Day 6 continues

I am very sorry about the lateness of these posts, but after doing two days of 10+ shops and the driving to get to the proper place to start the next day, I was too tired to blog. Actually had no time to do it. I am such a slow keyboarder that it is pathetic, so it takes me a long time just to do a little blogging. I will explain the driving comment with my Day 7 blog. Then on Saturday, I attended the graduation ceremony for my niece and then was back in Rochester for her graduation open house on Sunday. Monday was back to reality, back to the real job day and I had to stay late to try to get everything caught up. So now it is Tuesday and I can get back to telling you about some more of the shops that I visited!

The next shop on the trip is The Sewing House in Ottumwa.  A smaller shop with a nice selection of samples to enjoy.  They do long arm quilting at the shop and and have kits available.  I did purchase some minkee for a quilt back.

 Patchwork Peddlers was the following shop on the list.  This shop is in Kirkville and kind of hidden back off the main road.  Smaller shop but a nice selection of fabrics.  Another customer brought in sewing machine and I was able to answer some questions about walking feet and show here how to place the foot on the machine and warned her that it would be sort of noisy.  Very friendly and great service.

On to Tracy and B&B Creations.  I drove past the store once but caught it on the second pass.  My TomTom GPS unit is having an issue with the proper side of the street for it's locating!  This shop, as you can see in the picture, is in a house.  Nice selection of various fabric, although limited by size.  I had a very helpful little friend in this shop ; )

The next three shops are actually quite close together, given some of the driving that I have been doing.  Barefoot Quilting in Alba is a quiet, friendly store.  They also sell barn quilts and have a good selection of fabrics.

Just down the road, at Moravia, more exactly near Moravia is Shops at Granny's House.  Facebook link here:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shops-at-Grannys-House/72701418177.  This shop is again a small shop with a somewhat limited supply of fabrics.  They also sell beads and I did find some pearls for a project that I am planning.

Here is a close-up of the sign outside the shop.

Centerville was the next stop, at Ben Franklin.  This store is a part of a variety chain and has the usual fabrics, notions and threads as well as other items carried a this type of store.  I did not make it past the candy counter with buying some chocolate!

It was getting late and I needed to get to 3 more shops, so off I went!  The Sampler in Chariton was the first of the last 3 shops of the day.  That sounds kind of confusing, doesn't it.  Well, anyway this shop is just off the main square and although it is small, there is a lot of fabric.  You may have to do some digging to find the one that you want.  They give a discount to quilt guild members.

Just a few miles down US Highway 34 is Quilt with Us in Lucas.  This is a very small town with a large quilt shop.  It is nicely laid out with lots of fabric displayed in manner that makes it easy to see and select.  They are close to the railroad tracks and I didn't remember how loud those engine horns can be.  The shop has expanded since I was here many moons ago on another hop.  Here is the Facebook link:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Quilt-With-Us/127769643922790

The last stop of the day is at the Robinson's True Value in Osceola.  This really is a one stop shop with fabric, notions, variety items and hardware!  I arrive at closing time (sorry) so did not have much time to wander around. Very friendly.  The store is on the east side of the square.

This is end of day 6 and I was able to make it to 12 shops today.  Now comes the planning for the last couple of days of the trip.  Thursday will be a long day, the shops are open from 9 AM to 8 PM and I will need every minute to get caught up, as I am behind on the number of shops that I will need to visit if I expect to be done by Friday.  I don't think that I will make it, but we will give it a good try.