During my teaching trip to Michigan in May, I visited a couple of quilt stores in the Ann Arbor area. Pink Castle Fabrics does much of its business on-line but has a brick and mortar store at 1915 Federal Boulevard, Ann Arbor. The outside of the building looks rather industrial, but the light and airy room is decorated with quilts and there are plenty of fabrics on the shelves.

The store has a modern quilts flavor with bold designs and solid colors. They stock over 250 different colors of solids, the latest designs from modern designers and imported fabrics from Japan. In addition to quilting fabrics, they have linen blends, lawn, voile and knits. There are also plenty of notions. Stop by if you are in the area. Here’s a pictorial tour.

During my teaching trip to Michigan in May, I visited a couple of quilt stores in the Ann Arbor area. The Ann Arbor Sewing Center located at 5235 Jackson Avenue in Ann Arbor is the biggest store, (quite possibly in the state), boasting over 7,000 bolts of fabrics. If you are in area and only have time for one quilting store, this is it! They are are family owned and operated, running the business since 1968. The mural is painted above the lower entrance to the store around the back of the building where there is additional parking.

The entrance is welcoming and the store is extremely well stocked with notions, embroidery supplies, patterns and quilting books. They sell and service Bernina, Pfaff, Viking and Singer sewing machines and also carry Horn and Koala sewing cabinets and furniture.

They are well known for their wide selection of batiks and have a large area of the store devoted to this collection.

There’s a spacious area for classes with plenty of inspiring quilts decorating the walls. Another section of the store is devoted to Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

Then there are the novelty prints which are always fun!

The Whale’s Tail Quilt Shop in Ketchikan is an easy walk from the cruise ships dock by the downtown area. I visited the store when I was teaching on a quilting cruise to Alaska. It is located in the Salmon Landing building which is a little mini-mall with several stores. The shop is upstairs in a gallery area and they have an inviting display of several quilts hanging around the edges of the walkway and in the stairwell. Here’s a pictorial tour.

The store is well lit and easy to navigate.

They have a wide selection of patterns, many of which are Alaskan themed.

Then there are the Alaskan themed fabrics with all the wildlife.

Make a point of stopping by there if you are in Ketchikan.

No trip to Paducah would be complete without stopping by at Hancock’s of Paducah. Many of you may have ordered on-line from this massive quilting store, so here is a little pictorial tour of the bricks and mortar. The store is located at 3841 Hinkleville Road. It is close to Interstate 24 and only a couple of blocks from the Drury Inn where I stayed. From the outside, it looks like an industrial warehouse with a rough and dusty parking lot, but inside this cavernous space there is a treasure trove of bolts and bolts of fabric.

It can be a little overwhelming – where do you start? You should probably allow at least an hour to look and it’s practically impossible to come away empty handed. The prices are very reasonable and of course, the choices are many. During Quilt Week, they extend their hours and increase their staff to cope with the thousands of quilters who come through, but unless you go in there as soon as they open in the morning, you’re likely to have quite a wait to have your fabric cut and another wait to pay for it.

During QuiltWeek, they open up part of their warehouse in the back. Here they have huge bins with flat cuts of fabric and quilting kits at reduced prices. It’s always busy back there with bargain-seeking fabricoholics. Of course, I succumbed when I found a piece I just had to have!

This is sensory overload, to add to the already extreme visual stimulation from the National Quilt Museum, the AQS show and more to be found in Paducah during QuiltWeek!

Drygoods Design quilting and sewing shop moved from Ballard to Pioneer Square, Seattle about six months ago. The shop is located at 301 Occidental Avenue S in one of the old buildings close to 1st Avenue. The space is a large airy room with a high ceiling and has enormous windows so there is plenty of natural light.

It has a fresh modern feel and is inviting. There are plenty of notions, patterns and of course a choice of fabrics. They offer both sewing and quilting classes. One wall is devoted to dress making with patterns displayed and there is a large work table.

I Love these Elizabeth Hartman patterns for crib and twin beds. Here’s the Fancy Fox and Hazel Hedgehog quilts that are displayed in the store.

If you are in downtown Seattle in the Pioneer Square area, this shop is definitely worth a visit.

After the closure last year of the Poulbso quilt shop Heirloom Quilts, us locals felt a void. Fortunately, along came Beatrice Marx who opened a beautiful new store, The Quilt Shoppe, is located at 19020 Front Street in a delightful old house. Beatrice opened the store on 28th November, 2014. She originally hails from Normandy and came to the States 17 years ago. She lived in Seattle and then three years ago, moved to Poulsbo.

Beatrice sewed from an early age, making her clothing and doing embroidery. A quilting friend who had visited the USA persuaded her to try quilting and she became hooked immediately. Beatrice has a business background and is excited to be applying this to her quilting passion. The store is warm and inviting and has several rooms to explore. There is an area to sit at a table and browse the books and patterns and of course plenty of bolts of fabric.

In a room tucked away in the back, there is a great array of solids and this cheerful pirate quilt designed by Beatrice, Ahoy Pirates!, caught my attention. The pattern for this and several others designed by Beatrice are available at the store.

If you are in Poulsbo, do check out this store and Beatrice will be happy to welcome you.

I always enjoy visiting different quilt stores when I travel to teach and my host quilters are eager to share their local pads. While I’m not up for buying large quantities of fabric, there are some things I like and try to find. It’s not just the fabric. Stores usually have beautiful and inspiring quilt tops displayed and each store has its own character. On my recent trip to the Houston area, I was taken to the Quilter’s Emporium in Stafford which is a popular store with a large inventory and is often featured on quilt shop tours prior to International Quilt Festival.

Here’s their map of Texas quilt and whole selection of Texas bluebonnet and wildflower fabrics.

Here are some more views of the store.

There were several sections of fabric including Civil War prints, monochromatic prints, batiks and more. I liked the house quilt top, Suburbs, which was a workshop sample using 10 fat quarters. It is a PB & J project by Cluck Cluck Sew.