my picture didn't turn out very clear..it really is a diamond in the rough...a once and a lifetime experience for sure...not to mention the stories the owner will tell you if you happen to be the one and only customer in there at the time....just ask Brandon...I walked out empty handed because I was so overwhelmed...I told the owner I was going to have to come back with a better plan....or something like that.