Red Barn Quilt Shop

 I thought I had posted about this little quilt shop at some point, but I can't find a record of it, so this seems like a good time to fix that. The Red Barn Quilt Shop and Retreat Center is just South of Lubbock, in Wolfforth. 

The first time I went there, I was with a dear friend who now lives in Texas and we try to meet up in Lubbock once a year or so. She's a quilter too so we naturally navigate to quilt shops. This is one of our favorites

I mean where else are you going to find a quilt shop with chickens?

There was a retreat going on - everyone was working on Cross-stitch

                                     

Coffee station ready and waiting

                                     

If I hadn't needed to get back on the road, I'd have pulled up my sleeves and helped out in the kitchen

                                      

This is the retreat center

They are a Brother, Bernina, and Handi-Quilter dealer

Lots of  wonderful fabrics to choose from

It's not a huge shop, but they pack in a lot of good stuff without making it feel crowded

Fun displays

I only bought a few basics to add to my stash because I honestly do not need any more fabric, but I want to support the local quilt shops.

Because the last time I was there I bought this stack of fat quarters and I haven't even touched it

                              

And someone's going to ask, about the framed piece next to those fat quarters. A friend and former co-worker made this and sent it to me recently after we'd gone to a quilt show together and I shared some patterns with her. It's absolutely darling and I treasure her friendship so it gets a special place in my sewing room

So if you happen to find yourself in the vicinity of Lubbock, add this fun shop to your itinerary.

Quilt Shop Stop Ahead

Our girl's been in Oklahoma for 18 months and although I've been there a couple of times, her Daddy never has. She makes the trip home quite a bit (we'll take her and our boy anytime we can get them) and it hasn't been long since her last visit. This last weekend we remedied that with a little  road trip that allowed us time to catch up on podcasts:

On a 7 hour trip, we pass through 2 decent sized towns and lots of little towns with 500 residents. One of those little towns has a quilt shop. It's hard to resist a shop called Front Porch Quilts

When you bring up their website, this is what it says:

It's a little shop, with lots of treasures.

I assured DH that I only wanted to pop my head in for a minute. Famous last words. LOL. So, as much as I would have liked to linger, I hurried  as much as one can hurry in a sweet little quilt shop where folks are friendly and a good visit is always welcome.
I snapped a few fast pictures - Texans are proud of their country and state - these patterns are popular:

Western prints are big sellers too and I was tempted, but I have 2 bins of western fabrics and need to use some of what I have first:

They have a wall of patterns:

And books:

And a good selection of tempting fabrics

and sample quilts from which to choose:

She was starting a big sale and I caved to temptation. It's been a good while since I bought fabric. This plaid really spoke to me so I bought the rest of the bolt - 9 yards - half price. It'll be perfect for a backing.

I bought a yard of this green check for a couple of baby quilts as well as a yard of this little flower print:

And a couple of yards of these 2 brown prints - all for $4.50 / yd

I loved these 2 Fall fabrics and bought 3 yards of the one on the left and 7 of the one on the right - $4.50 again

And I topped it all off with a layer cake of this flannel for a masculine quilt:

After our stop, we continued on. We know the way, but turn on the GPS anyway. It made me chuckle when these directions popped up:

Dairy Queens are a major spot in vast, rural Texas. Even if you have to drive 196 miles to get there.

I'll share more about our trip in my next post. I have too much I want to share for 1 post. :)

One Quilt Place

I've got another peek into a quilt shop for you today. Fair warning: there are lots of photos, but it might even inspire some of you to make road trip plans.

One Quilt Place is located in Fredricksburg, Texas and if you've not been there, it's worth a trip. Fredricksburg is a little German settlement town, nestled in the Texas hill country, famous for it's peaches and charming main street shopping:

I love history and there's a Museum of the Pacific War there, as well as a beautiful Wildflower Seed Farm that has the best fresh peach ice cream:

But today we're going to take a tour of their quilt shop. Last year they moved their little quilt shop to a new location with lots of room for expansion. It's tucked alongside a little country road so you'll want to use your GPS to find it, but it'll be worth it!

They have a retreat cottage:

And a studio:

That flanks the quilt shop:

This is an amazing quilt shop:

I've found that all quilt shops have their own personality and fabrics they specialize in, but I've never been in a larger one and they have just about anything and everything here:

Batiks:

Tone on tones

Christmas fabrics:

Autumn colors:

Lots of landscape fabrics to choose from:

This is only a little of their wool selection:

They have western prints:

A wide selection of patriotic fabrics:

As well as a big corner of 30's prints :

You could drown in their choices of Civil War reproduction and Thimbleberry type fabrics. I couldn't even get them all in one photo. There's another wall to the right:

And if you need a quilt for a baby or a child, inspiration abounds here:

They had lots of samples sewn up - these used panels and simple strips to make cute quilts for kids:

Just the patterns alone could keep you here for hours:

And I wanted to browse their book selection, but I had to get back on the road:

My SIL fell in love with the Garden Delights line a few weeks ago and ordered it online when we were all visiting my in-laws a few weeks ago. I sent her this picture:

They have the whole line if she needs more. And I sent this to a friend because it reminded me of her, but I forgot to jot down the line and now she wants some of it.

.
It is really hard to control yourself in this store, because there is temptation around every corner. And I caved:

I was pretty good and just picked up some basics to add to my stash, some of them from the sale section:

Whenever I pull into the parking lot, "Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!" immediately begin to endlessly play in my head. Those of you of a certain age may remember that line from a tv show called "Lost in Space" that was popular in the 70's. It is very applicable in this situation because there is something for everyone in this shop and I dare you to walk out empty handed!