Month: February 2013

Ocean Waves Quilt Shop was the last shop we visiting. It was much better in the sun, not so dim, though there were little nooks and crannies that were still a bit dim. The woman who worked there was very efficient and very helpful.

They had a lot of quilts hanging up. One of the things I saw was a rendition of the All Washed Up Sparkling Cider pattern I used for Sparkle Pink. As I have said, the genius of that pattern is the interesting way it allows large prints to be showcased. This version, however, shows a different way the pattern can be used and has the feel of the fabric in the store.

There was a class going on in the back room. I am not sure what the class was about, but it might have been some type of beginning class. I was pleased to see that there were a relatively large number of people in the shop.

The tone of the shop was more Hoffman, smallish prints and florals, which is not to say they didn’t have great fabric. I found a dot I liked and a black on white that I might use for a project brewing in my head. The really nice dot I found was purple. The purple color reminds me of violet, but it is darker. I only got a half yard, but that should be enough for whatever it is I decide to make with it and I have selvedge.

They had a lot of stuff there: fabric, patterns, pre-cuts, Aurifil, samples. There is a bag in the last picture (right photo, bottom center) with a curved flap. It is called the Flip Flap bag and they had just sold the last pattern, so I didn’t buy it, but I liked the shape

Read part 1 and 2 of this travelogue, too!

I also went to Scottie Dog Quilts again. This shop is a white stucco building (kind of an ugly building actually) on the corner of a street, but they don’t have a sign outside anymore, so we drove right past it and had to go around the block. It worked out, because we parked on the side street and were in the correct position to head east (I think) to Ocean Waves Quilt shop for the next stop.

Scottie Dog has freshened up their look since I was there last. One big difference was that the weather was nicer. Last time, the whole area was fogged over and grey. This trip, the sky was a bright blue and it made everything nicer. Still, the freshening wasn’t all on the part of the weather. Scottie Dog has removed a high set of shelves and moved the cutting counter (I think) and that has made the whole space more open. I didn’t notice that they seemed to have less fabric. They crammed a lot into a relatively small shop.

S.D. has also embraced modern fabrics in a big way. If you need some Ruby charm packs, they have a few left. They also had one of Moda’s Sophie as well as a bit of the yardage. I bought an old print of Heather Bailey’s called Pop…Flowers?? I don’t remember. Big stylized flowers. I am thinking I will make a bag. I hope to make a bag.

I have to admit that I admire Double Wedding Ring Quilts, but will probably never make. I don’t like the look of some of the quilts made from the rotary cutting templates (curve is not smooth). I had decided to admire them from afar until I saw the Little Bits pattern for a DWR at Scottie Dog. (Nota bene: They don’t have it on their website and were out of stock, otherwise I would link to them). The pieces are small, but I could do some quick piecing and rotary cutting. They also had some bag patterns. I bought a bag pattern called The Potato Chip Bag because you can’t make just one, apparently.

One good thing about stopping at quilt stores while traveling is that their restrooms are usually clean. I loved their restroom. It was scarlet, pipes and everything, with a border print of the Mary Englebreit scottie dog.

The shop also had different things to entice the shopper: a few shelves of batiks, pre-cut Tumblers in 2 sizes, lots of pre-cuts, especially charm packs. They also had a lot of patterns with samples hanging around the shop.

They didn’t have any Aurifil, but they had a good selection of interesting notions and other types of thread. I bought some more True Grips and a swivel D Ring for a future bag.

Check out part 1 of this travelogue.

Driving up the coast to the North Coast is a beautiful drive. It was particularly beautiful on Friday, because the Northern California area was washed by a rain storm on Thursday night. The light was gorgeous and the clouds were gorgeous and it made me glad to be driving up the Coast.

Last time we drove up that way, we saw a quilt shop in Laytonville called Fat Quail Quilts. The shop is on the side of 101N and we weren’t able to stop the first time, because we were already past by the time we knew what was happening. This time I planned ahead. Their website was very clear how to find it and we were able to stop.

It is a nice shop. They have a lot of fabric, patterns, notions. A good variety of

One of the things I like to notice when I am in an area is whether or not the color schemes  are different from what I am used to seeing.

The overall color scheme reminded me of Fall colors. They had a lot of nice fabrics. I, of course, found a few things that I brought home with me. One was a needle threader. I broke mine last week working on the binding for the Stepping Stones.

The shop looked like a former house. It was broken up into 4 rooms plus a bathroom. The front room and the very back room were quite large, which makes me think there was some remodeling done. The layout worked well and the owner had used the various niches to create different displays.

The shop had a section of 1930s fabrics, that I thought was very appealing. There was a book called Frugal to Fancy about vintage patterns done in modern fabrics and the whole display made me want to buy all of the fabrics and the book.

Being a librarian, I thought the shop’s storage of fat quarters was GREAT! I loved the use of the card catalog drawers for fat quarters. I thought it was an effective display technique even if it was hard to see the fat quarters. The drawers were labeled and that was great.

I also noticed that the Fat Quail lady had no problem cutting fat quarters. I wanted some reds, but was trying to be frugal, so she happily cut me some fat quarters of the reds. I wanted.

Sandy from Quilting… for the Rest of Us talks about Stonehenge fabric all the time and I saw a display – a large display of it in this shop. I think this is the first time I have seen it, or, perhaps, it is the first time I have seen a display of it. It is very earthy looking and reminded me of picking out counters when we remodeled our kitchen. A little too beige for me, but interesting prints.

The displays were little vignettes of fabrics, books and patterns. There were great samples of bags and other small accessories. I bought a pattern for a fish hot pad holder. I wanted to support the shop and also thought it would make a good gift for Christmas. I am going to make twelve, but will start with one and see how it goes before I commit. I was also thinking it might be a good way to practice machine quilting.

Well worth a visit!