We stayed with Mary in Ashland overnight on our way to Portland. This area is a quilt shop mecca, but I want to use fabric not buy much more, so I had to balance my love of quilt shops and quilt shopping with my bursting fabric closet.
Green’s – Bags with patterns
Mary directed us to Green’s Sew & Vac, which is a sewing machine and vacuum sales & repair shop with a HUGE selection of bag supplies and 2000 bolts of fabric. They had one of the best selections of bag making supplies I have seen. They also had bags made up – A LOT OF BAGS – and hanging near the patterns, so shoppers could see what the bag looked like and how big it would be. I liked this store even before I talked to Vickie, the owner/operator of the part of the store where the bag making supplies lived.
Green’s – from left to right
I didn’t pay much attention to the machines, but I saw Janome, Babylock, and Bernina for sale. I think that one in the front is a M7 Continental. I am still enamored of that machine, but can’t buy it now. There was also a whole room of vacuums, which I didn’t explore.
Accuquilt display
The shop has so many different aspects. The first thing I saw was a 70% off sale of Accuquilt. You bet I looked at what they had. One thing they that I would have bought in a second was a die for a bowl cozies. I still want to make bowl cozies as gifts for DH’s cousins. Sadly, it was only for the Accuquilt Big not the Accuquilt Go!**, which I have. I might have been tempted to buy an Accuquilt Big, but they didn’t have one. Probably a good thing. I don’t have anywhere to store it at the moment.
Green’s fabrics
In terms of fabric, they had a good selection of quilt fabrics, but also more canvas and heavier weight fabrics like canvas than I have seen at other stores. I didn’t see any of the Echino canvas like I bought in Ashland at Sew Creative last year.
They don’t consider themselves a quilt store, which Vickie made clear to me. They consider themselves to be a bag making store. I think that is a good business model as there aren’t a lot of stores that specialize in bags. They had a lot of quilt-adjacent supplies and the fabrics could, mostly, be used for quilts as well as bags and other projects.
One thing I saw was a lot of embroidery supplies: Kimberbell**, thread, interfacing and things on which to embroider such as tea towels. I didn’t recognize the interfacing brand and I wasn’t in the market so I didn’t investigate.
Bag making supplies
Some of the bag making brands available were Sallie Tomato, Emmaline and ByAnnie. I haven’t actually seen Emmaline in person before, so that was a mini-thrill. The shop carried a lot of hardware, much of it I had never seen in person. I was thrilled with what I saw and wanted to buy everything.As you know, I like online shopping, but there is something special about seeing bag hardware (and fabric) in person.
They have just started this part of the venture, Vickie said, so are adding supplies slowly.
One of the bonuses at this shop was their YouTube page where Vickie has a live session, called “How Vickie Does It”, every Thursday. She told me that she focuses on bag making in these sessions.
Green’s purchases
I bought a couple of things. I am not going to embroider on the tea towels. I am just going to use them in my kitchen. They are perfect for my decor.
I bought the small triangular pieces. Sadly they didn’t have the corresponding lobster clips.
Green’s Sewing & Vacuum Center
1017 Knutson Ave., Medford, OR
Tel: (541) 779-3411
https://greensdirect.com/
https://readysetsewclasses.com/
No masks required
**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops. However, I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I mentioned some time ago that I needed a travel bag change. In making the UCAB for myself, the goal was that it would work as the new bag. After the fiasco at Sew Day, I knew I needed to get my travel supplies in order. I removed everything I had put in my sewing machine travel bag and replaced it in the UCAB.
Sadly, this isn’t a great bag for what I need. It is a good bag for a lot of stuff, but not for my travel needs. Sigh.
What I need: the bag to be taller so my scissors and HST rulers can stand up. I should have paid more attention to the slots in the elastic in the front, because my rotary cutters don’t fit in them. Also, I am afraid that if I lay my rotary cutters in the bag, they will cut the fabric of the bag. I think more mesh pockets would have been better, because I can see what I have in them. Also, my pink Tupperware supply box, which I have decided I can’t get rid of, doesn’t fit in this bag.
