Morning Star Quilts
Loyal customers love this Northern California quilt shop, located in the Sierra foothills. Marsha Haunschild’s first-time visitors find plenty of reasons to return again and again.
Unpaved Paradise [1]
Mother-daughter team Marsha Haunschild and Jennifer Van Iderstine fulfilled a dream when they opened this quilt shop. One of Marsha’s goals was to create a welcoming atmosphere. “People drive 100 miles or more to come to our store because they know we care about them,” she says.
Meet the Staff [3]
Front (from left): Mark Haunschild, Marsha Haunschild, Jennifer Van Iderstine, Bella (store mascot), and Renee Waelbrock; Back (from left): Rocki Crowder, Laurie Knifong, Jody Carlile, Ronda Brown, Linda Dolling, and Coleen Hodges.
Organizational Sorting [5]
Contemporary prints are sorted by color; batiks are in a separate room. Both fabric types are specialties here. Shop samples are changed often to keep ideas fresh for returning customers.
Global Inspiration [7]
Inspiration is drawn from all angles of this shop, which specialize in batiks and contemporary fabrics. This armoire features some of these fabrics and gives customers ideas for storage and projects.
Have a Seat [9]
A reading area where customers can sit and browse through books and patterns occupies a spot among samples designed to inspire thoughts of the next project. “Life is a party, and when you come into Morning Star Quilts you are guaranteed to laugh, play, and create,” Marsha Haunschild says.
Vast Variety [11]
“The shop is always filled with wonderful samples, from large quilts to little doll aprons, with new samples introduced weekly,” one customer says.
Past to Present [13]
A few 1940s prints are displayed in an antique crib. Their modern foil, Valori Wells’ Gracie pattern in orange, pink, and brown, is the hanging quilt.