ghostrider

There are a quite a few wonderful shops that I would consider “local”, but three really stand out.

The first is Quilted Threads in Henniker, NH. http://wwwquiltedthreads.com Gollytwo mentioned this shop briefly, but I’d like to add some comments. Becky Weber, the owner, believes in community building and making opportunities for people to share their talents and interests. She comes up with all sorts of innovative events with that goal in mind. Every two years she holds a Longarm Quilters Fair where the longarmers set up tables with brochures, samples, contact info, all that sort of thing. You can go from table to table asking questions, looking at the quilters work, seeing sample patterns, and getting a feel for which quilter you’d like to maybe work with.

She also recently had a two hour lecture called “We are Not the Quilt Police” by a certified quilt show judge. It was all about what judges look for, how to improve your work to better please them, and all sorts of great tips. The house was packed! The staff is great and their selection of batiks is totally awesome!! The store was recently remodeled and has almost doubled in size. Becky will be displaying my 2009 Hoffman Challenge quilt after it returns home later this year.

The second shop is The Quilting Corner in Tilton, NH. http://www.quiltingcornernh.com Irene Haley is the owner. This shop is only a few years old, but has lots of events and classes, trunk shows and shop hops. The shop is fairly small, but very friendly and eager to make you happy. Irene’s taste in fabrics is very similar to mine (small prints, calm colors, colonial tones, and cool colored batiks), so I always find a lot of treasures there. She lives in the same tiny town as me.

The third local shop deserving of gold stars is, of course, Keepsake Quilting in Center Harbor, NH. http://www.keepsakequilting.com Whether you deal with them in person or online, there is nothing they wouldn’t do to make sure you have a good experience. They actually have a No Quibble return policy where you can get a credit or a refund on any item for any reason at any time. That simply cannot be beat! Unable to find a specific fabric I wanted one day, four clerks helped me look for 20 minutes until they found it. They are all quilters and they truly love what they do. It shows and I always leave there smiling.

Pineapple Princess

Mulqueens
Sally's fabrics Both in Mesa, AZ

Great service and so helpful!

NHSOMND

Gollytwo and ghostrider have excellent choices for NH quilt shops.

Quilted Threads, Henniker, NH
Becky Weber, the owner has a warm, friendly and knowledgable staff along with a beautiful store. Excellent selection of fabrics, patterns, products. Great online presence also, (online store front in progress). An amazing variety of workshops, classes and events for all level of quilters and quilt lovers.

The Country Heart Quilters, Plymouth, NH
Loretta Bothelo, a sweet lady and store owner has a great although small store and she's managed to not make the store look "stuffed". Wonderful selection of country/folk fabrics, patterns, notions/products. Offers a variety of classes with a nice classroom area. She's looking to relocate within the Plymouth area to offer more fabric/products and a larger class space, wish her luck when she finds a new home!

Some others to visit:
The Quilting Corner, Tilton, NH
Pine Tree Quilt Shop, Salem, NH
The Quilted Frog, Weirs Beach, NH
Keepsake Quilting, Center Harbor, NH

elizabeth

Ready to Sew Bernina is located in Cedar Park, Texas. (512-260-4100) The owner is Ronna Hammel and the technician is her husband, Mike. This shop doesn't get only a gold star, but a "Titanium" star. Ronna knows everyone by name and makes her store feel more like a home with a very well stocked sewing room than a retail business. She knows what classes to offer, takes suggestions for classes, finds qualified teachers, provides a great learning area, has samples of all the classes offered for that quarter, has complete supply lists with no last minute surprises and helps with fabric selection. Not only can she offer quality classes, but she can teach all of them, too! I have taken Bernina Guide classes from her. She knows her Bernina information forwards and backwards and can convey that knowledge to anyone. Ronna is a natural teacher and teaches to the individual, not to the class as a whole. I bought my 730 and my new 830 from her and all the "stuff" she knows about the machines!!!!!! Well, let's just say "Ronna knows her stuff"

janceejan

Betty's Bobbin Box, Odessa TX........really makes you feel like you are at home :thumbup:

lovequilts

Keepsake Cottage Quilts in Bothell, WA (15 minutes from Seattle) is my local and favorite quilt store. I have been taking classes there for about the past 3 years twice a month. AND many additional trip. Julie is the owner and so great. Joyce is our teacher. We just finish Moda U and they give us gifts at our end of the year "brunch". Next month we're having a Pillow Thon day and just sewing pillow cases for charity all day. If your ever in the area stop by.

Holice

One of the quilt shops near by made the list of 1000 places to visit in Massachusetts (along with the Kennedy Library and other historical places)

PuffinGin

Creations Quilt Shop in Duluth, Minnesota is my very favorite LQS. The owner, Pam, is marvelous and generous with her help when I need it. I often have trouble picking just the fabrics I want for a project and like to go in and look and look. She and others who work there ask if I need help and will if I say yes but just let me on my own if I decline. Even then someone will check back with me periodically to see what how I'm doing. I once went in with a focus fabric (owls) and bunch of fabrics I had in my stash, thinking I needed a couple others for a table runner for my sister. After looking (and looking) and getting more confused , I finally asked for help, Pam looked at all of what I had already and said I really didn't need any more fabrics and suggested how the ones I had would work. I only bought a backing fabric.

tolepainter54

Cottage Quilts in Fresno, CA. Everyone in the shop has always been helpful and encouraging. The owners Carolyn and David McCray have done an excellent job in selecting their employees. I am always greeted and then left alone to look.

ghostrider

Care to share the name and details with us? I might combine a visit with my next trip to Brimfield.