I can make bags for the scissors and rotary cutters, then clip them to the d-rings, but I don’t think that will solve all of my travel problems. I saw a video Tula posted the other day about what she uses for her travel/ sewing elsewhere bags. She uses some ByAnnie patterns. I am sure I have some Sew Sweetness patterns that would work the same way. I do have the Running with Scissors pattern and could make it again.
I don’t know what to think, but I am disappointed. Not that I made the UCAB, but that it isn’t a 1:1 replacement.
As I was clearing out my workroom to paint, I decided it was time to consolidate bags. My travel bag has served me well, but wasn’t the ideal travel bag and was also wearing out.
I got it in college as a premium with some makeup I bought. That was about 1,000 years ago so it was time.
The bag is a good shape and has a lot of pockets, so it might be worthwhile to make a replacement or another version for a different use.
Sewing machine cart- main compartment
I emptied the old travel bag and decided to fill my sewing machine cart with the various items.
🙁 Not great. It was convenient to have everything in one bag, but the various zippers and ‘doors’ were hard to open and close with all the stuff inside.
For the moment this is the way it will be. Since I have been working on La Pass at Sew Day, I don’t anticipate having to worry about traveling with my sewing supplies for the foreseeable future.
As I mentioned, I left the Bay Area and drove north to the Burlington, Washington area. Without driving around Burlington at all, the trip, one way, was just shy of 1000 miles. That is really far. It took us three days, though the first leg, San Francisco to Portland could be done is about 14-15 hours. I am not up for that long of a drive in one day. We stopped in Ashland after the first day, then Portland, then drove the rest of the way. I thought the trip from Portland to Burlington would be easy, but the traffic was very heavy and I forget how far north Burlington sits.
Dunsmuir theatre
On our way to Ashland, we stopped for a break in Dunsmuir. It had started to rain a few miles before we stopped, so the clouds were beautiful. I don’t know why I stopped in Dunsmuir since there isn’t much there. My grandfather was born there, so, perhaps, I feel some kind of connection for no particular reason. I never knew anything about Dunsmuir until long after he had died. I really like the downtown. I have stopped there twice in recent years on trips north.
Mt. Vernon bas relief
One thing I enjoyed in Washington was the sky. There were a couple of days of sprinkles on our way up and throughout the drive we enjoyed beautiful views of glimpses of the sky and clouds. The day we went to Calico Creations, we parked in a lot with some beautiful bas relief on the side of an embankment. I liked the art and the clouds very much. I also liked Mt. Vernon, where I saw the bas relief, as well. In addition to the fantastic Calico Creations, there was an amazing used bookstore, Easton’s.
Marie
A wonderful cat has recently joined the YM’s new household. Her name is Marie, which makes me laugh. She is an indoor cat who gets to lounge in front of large windows looking out a birds and the wind blowing the trees all day. She is beautiful and reminds me of the cat I had as a teenager. Marie is a little more stand-offish than my cat, Spooky. She will not sit on your lap until she knows you better and doesn’t let just anyone pet her. She sits with the YM and he gets to pet her, but she needed more time than we had to get used to me. I played with her using a toy, which is a stick with a fish and a piece of twine hanging from the end. She loved chasing the twine, but seemed annoyed by the bells on the fish. I really like this cat.
Mt. Vernon Best Western Carpet Design
The hotel in which we stayed in Mt. Vernon (near Burlington) was a typical Best Western, though this one had very few redeeming qualities. It was surrounded by a concrete parking lot and what flower beds there were were overgrown and sad looking. The room was large, which was great, because we stayed there for 4 nights. Also, the carpet had an interesting design. Hotels are a great place to find quilt designs, specifically in the carpet. I have found several designs that could be quilts, though I haven’t ever, yet, translated one to fabric.
BW carpet design anno
This design I thought would be English Paper Piecing. I only had my phone on which to draw so my annotations are a bit wonky and incomplete, but you can see direction in my thought process. I am not sure how I would finish it or put it together with other blocks, but what I have drawn is a better start than the other carpet designs which still live on my computer.
