Quilt Retreat at The Shack 2012 #3: The New Ewe Quilt Shop

This will be my last post about our recent quilt retreat. You can see my first post here, and my second post here, if you missed them.

One day during our retreat, Sandy, Lori, and I deicded to go visit the quilt shop in the town right next to where our retreat was. So, we went to The New Ewe Knitting and Quilt Shoppe in Newaygo, MI.

We loaded up in Sandy's car, and I just had to laugh at her air freshener. Sandy is my kind of woman. (In case you can't read it, the air freshener says "Cat Butt.")

We pulled up to the shop, and I knew I was going to have a great time. You could just tell from the outside of the building and the quaint little downtown area of Newaygo that we were in for some fun!

Half of the shop is fabric and notions. The other half is yarn. Here is the view when you wal into the fabric side. I love the old tin celining, the lighting fixtures, and the beautiful wood floors.

And here is the view in the other direction. You can see there's also a ton of natural light in here with all the large windows. How about that awesome fountain, too? Very relaxing!

Lots of cute shop samples everywhere you turned.

Even care is added to make the restroom area beautiful! I love little touches like this.

The windows all had a little display area in them. I enjoyed looking at their window displays, as each was done up very nicely!

You know I enjoyed seeing this!

Even the notions and books were displayed amongst other cute stuff. It really made the shopping enjoyable!

I moved over to the yarn side. Notice the spinning wheel in the window, and a small table for looking at books and patterns. This is also a place where small knitting groups gather. I have been purposefully staying out of yarn shops. But I couldn't resist this one!

They had such a nice selection of very pretty and unique yarns. Very interesting patterns and samples, too! Mom, if you are reading this, you would have really enjoyed this shop. The gals were so nice and helpful in selecting yarns and patterns. Very knowledgable!

Here you can see how far back the shop goes. Through those arches on the right is the quilting side.

This photo came out kind of dark, but I wanted to show you the nice fireplace, couch, and chair. I could some and sit here to knit for quite some time!

There was freshly brewed coffee that smelled SOOOOO good. I'm not a coffee drinker, but it smelled so good, I wish I was! As I said, the gals in the shop were so very nice and helpful. And they offered us coffee as soon as we waled in the door!

I loved this gift basket. Three balls of cotton yarn, some Yardley soap, and two different patterns for cotton washcloths. Very clever and oh, so cute! I wanted it so bad. If you need to get me a birthday present or something, this would be a great choice! Hee hee.

Here is their classroom space. It's gorgeous, isn't it? The gals told us that anytime they are open and don't have a class going on, you can make an appointment to bring all your friends in and use their space for a sew in. NO CHARGE! How nice is that?! If you come in when the store is closed, the cost is $20 per hour, so they can pay their staff to keep it open for you. I thought this was fantastic.

We had a great time in this shop. It's a great place, and I will definitely go back. All three of us spend way too much money in here! You have to stop in if you are in the area!

Upon the recommendation of my friend, Cheryl W., we went across the street afterward to have lunch at the River Stop Cafe. This used to be a bank, in it's day. (Are you noticing a trend? My quilt shop visits always seem to involve a lunch stop afterward! LOL!)

How do you like the cute mural on the side of the building? I am really infatuated with murals and graffiti on the sides of buildings.

Here was the view when we walked in. My first impression was, "We're going to love this place." You'll notice it was empty. By the time we finished our lunch, this place was PACKED! Not a single table open! We beat the lunch rush.

Check out this kids play room...inside the old bank vault!

These were today's specials! I had the Turkey Cranberry Panini. It was wonderful!

There were a couple of antique stores on the street, too. I talked the girls into stopping in this one. It wasn't very hard! (You can see The New Ewe just to the left in this photo.)

Their front window displays were so cute. How about this bright green play set!

Or this pretty aqua green set of furniture. Obviously someone had fixed up these cute vintage finds.

I found a couple of interesting quilts/quilt tops. Here was one. I liked this. it was fairly stained, and they wanted $45 for it. I decided to leave it, but I took photos.

Some of the vintage fabrics were just awesome.

Sometimes I regret leaving this there.

This was a completed quilt that was also pretty. See the colored hand quilting?

Here is a close up shot.

It also had these pretty crocheted "doilies" on it. I liked this little quilt.

The only things that came home with me from this shop were some vintage books for my cowboy room. A Zane Gray book, and a couple of Roy Rogers books. I'll have to show them to you later, as I don't have the photos downloaded yet.

Time to head back to The Shack and get some sewing done! This was parked next to us when we returned to our car. I didn't realize there were Amish up in this area, but I guess there are. The woman who owned this cart came back while we were loading up to get in the car. We talked to her briefly.

We had a wonderful time shopping and at the retreat. What a great weekend. I'm ready to go back now!

If you are in the area, stop in to this fun town and visit these shops. Give yourself some time, though. You're going to want to stay a while!

That was the end of my weekend with friends, and this marks the end of my spring break. It's back to the fast pace tomorrow. :-(

Until next time,

Mama Pea

Comments

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So many great things to look at - I love the 'feel' of this store! I think I'd be spending a lot of time visiting there if it were close by. I know your week went by too fast but summer is coming . . .

Posted by: Deb | March 11, 2012 at 04:28 PM

I agree with Deb - so many great things and places to look at. I love the style of that old bank bldg and all things Victorian also. One area you and I differ is in the little knick-knacky displays - you see cutesy and I see clutter!I like that $45 quilt - too bad it was so stained.

Posted by: sisLH | March 12, 2012 at 12:03 AM