One Quilt Place, Fredericksburg, TX

I was delighted to revisit the quilting store, One Quilt Place, in Fredericksburg in March when I was teaching in the area. I first went there three years ago, when my host at the New Braunfels Area Quilt Guild took me sightseeing in the Hill Country. It was fun to reconnect with Beverly Allen, the owner, and to see how the store has expanded with a 1000 square feet addition making more space for inventory, and accommodating two long-arm quilting machines. They offer classes in long-arm quilting and rental of the machines, and are also dealers for Handi-Quilt machines.

I was impressed with the variety of fabrics in this lovely light and spacious store. Special areas were devoted to holiday fabrics, patriotic, batiks, solids, 30s-40’s reproduction, Civil War reproduction, TX wildflowers and more. There was a nice area especially for wool. In addition to the fabrics, they had a great selection of books, patterns and notions.

This store is definitely worth a visit if you are in the Hill Country. If you are lucky, like me, you will see swaths of bluebonnets outside too!

Valli & Kim Quilt Store, Dripping Springs, TX

Last month I visited Valli and Kim, located in Dripping Springs between Austin and Fredericksburg, when I was transferring from the Brazos Bluebonnet Quilt Guild in Bryan to the Vereins Quilt Guild in Fredericksburg. It was a great meeting point and we spent an enjoyable time perusing this colorful and vibrant store.

The building looks industrial from the outside, but the inside is  painted in bright colors making an attractive backdrop for the numerous quilt samples and displays of racks of fabrics. The place has a modern, fresh feel appealing to both the younger new quilters and the more seasoned of us.

There are large collections of Kaffe Fassett fabrics, solids and more as well as a wide selection of notions, books and patterns. This t-shirt amused me!  They have a long arm quilting machine which was in use when I was there and they are also Handi-Quilter full-service dealers. There are classes including several for kids and a summer sewing camp for kids. I recommend visiting if you are in the area, or you can go on-line.

Fabrics Unlimited, Lake Havasu, AZ

In January, when I taught in Lake Havasu, my quilter hostess took me to the local quilt stores. Two were located in homes (see earlier blog on Monica’s Quilts) and were only open a couple of days a week. Fabrics Unlimited is a regular commercial store open daily except on Sundays and Mondays. Their address is 2089 W Acoma Blv, #1, which is easy to find. The store is well stocked with not only quilting supplies, but general sewing supplies, sewing machines, notions, fabric paints, buttons, books and patterns, and a wealth of useful items for a variety of crafts.

They have a large classroom which was busy when I visited. Gina Perks was teaching a long-arm quilting class as part of the Quilting at the Lake event at which I taught. The students did classroom exercises and then gathered around the long-arm machine where Gina demonstrated.

This quilt store is extensive with several areas to explore. They have the products attractively displayed, combining some antique furnishings with more utilitarian shelving.

I encourage you to check it out if you are in the area.

Monica’s Quilts, AZ – Quilt Store in the Desert

During my stay in Lake Havasu in January, my quilter host took me out to Monica’s Quilts in the Havasu Heights, a residential area about 20 minutes out of town in the hills. As you can see, the signage on the gravel road was homespun. However, the shop itself was expansive with several rooms containing a large inventory and a long-arm quilting machine.

It was cool and rainy when I was there which the locals didn’t like! The store was warm and welcoming, and I recommend making the effort to find it. They don’t have a website, but you could call the owner, Monica Krug, at (928) 486-5583 for directions. Here’s the address: 7737 Wagon Wheel Drive, Lake Havasu City, AZ 86404. They are only open on Thursdays and Saturdays, or by appointment. The local quilters love it and the store was busy all the time I was there.

Here are some more views. As well as a wide range of fabrics, there were several eye-catching quilt samples and they teach classes frequently, in a separate classroom on the property.

There was a nice variety of southwestern prints including some brand new batiks which had just arrived.

They also had some of the digitally printed panels which are amazing. These dahlias look so realistic with all the lovely colors and shading.

 

 

Little Helpers Quilt Shop, Shipshewana, IN

In May, I had the pleasure of spending a day exploring Shipshewana, a town in the heart of Amish country in IN. We particularly enjoyed our visit to the Little Helpers Quilt Shop which boasts a large variety of Amish hand-made crafts including beautiful quilts, rugs, jams and jellies, baskets, bird houses, pillows, mail boxes and more. The store is located at 1,030N 1,000W on the outskirts of Shipshewana. If you are in the area, allow plenty of time to take a good look in this wonderful store. The Amish lady in the store gave me permission to take photos and to post these so that you can have a virtual tour.

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The bed was piled high with beautifully made quilts all hand-quilted and there were quilts hanging all over the store. If you ever decide to purchase a traditional bed quilt, the choice here is fantastic and the workmanship outstanding. As well as quilts, there were quilt racks and wooden quilt hangers.

