Random Bits and Bobs

I went to a number of shops, but some of them are not getting their own post because I didn’t buy enough, take enough pictures or I had been there before pretty recently.

The best thing about visiting all the quilt shops I visited, aside from being distracted from leaving my Y.M. in a strange city all alone, was that I saw a lot of different stuff. Different colorways, different fabrics, different motifs. It made me realize how much fabric I never see. I suppose that is a good thing.

I found a big list of all the quilt shops in Oregon and we kind of followed that one.

Ocean Waves, Eureka, California

Ocean Waves, Eureka, Calif.
Ocean Waves, Eureka, Calif.

I usually visit this store when I am on the North Coast and this trip was no exception. The last time I visited was in February.

The Young Man and I drove up on Tuesday and we had kind of short driving day. We should have driven farther, but we didn’t. We arrived in Eureka, checked into the hotel and I called the quilt store. They were open for another half and hour so I hightailed over there and looked around. While I was there, I texted the Y.M. with a picture of a not-too-juvenile back-to-school print and asked if he wanted a pillowcase out of it. He said YES so I bought it. I also bought some more dress fabrics. You know those Philip Jacobs will be on body in the not too distant future. 😉

Ruth’s Family Fabric, Waldport, Oregon

Riley Blake Awning Stripe
Riley Blake Awning Stripe

This is an upholstery shop and quilt fabric store. I may just bring my wing chairs there to be recovered. It will force me to drive by. The price is right and the Fabric Depot in Portland had some great upholstery fabric.

I may have found the perfect fabric at this store. I have never seen this Riley Blake Awning Stripe before. The stripes are about an inch wide. I would upholster an entire room in this fabric if I had a sunroom or a boudoir. I love this fabric so much. It is an older fabric from the La Creme Basics line. This should seriously be in their lineup all the time. And WHY did I have to go to Southern Oregon to find this fabric? Why didn’t I ever see it before? WHY?

It was also in red and another version in black, but I restrained myself. I have to make something that I will use all the time. I don’t know what yet, but something great.

By My Hand, Brookings, Oregon

The lady who was manning the store (pretty sure she was the owner) was super nice. Mom barely looked at anything in this shop because she really hit off with the owner and they just chatted the whole time.

By My Hand light grey
By My Hand light grey

The store is yarn and fabric, but more yarn. I looked for light greys for my Flying Geese project throughout the trip and found a good one here.

This shop was hard to find. It is in a kind of strip mall, but the sign is impossible to see if you are driving. Quilt and fabric shops MUST have a giant sign near the road if they want out-of-towners to visit.

We passed about 3 shops up because we simply couldn’t find them. One was in the same town as this shop and we drove by where it should have been twice and we still couldn’t find it. Another thing, shops should have navigation tips on their websites. If they are near a giant department store their website should say “we are just before Super Giant Department Store if you are going south.”

We did stop at a wonderful cafe in Brookings called Blue Water cafe. It was down by the water and little hard to find, but totally worth it. They had gluten free bread and the service was excellent. The lady was very friendly. The place was also clean and had a very interesting Hawaiian/surfing/tropical theme.

Missed Shops

I drove right by Cool Cotton, Portland. It is, supposedly, a modern quilt shop.  I was looking for exit, but didn’t see it. I’ll make it there next time.

Country Keepsakes was impossible to find.

We were shopped out when we passed the Quilted Angel. It isn’t that far from my house so, theoretically, I can go almost any time.

Photos from shops I didn’t use in other posts: