The Hen House Primitive Quilt and Craft Supplies

It's finals week.  But it's still busy!

Yesterday, I did not get a blog post in, becasue I went to Lansing for the day and taught a workshop at our state autism conference.  I think it went okay.

On the way home, I was thirsty.  I decided to pull off the freeway at a McDonald's to get a Diet Coke.  (Don't you love McDonald's all-sizes-of-sodas-are-$1 deal?!  I do.)  As I was pulling into the town at which I exited the freeway, I saw a sign that said I was in the town of Charlotte, MI.

"Oh, my gosh!" I thought.  "I have always wanted to come to Charlotte, because there is a quilt store here all my primitive friends rave about!  I wonder if I have time to sneak in a quick trip?"  I looked at my clock.  It was only 4:15 pm.  "I can do it," I thought.  I figured I could make a stop and still be home around 6:00 or 6:15 pm.

So, I got out my smart phone, googled the address, plugged it into my GPS, and off I went, Diet Coke in hand!  I was only 5 min away!  Woo Hoo!

The shop is called The Hen House, and you may have noticed it was recently featured in the Quilt Sampler as a destination quilt shop.

I drove down one if the main streets in town and was rewarded by this sight!  And tons of on-street parking available right in front of the shop.  I love that!

Here is a closer look at the window display.  I was so happy.  Nothing tops off a long day of work (I was so tired from just having done a 3-hour presentation for about 160 people!) than enjoying a little fabric and quilting.

The window display also promised some nice English paper piecing projects inside!  (You can see it was actually sunny here yesterday, too!  It was a beautiful day.  When I stopped in the shop, it was 64 degrees and sunny.  I really needed that.  Back to clouds and rain today, though.)

When you enter the shop, you are greeted by displays of antiques and wool work projects.  There is a beautiful wool wall, with all sorts of wonderful wools.  Also, there is a nice selection of Valdani threads and other things you might need for your wool work.

There is also a nice selection of Civil War fabrics.  If you love Jo Morton, working small,  "dark and dirty" fabrics, and the primitive style, this shop is for you.  It is full of inspiration and fun stuff.

I always joke that I'm a "bipolar quilter."  Someday I'll do a blog post on that.  I like the bright moderns, but I also love the Civil War style.  And though I haven't dared to try it yet, I really, really love the miniature quilts.  This shop is so full of eye candy and inspiration for projects.  Look at this display of miniature quilts.  I think the patterns are Jo Morton, if I'm not mistaken.  I think they are just wonderful.

The owner, Nancy, was there and we struck up a conversation.  She was working on a gorgeous English paper piecing project, and I complimented her on it.  The pieces she was working with were pretty small.  She said, "If you think this is small, you should see what Elise is working on.  It's tiny."  I saw this project over on the table and asked if that was it.  Oh, my goodness!  Isn't it amazing?!  Maybe you can get a sense of the scale of this project as you see it's laying on an open magazine.

Here, I pulled a penny out of my purse and laid it on the project so you could get a better sense of scale.  This is absolutely wonderful!  How fun would this project be?!

I could have stayed in this shop for hours just poking around.  There were so many neat antiques, finished quilts, and little stuff to play with.  There were English paper piecing projects, velvets, fun threads, notions, wool, fabric, punchneedle projects, wool rug projects, etc.  The store is small, but it's one of those shops that just has the most interesting stuff everywhere you turn and the nicest people working there.  I had fun talking to Nancy and Elise.  What a pleasure to just hang out with them.

While I was there, I reminded Nancy that I had seen her at a trunk show in Battle Creek once.  I told her how I really wanted to learn to hook wool rugs ('cause you all know I need another hobby and more stuff to do!).  I have had a hard time being able to come to one of her classes when they are offered, due to my schedule.  Nancy said I could call her and just come up for a day, and she'd teach me.  So, I picked up this small wool rug project and am going to make an appointment with her sometime in the next few weeks (now that school is out and Sweet Pea is still in school for a while) to learn.  I am really excited.  How nice is that of her to let me come and learn from her on her time?

This is a wonderful shop.  I highly recommend it if you are in the area.  If you like brights and modern, you won't find it here.  Come here if you are looking for the primitive style, Jo Morton style, wool work, and miniature quilts.  You'll find a ton of fun stuff to capture your attention.  And you can't imagine a nicer shop owner and staff.

I felt bad after I left, because I realized I didn't even make it into the back room, which I think is the classroom.  I was on The Hen House Facebook page this morning and saw photos of the back room.  It even had basket weaving materials in it.  There were Facebook posts of the "Crankers" group--a group that does all their sewing on hand crank sewing machines.  (Wouldn't I love to have one of those machines?!)  I believe Nancy has lots of different sewing groups you can get involved in.  Check out their Facebook page for lots of fun photos.