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I loved this Tumbling Blocks quilt with the blocks falling away at the bottom. On the shelf are lovely quillows which are pillows that unfold into quilts. Finally, here’s a sampling of baskets and birdhouses. Altogether a delightful stop on our outing.

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Lolly’s Fabric Store, Shipshewana, IN

In May, I had the good fortune to visit the Amish town of Shipshewana while staying with a friend prior to teaching at the Village Quilters of Lake Bluff/Lake Forest. This town is a quilter’s Mecca and boasts two enormous stores selling quilting supplies as well as many other selling gorgeous hand-quilted quilts. Here’s a pictorial tour of Lolly’s Fabric Store. This is a beautiful, well-lit store carrying around 13,000 bolts of fabric, quilting tools, book and patterns. Look at the wonderful quilt samples hanging on the walls too.

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As you can see, this store is well-worth visiting and you will find a wealth of enjoyable places in Shipshewana, the heart of Indiana Amish country.

 

 

The Sewing Basket, Prosser, WA

My third stop on the way to Walla Walla, was at The Sewing Basket Quilt Store in the small town of Prosser, just off Interstate 82 between Yakima and the Tri-cities. If you only have time for one store, this is it. Here’s a little tour around this amazing place which boasts carrying in excess of 11.000 bolts of fabric!

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From the outside, it looks like a small shop, but in that little house there are several rooms filled from floor to ceiling with fabric including one devoted to flannels. Next door is the Quilted Country Inn, where as many as a dozen quilters can stay for quilting retreats.

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After perusing the rabbit warren of small rooms stacked with fabric in the little house, you can go out of the back door and follow the path to another building with an enormous room full of more fabric! There’s a huge wall of batiks, shelves and shelves of Christmas fabric, theme fabrics, 30’s and 40’s fabrics, Civil War fabrics and more. The floor even has Flying Geese and Star patterns in the tiles.

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There are many fun theme fabrics. The bacon and eggs caught my eye, along with the chickens and cows. When you plan to visit this place, allow plenty of time!

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Owner, Marilyn Dulstra, knows exactly where everything is, so if you can describe a fabric you would like, she will direct you to the right location. They are about to expand even more! In the past, they have held classes in the Quilted Country Inn, but this has now become so booked up, that there aren’t times when the space is available. They are about to acquire another building where they can have a gallery to display quilts and a classroom. I’m hoping to go back there to teach.

 

 

Sandy’s Sewing Center, Yakima, WA

Last week I posted about The Quilter’s Cafe in Yakima. This week I’ll give you a tour of Sandy’s Sewing Center, the second store I visited on my way to teach at the Walla Walla Valley Quilt Guild. Sandy’s Sewing Center is located at 404 W Chestnut in Yakima not very far from The Quilter’s Cafe, so it is easy to visit both stores if you are passing through Yakima. Sandy’s just celebrated their 4th birthday and are well established. The store has a spacious classroom and there were people busy at machines, sewing away.

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They have frequent sew-in days as well as offering a variety of classes. They also have a long-arm sewing machine available for rental and a long-arm quilter who will quilt for customers.

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They have a wide selection of quilting supplies and Sandy gave me a warm welcome. Check it out if you are in Yakima.

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The Quilter’s Cafe, Yakima, WA

Last weekend I drove to Walla Walla to teach at the Walla Walla Valley Quilters’ Guild. I had all day to get there, so made some stops along the way. Who knew, there are five quilting shops in Yakima! I went to two of them and here’s a virtual tour of the first that I visited, The Quilter’s Cafe, which is located at 910 Summitview Avenue, Suite 1A. Here’s the outside and an attempt at a selfie picture of me with the owner, Linda Sutton.

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The store sells a good variety of quilting fabric, notions, embroidery supplies, books and patterns. They are Bernina dealers and Linda’s husband, Mike, services and repairs machines. In the back area there is a long-arm quilting machine which is available for rental after clients have completed a couple of training sessions.

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The store is spacious and light. They run classes, have free sew-in days and host the local hand-embroiderers group. It is well worth stopping by if you are in the vicinity. Linda gave me a warm welcome and I enjoyed looking round.

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Sew Expo Puyallup III – Decorative Embroidery

Another feast for the eyes at the Puyallup Sew Expo was a booth adorned with incredible machine embroidery. The beauty and intricacy of the designs enthralled me. Machine embroidery is not something I’m interested in doing myself. In fact, I sold the embroidery unit that attaches to my Viking Designer 1 machine because I never used it and a friend wanted to buy one. However, when I see these fantastic designs, I can certainly appreciate and admire them. Momo Dini Embroidery Art, a company based in Texas, creates these elaborate designs and digitizes them for machine embroiderers with computer guided embroidery machines.

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Then of course, you can buy every imaginable color and type of thread from Superior Threads.