The Old Craft Store

Situated on the historic town square of Carrollton, Texas, Melba Hamrick's quilt shop feels like an old general store. Bushel baskets, wood tables, and a vintage tin ceiling remain from the building's original 1920s incarnation as a bank. The shop also houses a working post office.

Front row, from left:

Stacy Euhus, TJ Tammy, Dixie Coleman, Melba Hamrick (owner), Marsha Kammeyer; back row: Michelle Parker, Mary Skeene, Jackie Galubenski, Susan Haney, Doug Hamrick, Donah Baker. Not pictured: Shannon Pence.

The fabric Melba Hamrick selects reflects The Old Craft Store's cozy, homey ambience. One room, "the past," holds reproductions, '30s reproductions, and Thimbleberries fabrics. Another room, "the present," features fabrics with a more youthful attitude. A bright yellow floor and wrought-iron bed provide a backdrop.

The Old Craft Store carries a full line of books and patterns and as many as 150 quilt top, bag, and apron samples stitched by employees and customers selected by Melba Hamrick as sample makers.

Simple-to-sew borders radiate from a center star block, all pieced in comforting colors.

Machine-stitched feather designs fill individual pieces in the quilt top.

Leaf prints from the Shades of the Season 2 and Fusions collections and a tone-on-tone from the Quilter's Tweed collection (all for Robert Kaufman fabrics) celebrate the glorious colors of autumn in this quilt. The gold star points stand out from the royal purple background, while the light background print makes sure the eye is drawn to the center star within a star.

Delighting customers is high on the list of reasons Melba enjoys owning the store. "There's never a dull day," Melba says. "I'm surrounded by the things I enjoy: people, fabric, ideas, and creativity."

For more information about The Old Craft Store, visit www.theoldcraftstore.com.