Another shop I visited before the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show was Blue Bar Quilts. This shop describes itself as a ‘welcoming modern quilting community’. The shop was much smaller and more crowded than Sew Much More, but this shop also had a lot of great items to buy.
The store had a lot of stuff. It was really hard to take it all in, which probably shocks you coming from me!
They used the space very well as every inch was full of fabric, notions, patterns, samples, etc. I had to make a couple of circuits around the store to see everything. Even still, I am sure I missed some things I would have found interesting.
I did notice that the shop had a good selection of Liberty fabrics as well as Tilda fabrics. There was also Tula fabrics and other modern designers.
I was impressed with the selection of bag patterns. Most of them had samples to go with them, which is what attracted me. I would have looked at the bag patterns anyway, but I saw what I thought was an Aneela Hoey pattern (check the top of the photo). It was!
There were actually a couple of different Aneela Hoey patterns, which was a first. I don’t think I have seen them in a shop before.
I think a lot of shops are adding other craft materials to their offerings. Blue Bar was no exception. It’s a good idea to draw in new customers. There was a whole section of wool felt, sashiko and other types of stitching at the end of the notions wall.
I was really drawn into the vibrancy of the colors of the wool felt. I want to add felt to the drawers of my Everything But the Machine bag. This was Bonnie‘s idea and I thought it was a great one that would keep my tools and supplies from rolling around. I was really tempted by the colors of wool felt at Blue Bar! I restrained myself, because I have bought wool felt from Pioneer Quilts in Portland and have not yet used it. I don’t know if I will make it back to Madison, but I can always order from them.
One product offering I was interested to see was patterns and rulers from Latifah Saafir. I can’t remember seeing her patterns and rulers in person recently.
She designs the Clammys and the one at the bottom was quite large. I think it was 16 inches or so. Admittedly, I didn’t crawl on the floor to measure. I am pretty sure it wasn’t the Giant Clammy. I was pleased to see they had given her products some space.
In general, the shop had a nice selection of rulers. Aside from the Clammys, the shop seemed to stock Creative Grids rulers.
Sew Much More had an excellent selection and I was impressed that this smaller shop had so many different rulers as well.
Yes, I did see my favorite 4.5 inch x 8.5 inch Creative Grids ruler**!
I am not left handed, but after seeing the joy on lefties when I talked to them about the left handed rulers SewTites makes, I am noticing more left handed rulers. This shop had a few from Creative Grids, which I thought was great.
The notions wall was well stocked. The shop had all sizes of the Karen Kay Buckley scissors**, which are favorites of mine because they are so sharp. There were other scissors as well plus different glues, Flatter and other fabric prep sprays.
The fabric underneath was different substrates as well as wide backs.
They had a variety of rotary cutters and machine quilting gloves.
Across from the notions was an endcap of patterns. They were all modern patterns. I saw some new Elizabeth Hartman patterns that I had never seen before. More animals as is her style.
Above the patterns you can see a sample of one block from one of the patterns, a shark, which might make a fun cushion cover.
I saw a couple of V&Co patterns as well as a number of patterns I have seen on IG. Definitely a ‘modern’ vibe.
There was a long hallway, which was filled with holiday fabric – all types: Halloween, Christmas, Hannukah and some others I don’t think registered. I saw some Ruby Star Halloween fabric, but got distracted by something so didn’t look at it all carefully. It was a weirdly shaped space and I think they used it well.
They also used the space for sale fabric, which was at the end. I also saw patterns and small samples on top of the fabric rack.
In the very back of the shop, at the end of the holiday fabrics hallway was the longarm room. It was possibly a classroom as well; I couldn’t tell.
I also couldn’t tell if they rented out the longarm or if they had someone who came into quilt customer quilts.
As you can see from the photo, this is also where they displayed their batting. I thought the selection was really nice.
The shop was worth a visit and I was glad to have a chance to sample Madison’s quilt shops.
Blue Bar Quilts
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hello@bluebarquilts.com |
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(608) 284-9299 |
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6333 University Avenue Middleton, Wisconsin 53562 |
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In-Store Shopping Hours: Mon, Wed, Fri 10 AM – 5 PM Tue, Thu 10 AM – 6 PM Saturday 10 AM – 4 PM Sunday Noon – 4 PM; Online ordering open 24/7 |
**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this website.