The Velvet Tomato

The Velvet Tomato is the quilting shop tucked inside the restored 1878 Heart & Home building in Danielson, and that setting alone makes it worth a visit — there's something fitting about buying fabric for a handmade quilt inside a building with that much history of its own.

Inside, there's a solid 1,300-plus bolts to shop from, with a good run of wide backs and batiks for finishing projects properly, and longarm machine rental available for quilters who want to do their own finishing without owning the equipment.

It's a smaller footprint than some of the mega-shops around New England, but the historic building gives it a character those bigger stores can't replicate. If you're in eastern Connecticut, it's worth the stop for the building alone, and the fabric selection gives you a real reason to stay a while rather than just snapping a photo of the exterior and moving on.