went to do serious shopping. Like many towns in America, the
downtown fell on hard times a number of years ago and most of
the stores that had been there for many years had to close.
Currently there is an effort being made to revitalize the downtown.
A new and vibrant quilt shop is helping to bring that about.
QUILTING IN THE VALLEY opened its doors this past December.
shop. Currently stocking around 2500 bolts of premium quilting
cottons plus patterns and notions, she also offers classes and longarm quilting. And as if that isn't enough to keep her hopping, in September the shop will add a Bernina sewing machine dealership.
Note the mandala style table topper designs by Laurie Tigner displayed on the wall behind Lisa. Intricately appliqued, the patterns are made easier using the raw edge technique. The autumn design really appealed to me.
To Lisa's right on the counter is a display of Quilt Dots magnets.
I purchased one of the necklace magnet bases and 3 of the magnetic "dots" featuring Judy Niemeyer quilt designs.
Cute apron pattern. Lisa
stocks lots of neat purse
and bag patterns also.
This novel hexagon patterned table runner
caught my eye. A local quilter designs
and teaches a new hexie pattern each month
at the shop.
Lots of rich batiks. Noting a
shortage of batiks in red and
yellow in other shops, Lisa
has a good supply on hand.
She also has a nice number of
them in lights which are often
overlooked in shops even
though every quilt needs its
lights, mediums, and darks!
I chatted with Lisa for a few minutes before she had to
start a buying session with a salesman. She had recently been
to market and was excited about new things she had seen and purchased for the shop there. New classes are constantly being added including Block of the Month quilts.
For now, here is Lisa's business card and a link to her Facebook
page: https://www.facebook.com/quiltinginthevalley
A website for the shop is in the works.
Take a short detour off of I-80 as you travel across Illinois
for a stop in LaSalle at
