Quilt Shop Review: My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe

Last Saturday, after working with my Mom, we made the trek to Logan to visit My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe.  Best. Decision. Ever.  Even though it was snowing and we had to drive through a canyon... worth it!

The moment we stepped through the front door, I was in love.  The shop had welcoming aura.  I felt like I could have stayed there all day and the staff would have loved to help me search, mix, and match.  Everyone we talked to was super nice, helpful, and excited about the projects we had in mind.

One of my favorite things is that I very quickly found the one-stop-pre-cut-shop area!  I love pre-cuts and I love when they are all together and very easy to find.  Like most shops, all of their new fabric was stocked by collections, with the Christmas and children fabric in specific areas.  They also had a great selection of solids, but I didn't notice any Kona solids... Their fabric selection is very different from that in the Salt Lake valley, which is refreshing, but also makes me sad because it's such a long drive to Logan from where I live!  For example, I have not seen any Art Gallery fabrics in any of the quilt shops in the valley, but this quilt shop had both solids and prints.  Refreshing!

They also have an AMAZING retreat area upstairs in the attic.  My mom and I went through their main sewing space and the kitchen and we wanted to simply join the group that was already there!  Check out this page on their website if you want to read more about the attic and the services they offer, including 20% off everything in the store!

I might have been able to pay more attention in the shop if I wasn't so thrilled and overwhelmed by the amazing quilty goodness that I was surrounded by... When we left I told my mom that we should make the drive quarterly, but now I'm thinking monthly... If you live anywhere close, or are going on a road trip through Utah, it is WORTH the stop and the extra time it takes to get there.  I definitely recommend this quilt shop.

Have you been there?  What do you think of this quilt shop?

xoxMegan

Currently Listening to: Turn All the Lights On by T-Pain

Quilt Shop Review: Material Girls Quilts

More times than not, if I head to Pine Needles then my next stop is Material Girls Quilts.  I find this quilt shop so inspiring.  It's bigger than Pine Needles, but they also have a different selection of fabric, so it depends on what you're looking for.  Most of their collection of fabric is stored based on color.  The newest collections and the seasonal fabrics are stored in shelves and dot the main floor space.

Due to their huge selection, I feel like once a fabric goes into it's color section, it has a tendency to get lost.  This can be a good thing or a bad thing.  It's great because when I actually dedicate some time to sweeping those color sections, I find such gems that I thought had been sold out!  Just recently I found a bolt of Joel Dewberry's Woodgrain fabric - which I LOVE.  (I thought that the fat quarter that I bought last fall was all I was ever going to have!)  The disappearance of fabrics into the color section can be a bad thing because if you're looking for a specific print, you might search forever and in vain.  Another thing that Material Girls does is they keep fat quarters in the color section, long after the bolt is gone.  It's another chance that you might find that fabric that you thought was gone...

They also have a pretty good selection of traditional fabrics, felt, and Japanese imports (although no Echino Decoro...).  As far as solids go, they have a bigger selection than Pine Needles, but still not Kona solids.

Material Girls carries a TON of patterns and books.  This is awesome, but it can be overwhelming.  Patterns and samples cover every inch of the walls and on top of all the shelves.  Most of the time when I go, I take one sweep through the entire floor looking at just fabric and then another just to look at patterns and examples.  If you're looking for a project, you're pretty likely to find one there!

One down side to Material Girls is that they don't have a large selection of pre-cuts.  I really enjoy pre-cuts and some times I'll search for a project, just so I can buy that cute little package of fabric!

The staff at Material Girls is really awesome.  It's primarily a mother-daughter duo and they seem to work together great!  They are super sweet, helpful, and always curious about what you're going to do with the fabric you're buying!

They also have three quilters that come to the store to pick up quilts to quilt.  They all have a week turn around and they drop them off at the store.  How awesome is that?!  For more information about these quilters, check out Nadine's blog post on them!

I haven't been there in a while, but I'm excited to go back and see what's new!

Have a great Monday, friends!

xoxMegan

Currently Listening to: Somebody by Jukebox the Ghost

Quilt Shop Review: Pine Needles

Good Morning, friends!

Today is my first post for my Quilt Shop Review Series!  To kick off the series, I thought I would start with my favorite quilt shop, Pine Needles!

