I am going to be visiting my son next week!!! He lives 45 mins. west of Chicago. Does anyone know of some great shops in the area? (BTW, if they are heavy on civil war or 30 + 40's repos, I'll pass.) Thanks for your suggestions.

Try quilt fabric in Willowbrook or there is a quilt shop downtown Oswego--the only one but I cant come up with the name or A Touch of Amish in Barrington. All are stores that have been featured in magazines.

Here are a few
http://www.phfab.com/ - They have a very good variety of everything
http://www.quiltfabric.com/ Despite the name they are a brick and mortar store , they specialize in batiks( more than any other store I have been to) on the batiks they are priced cheaper than Pieceful hearts fabric. Quilt fabric .com just brought in about 80 bolts of Kaffee Fassett. So if it was me I would go to Quiltfabric.com first , then Pieceful hearts. They are fairly close together( by Chicago standards).

I hear Pieceful Heart is great from everyone...I just never make it there.

There is a wonderful quilt store in Fox River Grove Il on Rt 14. It is called Pieceful Gathering Quilt Shop. What a great place. I go there when I am back in Il. The girls are very helpful and nice. They also have a web site. www.piecefulgathering.com. You will love this shop.

I forgot. Also in Crystal Lake there is a really nice quilt store downtown. It has been open a little over a year and they have nice stuff.

Thank you ladies,ever so much. Lori, love the picture of your "baby"!

The Quilt Merchant, Wheaton
Prairie Shop Quilts, Batvia

Prairie Stitches Quilt Shoppe in Oswego

Thimbles in Lockport. (My favorite!)

Roberts Sewing Center in Crest Hill. (Huge)

Judy's Quilt n'Sew in Hampshire

Quilt in Joy in Huntley

The Quilt Basket in Downers Grove

Tammy Tad Designs in Sycamore

Prairie Shop Quilts in Batavia has a longarm that you can rent for $20 an hour after taking a class.

My very favorite quilt store is Thimbles. My taste must run very similar to the owner of this store. I love their items.

Elise

Wow, sounds like you've covered it. Thank you so much.