5 reasons to visit your local quilt shop today…

In case you didn’t already know it, today is ‘Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day!’ When Sarah texted me about it this morning I needed no further prompting, I simply thought when and where?  So we loaded our two preschoolers in a minivan and drove down the road to The Quilt Place in Rockledge, Florida. With all the fun fresh in my mind, here are 5 reasons why you should head out to your local quilt shop too.

1. Inspiration! Check out those beautiful quilts on display. They probably have all the patterns available too.

2. Advice. Sarah wasn’t sure what kind of a border to put on her herringbone quilt (for our sewalong) and the sweet associate gave her lots of good advice. Bet you can’t wait to see it. 🙂

3. Find new favorites. I’m embarrassed to say that I had never heard of Philip Jacobs before today, but it seemed like every other bolt I was drawn to had his name on it. Gotta learn more about him..

4. Bring your quilt to be professionally quilted. Or at least come to watch. It is mesmerizing.

5. To buy beautiful fabric! Well, duh you say. But I love visiting quilt shops because they carry the best of the best. And all of these beautiful fabrics were in their bargain nook. Can you spot the Joel Dewberry and Amy Butler?

And, of course, when you support your local quilt shop you are keeping this lovely art form alive in your community. The big brand fabric stores are happy to sell you cheap fabric and lots of it, but your local quilt shops will bring out the artist in you. Get to know them!