Quilt Shop: Going Batty Quilting & Sewing

This was the one quilt shop I had a chance to visit this trip, and it was a good one.

It was located in one of those commerce parks, and next to a WinCo grocery store. It's important to us that a quilt shop have access to parking for our big rig. I walked about halfway into the commerce park, and still hadn't seen the 9744 building number. 

When I got this far, I turned my head to the right and saw it a bit down the road. I might have walked a long way before finding it.

So...down the road and around the corner and there it was! Happy, happy, joy, joy!

It was a Bernina authorized dealer and a Bernina Excellence Dealer for several years running...whatever that means. It must be something good, right?

When you walk through the front door this is what you see. It's my favorite kind of shop...lots of fabric and lots of color.

They had lots of sewing machines for sale as well as items for folks who are interested in machine embroidery.

Here's a pretty Tula Pink special edition Bernina sewing machine. Will I be committing blasphemy if I say I have no idea about Tula Pink? I gather she's a person, but I don't follow this kind of stuff. I just sew and don't look up from my machine to take in the sewing celebrity hoopla.

There was something for everybody in the way of fabric, including lots of bright novelty fabrics.

Rows and rows of bolts.

These were all batiks.

There was a good supply of landscape prints.

And a good supply of regional prints.

Also a good supply of flannel.

They had a good supply of books and notions.

And some really cute patterns. I loved this Santa apron.

And I was happy to find a pattern for one of these iron caddies. I have a travel iron I take to classes with me, but it's always too hot to pack it up safely. I'm going to make myself one of these.

And so I bought the pattern. It included the heat-resistent lining.

I've seen this quilt made up before, but I've never run across the pattern. This one's for you, Padsworth.

If I'd been thinking right, I would have purchased one of these large buttons for my iron caddy. Oh well...just another opportunity to visit another quilt shop, I guess. Lots of fun ribbons too.

And walls of thread...you know I love thread almost as much as I love fabric. There was lots more outside the frame of this picture.

Here's another shot of the store. I could hear a class going on through those doors at the back. I would have loved to see the classroom.

And there was this:

I walked out with two yards of this fabric. I thought I might be able to use it in the Stars and Stripes quilt on this month's to-do list. It's coming from some bee blocks I collected last summer.

And for my regional quilt fabric collection...this one. It's Reno, right? Could I have found something any more perfect?

So I really loved this shop. The only fly in the ointment was their refusal to cut a fat quarter from that regional print. She offered to cut a quarter yard, but that wouldn't have been wide enough for my needs. I was forced to purchase a half yard...or two fat quarters, if you're counting. Since there were scads of fat quarters all over the store, this seemed a little silly to me. A quilt shop should be willing to cut fat quarters, in my opinion, and so I knocked them down one rotary cutter. Were it not for that, they might have received five out of five. 

For now, I give them four out of five rotary cutters and my recommendation that you visit if you find yourself in Reno. Just don't expect any slack on the fat quarters. 

And now, the Resident Driver is on my case to wrap this up and get going. When we're this close to home, we get antsy to get there. 

*Disclaimer:  Cat Patches accepts no advertising, nor any sponsorships.  The opinions expressed on this blog are based on the personal impressions and perceptions of the author. They are formed  on the basis of one short visit, on one day, and may or may not reflect the experience of others visiting on a different day.  They are no more descriptive than a single snapshot image can be, and nothing written in a review of a quilt shop should be construed as objective fact.  The reviews are strictly the author's subjective opinion and should not be interpreted as anything more.