I finally made a trip to Coastside Quilt Studio. I had no excuse for not going except that I just didn’t make the time.
The shop started out as just a longarm studio where customers could meet Dana, the owner,and drop off quilts. Now that Always Quilting is closing Dana is adding a few more quilt shop type items. She has a little fabric, a few notions and she will add more slowly.
The shop has more regular hours now, so I decided to stop by on my way to lunch with a friend. OMG! The place is not hidden up in the hills as I thought, but 10 minutes from my house on the way to the grocery store. Amazing! It will become a regular stop for better or for worse. 😉
Outside the shop, Dana has a free table. You can just walk up and take what you want: books, fabric, thread. Some of the items look like they came from the Pacifica Quilt Club free table. 🙂
I have never seen this type of service in a shop before and think it is a nice idea.
Inside the shop the walls are painted a nice butter yellow. The color is not a lot different than the color of my living room walls. It gives the space a nice warm feeling.
The area in the picture is “behind the counter.” I have never seen so many computers in a shop! The picture makes it look really messy, but I didn’t get that impression from my visit.
Across from the counter is a small area of fabric. There was actually more than I thought.
She has some Tula fabrics, so I asked whether she was going to carry the Floral Reef vinyl, but she said no. It wasn’t a big surprise as Dana seems like a careful business person.
She includes a bolt of the week, which is laying on the table in the middle. It was a nice blue and I thought about buying some. Dana isn’t going to have a huge amount of fabric, she says, but since Joann closed she is having to rethink her business model. That has included adding a bit more fabric.
The business, as mentioned, started out as longarming only, so Dana’s machine – the one she only uses – is behind the fabric area.
It is a Handy Quilter Amara and she now has three of them.
The quilts she has around the shop are bright and cheerful.
Visitors get to the back of the shop, the former classroom, by walking by Dana’s longarm down a hallway-ish space. She stores batting in this area, some Steam-A-Seam and a bit more fabric. I didn’t see any obvious 108″ wide backing fabric, but I also didn’t ask.
Dana bought one of the longarm machines from Always Quilting so now has a smaller classroom and three longarms. The one in the photo, right, is the second and the third is behind the wall on the right and to the right of the machine you can see. Dana is renting the machines out to people who are certified to use them. We talked about it and I told her about my experience longarming at Always Quilting. I learned on a Gammil, so would need to take the class again. I am shocked that I am actually considering it. DH asked if I could use Tim’s. That led me to think of another friend who might allow me to longarm certain quilts on her machine. It is shocking that I am actually considering it!
Anyway, this is a great store and I hope to become a regular visitor. Sign up for Dana’s once per week newsletter to find out longarm wait times, and other shop happenings.
Address: 1305 Palmetto Avenue, Unit E, Pacifica, CA 94044
Tel: 650-733-7200
Email: coastsidequiltstudio@gmail.com
Studio Hours:
Monday: 10am to 4pm
Tuesday: 10am to 4pm
Wednesday: 11am to 5pm
Thursday: 10am to 4pm
Friday: 12pm to 4pm
Closed Saturday & Sunday