My Own Personal Quilt Shop Hop

This was my own personal shop hop so it might seem kinda boring to you, but wowsers was it exciting for me. About 10 seconds before we left on our trip my husband told me to find a quilt store in every state we intended to drive through. Gasp! Hello? These things take time and planning you know!

Nobody comes out of a quilt store empty handed....

So I did the best I could and of course, not having the time to properly plan things out, I ended up missing out on a state or two. Such a shame. It was the timing! Quilt shops close by 5 or 5:30 pm. and rarely open before 9:30 or 10 am. I missed getting to a quilt store in Wyoming by a mere 30 minutes. Oklahoma was a mess of commitments made with family so by the time I found a quilt store close enough to check out, my options were extremely limited. The one I finally made it to had permanently closed its doors, which made me want to kick them. Oklahoma, you seriously need more quilt stores! hehe I had to make do with a vintage quilt block bought from an antique store. Maybe I can make a throw pillow out of it in memory of our trip?

Love the shirting fabrics

Quilt shops listed in order of attendance--not how wonderful they might or might not be:
1.  Quilters Corner in Deer Lodge, Montana:  A fun stop because the guys were doing the car museum thing so I actually had time to kill. Sadly it wasn't really my kind of store. Too much wild animal, lodgey type stuff so I made do with some beautiful batiks.

2.  The Quilt Rack in North Platte, Nebraska:  A bit more out of the way than my husband liked, but a great store. Well worth the stop. My eyes about popped out of my head from all the fatquarters that were readily available and stacked literally everywhere. I loved the mix of civil war fabrics, florals, geometrics etc. and I could have spent hours looking for treasure. There was one bolt of fabric that caught my eye on the way out the door... it haunted me for hours. Why oh why didn't I get a piece of that fabric?

3.  Prairie Point Junction in Cozad, Nebraska:  A gem of a store. You lucky, lucky quilters. It totally felt like coming home and I flitted around the store with a big ol' smile on my face. When I spied some Kim Diel fabric lurking under the cutting table, the lady in the shop cut me a couple fat quarters without even wincing. I bought some amazing Clover applique pins there too.

4.  Material Girls in Witchita, Kansas:  A store I've wanted to go into since forever. (Jacquie Gering was always raving about it on her blog.) I don't see how 'moi' could possibly be considered a modern quilter, but I love blending some new fabrics into the mix just to see what happens. This store has a really fun vibe, making you want to grab up a little of everything. Very open layout (which is inviting) plus the gals working the cash register were super friendly. Points for that.

5.  Ladybugz Quilt & Co. in Montrose, Colorado:  I wish this store was right down the street from me. It's so not fair. What a great balance of different lines, colors and styles of fabric! I ignored the apron and bag patterns that my cousin was swooning over and went straight to the good stuff. It's stores like this that help keep us quilter people checking back in on a regular basis.

6.  Sew Many Quilts in Bend, Oregon:  When I lived in the area many years ago, it was my absolute favorite store. While still a wonderful store (and I mean that sincerely), I did find that my tastes have changed a bit in the convening time. I'm still very drawn to several lines of fabric they carry but I didn't feel like I was about ready to hyperventilate from all the good choices. Sadly, it's the competition that probably makes this store feel less special than it used to. Wouldn't we all love to have 5 or 6 quilt stores in a 35 mile radius? Okay, I'd personally settle for 3.

7.  BJ's Quilt Basket in Bend, Oregon:  I didn't 'get' this store years ago and honestly felt a bit intimidated once I was inside, no particular reason why that I could figure out. This time I gleefully wandered around the store picking up random bits of interesting fabric. I do so appreciate finding unique bits of fabric to add into my stash! And I really wish my travel weary family hadn't been waiting for me right outside in the car. I could have used some more time without feeling rushed. Or not. My wallet was starting to feel very empty.

8.  Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon:  An icon. Something for everyone and obviously they were all looking. I had two ladies practically push me out of the way while I was drooling over the fatquarter table. Seriously, I was quilting while they were still in kindergarten! You do not want to mess with a quilter attempting to make agonizing choices over wonderful pieces of fabric. Also, the merchandise stocked by the cash register is extremely distracting, practically mesmerizing if you want to know the truth. I might or might not have left in a fugue state just trying to resist temptation.

9.  Something to Crow About in Springfield, Oregon:  Yep--four stops just in Oregon! A little extra because my birthday was September 1st so my husband was spoiling me. What can I say about this store except that it's simply fabulous. I've been going there every chance I get for years. Someday I'm probably going to unload the reproduction/ civil war bolts right onto the cutting table and ask them to cut me a piece of every single one. It's just that good. And they gave me a percentage off for my birthday too! Love that store....

Obviously there's a lot of fabric to buy online these days, but I guessing some of us are very tactile people at heart. I love seeing, feeling, absorbing, even smelling fabrics. Yummmm...  It gets me revved up like nobodies business.*wink  And while I felt a bit guilty for buying more fabric in a three week period than I ever had before, it was an amazing experience. And now, I more fully appreciate the best of the local quilt stores available to us in our area: Woven Threads in Chelan, Washington. It definitely holds it own amongst the others with a great balance of lines and styles of fabric offered. We can't always find the exact color or print we're specifically looking for, but we can usually find a great substitute. It's so very important to keep on supporting our local businesses isn't it? I'll tell you what, I'll do my small part to help keep the local quilt store open (so hopefully you can pop in on it someday during your travels) and you just promise to keep doing the same with yours. lol