EDIT:  I went back to the shop for a rug hooking lesson and blogged lots of photos of the classroom here if you are interested!

You can shop on-line at The Hen House website.  In addition, there is also a gallery of projects, a class list, etc. on the website.

Sue, if you haven't been to this shop before, you would love it. 

Everytime I think I'm kind of "over" the primitive stuff, I realize I'm not really.  This shop could so easily suck me back in!  I'll keep you posted on my wool rug working!

Hope you enjoyed the review.  I tell you, it just made my day to add a little fabric love to it, especially because I got absolutely NO sewing done this weekend.  I spent a better part of Sunday in my office, preparing for my presentation.  So, it was nice to sneak in a little fiber and fabric inspiration.  Thank you Nancy and Elise for being the highlight of my day!

Until next time,

Comments

[cindy]

OK...I swear we live parallel lives. We have a primitive quilt shop in our area called The Little Red Hen. I think we are soul sisters!!

[Lynn]

What a cute shop! So nice that she will do a class just for you. That is how you know you have found a GOOD quilt store.

Wow! Those hexies are tiny!!!

I'm a bipolar quilter too. I love both modern and traditional. I don't think there is anything wrong with that.

[Elise Banks]

Wow! What a fantastic post! Thanks for sharing it. Nancy thinks it is wonderful and so do I! And thanks for sharing our shop...and my hexies :D

[Maureen]

The Hen House is neat. I have stopped there on the way back from Lansing, also. I agree, the staff is always super nice!

Looking at all their ideas in the store has always pulled me to try wool work...one of these days I will!

[Donna]

What a wonderful quilt shop! The paper piecing project is gorgeous.
You sound like me with the iphone, GPS and Diet Coke :) And I must be a bipolar quilter too!
Hugs,
Donna

[Account Deleted]

What a great find! You seem like kindred spirits. You may like my post on teaching children to sew:
http://www.thelostapron.com/2013/04/summer-sewing-camp.html

[Linda in Calif.]

What a lovely shop - and I so appreciate your post about it. I'll check out the website later. I didn't think I would EVER like the darks of CW quilts but somehow they have sneaked in and I like them now. I would love to do the penny quilt - so cute and so tiny. I used to do rug hooking, I'm sure your cardinal will be fun.

[Shelly]

There's nothing wrong with being a bipolar quilter -- I think I'm a decapolar quilter! I like everything and want to try it all. What a neat shop! Thanks for the tour.

[Linda]

Love that place!!! I'm so glad you made it there!!!!

[Deb]

Sounds like you had a really great time...and so close to find it so quickly! I have to admit that the dark colors wouldn't have floated my boat..I'm just a bright modern colors kind of quilter. But the small pieced quilt you pictured is amazing!

Hope you'll enjoy your free time after school ends for the summer. I bet you have your list of "Wanna-Dos" all made up! :)

[Amy DeCesare]

What a great shop, and thanks for this cool post with pictures of all the vignettes! I wish I could pop in myself. I'm actually more like Sybil with my quilting tastes...I have about 27 distinct personalities.

[Sherri]

What a wonderful post about a great shop...has me wanting to shop there!

[Sue]

I am so glad you've done a post about this magnificent shop! My daughter said when I took her there that she could have taken her shoes off and stayed all day...it is that homey. You took some great pictures!!

[carolld]

Glad you got to go there. I love visiting other shops. I bet you had a great time. I enjoyed seeing all the pictures because it's been a while since I've been there.

[Deb]

What a great shop. I'm glad I don't live close to it :-). It's great that it also has basket weaving supplies! Many, many years ago I did basket weaving and still have several of my baskets sitting around the house.

[Patsy Booher]

The Hen House is the most wonderful shop, I agree!

As I am now living in New Hampshire, I don't get to visit with Nancy anymore and I really miss the shop and her.

A really nice review of her shop.

[Onnie O'Meara]

Love this wonderful shop and Nancy and the gals are great!!! Onnie

[Carolyn]

I went there last year and plan to go back this year on my way to AQS show. Nancy is fabulous and the feeling in the shop is wonderful. She has all those hard to find fabs and notions that no one else carries anymore. Probably a good thing she is so far away...
Carolyn in OR

[Nydia]

You will also choose the most appropriate fabrics and safest designs. You should provide your child with the right books or arts and crafts instructions that will help him or her get started with new projects. An epitome of such art can also be seen in the pilgrimage places of India.