Trip to Montana part 2

Day 2, hitting up the quilt shops around Kalispell, MT with Aunt Carolyn:

 

First off, I have to mention that we stopped in at A-1 Vacuum & Sewing and WOW.  My aunt didn't hardly make it through the door and she had already bought a new-to-her sewing machine!  She got a New Royal treadle, cabinet and machine.  They are going to get it running for her and she'll grab it later (she lives in Butte, MT and visits Kalispell all the time).  That place has the most amazing selection of vintage sewing machines, and a great selection of fabric (and vacuums, if you're into that sort of thing LOL).

 

And then...

 

I'm a sucker for Lone Star's, they may be my favorite pattern.

 

You may have an idea of how VERY HARD it was not to purchase one of these boxes of Aurifil...

 

North of Flathead Lake

We got to visit the Quiltworx warehouse!  We met Jen, the official pattern tester from Alaska, and she was awesome enough to show us around.  Getting to see the behind the scenes is really neat!  We saw Judy's newest line of fabric, and the training center for people to become Certified Instructors, and sooo many amazing quilts!  Visitors are allowed to purchase patterns while you're there, and I found one for a table runner that I really love. And so I picked up my first Judy Niemeyer pattern, Winter Wonderlands Table Runner.  Now someone is going to have to teach me how to make it happen.  Oh!  I just came across their YouTube channel and they explains how to read the papers, thank goodness!

 

Bigfork, MT-Bigfork Quilts, Etc

This shop is so sweet, I really enjoyed Sandi's collection of fabric.  And we learned a great new technique for paper piecing involving interfacing instead of paper!  You don't have to remove the interfacing when you're done.  What a cool idea!  Also, I need to remember to order some of that gorgeous Hawaiian fabric I found so I can make myself a shirt.

 

Whitefish, MT-Quilt Kits to Go

I love how this shop has their items displayed.  My vote for most creative displays of the weekend.  They are a very new shop so don't have a website just yet, but I'll try to remember to link to it whenever they get it running.  I found some amazing Fall themed fabric while I was here.  So did Aunt Carolyn.  She got a yard of each, I got 2 fat quarters total :) but my collection grows steadily!

 

Whitefish, MT-Whitefish Quilt & Gifts

This shop is right in the heart of the downtown tourism trap.  They were very busy, so we didn't stay too long, but I did find some neat fabrics that could be used in the MT themed rows with animals at the side of the river.  And the above photographed quilt, I think it's amazing.  I might remove the flying geese and add more stars if I ever make it, but that's me.  Not a huge fan of geese.

 

Kalispell, MT-Glacier Quilts

I didn't remember to take a photo of the outside, sorry :)  And it would be overwhelming to show you photos of the entire store, this place is HUGE.  I've found I get confused because both times I've gone in I go in blind, as in I have no goals or specific projects that I'm looking for fabric for.  The first time I visited we were there for over 2 hours, and I still think I only bought half a yard of neon cats or something.  It was so much to take in!  But the ladies are really nice, and my goal for next year is to have a project I want to supplement.

 

Kalispell, MT-Quilt Gallery

This shop used to be where Judy Niemeyer worked, and they have a ton of examples of her work around the store.  My favorite part is the ladies room, the owner is obsessed with Halloween fabric (rightly so!) and this cracks me up!  They have a great classroom in the back too, the walls are lined with quilts and it's so happy.

 

I'll have another post of Montana, with one more quilt shop stop on our way back and the project I started while at my grandma's house in Kalispell.

 

Thank you for stopping by!

~Brandy