Mocajete
The day we arrived, we took the YM and the YMG out to dinner at a FANTASTIC restaurant called COA Mexican Eatery & Tequileria. The restaurant had the best, hands down, Mexican food I have ever had. The food was super fresh, very clean tasting, e.g. I could taste all the different flavors. The service was fast, too. I didn’t enjoy my drink, but, as I said, the food was amazing. The Mocajete ordered by the YM and my mom to share, had cactus in it. I tried it and the cactus was delicious.
One day, while the YM was at work, we went to LaConner and walked around. We wanted to visit the quilt museum. It was a gorgeous day. While we waited for the quilt museum to open, we walked around downtown LaConner (at least I think it was downtown!), had some gluten free pastries, checked out the boats and enjoyed the sunshine.
We also spent some time at MoNA – the Museum of Northwest Art in LaConner. They were showing the pieces that would be available for purchase at an upcoming auction. Pieces of art were donated by the various artists and some of them were quite good. Others were not to my taste. Check back, I may write a post about that museum visit.
Quilt Museum sewing chair
At the quilt museum, I saw a cool sewing chair unlike any I have seen before. It was in the tower room of the mansion under a mural of the sky. My Mom actually pointed the chair out to me. I think it would be very handy for supplies needed for sewing by hand. I am not sure how comfortable it would be, though the seat was contoured a bit. I have suggested Mom have my stepdad try and make one of these chairs. He probably won’t do it, sadly. I bet it would be very popular among quiltmakers.
Gaches Mansion fireplace
One of the things I enjoy about architecture, especially in houses like the Gaches Mansion, is the detail. Much of it gets stripped away and has to be rebuilt during restoration projects. While this mansion had some bad luck, some of the details remained, including the tile on some of the fireplaces. I especially like the tile on the surround. The leaves and vines would make a great applique’ pattern.
After visiting the YM for not long enough, we had to head home. On the way south, we stayed for two nights in Portland. We visited with my sister and my friend. Mom and I went on two separate outings one day and had a lot to talk about when we got back together.
Pioneer Quilts: iris
Pioneer Quilts: iris detail
Pioneer Quilts: poppy
Pioneer Quilts – June 2021
Amanda and I went to a few quilt shops. One was Pioneer Quilts. I have been there before. While the fabric has changed, the cleanliness, good fabric choices and friendliness were the same. Fortunately, despite COVID-19, the shop was open. After a vigorous handwashing we spent a happy hour there looking at their offerings. It is still one of my favorite shops in Portland. It is housed in a historic home and they put the space to good use. Despite the name, they have a lot of modern and contemporary fabrics, beautiful non-brown colors of wool felt, patterns and everything one needs to be a happy quiltmaker. One thing I love is the flowers in the beds around the house/shop. I have seen a few of those giant poppies and I love them.
Sharon’s Quilting Attic – June 2021
We also stopped at Sharon’s Quilting Attic. I have also been there before. Last time, I bought a roll of Vanessa Christensen’s Ombre dots and wanted to see if they had the same rolls of the new colors. No luck, but they had a few interesting things. I found a good selection of ByAnnie’s double fold elastic. I bought a few rolls as normally I have to buy it online and I like looking at the colors in person. The workers seemed unhappy or overworked. This shop reminds me a little of Always Quilting.
Oregon City Municipal Elevator
While we were driving around, I saw the Oregon City Municipal Elevator. This elevator takes people from one level of Oregon City to another. It was opened in 1915 (though TripAdvisor says 1955) and does not spin around as it goes up and down. The levels are 89 feet apart. It is located at 300 Seventh St, Oregon City, OR 97045. Trip Adviser lists it as the only vertical street in the US. I did not ride it, but now that I know about it may another time.
All in all it was a good trip. I got to see my YM! My mom got a little rest from her caregiving duties. I don’t think I want to drive that far again, but we’ll see.
