March 18 Block

Today is Friday of spring break for the University, so it was a mandatory furlough day.  JK and I took advantage of a lovely, nearly spring day and went to Elm Grove, WI, and visited two amazing quilting/sewing stores that are just a block apart:  Patch Works and Bigsby's Sewing Center.  (Please understand that I am not affiliated with or receive any compensation from any store that I mention.)  Patch Works has room after room of gorgeous quilt fabric from the traditional to the contemporary and then some.  Bigsby's is a complete sewing center with a wall of threads and imported Japanese fabrics, as well as just regular, fabulous quilt fabric.  Both stores are bright, delightful, and have staff that are beyond helpful.  Other quilters were there sharing their projects as they chose their fabric.  It was an awesome day!

Please excuse me while I get on my soapbox for a moment:  If we want to continue to have these amazing, wonderful, fabulous local quilt (knitting, bead, craft, art supply, etc., etc.) stores, we need to spend our dollars locally.  These businesses can only stay in business if we keep them in business.  Particularly with the rising cost of cotton brought on by the devastating floods in Pakistan and the slowly recovering worldwide economy, we have to support our local shops or there will be no local shops.

This is not to disparage online suppliers.  There are some wonderful companies selling great fabrics and supplies.  Certainly there are areas that do not have local shops available to them, especially rural quilters who may have to travel long distances to find a quilt store.  But local shops give us access to classes, sponsors guild events, and host quilt shows that would be lost to us without their presence in our communities.  Let's keep supporting them, so they can support us in our art making.

Tomorrow I'll talk about my favorite Madison area quilt shops.  We are blessed with several....  Mary