Cottage Bliss

"Cottage Bliss" is a good description of my three-day mountain cabin retreat with quilting buddies at a YMCA camp in Estes Park, Colorado, last weekend. Music, friends, sewing, scenic hikes, great food, and spectacular weather made for a memorable event. Other than missing our group members who couldn't attend, it was pretty much perfect.

But Cottage Bliss is also the name of a darling quilt shop in Estes Park that sells gifts, music CDs, books, and other trinkets in addition to fabric and notions. As you enter the shop, the sales clerks (gracious hostesses!) offer up herbal tea served in china cups while you shop - blueberry was the flavor on the day my group visited. The tea was followed by chocolate and snacks - what a welcome! Soft but interesting music plays throughout the building and in addition to fabric and thread, I bought a wonderful CD by Anne Murray that I hadn't heard before. Because the shop is relatively small, fabric selection isn't expansive, but what's there is quite nice. On the lower level is another small room jammed to the ceiling with fabric and notion bargains. All in all, this is a must-visit shop if your travels take you to Estes, and all shop profits go to charity. For more information, visit www.CottageBlissEstes.com.