On our way home we stopped in Medford at Cottage Quilting. This shop is not too far from Ashland, so it was the last shop on our way home.
The weather was awful. It was over 100 degrees when we stopped. I tried to find some shade for the car, but just ended up making us walk across the hot parking lot in the blazing sun.
You know what the non-quilting interesting thing was near Cottage Quilting? A grocery store sized Harry & David’s store! I have seen the catalog, but not a shop.
Cottage Quilting – June 2021
Fortunately, most of the world has air conditioning and the shop was nice and cool. What a huge shop! They took up two storefronts in a modern, one story mall. We were also fortunate to arrive when we did as they were closing the shop for a week starting the next day.
The first thing that happened was that the owner scared the living daylights out of me. He just popped up and welcomed us, which was nice, but unexpected. It was completely my fault, because I wasn’t expecting it. I have to say I was hot and tired from driving, so I wasn’t at my best.
Cottage Quilting – June 2021
The shop has TONS of various types of machines. After thinking about it, I think most of the shop is machines, though they have a fair amount of fabric, including the best selection of toweling (tea towel fabric) I have seen. They have a number of different colors. I bought some white for my SIL so she can embroider on it. I seem to do that whenever I go somewhere and find tea towel fabric.
Cottage Quilting notions – June 2021
I also liked the selection of notions, thread and rulers. Another excellent selection of both. I truly saw items I had never seen before including a small pair of Duckbill scissors.
The shop had more thread brands and colors than I have seen. I could definitely spend some money there if the shop were closer to my house.
Cottage Quilting – June 2021
The owner came up to us again and wanted to chat a few minutes after we had started to look around. This did annoy me. My mom can always be counted on to chat up new people, so I left her to it and continued to look at fabric and notions.
I would visit this shop again, especially with a list of notions and rulers I needed.
Cottage Quilts * Sew Creative Studio
1310 Center Drive
Unit A
Medford, Oregon 97501
Tel: 541-500-8071
Email: info@cottage-quilts.com
Hours:
My friend Amanda took me to several shops when we stopped in Portland on our way home. One was called Cotton Cure. It was a GREAT shop. It didn’t have the most fabric, but it has a really good variety and the presentation was excellent.
The quilt shop was in an urban shopping mall type building. Shopping mall is not quite the right term. It was an older (looking?) building. You had to go into the main door and down a hallway to find the shop. The shop was three rooms, two of which were full of fabric and supplies. LOTS of bag making hardware and supplies.
Cotton Cure: entrance and True Kisses
The first thing I saw was the new Heather Bailey fabric, True Kisses by Figo. It made me think of my grandmother’s living room curtains. The shop had a variety of different cuts – full yards, half yards, and fat quarters. I think they had wide backs as well. I didn’t take very good notice, so I am not sure. I really wanted all of this line and thought of the variety of pre-cuts, but I restrained myself. I can’t stop thinking about the line, however, so I may have to buy the whole line. I am slightly horrified at how much pandemic fabric buying I have done, so we’ll see.
Cotton Cure: bag hardware cabinet
That big green cabinet was full of bag hardware. I almost swooned! It is a really cool looking cabinet, though.
It wasn’t super convenient as the drawers were hard to pull out and push in, but each drawer had a different type or size of hardware. I would really love to have a shop with a such a wide variety that I could see. I feel the need to stockpile when I see hardware and I never seem to have what I need when I need it. Clearly stockpiling doesn’t work. Is there a shop owner out there who would listen to me and my crazy ideas?
That heart quilt is on their website as a PDF download called Tainted Hearts. It’s fairly appealing, though I am working hard not to buy more patterns until I make a few of those on my list.
While small, the shop had a great selection of floss. The rolls in the center are Eleganza – the brand that makes Sue Spargo’s floss/embroidery thread. As you can see the thread is not on spools. The shop also had a lot of the Dropcloth Samplers, which I had never seen before in person.
On the far right of the cabinets, the shop had other embroidery designs and another brand of embroidery thread. I neglected to see what the brand was. It is interesting that a number of quilting shops are branching out into embroidery.
