One cold winter day in Plattsmouth, Neb. January 2008

Here in Nebraska, we are so fortunate to have wonderful quilt shops practically in our own backyard, or at the most, a short drive away. Terri, Mary, Claudia and I decided to have a quilter's day out despite occasional light snow and temperatures hovering around 14 degrees -- a miserable day by most accounts, but perfect for getting together with friends for shopping and lunch.


Our first stop was at a store that is on the short list of my favorite places -- "Seams To Be" is located in a storefront building on a brick street in historic downtown Plattsmouth, Nebraska, just about 20 minutes south of Omaha on Highway 75. This is a large store that has much to offer from the quilt samples on the walls, many with available kits, to the rows of fabric bolts lining the walls. Old sewing machines, wooden spindles and spools, and antique sewing items are used throughout the store as decorations. They have a large selection of novelty fabrics of animals, bugs, fruits and vegetables, sports, etc. and quite a number of printed panels that make cute "cheater" quilts or that can be cut up and pieced into more intricate quilt tops. These panels range from Christmas themes, to children's roadways, to alphabets and more.

There is a generous selection of fabric of each color group, as well as fabrics by Jo Morton, our only Nebraska fabric designer, who lives in nearby Nebraska City. There are lots of flannels and Aunt Grace fabrics, too. Seams To Be offers classes that are taught in the large classroom in the back of the store. Quilting and sewing threads by Mettler and Guttermann are available along with quilt battings anad notions for every project.

We had a fun time shopping for new projects we have planned and several that weren't planned at all! My long term goal is to make quilts using fabric in my stash and patterns from books that I already own. Sometimes that happens but more often than not, a quilted sample catches my eye and that leads me in a new direction. Claudia bought a book of patterns and a kit for a lovely pink and green quiltlet; I was on a quest for red and white fabrics for a "new" (and NOT in a book I already own) wintery snowman/snowflake project while Terri and Mary found several great pieces of fabric on the sale shelves. It is also their goal to own a piece of every fabric of Jo Morton's so they are on a quest for certain designs of her older collections. Whenever the right project is chosen, they will definitely have enough fabric for it!

One funny idea that had practical merit -- Mary told me that there was a quilter's will of sorts printed in their guild newsletter that designated what should be done with your quilt stash if your die before your husband! You are to name someone who is to be notified at your passing that your fabric collection is ready to be re-distributed. Your designated person is to gather your quilting friends, probably with some yummy desserts for refreshments, share some nice thoughts about the previous quilter, then divide the fabric among people who will treasure and use it instead of letting all those lovely batiks and Thimbleberries fabrics be sold at a garage sale for pennies on the yard -- or worse yet, end up at Goodwill.


Seams To Be Quilt Shoppe
511 Main St., Plattsmouth, NE
402-296-3360
Hours: Mon - Fri: 10 - 6, Thur: 10 - 7:30, Sat: 10 - 5, Sun: 1 - 5