Day 2 - All Iowa quilt shop hop

Day 2 gets off to a late start again, that seems to be a theme with this trip.  I am going to the northeast corner of the state today, it will make it quicker to get to Rochester, MN to drop of some items that my sister needs for a graduation party for her daughter, Emily, next weekend.

I also received feedback from DD 2 that I need to do better editing before I publish my posts, so I did do a little work on the previous posting.  I must admit that things very often look a little different in the morning than they do at midnight!

The first stop of the day is at Debbie's Quilt Shop and Gifts in Osage.  Couldn't find a link for the shop.  This is a medium sized shop with an eclectic mix of fabrics as well as small gifts, tea cups etc.  They have food for the hoppers in the back of the shop along with their sale fabrics.  Nice selection of batiks.   I do find a very nice kit for queen sized quilt on sale for a great price, so it went home with me.

The gentle reader will note that I will comment on specific fabrics or types of fabric from time to time, These comments are usually based on something that I am currently looking for and are not meant to state that this is the only type of fabric that the shop carries.

The next stop was a new shop to me and I had trouble with the GPS so it took a while for me to find it, even though if I had been looking up instead of at the screen, it would have been easy to see!.  Stitches is a yarn and quilt shop in a building next to the Theisen's Supply in Charles City. New, small shop but nicely laid out and accessible from both the front and the back of the store.

It is almost noon now and I am not seeing too many other shoppers or hoppers yet.  I decided to move on to New Hampton and hit the 2 shops there before I get something to eat.  Both shops are downtown and essentially across the street from each other.  Material Magic is the smaller of the two shops. They also have some craft supplies as well as a nice area of Christmas fabrics.

The second shop is Quilter's Window.  This shop was an American Patchwork and Quilting Shop Hop shop in 2008.  The shop sell sewing machines, a wide range of fabrics and has a very nice classroom.  I did find a book for bed scarves.  I think that it would be fun to try some of these 'little' quilts. I also live the building that the shop is in.  Don't you love that old architecture?

I pick up a bite to eat on the way to West Union and One Block Over,  Watch out for the construction again.  This is a medium sized shop with a large selection of Jinny Beyer fabrics.  The store has bolts of her border fabrics, as well a many of her blender fabrics.  I find a couple of bolts of a cotton silk blend and purchase some for garment sewing.

I do want to apologize for the pictures at this venture.  My digital camera failed to work and now I have resorted to using my camera on my Samsung Nexus.  On the computer they actually look pretty good, but I miss being able to compose the pictures like I could with the camera.

Well, that's all for now.  I need to get packed and get the van loaded and on the road.  Only have 5 hours of hop time today, starting at 11 so I need to get 'hopping'. (pun intended)