Cotton Cure: thread, cows & wool
They had a lot of thread as well, but some of it was across from the embroidery thread.
The other item was a large selection of wool felt. I bought a few scraps at Pioneer Quilts for my egg project. I talked about the eggs a little in my post called Handwork Week. Wool felt can get pricey, but Cotton Cure and Pioneer Quilts both have fantastic colors – not just the primitive folk design colors: brown, tan and taupe. Those are not my colors.
Cotton Cure: wool felt & thread
You can see the wool felt better in the picture, left. They really had a nice selection of colors. Not great for turquoise, but look at those pinks and purples! The yellows and oranges are pretty nice, too.
This photo shows more regular thread, too.
The waxed canvas is in rolls in the basket attached to the black & white plaid wall.
Cotton Cure: mesh & Tula
Cotton Cure: notions
Cotton Cure: mesh & notions
The second room had more bag making stuff and a ton of notions. The shop had a good selection of mesh as well as a variety of different substrates. I saw waxed canvas for the first time in person. I almost bought some, but it was on the pricey side. Since I didn’t have a project in mind, I passed (for once!).
They also had the Clammy rulers, which, again, I haven’t seen in person. I didn’t take a close look at the patterns, but the tool makes me think they had some of Latifah’s patterns as well.
Most of the shops I visited had Tula Pink’s Curiouser and Curiouser fabrics. I bought a little at Calico Creations, but didn’t keep collecting.
Cotton Cure: notions, sales & more fabric
Cotton Cure: sales & more fabric
The two tier rack in the first picture above is their sale fabric. This may not have been all of it. I don’t know; this is what I saw. Regardless, it was good fabric. Not icky novelty fabrics or anything.
Cotton Cure: workroom
The shop also had a workroom. It was a well used room. I suppose it might be a classroom in non-pandemic times. At the moment they seem to be using it for prep and a place to just toss stuff. We all have those spaces, right? 🙂
They have a longarm, but I didn’t see any information about whether they longarm customer quilts or rent time on the machine. I noticed that their Juki sewing machine was set up so the operator could stand at it. I have always wanted to try that.
I definitely want to visit this shop again and I will add them to my list of online fabric shopping websites.
Cotton Cure
133 SE 2nd Avenue
Hillsboro, Oregon 97123
We use the same entrance as Balance Fitness, so look for their signage!
Hours:
Open M,W,Th,F,Sa 10am-4pm
Contact Us:
By Phone: 503-747-6115
By Email: thecottoncure@gmail.com
On my travels, I went to the Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum in LaConner. It is housed in the beautiful Gaches Mansion. We showed up right after 11 and nobody had come to open it, so we walked around LaConner a little and that was nice. We found a cafe which had gluten free pastries so we stopped for a late breakfast and a little rest.
When we went back later, we found the volunteers to be super enthusiastic. They have a lovely gift shop, which you can peruse without paying admission to the museum.
The first exhibit, right off the entrance, was called What If by Debra Calkins. It ran through May 30, 2021. The pieces in the exhibit “imagine the possibilities for a better, more nurturing world… if only we have the courage to address the pressing social conditions around us today. ” There was an audience participation piece where we could write our own ‘what if’ statement.
I really enjoyed the Inspired Settings: The Art and Collection of Matt Macomber exhibit, which runs through July 4, 2021. I actually confused him with Mike McNamara who I have seen speak a few times at the SFQG. I thought Matt’s quilts were restrained when I thought he was Mike! He finishes, at least for this show, old blocks into new quilts. The quilts captured the sense of time carried by the old blocks, but freshens them up.
Matt Macomber: Plinko
We are working on circles in the quiltmaking class I am teaching, so I was attracted by quilts with a variety of circular motifs. The quilt pictured right is based on a pattern published in the Kansas City Star called My Graduation Class Ring. He said that the setting is an exploration of the streak of lightning setting. I am not a fan of the salmon color, but like the quilt in general. I really like the block. It has been on my list to try for awhile. Also, I think the salmon and jade green go together very well especially considering the era of the blocks (1940s).
