Quilt Shop: Quilt Crossing, Boise, Idaho

 We had some business to take care of in Boise, aside from getting our truck fixed. We did laundry and went to the grocery store, and we took in a couple of quilt shops. We were driving around town turning the engine on and off making sure it would go into gear each time. I'm happy to report that it has been working perfectly. A good way to maximize our engine on-off checks was visiting some quilt shops. The first one we visited was Quilt Crossing, and what a great store!

My usual practice is to get a picture of the storefront as I'm going in. In this case, there was so much glare on my screen that I totally missed the top of the store. You'll have to settle for this cropped picture of the door. I know...I'm sorry. (Hangs head in shame at poor photography skills.)

It's a huge store, divided into three sections. when you walk through the front door (middle section) you see this.

From there, I walked to the right section, which is where they have sewing machines for sale. Also, there was a classroom in the back where you see that Grandmother's Flower Garden hanging.

This is a Bernina authorized service center and all the machines they had for sale were Berninas. As I'm writing this, it occurs to me that my travel machine is a Pfaff, and so the Bernina thing is sort of irrelevant to me unless I'm at home.

They had a nice supply of my favorite Creative Grids rulers. Think I'm stocked up on the sizes I want now.

Lots of notions.

These fabrics on the back wall were on sale

at some pretty good prices.

Just over there is the door into the main section of the store where most of the fabric is located.

They had walls of thread.

Here's something you don't see all the time...tee towel fabrics. I have no use for this, but it so reminded me of my grandmother that I found myself wanting some just for grins. 

Here they had some itty bitty scraps of fabric...nice if you just need a tiny bit.

This was in a frame next to their row-by-row stuff. I asked about their row-by-row pattern, but it had ended the day before. I'm not doing the row-by-row, and so what do I know? Anyway...their row-by-row included hexies.

I liked their little pin as the license plate on the car. I'm thinking the Summer Holiday project I just started might be able to use such an embellishment. In any case, I collect these when they include the name of the quilt shop, and so I picked one up. The colors are like the Idaho license plate.

They had a huge supply of fabrics, including lots of wools. That has been true of all three shops I've visited in Idaho. Obviously, they are ready for cold temperatures. Also, they seem to be huge fans of Sue Spargo. I started thinking she might be from Idaho; but actually, she's from Uniontown, Ohio, so never mind.

There was a time I would have appreciated a little play station like this, but that was well before I learned to quilt.

The fabric went on and on down one whole wall

around the corner and down that wall

and on shelves extending out into the store. If you can't find anything you like here, you're either in a bad mood or you're not trying very hard.

They had a good supply of solids, which are sometimes hard to find.

Also, lots of patterns.

As you might guess, all the stores I've visited have had their Christmas fabrics out. Check out the skeleton wearing a Santa Claus hat. For those who want to start their decorating before Halloween...and that ain't me.

Here was a line I hadn't seen before...Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House on the Prairie. Cute.

On the left side of the store and through that door were long arm machines unattended, but hard at work. 

There were also women there who were renting time on the machines. I'm estimating they had about ten machines in all.

Near the cash register, they had these three bins. The two wash tubs have "Why Knots?" They're one-yard cuts tied in a knot and on sale. In the middle, you could pick scraps and stuff as much as possible into a quart zip-lock bag. I forget the price...about $6...and you had to be able to zip the bag closed.

On a nearby wall, they had the most adorable tick-tock clocks. These were so tempting, but more than I wanted to spend. Look at that camper with the truck pendulum below. Very tempting indeed. If the price hadn't scared me away, I know the "tick tock" would have. A ticking clock will drive me crazy.

So I walked out with a fat quarter of this for my 365 circle quilt. It was reminding me that visiting this quilt shop was a way we were taking lemons and making lemonade.

Also, I fell in love with this. I think I can use this in my Rainbow Scrap camper quilt.

So this was a fabulous shop. No complaints whatsoever. I could have gone crazy and spent a fortune in there, and I feel lucky to have left with just these two pieces. I give it my highest rating of five out of five rotary cutters.

It's well worth a visit if you find yourself in Boise. And that's not the only good quilt shop in Boise. I still have one other from our visit there. Just stay tuned.

*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.