Quilt Shop: Beyond Bolts, Thayne, Wyoming

Well, do I have a treat for you today. Do you ever go to the hardware store with your hubby? I'll drop the pretense here and just be completely gender-biased by saying gag me with a spoon. I'll wait in the car, Honey. Only if we're here in Thayne, Wyoming, he'd better keep his wallet in his front pocket because there's a fabric store here. Just look there to the left of the True Value sign, and you'll see the "Beyond Bolts" sign. 

Walk in the front door, and sure enough, this is a hardware store...no doubt about it. Look just to the left and there it is...a full service fabric store right there with the hammers, nails, and plumbing supplies. That's my friend Marei there right in the middle of the image below.

Yes, Marei has beautiful hair. She's had beautiful hair as long as I've known her, which has been since the 7th grade. But Marei is a LOT older than I am, and so I'm gonna say she's been friends with me for 50 years, but I've only been friends with her for 10 years. You do the math on that.

So look at all this gorgeous fabric. Did I mention this is a hardware store???

Just inside the door were these pretty regional batiks. There were so many I loved it was hard to choose one for my 365 quilt, but I'll get to that in a minute.

And those weren't the only batiks. They had other pretty batiks, and some of them were on sale.

Also, a large supply of minky, flannel and fleece.

This was a full service fabric shop with fabrics and interfacings on the bolt.

This one's for you, Padsworth.

And here's something I haven't seen since the Craft Warehouse near me went out of business: a good supply of fabric flats at great prices. My stash was built from the ones that used to live near me. Just below you can see battings on the bolt.

They had a good supply of solids too.

They also had a lot of cute patterns for quilting and embroidery.

But they had supplies for all kinds of needlework, from embroidery,

to knitting and crocheting,

and garment-sewing.

And I love a punch card store where you get punches according to the amount you spend. Marei filled up her card which entitled her to 20% (I think) off her next purchase. Nice. Since I won't be back any time soon, I gave her my punches too. Here's the batik I picked for my regional 365 quilt shop quilt.

I picked up a yard of this one. Won't this make a cute binding?

This one might be hard to see in this image, but it's a white on white polka dot. I got two yards. It'll make a nice background for embroidery.

So, wow. This takes the cake for being an unusual location and a delightful surprise. I give it my highest rating of five rotary cutters. Fabulous service, and a wonderful diversion while Mike looks for dowel rods to hang my quilts.

From Swan Valley, this shop is on the way to the Grand Tetons, and so if you're ever in the area and want to see Beyond Bolts, just drive over the mountains and there you'll be. It's a can't miss shop if you happen to be in the area.

*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.