My husband and I are a bit more than half-way done with completing the entire state on the Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop and we are still smiling and talking to each other. We’ve endured construction and experienced some detours. At one point, my husband had to refer to the map and said, “It’s a little longer. but it’ll get us there. We will survive.” I’m not sure who he was reassuring—me or himself.

 

If you need to catch up with my travels on the Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop, just click on each title to go to each post. Each day and each shop I feature is so unique, that you won’t want to miss any.

Tu-Na Travels: “All My Bags Are Packed, I’m Ready to Go” to Quilty Destinations Ahead

Tu-Na Travels: Day One: 635 Miles, 8 Shops, Blew the Budget Already

Tu-Na Travels: Day Two on the MN Quilt Shop Hop: 507 Miles, 10 Shops, Made a New Budget

Tu-Na Travels: Day Three on the MN Quilt Shop Hop: 152 Miles, 5 Stores, Forget the Budget

Tu-Na Travels: Day Four on the MN Quilt Shop Hop: 258 Miles, 8 Shops, Car is Filling Up

 

We finished up the Metro area today and are heading north. This section incentive is a drawing for lots of prizes including a sewing machine. I’ll let you know if one of us is lucky and gets a new machine. I’ll need another one in order to sew up all the new fabric I’ve been buying.

 My top shop on the hop for today is Quarry Quilts & Yarns in Sandstone, MN. The shop is in its third year of business and its second year on the shop hop. They have 9 part-time employees. Click here to view their website for more info and pics.

 

Have you ever felt that sometimes things are just meant to be? According to Toni, the owner of Quarry Quilts & Yarns, this shop was meant to be here at this particular address. Toni started making quilts just prior to 1980. She wanted to sell her quilts and opened an on-line shop on Etsy but she needed a name. She chose the name Quarry Quilts because the town of Sandstone is known for its quarries. The stone has been sent and used all over the country including buildings in Washington DC.

After a short time, she wanted to start a brick and mortar store in town. When this building came up for sale and she saw the name of the street, the decision was made. Serendipitous for sure, Quarry Quilts should be located on Quarry Place.

 

 Toni’s advice for beginning quilters is to “take a beginning quilting class and learn about seam allowances and pressing.” She also states that beginner quilters need to know what good fabric is and where to buy it.

Toni’s advice for anyone interested in setting up an on-line store or a brick and mortar store is to do a lot of research first: know what futures are, the type of fabrics the quilters in the area want, suppliers and companies you will be ordering from, and most importantly  where to locate your store. Toni says, “You can’t stock just what you want. You need a variety.” She emphasizes that you need to have good customer service, lots of samples on the walls, and most importantly, “It’s location, location, location.”

 

Toni also has an Innova longarm quilting machine which she uses to quilt for others. She boasts a one-week or less turn-around time. So if you need quilting done quickly, check with Toni and tell her that Tu-Na sent you.

 

 

We spent the night at a small, but very clean, motel in Barnum and ate at The Lazy Bear.

 

 

 

What I Learned Today:

1. Taking the longer way will be OK.
2. Good internet connections are invaluable.
3. Poor internet connections make this modern life difficult.
4. Don’t apologize for my mistakes in my quilts. (Learned this while listening to American Patchwork and Quilting’s podcast today.)

 

Question: Do you point out your quilting mistakes or apologize for them?

Linking with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts. (Button on the sidebar)

and Leanne at She Can Quilt for Scraptastic Tuesday (Button on the sidebar)

and Connie at Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday.