Heather Matanock
Diana Greenberg (left) and Gael Boyd welcome newbies and pros.
When the beloved west side sewing shop Stitcher’s Crossing closed in late 2015, employee Gael Boyd knew long-arm quilting alone in her basement was not going to cut it. Boyd, who thrives working alongside others, started thinking about writing a business plan for a shop of her own. She teamed up with one of her quilting companions, Diana Greenberg (the two have over 40 years of quilting experience between them). Everything came to fruition in April, when they opened Blue Bar Quilts in Middleton.
The large storefront is stocked with a wide range of fabric, thread, notions and pretty much anything else needed for a sewing project. While Boyd and Greenberg emphasize quilting, they also stock supplies for other projects — sewing clothes, dyeing fabric, felting — and kits for making quilts and tote bags.
The shop has a dedicated fabric dyeing studio, which offers instructional hours as well as open hours (for anyone who’s taken a basic dyeing class). Gallery space in the center of the store showcases local quilters’ work. Madison quilter David Armour, who creates abstract, modern pieced quilts, was featured in October; Madison’s Jean Leeson is the current artist.
Candice Wagener
Blue Bar likes to highlight modern styles like Heather Matanock’s TV quilt, but also stocks fabrics to suit traditional and contemporary tastes.
There’s a second gallery where local artists and craftspeople interested in selling their handmade wares are given space to display items for sale. Current offerings include handwoven baskets, indigo-dyed clothing and, of course, homemade quilts.
The back corner of the store is classroom space. The store hosts quilting classes for beginners and experts. Classes extend to sewing clothes and other projects (totebags, pillows) and sewing classes for kids and teens — even a parent-child embroidery class.
Boyd and Greenberg hope to reach a diverse crowd. They want customers to be greeted by name, and to feel comfortable coming into the shop with questions or for help on a project.
“I want people to walk in here and feel like this is their shop,” says Boyd. Currently, most of their customers are a lot like Boyd and Greenberg — white and middle-aged; Boyd wants to welcome a more diverse crowd. “I want to open it up more to include everybody who has an interest in learning this craft.”
Blue Bar Quilts
6333 University Ave., Middleton, 608-284-9299, bluebarquilts.com
10 am-6 pm, Mon., Wed., Fri.; 10 am-8 pm Tues. and Thurs.; 10 am-5 pm Sat., noon-4 pm Sun.
