One Half of The Bothered Owl has been Down Under since the beginning of August. That would be the Alex half. 
While here in Brisbane, I have checked out fabric shops to see what is available. Who knew that Brisbane has so many quilting shops? And today I visited 3, plus the mainstream fabric/haberdashery/stuff shop Spotlight. And here is the haul:
Funky Fabrix at Mitchelton, north Brisbane.
Funky Fabrix, Mitchelton
And my purchases:
Goat Postmen & Sock Monkeys at the Beach
Then it was on to Spotlight.
Robots!
And then to Patches in Indooroopilly. Amazing range of fabric including lots of novelty fabrics.
Sewing cats, penguins, and more cats
And the final stop for the day was The Quilters Store in Salisbury. An amazing barn with hundreds and hundreds of different fabrics.
Quirky cats, mermaids, and bathing/gardening/bizarre chickens
Road Rage Robots and Comical Cats
So there you have it. Brisbane has a lovely selection of quilting shops to choose from. I had a great day finding them all and handing over my cash to them!
These fabrics will be turned into items for our upcoming fibre events (The I Knit Weekender, Fibre Flurry) and other crafty markets. If you happen to fall in love with any of these fabrics, and would like us to make you something, let us know! 
Alex
Glad that you got to go to them all! I like the quirky cats!
Thanks Ang.
The cats are cute!
Hi guys,
As a brissie sewer, you have just introduced me to two new stores. Are the prices and Patches and the Quilters Store more or less than Funky Fabrix would you say?
Thanks for the heads up.
Lesa
Hi Lesa,
Prices were all about the same I think. I went to Funky Fabrix specifically for the Goat Postmen fabric. And then, as you do, saw the sock monkey fabric. All the fabric I bought there was on sale.
As for Patches and the Quilters Store, there were prices differences of about $1 each way (some higher in one store, and higher in the other). Overall the Quilters Store was much much larger, but tended to have a lot more floral stuff (which we are not really into!). But I enjoyed going to both. I’m not a quilter (one day maybe!) but I do love looking at fabric!
I’d love to hear how you find the two stores, and I’m pleased you found our blog!
Alex
Spotlight! I **SO** miss Spotlight!! When I lived in Wollongong we had a massive one…and then when I was in Newcastle, they had a massive one there…there’s really no equivalent to Spotlight in the UK, is there?
[...] is Gail. She spotted and put dibs on the gorgeous mermaid fabric that Alex picked up back in in Australia, And I don’t blame her. The fabric looked beautiful in the photo but when you see it in [...]