9/13/17

Quilt Shop: The Dysfunctional Quilter; Whitehall, Montana

We visited the Ringing Rocks earlier today, and I'll tell you all about that in tomorrow's post. After the Ringing Rocks, we visited a quilt shop. All-in-all, the best kind of day. Here's the storefront.


If you look to the left of the door, you can see a bulletin board. There, I saw these funnies.





As you walk through the front door, this is what you see.


Just to the left is a whole wall full of quilts.


This was a small shop, square-footage-wise, but they had a lot of wonderful stuff in there. It was a relatively small inventory of fabric, but I loved everything I saw. In this grouping are some of the fabrics I used in the Summer Holiday quilt.


In the middle of the store was a table with lots of precuts. That's the store pup on the floor there. S/he was very sweet...appears to be a black lab puppy.


Oh man...was I tempted by these stripes...you know it!


And I loved this sunflower panel alongside the polka dots there. Wouldn't those two be cute in a quilt?


They had some lovely metallics.


These shelves contained holiday fabrics for Halloween and Christmas.


Included among them were these pretty Christmas metallics.


Don't you love a good remnant bin? I spent some time rifling through this.


Remember the quilt shop fabric I purchased in Boulder City as a backing for my future Quilty 365? Here it is made up in a bag.


This Christmas quilt was made from two jelly rolls.


If I didn't already have a sewing box, this pretty one would have come home with me.


Toward the rear of the store was a classroom/workspace/longarm area.


There, I saw this quilt. Is that cute, or what?


And this one.


They had a good supply of embroidery patterns and quite a few from local artists. The ones below are by Jana Davidson. You can find her website right here. She's actually from Oklahoma, but she was a new artist to me.


This next one was very tempting, but I passed it by. I'll probably wish I had it eventually. Blueberry Backroads' website is right here.


This next one is for you Padsworth. I'm so glad you came through the hurricane okay. This designer's company name is Hissyfitz Designs and you can find her website right here.


Finally, I was mightily tempted by this design from Laura Heine, another local artist. You can find her website right here.


And how about this...


This one was hanging above a door. The cat caught my eye, but I just thought it was pretty darned cute.


Well...I could have gone absolutely crazy in that store, and I did purchase more than anticipated. I will show you in just a minute. When we got back to the RV for our afternoon shot of espresso and bite of chocolate, this was my Dove fortune.


Okay. Well, I wouldn't want to tempt the Dove fortune gods, now would I? Fortunately, I'd already taken care of this. I purchased a yard of this one.


This is going into my Quilty 365. You might recall that mine is going to be made up from regional prints from the quilt shops I've visited (and will visit) all over the country. Being a small shop, this one didn't really have any "regional" prints, but these barns made me think of the journey thus far. They are in all sizes, and so I can cut the size I need for my quilt...size yet to be determined. Kind of depends on how many fabrics I end up with.

And then, I bought five yards of this one. This seems like a perfect back for the Sundresses quilt that I just started. I love all the colors, and I'll be able to use matching fabrics on the quilt top.


As a reminder, the Sundresses quilt will look like this when its finished.


So...that was a lot of fabric for my very first quilt shop of the trip. I'll have to pace myself if I'm going to have room to store my fabric purchases over the next many months.

Well...this was just a great little shop. There is one other quilt shop in Whitehall, but we're only visiting this one. The name kind of got me, and it was well worth the visit.

20 comments:

Cathy Smith said...

Barbara, Barbara, Barbara! Store your fabric? Oh, no my dear! That is what USPS flat rate boxes are for! Send all that goodness home and it will be just like Christmas morning when you return and open them. (Boy, do I know how to enable or what?!?)

crazy quilter said...

I just adore Laura Heine designs I got a couple of her kits do collage quilts, while I have not started them yet I just love looking at the pretty patterns. Yes send those packages home, or just keep them and look at the pretties on your journey! Looks like you are having fun !

gpc said...

Your found some beauties! And your faithful friends are right on the money -- ship that fabric home, don't let it hinder your future shopping stops! That Dove bar didn't lie.

Linda M @ Pieceful Kingdom said...

