Maybe it is more expensive in Alaska, but you never pay any kind of tax on purchased items. i found some very reasonably priced Bali Pops in The Quilted Raven in Anchorage.

the russian tailor and the quilted raven are great stores for alaskan batiks. every shoppe in every town has fantastic fabric for really reasonable prices. i thought they would be much more expensive, but a lot of the batiks are dyed right there and there's no tax, so the prices really shake out. i loved the dancing russian children batiks the best.

i ended up shipping my fabric home because we didn't want to buy another suitcase and pay the extra for that. we also shipped home winter clothes because it was 80* in april.

if you really want to SEE Alaska..skip the cruise..all you see are the shops owned by Columbian drug lords, run by high schoolers and retirees who just want to make a few dollars during the summer...AK is nothing like those port towns...

fly into Anchorage and take the ferry to outer islands, or the train up to Denali...SEE Alaska the way it was meant to be seen...Naturally...

It's funny that you mentioned this place. I was in Alaska on a caravan last year, and bought batiks, and flannel. I got some at a little quilt retreat place near Kenai. I made the quilt up last month and want to use the flannel for the back too. I didn't buy enough to use on the back. I searched all over the web for days. Finally, found it at that great shop in Skagway on Third Street.

For Christmas my daughter gave me the Glaciers quilt kit that she bought in Skagway. I have just finished it and it is at the LA quilter. It was very tedious because every part had to be labeled and kept in order and in some places the pattern contradicted itself. When I get it back I have to embellish it with the crystals that make it sparkle like a glacier. The fabric was a line from McKenna Ryan and it is beautiful.

ckcowl, I'm with you. Here (right off the Saginaw Bay) in my part of Michigan, our LQS generally runs full yards at anywhere from $6.50 - $9.95/yd. I'm always looking at the sale tables if I want more than a half yard of anything, especially since I've become unemployed. Michigan is definitely NOT the place to accommodate those kinds of price points. When I figured the full-yard price, I shook my head and decided not to torture myself by even going to the website. But it sure is nice to know I'm not the only one who goes on a trip and searches out a quilt shop! I usually buy something while I'm there just to put it into a piece and then I can always remember the trip I was on when I bought it!

I wonder if this is the same shop I was in? I bought some fat quarters of animals. I still haven't got up enough nerve to cut it up. We also went to where they make batik fabric. It started at $68.00 a yard. I am not fond of batik's so it didn't temp me very much.

Nice fabrics~

Wow! That is so cool. I would so enjoy such a cruise!

Thank you for sharing that. I lived in Alaska in the 60's and 70's when my dad built most of the roads there. I remember Skagway very fondly, from the can can shows to the Golden North Hotel (went to the back door, the cook shared!) and the bakery. It was beautiful there, the trails to upper and lower lake were bear filled and memorable. THanks again!