Remember when Kelli and I went to see Elton John in concert and stopped at all the quilt shops. Well here is our review of Neal’s Vacuum and Sewing Center in Muscatine, Iowa.
When we first walked in we wondered if we were in the right place as there were lots of vacuum cleaners and sewing machines but not a lot of fabric. Then we started seeing cute projects…..
Really cute projects….
…and then we were greatly by a VERY friendly staff.
They explained that the store was split into different areas and the fabric was in the fartherest room.
We went in and checked it out….
The store was neat and organized. Kelli is here posing by a quilt pattern she bought likely a year ago, but never bought the fabric. This day, she bought the jelly roll to make it! Check it out.
The had lots of cute baby blanket samples made up. I was checking them out as Buck and Lora’s baby is due in December…I’ve made no quilt to date. They aren’t finding out if it’s a boy or girl so I’m treading water on this quilt….I don’t know what to do.
This is a cute ABC quilt. It’s done by layering the quilt pieces and cutting to make it chenille.
We loved the idea to put the baby muslin with minky binding. They had a nice selection of both types of fabrics.
The flannel section was nice as well.
Don’t forget the generous sale rack!!
Kelli had something in mind and started hunting minky.
The farm in the center we both LOVED!! REALLY LOVED!! It’s a minky fabric with farm and it’s definitely gender neutral. She was determined to make a mini baby blankie with some and was hunting for some coordinating fabric.
While she was off doing that, I was exploring some more. They had an awesome Kona selection….
The Grunge fabric selection was good too.
That’s when I saw this CRAZY chicken fabric. Oh my. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.
Don’t call the shop and asked for any, I cleaned out all they had. I have no idea at all what I’m going to do with it. NONE. All I know is I loved it and someday an idea will come to me. I took it all as I didn’t want to regret not getting it AND the girls said if I cleaned the bolt off….40% off!! Whoot-Whoot!! Yes, I was taking it all.
The staff was super fun and very helpful. We really enjoyed our time here. LOTS!!
As we were checking out I noticed the fun toy sewing machine display….cute right?
As Kelli and I were driving away, both of us commented on how nice the ladies were in the store. So nice. I think the welcome you get when coming into a shop really sets the tone for our shopping experience. These ladies ROCKED!
I am going to do a 1-5 rating….five being the best-I’m going to be stingy with my fives.  This is just my impression on the day I visited and took pictures.
Warm and Friendly: Â 5+Â These ladies rocked!
Selection of Goods: Â 4Â The shop had variety but it wasn’t a big shop.
Neat and Organized: Â 5
Parking: Â 4
Cozy and Cute: 4 It’s small so space is limited.
Outside Appearance: 4
If we are through Muscatine again, we’ll stop. We sure hope the same ladies are working.
P.S. Any suggestions with my chicken fabric? Stop by tomorrow and I’ll show you what else I bought.
If you’re into aprons, the chicken fabric would make a cute apron. Also, have you tried a Stack ‘n’ Whack quilt? The chickens are large, and that would be a fun option.
I’ve seen some really cute bags which are great for large scale prints. I think the chickens would be so cute in one of these.
It is cute fabric! I would make an apron, and make some other kitchen accessories like pot holders, hot pads, microwave bowl cozy, etc. Then you can see it every day!.
What a cute shop and it goes on my bucket list for my next Iowa visit. I also have the pattern that Kelli bought and its waiting to be made but I’m using a modern jelly roll. I just the minky line of fabrics and anything made from it is super soft and lovable. Hope she found a fabric for her farm stuff. Thanks for the tour of another great shop.
Thank you for the quilt shop tour Jo! Great way to start my day! Hope you have a great week end!
When I saw that chicken fabric, I needed to find some. I checked the net and found some at Fabic.com , in case anyone else needs to buy some. It also comes with white background. I didn’t get any at this time though. Thanks for sharing.
My first thought when I saw that fun chicken fabric was placemats and/or table runner. It would make a fun apron too! Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Do you know if they had a pattern for that flag quilt? It’s different. The chicken fabric was fun.