A pleasant 25 mile drive from Interstate 95 into the edges of the White Mountain Forest in central Maine will take you to Norway, Maine, where you will find Sew Orchid Design, owned by Barbara Daigle. It is a fascinating blend of quilt shop and design studio, with over 1,600 bolts of fabric thrown in for good measure.
Fabrics include Northcott’s Banyan Batiks. If you haven’t seen these, they are batiks with attitude. There are often designs over the batik, in medallions or other shapes, so you end up with a batik that you can Stack and Whack. There are also solids, blenders, other batiks, and a lot of nice big prints. You won’t find many kits, which don’t sell well in this area, but there are wonderful patterns, and Miss Barbara or her staff will happily help you to pick out fabrics for you very own personalized look.
There are also samples on display throughout the shop, many of which were designed by Miss Barbara. The quilt on the right is her shop’s design with the Maine Shop Hop Birds and Berries fabrics – another wonderful quilt I would never have though to make with them! I of course could not resist the Stack-n-Whack…
Check out the line of Westalee Rulers – Miss Barbara is a certified instructor. These rulers facilitate quilting on your domestic machine, and there are classes available. I cheated – there is a long arm in my spare bedroom – but my sister has done some beautiful work on her domestic machine.
There are also patterns and samples for these wonderful clam shell bags in several sizes. I like them for medicines when I travel, or for whatever small items I’m trying not to lose in my suitcase!
Plan to spend at least 30 minutes here enjoying the fabrics and samples.
| Sew Orchid Design, LLC | Hours: Tu-Fr 10-5 Sat 9:30 – 4 |
| 316 Main Street | Phone: 207-739-2065 |
| Norway, ME 04268 | stitches@seworchid.com |
| www.seworchid.com | Mail Order: Yes Fabric Online: some |
Stop back on Monday to see where we are as the North American Shop Hop continues to tour Maine!