Virtual Shop Hop: Expressions in Threads, LeClaire, Iowa

I call the Quad-Cities home. It is a metropolitan area made up of five cities bordering the Mississippi River in Iowa and Illinois. I know you just read “Quad-Cities” and then “five cities.” It’s weird, we know it. But in addition to the cities that make up the Quad-Cities proper, there are several smaller communities just outside it, and that’s were you’ll find Expressions in Threads in LeClaire, Iowa.

Located just down the hill from the American Pickers headquarters, (Yes, I’ve met Mike, Frank and Danielle … I got to interview the pair before the pilot aired and they became household names. I even got to see a preview before they did because at the time I was working as an entertainment reporter for the Quad-City Times. Apparently the producers were worried they would change the way they acted if they saw themselves on camera. And Danielle, who goes by the burlesque stage name Dannie Diesel, once tried to get me to do a burlesque show with her. I turned her down.)

Back to quilting. I consider Expressions in Threads, my hometown quilt shop. There technically is one that is closer, but I find myself at Expressions far more often than the closer one. And since it is conveniently located off the first Iowa exit on I-80 it made the perfect first stop for our I-80 shop hop.

Expressions in Threads has TONS of fabric – more than 4,000 bolts – but not in an overwhelming, this could be a fire hazard kind of way. They have great lighting high enough ceilings to fit bright white shelving units that can fit bolts of fabric stacked three high and still have room to hang a quilt on top. The space combined with the bright white of the furnishings really makes it feel like you have a lot of options without being overcome with all the choices.

There are historical fabrics, juvenile fabrics, batiks, flannels, holiday, novelty. The list goes on and on. The fabrics are organized by line and then by color. It is really easy to find what you’re looking for and then some more fabric you weren’t planning on buying but would love to add to your stash.

Expressions in Threads also recently expanded, dedicating half of the space to selling Janome machines and a classroom. While my sit-n-sew was there the classroom was pack for Strip Club. Get your mind out of the gutters ladies, Strip Club features projects made with 2 1/2-inch strips of fabric. Which you of course can purchase from their selection of pre-cuts while you’re at the shop.

Expressions in Threads is located at 208 South Cody Road, LeClaire, Iowa. I definitely recommend adding it to your must visit list if you are traveling on I-80 through Iowa. You can make a fun pit stop out of it by walking to the American Pickers’ Antique Archaeology shop just up the hill and stopping for lunch at Sneaky Pete’s a couple blocks down the Cody Road. There’s a whole lot more than that to do in LeClaire, Iowa. Check out www.VisitLeClaire.com for more tourism opportunities.