Pine Needles is probably my favorite quilt shop for two reasons.  The first reason is that it was the first place where I felt really welcomed and encouraged by the staff to pick a quilt pattern that I liked and just start quilting.  They assured me that if I ran into any difficulties, they would be there to help me work through it.  It is also the first place that I ever bought fabric, so due to my sentimental attachments, it is usually the first place I return to when I am looking for more fabric!  The second reason it is my favorite quilt shop is the location.  Pine Needles is nestled into Gardner Village, which is an eclectic collection of non-franchised shops and restaurants.  Complete with cute pathways and a duck pond, the area is simply inviting and inspiring.

Pine Needles has other great attributes other than the location and my sentiments.  One of my other favorite aspects of the shop is its organization.  Once you visit the shop a couple of times you know exactly where to expect the new fabric, where the holiday fabric will be located, where the pre-cuts are piled high, and where to look for more of a fabric that you bought months ago (if it's still in stock!).  I love the predictability of the organization of the fabric!  It means I can cut to the chase when I'm looking for pre-cuts or something new!  Speaking of the organization, each bolt is almost always accompanied by ready-to-grab fat quarters.  While most shops aspire to have waiting fat quarters, Pine Needles does a fantastic job of keeping those little morsels ready to go!  That is something I truly appreciate because I always feel like if I have to bother someone to cut fabric, I might as well get more than a fat quarter!

The fabric selection at Pine Needles tends to be more modern, but they do have a small selection of more traditional prints.  There are a lot of Moda, Riley Blake, Michael Miller, and Free Spirit fabrics.  Those manufacturers tend to carry fabrics that appeal to me, so it's another great reason for me to visit the shop.  I'm not really into batiks, so I enjoy not having to sift through them!  However, Pine Needles does not carry a lot of solids.  I believe most of the solids are Moda Bella (I'm more of a Kona girl!) and there just aren't that many in stock.  They are, however, always in the same place!

Pine Needles also carries a great book selection.  They have books placed around the store and then they have a specific staggered book case that doesn't have more than 3 or 4 copies of anything, so that there is more room for a bunch of different books!  They also carry a good variety of quilting and sewing magazines, too!

Pine Needles also has a lot of embroidery patterns and supplies.  I don't feel very qualified to evaluate them on their embroidery selection because I don't know how to embroider (yet! I plan on it being a 2013 new years resolution!), but I know they have a bunch of stuff because I've seen it!

While other quilt shops often have a block of the month program, Pine Needles has monthly wall hangings.  These wall hangings are usually a mix of quilting, applique, and/or embroidery and they are SO cute!  I've never bought a set, but I love to look at them while I am walking around or at the register.  Once I move and have more wall space, I'll probably be way tempted!

The biggest downside to Pine Needles is that they don't have a classroom.  I think they had one once, but the choice was made to sacrifice the classroom in order to stock more fabric.  While I totally understand the decision and love the selection of fabric, I would LOVE for them to have a classroom.  The people that work there are SO NICE and I would feel completely comfortable going there for classes.

Well, that is all for the first quilt shop review!  If you have any questions about the shop, feel free to leave them in the comments and I will answer them!

I hope you have a great day!

xoxMegan

Currently Listening to: As Long As You Love Me by Justin Bieber

Quilt Shop Review: The Introduction

Happy Friday, Friends!

When I first started quilting, I relied on Google searches to find quality quilt shops.  I don't know about you, but I much rather go to quilt shops than shop online because I love to feel the fabric and carry little fat quarters around to pair with fabrics in other collections.  In the beginning it took a lot of driving around to find the shops that carried the types of fabrics that I was looking for and that excited me.  Each of the shops I've ever visited has a different selection, or even a style, of fabrics they offer.  I thought that a quilt shop review would not only be fun, but it may help others classify the shops in their area so that when they're looking for something specific, they can have a better chance of quickly finding what they're looking for!

I will primarily be reviewing quilt shops in Utah, since that's where I live and it's easy to travel around.  However, I do have plans to travel to Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Puerto Rico in the next year and I fully intend on making some quilt shop stops!

I plan on posting a quilt shop review on the 15th of each month for as long as I can!  Hopefully I won't ever stop traveling, so I'll always have a new shop to share about!

I hope y'all enjoy the series of posts and tell me about your favorite quilt shop (online or on land!)

I will be back tomorrow with the first quilt shop review!

xxoMegan

Currently Listening to: Million Dollar Man by Lana Del Ray