Shop Hopping and A Local Best of Best Quilt Stores

Do you shop hop? Yesterday my mom talked me into doing part of the North Central Washington's Quilt Shop Hop. Ahh... So much fun, but so very dangerous. We live in a rural part of Washington so the quilt stores are spread apart by so much as two hours or more. It's pretty much impossible to make all the stores in one day although some people talk like they're trying!

Looking at some pink and red fabrics

 And that is only one reason why I rarely ever take part. The fuel, the food and then the fabric...... It adds up {with me} to something that is just flat our perilous to my wallet! So I judiciously do my shop hopping all year long. Take a long drive on a Saturday via a town that has a quilt store. Go to the second hand store I love up the valley and drop by the quilt store. Make a grocery run and hit the quilt store. Do a stock-up Costco type day and check out the new fabric in the local quilt store. Much safer for me really and then I'm doing my part to support the brick and mortar stores all year long.

Starting to buy more gray than brown these days....

Before we got started yesterday, I thought it would be fun to do a post about the various quilt stores we dropped into. Then something happened that kind of put a damper on my enthusiasm. Let's talk quilt store employees {and owners} for a moment here. Every store has a personality {do you agree?} and the help is definitely is a huge part of that very unique experience. Some stores are very fun, vibrant and welcoming.

Always love a good neutral....

Others are a bit dour, reflective and maybe even grumpy, especially concerning cutting fat quarters or dealing with a large stack of fabric to cut. I've had quilt store owners treat me like an absolute moron who barely even knows quilting 101 {to the point that my daughter was furious}. Some are pushy about the merchandise. NO! I do not want to work with wool. I am allergic to it, thank you very much! Does that mean I have favorites? You bet I do. But that doesn't mean that I'm unable to appreciate the merits of my less favorite quilt stores. Maybe they have a fabulous thread selection or stock the only text fabric for hundreds of miles around!

Yesterday I had a very odd experience. A clerk appeared shocked and even somewhat titillated by how many fat quarters I was purchasing {and the total amount of my purchase}. She kept talking and talking and talking about the amount of fabric I bought until I started to wonder myself if I was making a huge mistake. Maybe I should return it and leave? Then when she was ringing up my mother, she told her, in a big 'I'm-telling-you-a-secret' sort of way, the amount of my receipt. Frankly, it made us both feel very uncomfortable.

Can never get too many greens and blues...

Now, just so you don't get the wrong idea, my mom and I have went fabric shopping together for years. Sometimes she spends more and sometimes I do. We don't ever comment on or judge each other about the amount of fabric we buy because, hello? We are quilters! I buy more in the fall than throughout the rest of the year. If I drive two hours to a quilt store, I am a whole lot more likely to spend MORE than when I drop into my most local quilt store on a grocery run. When I actually make it to a store that has fabric I love and adore, can't buy anywhere local to where I live, I tend to go a bit crazy. Who doesn't? I love stocking up on discount fabrics for backing etc. etc. which can quickly add up to a big receipt, but the point is, who cares? If I don't have money, then I don't shop, even if that means months without going into a quilt store. Does a clerk ever have the right to even comment one way or another though? Maybe, maybe if she knows me very well and we have a relationship. Maybe it's okay then.

A couple backs and some border fabric...

I guess the thing with me is that I don't like any judgement or implied criticism whatsoever. I buy fabric and stock my stash when I can. No, I rarely have a pattern in mind. No, I don't know what I'm doing with these fabrics, but don't you worry, I do use my fabrics and will figure it out as I go. And if I don't end up using this fabric? Frankly, that's none of your business. Am I buying more fabric today than normal? You betcha. The vacuum sweeper money I've been socking away is coming in very handy today. I'll worry about getting a new one next month, but really, that's none of your business either. Oh, you don't think these fabrics work well together? Hmm... How many quilts do you make or is that just your art degree talking? Because I really don't recall asking....

Haha Mostly I just shake it off, try to get amused rather than irritated and keep to myself. Yesterday I actually emailed a quilt store owner and told her about our experience. I'm glad to say that she wrote back very quickly with a positive response. Now I'll go back to that store in a heartbeat if I'm ever in the area. Some quilt store employees {and the owners} are actually a joy to chat with. Then I leave in a great mood, wanting to come back when I have another opportunity.

So without telling you all my various personal pro's and con's to each quilt store in our area {I'm sure you'd have a different opinion than me}, let me just give you my absolute top five quilt stores. The best of the best. If you are ever in the area, you won't regret it!

• Woven Threads, Chelan Washington
• Experience Quilts!, Odessa Washington
• Leavenworth Quilt Company, Leavenworth Washinton
• 3 Bears Cafe & Quilts, Winthrop Washington

And one more that isn't on the shop hop this year, but well worth a visit:  The Fabric Patch, Ephrata Washington.

Go forth, buy beautiful fabric and enjoy.*wink

**For those who are dying to know, these fabrics were not all purchased in a single day.....