Then we went on a short road trip to Clare, IL; which is a spot in the road to a quilt shop in the middle of a corn field in a barn. It is only about 10-15 minutes from DeKalb and was a nice little quilt shop. The owner, Carolyn was really friendly. The shop was called Basketcases and you can take a virtual tour here. She has 2 Gammill quilting machines in her shop; one of them a Gammill Statler Stitcher. She gave me the name of the Gammill dealer. I'll need that information once I'm ready to move Queenie.
I bought some yardage for the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt that I finally caved in and decided to do. Bonnie Hunter over at Quiltville's Quips and Snips is giving us a clue each Friday in December. I'll show you all of my fabrics and tell you more about that in another post.
Then it was on a few more miles to Hampshire to this quilt shop; Stitching on State. It was only about 15 minutes from Basketcases but if I drive straight from DeKalb it's about 20-25 minutes. Pretty close! :)
I met the owners Elaine and Mike who gave me a personal tour of the shop. I am really glad I found this shop. They are a Bernina sewing machine dealer and also do repairs. They have sew-in's, classes, and BOM's. I signed up for the $5 BOM beginning in January. I purchased another piece of yardage for my Grand Illusions Mystery Quilt and two Christmas fat quarters. I also picked up this fabric panel license plate that I'm sure will go into a memorable Illinois quilt.
Funny thing while at Stitching on State. We ran into someone The King knew. And she knew exactly who I was too without introductions. The plant/warehouse manager for 3M, Darcy is a quilter too and she was there shopping. We chatted and both of us are excited to be able to make future road trips together! I think the King is a little nervous!
DeKalb doesn't have a quilt shop so it's nice to know both of these are an easy drive within 15-30 minutes of me. Which is a vast improvement from my choices in Texas. It was at least 1-2 hours to any quilt shop there.
Although I absolutely do *not* miss the cold winters, you are making me homesick. I grew up a few miles south (El Paso, IL), but had lots of friends in Northern Illinois. I miss the sweet country towns and entrepreneurs who work so hard to please their customers and support their families. I hope it's warm enough often enough that you can get out and enjoy the culture and the sightseeing and shopping opportunities. I just love looking at the traditional home!
ReplyDeleteI also love that so many of those wonderful old homes still have their porches!
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