What is About Quilt Shops

Today, I stopped into a local Quilt shop in Rupert, Idaho.  It is called The Gathering Place.  It was a nice shop. It was really friendly, a nice size and had a decent size fabric selection.  Yet I didn't really care for it.  Part of it was the way it was set up.  The shelves were too close together and I felt crowded.  Patterns and books weren't necessarily near examples of quilts.  Quilt kits were not near the display quilt.  They had a few tools but nothing I didn't have or that I needed. The other part was the fabric was not my style.  My husband said that most of it was Frumpy and I have to agree.  But fabric selection is a personal choice and I am not a local. Plus my style is more traditional and less modern than the current trend seems to be.

So what is about quilt shops?  Why do we seek them out over fabric stores?  What is it that makes it a quilt shop and not a fabric store or a craft store? 

The first quilt shop I recall visiting was a Bernina store in Logan Utah.  I was married with kids, my husband was in college and we were broke. I would watch the Quilt in a Day Series on PBS and this shop had the books for it.  But I never really could afford to buy the stuff. It was all expensive.  Plus I was a decorative painter back then. I made a little money on the side painting for other people and or cutting wood shapes for other painters. I had most of my tools and  supplies so I just needed a little here and there. My hobby paid for itself and then some.

When my husband graduated from college, we moved to Vancouver, WA which was great because that is where Artist club has a brick and mortar store with their sister store Connecting Threads. I used to order supplies from Artist Club when I was in Logan. Artist Club and Connecting Threads were more of a mail order store. So it wasn't really an inviting atmosphere. They did have a block of the month club the last year I lived in Vancouver, but again I was a painter.

The next quilt shop I visited was Mom's Craft and Fabrics in Delta, UT.  Of course that was back in Utah.  In Utah Quilters abound. As do Quilt guilds.  I had started getting more into quilting and less into painting by this time.  Largely because I started volunteering as a leader in 4-H.  Mom's was definitely a Quilt shop.  Quilts on display, lots of fabric, arranged by color and/or theme. Lots of tools, classes at reasonable prices and no pressure.  I could walk in there shoot the breeze and leave without buying anything and never once feel guilty.  My daughter Tatianna decided to make a quilt for a friend having a very risky surgery.  We bought the fabric at Moms Crafts and Fabrics.  Mom asked us to bring the quilt in to show her when it was done. When we brought it in to show her, there was a class going on. Mom was so proud of Tatianna's quilt that she stopped the class and made a huge fuss over it. The other women did as well.  That, to me, was the first truly "Real" quilt shop I  visited.

Unfortunately it also became the standard by which I judge all quilt shops. Delta was a small town and some of the people were really nice and some not so nice. But at Mom's quilters are treated like family. That is part of what I look for in a quilt shop.

Currently I live in Southern Georgia. The closest quilt shops are over an hour away.  One is in Tallahassee, FL. It is really a Bernina store but it has a fair size selection of fabric and often puts the older stuff on sale.  They offer classes and stock tools and equipment for those classes.  But their main focus is sell machines. And the classes are designed to teach techniques using the machines.  But I do like to go in there because I feel welcomed.  When I buy fabric, they always ask what I am working on, etc.  They take the time to recommend different tools/notions that they think will help give me better results. So not a bad place, just not a real quilt shop. But it is close.

The next one is Valdosta, GA. It's called Pinwheel Quilts.  It is also a Bernina store but it is bigger. It has a larger selection of fabric.  It also offers classes.  It has tools and equipment and patterns. Prices are about average for other shops. They don't push their machines as much. They are not as friendly and usually are all business about cutting your fabric. Not a place I go to often, in fact I'e only been there 3 times and the last time I didn't buy anything. It just wasn't welcoming.

Hahira, GA is home to Sew Blessed Quilts.  It is a cute little store inside a refurbished gas station from the 40's.  I love how they turned it into a shop.  It is small though and doesn't have a great selection.  It is also a Handi Quilter dealer and so a lot of the long arm tools are for Handi Quilters.  They did have the Loc-Bloc rulers though and a few other cool tools.  The atmosphere is really friendly and encouraging.  There was a quilt hanging on the wall that I loved. It had been a quilt retreat project that the owner had done.  There wasn't a pattern for it but the sales person took the time to look it up on her tablet and give me the link to print out a free pattern for it.  I've only been there a couple of times but each time I buy something. Unfortunately it is just too far out of the way for me to visit often or take classes.

I have had the opportunity to visit a few quilt shops when I have traveled.  Whether for work or pleasure I try to find a quilt shop nearby and visit it.  Mostly because I live in the quilt shop desert but partly because I like connecting with other quilters. Some are very friendly and you just want to stay and learn.  Some are all about making a sale.

Last summer I was following google to a quilt shop in a rural town in California. About 1/2 mile before I got there I saw another little quilt shop. I stopped there first.  I found a very friendly atmosphere decent prices and some cool projects. The proprietor was quilting a customer quilt that was being sent to a town not far from where I lived. Before I left the proprietor made sure to tell me to go to the other shop and gave me directions. When I got to the other shop I found it to be bigger and better stocked with tools. I did find a tool I was looking for. When I was checking out the proprietor of the second shop asked if I had been to the first shop.  They were each other's competition in a small town and yet they helped each other out. They played to their own strengths and recognized each other's skill set.  It was really neat.

So what is it about Quilt shops?  What do you like about your local quilt shop? What is you must have in a quilt shop?  I ask because I would love to have a quilt shop one day.