Matt Macomber Bow Tie quiltMatt Macomber Bow Tie quilt detail
He put together Bow Ti blocks into a quilt, which has some great details. One details was the way the fabrics were placed. He received the blocks the way they show up in the quilt, so he didn’t place the fabrics. Despite the bold nature of the block fabrics, the block background really highlights the individual blocks.
The background around the blocks (not in the blocks) and the way he placed the blocks in the quilt were excellent choices. In this layout, Macomber is, again, studying the streak of Lightning setting. It is subtle, but the viewer can see it once s/he knows what to look for. I like the border print as well. I think it suits the blocks. All of the exploration makes me want to make a Bow Tie quilt.
Rosy by Matt Macomber
Somewhere Macomber found 8 rose applique’ blocks from the 1930s. He used them as an exploration of a setting using partial blocks. I am sort of interested to know how he kept parts from unraveling or fraying?
Rosy, detail by Matt Macomber
I really like the border. It reminds me of some older P&B fabrics. It wouldn’t be an obvious choice for the Rosy quilt, but it works very well.
I am not a huge fan of partial blocks, but this quilt makes me look at it over and over. I don’t think it is just the border, the traditional border. I think one element is the partial blocks. They form a sort of implied border around the four complete blocks. I also like the 8 patch blocks towards the center. They further highlight the full blocks.
Check back. I will write more about the quilts on display from the permanent collection in another post.
Isn’t Sedro-Woolley a funny name for a town? I looked up the history and I guess Sedro-Woolley is better than the original name of the town, which was Bug, because of all the mosquitos. Regardless of the name, we still visited Quilting Foxes. The name makes no difference to me when there is fabric involved. I suppose the shop is in the old downtown area, though I don’t really know. It seemed like an old downtown area.
Cascade Fabrics front
When we arrived, I was surprised to see two fabric stores right next door to each other. Cascade Fabrics has, apparently, been in business for 40+ years. It is more of an old time sewing shop. It had clothes patterns, fabrics on rounders and all the notions for sewing clothes. My Mom said it reminded her of an old Woolworth’s store like she visited when she was a kid.
Quilting Foxes front
We went into Quilting Foxes first. I had a bit of a fabric hangover from the abundance at Calico Creations, but powered through. This shop was really different than Calico Creations. It had fewer bolts and all the fabric was on shelves. I saw a number of fabrics I liked.
They had a large number of bolts from the Dit Dot Evolution line and I thought for sure I could get the grey I have been wanting. Once I got the bolt up to the counter, the grey had a brown tinge to it, so I passed.
Quilting Foxes: front of store
The shop had a lot of Japanese fabrics and supplies. There were tons of indigo fabrics, books from Japanese authors, and Sashiko supplies.
The shop also had a lot of other stitching and embroidery supplies. They had the full line (or close to it) of Sue Spargo’s Eleganza Perl cotton. I almost swooned! I need to find a project where I can use the thread I have. The BAMQG Improv quilt isn’t cutting it for me.
Quilting Foxes: book wall
The books which tempted me were bag books by Japanese authors. One was by Akemi Shibata called Sew Beautiful Quilted Bags**. I can see where one of these bags would take months to make. The embroidery and applique are exquisite. I would never do that work. What I love about the bags is the shape. The same is true about the Yoko Saito book** I bought recently.
I liked this store and would have bought more if I didn’t have such a fabric hangover from Calico Creations.
Quilting Foxes Quilt Shop & Gallery
822 Metcalf St
Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284
360-399-0324
shop@quiltingfoxes.com
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
If you thought Sew Creative was good, you will love Calico Creations. We found Calico Creations accidentally on our way to the post office. I had seen the listing on Google, but thought it was a chain upholstery shop. There is a decorating/soft furnishing shop with a similar name near me so I ignored the listing. I am so glad we ran across it. This is a GREAT shop.
