Another Quilt Shop Hop Trip

A couple weekends ago I got the "urge" to go on a self induced quilt shop hop.  To much work and no play time makes me very crabby!  I decided to head south of where I live this time and visit some of those shops that I've never been too.

My first stop was here:

Now let me tell you a little about this quilt shop named The Treadle in Bloomington, Illinois. Go prepared.  If it is winter and you have a bulky coat on - don't plan on making it down the aisles without knocking bolts of fabric over or knocking boxes of fat quarters on the floor and goodness sakes, don't bend over.  I made a mess a couple of times by "attempting" to bend over and dig through the 2 and 3 deep rows of bolts of fabric.  Also - if you can, do not bring your purse in - it just gets in the way and it's annoying.  Throw a check, cash or credit card in your pocket - make life easy.  This shop had so much stuff crammed into a very, very small space - kind of made it hard to shop, but at the same time - I enjoy the adventure of digging.  I found pieces of fabric so old in the clearance bins it dates back to the early '80's.  I also spotted the older Chocolate line by Moda fabrics.  They have a little of everything and if you love reproduction prints - you will like going here.  Many, many shirting's also.  But like I said - be prepared to dig and search.  In fact - take a friend to help you hold up the fabric bolts so they don't topple over on your head while you try to dig behind - oh yeah - and the friend can be watching your "behind" also so that the bolts that your "behind" are smashed against don't fall over on your backside.  Hmmmm - now ask me how I came about that little tidbit of advice.....

And also, The Treadle offers 20% off your total purchase if you are paying with cash.  ----- But, with that said, it's only on regular priced merchandise.  There is a coupon in the Quilter's Travel Companion book also - BUT - even though this is not printed in the book, nor does it state anywhere in the store - the coupon is only good on regular priced merchandise.  Enough said.

All in all, I would go back - I had fun there.  I would bring a friend and go without my purse and coat though. Parking is close enough you can do that.  And never, never take your children in this shop - I didn't this time, but anytime in the future that I am down that way again, I will not be able to stop and shop if the kiddos are with me.  There is just no way....   But - there are a few pieces of fabric there that I really wish I would have bought and I'm kicking myself over it!

Next stop.....

The Quilt Corner in Morton, Illinois.  Talk about a kit wonderland!  And reproduction fabrics galore.  Good prices too.  Oh and the pattern selection they had - unbeatable.  I bought lots of fat eighths and quarters of reproduction prints that I do not have in my collection here.  A new leather thimble to - that fits like a charm! Oh and don't forget to check out the hand dyed wool selection - I made a dent there too!  LOL

Next stop....

The Peddler's Way Quilt Company in Washington, Illinois.  Fell in the parking lot here - the lot was so iced over and I went down hard and bruised the rear end that fabric bolts had previously fallen on.  Not fun.....

The quilt shop was fun though. Lot's of goodies to see and models also.  But the upstairs is where I found my own piece of heaven.  Reproduction prints galore.  I found 3 pieces here that I cannot seem to locate more of and it's driving me nuts.  They only had fat eighths and I want more!  Anyone out there know the maker of these fabrics or the fabric lines that they are from?

I left the above photo as a thumbnail - click on it and it will enlarge really well for you to see.  The top fabric I want the most. It's a deep navy blue.  The middle fabric is also a navy blue and the bottom red fabric is such a great red color.  Of course these pieces do not have the selvedge edge on them!  Ughh!

My next stop was here....

I forgot to take a picture of this shop (probably because I was in a hurry and talking to my aunt on the phone!).  This one was called Cozy Corner Quilts in Metamora, Illinois.  They appear to have 3 shops listed on their website, but I only visited the one this day because I was running out of time and had one more shop that I had to hit.  They also have a retreat center that I am wanting to see about going to.  This shop was fun, they had just gotten the new Little Quilts shirting fabrics in - so I got to drool all over those for awhile.  Lots of brighter fabrics here and the lady working that day was just a treasure to chat with.  I didn't stay long here because I had to get to the next shop before they closed and I missed the sale - I didn't use my time to wisely earlier in the day and nearly missed it!

Next stop was....

This shop is fun, I've been here before.  They have mostly older prints - which is just what I was looking for.  Remember -I have a stash enhancement to build for a Great Aunt in West Viriginia that is sewing her socks off!  Anyhow - I found the treasured piece of brighter yellow calico that I remember seeing here once before. I should have bought it then, but I got lucky this time and they still had it.  This shop is a lot of fun if you are looking for older prints.  I also snagged some older Judie Rothermel prints here.   They have a couple more pieces that I'm thinking about going back for - some good old fashioned wide stripes from Judie's earlier fabric designs - they are so yummy!

Here's the yellow... this photo is clickable too!....

It's a bright yellow isn't it!  I just love it - every time I look at it I think about my Grandma.

So that ended my day and I got back home around 6:30 pm.  I left around 8 in the morning.  A great trip and well worth a whole day of driving and shopping - bruises and all.

I'm getting the urge to visit Amish country again though now.  Hmmm, should I go to Arthur, Illinois or Shipshewana, Indiana? Those sweet people just keep drawing me back, time and time again.  I love the simplicity of both these areas and really wish I lived closer to Holmes County, Ohio and Lancaster, Pennsylvania so I could go there more often - those two places are heaven on earth!

Oh  - and more exciting news - I've located someone that is trying to sell his mother's stash of fabrics.  He claims the collection is 20, 30 and 40 year old fabrics!  He also has a bunch of scrap bags - grocery size bags - full of scraps.  Plus he has lots of old quilt magazines.  I'm sitting by my email today on pins and needles waiting to hear back from this man.  I want to go check this out so badly - he's about an hour and a half from me.  The kids are out of school today and might want to go on a little adventure with good old mom - I'll probably have to bribe them with lunch out today!  LOL

I better run, I have zippers to sew on the quilt top I will be quilting tomorrow and one more set of instructions to finish up on a very detailed pattern that I really need to focus on!  Have a great day!