Quilting Road Trip: Most Unusual Stores

Contessa's note: You can use the Quilters Trip Planner on Quilting Hub to look for shops, guilds, museums, etc.

The Davis Mountains of Texas are known for the Observatory with its star parties and for Fort Davis where the Buffalo Soldiers were stationed after the Civil War. Touring Fort Davis while the grandchildren did their Junior Ranger program showed this quilter some awesome antique sewing machines and quilts. One porch demonstration got me interested in rag rugs. There are many methods to make a rag rug from quilt strips today, but in those days, there were few. The docent was demonstrating tearing the strips and using an old fashioned toothbrush to make the rug.

We asked about quilt shops in the area, and she sent us to the local hardware store. Now, I love hardware stores – I can always find some kitchen gadget or other that I just must have. But fabric? The owner of the hardware store explained to us that some of the local ladies had asked him to at least stock basics like thread, needles, and fat quarters. So he did!

This was not the only place in the US where we found and purchased fabric at the local hardware store. We were in Paducah, KY for Quilt Week, but arrived a few days early so we stopped at the local Chamber of Commerce for maps. The lady on duty loved Quilt Week and asked if she could help us plan our week. She showed us locations outside of Paducah where other quilt shows were taking place around the week, but not necessarily on the exact dates of the show. We were on board with that and hopped in the car and headed for Crittenden County and the town of Marion. We stopped at many Amish shops, purchased some homemade fried pie, and saw so many quilts. One small show inside a church was our favorite.

Just down the road was a hardware store with an awesome selection of fabric. We purchased some camper fabric because my quilting hubby was in love!

In Charlton, Massachusetts is a quilt shop with a fascinating history. It is located in the former Methodist Church, but still has the pipe organ.

The church moved to a new building in 2004 when it outgrew the Stafford Street building. Cathy, the shop owner, uses the basement for classes and machine repair. The former sanctuary houses the fabric, and a corner closet is the "Bat Cave."

The most delightful part of the visit was when Cathy sat down at the pipe organ and played hymns for us while we shopped!

I would love to see your most unusual stores. Please comment!