I told you that when I went for my biopsy on Monday that I stopped at the River Road Quilt Shop in Lacrosse. It’s only a few blocks from the hospital and clinic so it’s easy to stop.  I’m trying to stay out of quilt shops and not spend any more money than I already have (more on that to come)…but the mystery quilt colors were revealed and I need a few more pieces so what’s a girl to do but shop.
The outside doesn’t look very friendly, does it? But I’ve been in the shop before and it’s okay so in I went.
I’m doing my mystery in batiks (more on that to come too) so my mission was batiks. I couldn’t remember what they had for selection…so I went in and walked past EVERYTHING to the batik section. That takes some will power.
Here’s their batik section….Just the top row. Shucks. I can see a trip to Forest Mills Quilt Shop is in order. The girls there have the best batik selection in my area.
I thought I might as well give you all a little shop tour as long as I was there….The camera on my phone was acting up. You know how it goes when your phone automatically updates and something isn’t quite right afterwards. This time, it was my camera. UGH.
Isn’t this cute…it’s a headband in a braid. If I had a girl that wore headbands, I would really think about getting this.
Isn’t this bag so cute? I love the pineapple blocks. I was so tempted.
I took a picture of the name of the pattern as I figured one of you would love it too. I didn’t get the pattern. I reminded myself time and time…I have bags and I only use my very favorite ones. I don’t need another.
As much as I would love to do the mystery in Civil War prints, I know it’s a no go. So many of the colors like light blue and the aqua, it’s never be able to find.
Fabrics galore…see?
This reminded me of our Meet in the Middle pattern. It’s free here on the blog. You can find it HERE. We pieced our center but it’s made the same way in theory.  
Flannels….
Check out the potholders…
This is the book that shows how to make them all…
The shop isn’t big but does have a lot of samples. I so appreciate samples.  
They have notions like rulers and the like.
They have a great wool section. This is just part of it.
This is the bigger part. Oh my. I love it all. I enjoy doing wool too but I just don’t have the places to display it.  
I caved and bought the pattern to make this little guy. SO CUTE. I almost bought the ornament holder but didn’t really like it in gold.
More things to see…
Some things I like the design by not the fabrics…that was this one.
I loved this ornament. On the card it says, “For a video tutorial go to You Tube: Shabby Fabrics no sew Scandinavian Star Ornament.” I looked it up for you. Here is the LINK.
I looked it up for you and embedded the video for you.
I have to say I was a little sad that the quilt shop part of the store got a little smaller. It’s attached to a gift shop/flag store. The gift shop stuff snuck into the quilt shop. Bummer.
I did go up to the counter to pay for the little snowman pattern I bought. I asked the clerk if they had and ornament holders that were in black. Once I got my ornament finished, I thought it would be cute displayed in an ornament holder like they had..only I didn’t want gold. The clerk said to me–there is no such thing. They only come in gold and silver. They have been to market and there has never been any black.
She was a little dismissive. Whatever. I went home. I went on Amazon and ordered these….
It was $11.89 for six. One there was going to cost me $2.95…I guess they do make these in black as there were several other kinds to choose from. So the ornament holders are coming in the mail. Any chance I’ll have the ornament made before they get here?? I might try.
If you are interested in the ornament holders you can find them HERE.
All in all the quilt shop is pretty good considering it’s not really big. I’ve gone before and felt like things were a little “fresher” and displays were a little nicer. It was fun to shop though…and I do love the little snowman ornament I bought.
River Road quilt shop long-armed a DenimQuilt for me recently – they did an awesome job! I’ve always found them to be friendly and helpful.
A lot of online fabric stores have ‘mystery’ fat quarter bundles for purchase too. Have a lovely day!
I enjoyed your tour – thanks for the link to the Scandinavian Star tutorial. I have a 3 foot tree that will need a topper.
Love and prayers
Have you ever gone to Olive Juice Quilts? It’s just up the road a little more . Address is Onalaska but near the mall. They have so much! I know you’re staying out of quilt shops but I think you would like it! And if you’re looking for batons or maybe Kaffe you’ll find it!
I think I”d be painting some barn quilts on the outside of the shop. It looks cozy inside though. Thanks for the review.
I must admit the outside of the shop does look really bare considering they usually have so many wonderful items along the sidewalk. They must be planning for all the snow to come. I usually walk thru there gift shop and find it well done but I don’t buy much in that area. I love all the shop samples also and I think they do a great job of displaying there fabrics. I find the cutest minky and children’s fabrics when I shop. Hope you have better luck in Forest City with the batiks, thanks for the share on one of my favorite road trip stops
If it was me, I’d make multiple little snowmen, enough to fill all the ornament holders, and give one to each of the kids. You plus the five kids works out just perfectly. You might even start a new tradition. Who knows?
Thanks for the Topper video, so cute. Glad you had a break and could do a little shopping, your snowman will be cute. I was going to say that you could spray paint the gold ornament holder, but what you found on-line was even better.
Thanks for the tour of the quilt shop. Love the Snowman ornament but unable to read the pattern name. Could you post the name of the pattern as I would love to make these for office workers. Also, thanks for the heads-up on the black stands – I agree the black look the best. Thank you. Terry
I am also going to do the mystery quilt this time! I’m excited to be doing it along with you. This is only my second ever mystery quilt and my first with Bonnie Hunter. The name of this one and the color selections grabbed me so I couldn’t resist.
I’m luckily able to pull my fabrics from my scrappy stash and not having to buy a thing!! Yay me!!
Hugs,
Cute shop! Do you think you can get any info off the braided band pattern? I tried finding it on the net but I get just “braided” bands. I tried making the photo larger but that didn’t work. Thanks! pam
Looking to seeing your ornament finished was hard to see exactly what it looks like from the pattern