In May, I did a quilting road trip to Northeastern and Central Oregon. After my time in John Day (see last two posts), I went to Prineville where I taught at the Crook County Quilters’ Guild. My quilting hostess took me to the local quilt store in town, The Quilt Shack, and I was welcomed warmly by the owner, Rhonda. The store is located at 1211 NW Madras Hwy/Hwy 26. This place has great character both outside and in, and I loved it.

The store is light and has a spacious feeling even though it is quite small. There’s a good selection of monochromatic fabrics as well as several fun novelty prints. I found the perfect red fabric for my current project.

Here’s some new farm themed fabric and a nice barn blocks quilt sample.

There were some wonderful touches, for example, this pretty basin full of buttons of every color. If you are in Central Oregon, take some time to stop by.

In April, I taught in Torrington, WY at the Goshen County Quilters. Torrington is a small farming community close to the NE border. The population is less than 6,000, but they have a vibrant quilting group. Their local quilt store closed a couple of years ago and became a doll shop. Recently a quilter purchased the store, The Covered Wagon, and is bringing back the quilting supplies.  She is gradually expanding the quilting inventory as well as continuing to sell the remaining dolls and a whole variety of craft items from yarn to dressmaking and embroidery.

There is a long-arm quilting machine and a selection of fabric (more arriving soon). I loved these barn quilt blocks and the tractor.

The specialty Wyoming fabrics include this digitally printed panel based on the Grand Tetons Mountains.

The next nearest quilt shop is some distance away, so this store is much appreciated by the locals.

In late of April, I taught in Cheyenne, WY and visited The Quilted Corner quilt store at 309 W Lincolnway, in the heart of downtown.

The store is inviting, with over 2,500 bolts of quilting cottons and many lovely quilt samples hanging on the walls. I particularly liked the striking Snail Trail pattern in combination with the stars.

The local specialty fabrics have the Wyoming W and the bucking bronco motifs. These are produced especially for retailers in WY and aren’t available anywhere else. The quilt behind the lamp is made with one of these bucking bronco fabrics.

The store offers a large selection of Accuquilt cutting dies and has a club that meets one a month to offer tips on using these. There is a classroom in the back and they teach a variety of quilting classes.

If you are in Cheyenne, pop in and check out this store. As well as fabric, they are well stocked with notions, books and patterns.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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