My first stop of the the day was Yoder’s Department Store which opens at 8 am. Honestly, they have a TON of fabric, and every book, (including modern quilting books) imaginable. I love this place.
I had vowed to myself during this whole trip that I would only purchase items unique to the area. I love Moda fabric, but I can get that at home. So I began hunting for “local” goods.
First thing I ran into was this display of reproduction toweling. I could purchase by the yard and got myself a vintage-looking design. They had some very cute tablecloths in carriers that looked like handbags and I’d really like to use the toweling to make a handbag…add a little ricrac and I’m good to go! Also in the display was a special edition “Yoder’s 70th Anniversary” hand towel. While waiting in line to check out, another woman told me she was going to use hers to create a quilt around it. What a great idea!
Of course, I purchased a little bit of anything that had some local charm.
Do you collect Row by Row? Get your Shipshewana version at Yoder’s.
Next stop is the Davis Mercantile where you can find many stores, but I just had to see the famous Lolly’s Quilt Shop.
Lolly’s is another wonderful place with everything you could want or need — current fabric lines, reproductions, batiks galore, and plenty of solids, books, patterns. Found a wall of Kaffe Fassett florals, with an opposite wall of all his colorful stripes. Really the largest selection of Kaffe I’ve ever seen.
Lolly’s has a “sister” store downstairs at the mercantile, called Cuddle Corner.
Don’t miss it.
I was amazed at the wonderful things being done with minky!
Fresh textures, colors and patterns…all in minky! If you have a baby in your life, you need to stop here. You won’t believe how soft and cuddly this stuff is. If you’re like me, you’ll want one for your own home for winter snuggling.
Special tip from the gal at the counter: a stretch needle works best with minky. We have this discussion at work from time to time…what needle for minky? This gal says stretch is best and I believe her, but I will try for myself as soon as I sew up my quilt.
Around every corner in Shipshewana, you’ll find merchants that are selling hand-quilted quilts. Having done a bit of this, I fully understand the time, effort and work that goes into these kinds of handmade masterpieces.
In the next post, I’ll share a few Amish handmade quilts I was shown when an Amish woman showed me the quilts she sells for herself and for other Amish women from her home.
Hint: absolutely breathtaking.