Contest, Shop Hopping & Madison Quilt Expo ~ Part One

My girlfriends and I have returned from our trip to the holy-land of quilting, where our favorite shops and the Madison Quilt Expo inspired us, and we are jazzed & ready to sew!  We were able to visit two of the four shops that are my all-time favorites.  (That doesn't mean that there aren't other truly wonderful shops in the area, but these just happen to be my favorites.)  They are, in no particular order: JJ Stitches - Sun Prairie, WI; The Country Sampler - Spring Green, WI; The Quilter's General Store - Rockford, IL, and The Quilt Merchant - Winfield, IL.  Rest assured, in future posts, I will talk about other top notch, inspiring shops in the Mid-West.  But for now, back to our shop hop!

First stop Friday morning was to J.J. Stitches.  JJ's, as we lovingly call it, is owned by Julie Hendricksen.  Many of you may know of Julie because she has published loads of her antique quilts in American Patchwork & Quilting magazine, and designs fabric for Windham.  These are but a few of her many talents!

This is the scene as you enter the shop!  Total eye candy, isn't it?  It's always like this, no matter when you go there.  Julie and the shop girls work hard to change the displays in the store frequently, keeping things fresh and inspiring.

All of the quilts that you see on the walls and those tucked here and there are available as kits!  Don't we all love kits!  Notice the fabric on the floor right in front of the white iron bed?

That's Julie's newest fabric collection for Windham, called Miniatures, a yummy collection of soft pinks, browns, neutrals, and a few fun reds!  It had just arrived a few days before.  That is one of the reasons I went to JJ's...to pick up yardage so that I can use it in a quilt I have designed for my club, The Prairie Women's Sewing Circle.  (I am now designing the projects for Journey 2.) 

You can visit J.J.Stitches for yourself at http://www.jjstitches.com/.  I will have even more J.J. Stitches goodies to share with you when I write a post about the Madison Expo in a few days, so... stay tuned.

The last stop on our shop hop was to The Country Sampler, owned by Jeanne Horton.  Like Julie, many of you may know Jeanne, not only for her fabulous store, and great quilt kits, but also for the lovely vintage fabric she designs for Windham as well.  Jeanne's latest line is called Simpler Tymes, and is a luscious collection of vintage style fabrics that I will be using for the club as well. 

I don't have photos of the inside of the shop because when I was there, Jeanne was at the Expo.  I asked permission to take photos, and the shop girls didn't feel comfortable saying yes unless the boss was there.  I totally respect that!  That's why I always ask.  But let it suffice to say that your trip to the shop will have you filled with inspiration by all you see there, and you'll shop an awesome collection of fabric!  The Country Sampler is well known for their wonderful quilts, all available as kits as well.


 You'll see a photo of Jeanne and the Country Sampler booth in a few days.  In the meantime, Jeanne has lots of pictures of the shop on her website, which is www.sgcountrysampler.com/. 

After a day of shop hopping, visiting, and laughing, we only had to walk a few feet to to arrive at the door of our overnight nest within the 2nd Story, a retreat space owned and run above The Country Sampler quilt shop!  Dinner, PJ's, and a favorite movie relaxed us for the evening in preparation for our day at the Quilt Expo.

I did think of you, dear friends, while at the Expo, and picked up this cute little needful pincushion made from an old Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.  So, for my very first contest, please leave a comment about your favorite quilt shop(s), giving the location of the city and state as well.  The contest will end on Friday night, and I will post the winner (doing the random number generation thingy) on Saturday.  In the next few days, I will post more about the Madison Quilt Expo, so stay tuned!