Calico Creations: front to back
It was great for a number of reasons. The shop had A LOT of bolts of fabric. Their shelves were mostly 3 bolts high and then bolts were stacked in front of the shelving about 6 deep. They had just gotten Curiouser and Curiouser in as well as the new Anna Maria line, Bright Eyes. I haven’t seen that number of KFC bolts in one place in a long time. I saw Philip Jacobs fabrics that I have never seen on the bolt in person. There were bolts everywhere and then there were more bolts. I saw a lot (A LOT) of fabrics I wanted, but I tried to keep the yardage numbers down.
They had a large number of notions, rulers and other quiltmaking tools.
Calico Creations: Book Nook
There was a book nook with a comfy chair nearby. My Mom sat there for a minute and browsed some books. For the first time ever, I saw some Tilda books. I have wanted to see one for awhile, but CC had them and I was able to take a peek. One I looked at was Quilts from Tilda’s Studio**. I also took a quick look at Sewing by Heart**, which had small projects like pincushions. I like the soft colors, but the books are mostly projects and I need more out of a book than more projects. I saw an issue of Simply Moderne, but didn’t take the time to see if it was worth $20. I have an issue at home and one quilt I want to make from it.
Calico Creations: Front of Shop
Calico Creations: Front of Shop
Calico Creations: Front of Shop
CC had a large number of sample quilts. I saw a few bags, too, but their sample quilts were stellar. There were a lot of them and the fabric and color choices were great. I keep looking at various Quilts of Valor type designs and have wanted to make one. The shop had a flag quilt displayed that I thought would make a nice Quilt of Valor.
Calico Creations classroom
The classroom is large and roomy. I think it could easily hold 10-15 people sewing at one time. It is, obviously, not in use at the moment except for the large number of $6/yard sale fabrics. Above I said they had a lot of fabric. This sale room wasn’t even included. There were tons of bolts here, too.
The shop was busy as well. Not crazy busy, but people were coming in and going out the whole time I was there. I couldn’t turn around without seeing someone in the shop. The shop owner must be doing something right.
The staff was super friendly. They were eager, but not too eager, to help. They chatted with us while my fabrics were getting cut.
Calico Creations: new fabrics
I bought some super bright fabrics, including a couple of Philip Jacobs prints.
I only bought two yards of the pink and orange flower print, so it won’t be a dress. The flower urn fabric was an impulse buy as was the Tula Pink True Colors fat quarter pack at the bottom, right. I blame my mom. She was talking to the lady at the counter and giving me more time to shop. I bought the rubber ducky fabric (one is flannel) to make pillowcases and some other gift items for my YM’s partner. I really just wanted a bit of the Curiouser and Curiouser. The two books were on sale and I thought I would fill in my collection. I hope I had it right that these were the two I didn’t yet have.
I highly recommend this shop. If you visit one shop in Washington, go to Calico Creations.
Calico Creations
400 S 1st St
Mt Vernon, WA 98273
Phone: 360.336.3241
Email: calico@cnw.com
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
After 18 months, I am on the road again. I drove almost 1000 miles north to see my YM who has had two bouts of non-COVID illness in the last month. I needed to see him for myself – see that he was getting well, see that he was taking care of himself. Since he was the only one who was not fully vaccinated (though he is now), I felt confident in traveling.
I want everything to be like it was, though I realize it isn’t so I put on my mask and go forth in the new normal: looking at others wearing masks and seeing so many closed shops and restaurants.
Sew Creative, Ashland
On the way north, we stopped in Ashland, Oregon. It is a beautiful city and I took some time to venture to a quilt shop.
Sew Creative was crammed full of everything quilty: fabric, kits, patterns, notions, etc. I thought the shop was a tiny bit overcrowded and a little dark, but I liked the overcrowding because there was so much stuff! Also, it was a little dark because the walls had beautiful wood. Neither made me not want to go there again. I had to decide if I was going to visit again on the way back!
