A Visit to The Quilter's Dream.........

So, dear blogging friends, this is the first of several posts of "things I did on my summer vacation". And if you are a quilter, you might really like this post. If you live in Minnesota, you may even know about this shop. You may live near it and have been there many times. I cannot tell a lie...........I live near it and had never been there but a couple weeks ago, on a very pretty summer day, I took a little drive over to Montgomery, Minnesota to visit this shop called.........."The Quilter's Dream" owned by Michelle McCready. If you go to the shop website...click here ......you can see the exterior. When you step inside, one of the first things you notice is that wonderful old ceiling.........

and then everywhere you turn after that, there is so much to see..........

I really love that pink stripe on the bolt....and even more.........

I wish I had the cupboard in the photo above.

And I was delighted to find a basket full of woolfelt.......

all these potholders........aren't those owl ones just too cute?

Look at this great display of purses and totebags!

And then I saw these black and white fabrics and would have bought some but I decided to come back for some of these. I need some for a retreat but it won't be for several months so I decided to keep looking......

 This is a great "Welcome Home Soldier" quilt............

 Oh, and I thought of one of my blog readers, The Owl Lady, when I saw this quilt........

I meant to buy some of that sunflower fabric on the lower left and forgot to get it. I see another trip to the shop really soon.......

When I saw all these cute little clothes for kids, I wished I had another grandchild to make some for as my grandson is 12 now. Then I thought of my nieces. Hmmm.......Christmas gift, maybe?

One of the most interesting "non-quilty" items in the shop is the original bank safe........

Some of you may know that the James and Younger brothers tried to rob the bank over in Northfield, Minnesota. If the safe there, looked as formidable as this one, I am not sure why they bothered. Note that it has an "anti-dynamite device". Sounds dangerous to me!

And then...........the "Pièce de résistance "........

a long-arm quilting machine...........

It was that machine (an APQS long arm machine) that drew me to the shop. And that's because back in June when I went for my dental check-up, my hygenist, Dana, told me she had taken a class to learn long-arm quilting at the shop in Montgomery. Oh, did my ear's perk up when I heard that because a little over a year ago, I got to use an APQS Millennium at Heidi Kaisand's retreat and I loved it. I want one but it's out of the question. But taking a class and renting time to use the machine...........That I can do. And so, when I get through the next month with some doctor visits with my mom, I will get scheduled to take a class and I can hardly wait to finish a bunch of quilt tops that are just waiting to "grow up" to be real quilts!!!

Okay, so that's about it for a tour of "The Quilter's Dream" but here's one last quilt that really caught my eye..........

and then I did buy just a wee bit of fabric so I had to stop at the check-out counter..........

and pay for these items..........

The red and green stripes are for a Christmas candlemat and those 30's prints are just to add to my 30's stash. I had been looking for some patriotic buttons for a crazy quilt blog and because I knocked a few items off a display with my purse.........well, I found just the buttons I was looking for. Note to self.......be more careful with large purse. :-)

Then, because it was such a beautiful summer day, I meandered across country and drove through Heidelberg. Many years ago, we visited the city of Heidelberg, Germany and I always wondered if this little town was settled by people from that area of Germany. THe church is St. Scholastica Catholic Church and I believe it is an active church.

From Heidelberg, I headed north toward a church in Union Hill but passed this one (below) on my way there. It is Freidens Evangelical Lutheran and I did a double-take as I came upon it. It looks very much like a church that we saw in England. My husband had a business trip and we stayed at motel that was near a large church. They were having a pork chop dinner and so we stopped and enjoyed the meal with lots of locals. I just couldn't get over how much it resembled that church in England.

And just a few miles later..........here is the church at Union Hill (this is west of New Praque, MN). This is St. John's Church and I believe that it is no longer an active congregation. If you are local and are reading this, please let me know. This church is so beautiful in the sunlight but the photo simply does not do it justice.

After meandering my way home, I was thinking that I may take more trips about the countryside and find country churches. Many of them are closing due to declining membership. Yes, I think I will have to take some mini-road trips. And maybe, I'll find a quilt shop or antique shop to visit. I think this might be a new feature on my blog.........."Out and About in .........."  Coming soon!!!!
Hope you enjoyed your visit to "The Quilter's Dream" and the jaunt through the countryside! Have a great day!
Sandi