On Saturday, July 14th, the Panama Quilt Guild sponsored another bus trip - this time traveling to quilt shops in Auburn, NE, Winterset, IA, and Clive, IA. I really enjoyed the trip last year and looked forward to this year’s trip as I know more people in the quilt guild. So I made a list of things that I needed (maybe “wanted” would be a better word!) and headed to Holland to load the bus at 7:00 AM.
Our first stop was at Needles I in Auburn. Although we have driven by this shop many times, we had never stopped. What a treasure I have been missing! They even had goodie bags for us when we arrived with a fat quarter and candy. The shop is much bigger than it looks on the outside and is full of lots of fun and varied fabric. I did not find any of the items on my list, but did purchase a fat quarter that was gold with stars for my quilting club and a kit to make a colorful throw - once again ruining my new year’s resolution of not buying any more kits until I finish the ones that I have! But it was 50% off and just too good to pass up! And it came packaged in a cute little red basket.
We then headed down the road for the 2 1/2 hour drive to Winterset, IA. On the way we had a chance to do word searches and win door prizes. I won a cute pattern for an embroidered table runner with a winter scene. I probably won’t make it but will put it in my stash just in case.
In Winterset we had lunch at a cute little cafe. Our waiter was about 12 years old and was quite the gentleman! Right next door was the Piece Works quilt shop, formerly known as Fons and Porter. I had been to this shop a few years ago on one of our many trips to Dubuque but it had expanded under the new ownership. At this shop I purchased their Row By Row, a square row that features three appliqued dogs. I also purchased a Row By Row at the Ben Franklin store down the street. It says BAND on it and was definitely one that I just had to have. They had a lot of nice fabric that was reasonably priced, but I did show some willpower by leaving it all at the store.
Next I toured the exhibit by Victoria Findlay Wolfe at the Iowa Quilt Museum. She grew up in Minnesota and currently lives in New York City. Her quilts were very interesting as some were quite modern and others were very traditional. I also got some great inspiration for the free motion quilting that I am planning to do on my next quilt.
The final stop on the trip was at Creekside Quilting in Clive, Iowa. In that shop I purchased three fat quarters for my quilting club, a package of Lite Steam-a-Seam 2, and a Christmas panel and pattern for a festive wall hanging. I was disappointed that this shop did not have a Row By Row as they have in past years. We then had dinner at Jason’s Deli before heading home.
All in all it was a fun day. I didn’t find anything that I had on my list, but I did find some fun things that I will use in future projects. I saw some awesome quilts by a nationally known quilter at the museum. And I renewed friendships with quilt guild members and other quilters who joined us on the trip. A day spent with quilters looking at quilts and talking about quilts is a good day in my book!!