Looks like a fun shop. I have the Laura Heine cat pattern to use in a class at a local quilt shop next month. Love the faabrics you picked up!

Quilting Babcia said...

That sundress fabric is absolutely perfect! And I agree with all the previous commenters - fill a priority mail box (or two) along the way and ship them back. You can stuff an awful lot of fabric into one of those boxes!

quiltzyx said...

That is a neat little shop with some great fabrics! I think you did well restraining yourself too. As MY Dove fortune says: "Give yourself a standing ovation"!!

Robin said...

Loved all the cat quilts but my favorite was the row with the Wonky house,etc. It reminds me of the hurricane we just went thru. If it had continued up the West Coast as predicted I would have no house instead it changed course at the last min. I feel sorry for those that did get hit, we just will need a new roof and shed.AND ELECTRIC. No one wants to live in FL without air conditioning!Know anyone at Duke Energy?*** So glad you can keep us as part of your trip. It brightens my day. :) quiltyladyrr@gmail.com

Nancy said...

Have you considered mailing your purchases home. You have a house sitter who could put them in a spot for you.

Sandra W said...

Funny comments about shipping fabric home! It's hard when you are going to so many quilt shops--it's kind of a Russian Roulette. If you pass up a fabric, will you find something better down the road? Oh my. I try to buy carefully but I have a HUGE stash--even after donating 10 cardboard file boxes full. There are simply some fabrics I have to have.
I love your dresses fabric. That was a very good purchase. It's perfect, isn't it.

Dorothy said...

So happy that you are on the "dream retirement trip". Even happier that you decided to take ALL of us along for the ride. Use the USPS flat rate boxes to mail the fabulous finds back home---just be sure to leave a note with each "find" when you put it in the box as to where it came from---long trip=short memory=notes with each quilt shop stop :-)

Debbie said...

Good inspiration. Love the barn fabric....you can get barns, cows, sheep, words from it. A great fabric for 365. Thanks for taking us shopping.

Judy H said...

I love that store. Well worth the hour drive from Helena to go there.

Beth said...

Oh, we're having fun already! Love that Quilt Shop Pup! We have one in our small-town shop. Her name is Millie and, being a Schnauzer, she gives a good bark to everyone who enters.

Laura Heine is coming to the Pacific NW Quilt Expo & teaching the cat quilt in a couple of weeks. I was tempted to sign up, but know I likely would wimp out before the date arrived--too weary--still, seeing how charming that pattern is makes me tempted to give it a go on my own.

I think I'd like those shop owners. This is a shop that's been curated to be an interesting place for the people who walk through the door, with lots of treasures to be found.

Meanwhile, I'm still making kennel quilts and pillowcases, culling my stash for those fabrics I fell in love with and then found something I loved even more for the intended purpose. So, shop on! It will all find a purpose at some point.

QuiltE said...

WOW ... talk about destiny in finding that sundress fabric for your quilt.
I would have scooped that fabric pretty fast too. Great stop for your first quilt shop while on tour. hhmmmmmmmm do I foresee an extra storage bubble added to your trailer? :)

Happy Travels .. and Stay Safe!

Brown Family said...

That was a great shop. I love Jana Davidson patterns! I have done a couple of them. A friend of mine made the Laura Heine cat. SHe used unique fabric on hers. we found an elephant, a cat and so many more interesting things on hers! I have the next pattern, but have not started it! That is great barn and sundress fabric!

Kate said...

I'll have to check out the Jana Davidson patterns. I love the barns and the dresses. You did really well for your first outing of the trip.

Stitches said...

I loved this shop too!! It's fun to travel with you in my comfortable chair. Really liked your fabric purchases. Safe travels!!

liniecat said...

Your so clever, planning the adventurous trip to take in fabric stires as well as long wished to see, wonderful sights and places LOL

Love that collage cat pattern!
Blummin postage from US to UK is appalling so must see if I can find it here!!

The store looks wonderful, thanks for the peep inside!

Lyndsey said...

The quilt shop looks fabulous and your fabric purchases are perfect.

Snoodles said...

Ribbit! I like that one!
Looks like an awesome shop!
Padsworth