Sew Creative: inside front window
One of the things I saw (but didn’t buy) were a couple of interesting bag patterns. The shape of the bags were pretty normal, but they had some interesting detail. One had a diagonal pocket (like the shape I cut with the Simple Folded Corners ruler). It is in the middle of the counter in the photo. The other, which is hanging in the photo, right, has a scalloped top edge.
This section had some Figo Linen/Cotton blend fabrics that were a little like canvas. I bought two 2 yard pieces and plan to make some bags out of them. I have heard of Figo fabrics and seen them in quilt shop newsletters, but hadn’t seen them in person. Since this was the first quilt shop in which I had set foot in 18 months or so this should come as no surprise.
Sew Creative – books racks
I also saw a large selection of books (photo left). They had about 3 full racks of books. I didn’t look closely at them, but I noticed several I have not seen at other quilt shops or had never seen. The shop had a GREAT selection of embroidery stitch books.
In the books photo you can also see a sample quilt. The shop had a number of sample quilts around the store. I am not sure if the samples were for classes. There was a straight list of classes, but there were no photos, so I’m not sure what types of classes they were and I didn’t ask.
Sew Creative: back to front, right side of store
This photo is looking from the back of the store towards the front window. You can see the beautiful wood on the ceiling.
There were several tables scattered throughout the store with various displays. Many of them held a project or kit. I didn’t look very carefully at the kits, but I did notice there was a huge selection, so anyone who didn’t want to make decisions was in the right shop.
I bought a couple of gifts and the shop staff was very helpful with them.
Sew Creative: back to front, left side of store
The back of the store was a little brighter. The ceiling was white and that helped. Don’t you love the black and white floor? I do!
There really was a lot of stuff in this store and looking at the photos, I realize how much I missed. Most of the bolts of fabric by color were housed in the back of the store. I found some turquoise dot dash fabric. They had quite a bit of Philip Jacobs for KFC prints and I spent a long time looking at them and dreaming. I also found a few red-violet prints to replace the ones I have used up.
Sew Creative: back of the store (L to R)
In this photo, you can see how many patterns are available. There were a wide variety of non-quilt patterns. I saw placements, a number of different bags, some garments. I also noticed that many of the patterns were from designers I didn’t recognize. I didn’t find it difficult to see the patterns, in terms of lighting. That is one of the things I enjoy about visiting quilt shops in different areas.
In the photo, left, you can also see the shelves of fabric at the back of the photo. That is where I found the dot dash fabric.
The other thing I noticed was the shop was very clean. I don’t know what they have been doing during COVID restrictions, but it looked like they turn over their stock quickly.
Fabrics I bought at Sew Creative
The grey stripes and the black stripes are the Figo fabrics. I am going to use the white, which I think is Grunge fabric, to redo my inspiration board. The Laurel Burch fabric will be a gift. The shop had a great selection of Kaffe fabrics. I bought that shell (?) sea urchin (?) print. I also replaced some of my red-violets.
I highly recommend this store. I will definitely stop again next time I drive through Ashland.
Sew Creative
Address: 115 E Main St, Ashland, OR 97520, United States
Phone: +1 541 482 1665
Bunny Hop was the third shop I visited. I have been there before and liked it again.
The owner was super friendly and helpful. The shop was pretty light – again it is housed in a Victorian, so light can be a problem.
There was a good selection of notions, patterns and display projects.
ByAnnie products
As at Ocean Waves and Stitch, I noticed a lot of ByAnnie products. I was surprised that all three shops all had some supplies beyond just patterns. They had mesh, foldover elastic and some hardware. The owner told me that they have someone who teaches the ByAnnie patterns locally. I don’t really have a shop I would consider local, so I guess I can’t expect them to have patterns. I do like to see examples of the bags made up, as Stitch had, as well as the actual colors of the products.
I thought the cabinet with the pre-cuts was a very nice piece. I have no where to put it, but I like the color and the fact that items can be displayed. It is a good piece for a shop.
In the back a few ladies were preparing for a retreat up the coast in Trinidad. I don’t know where that is, but they said it wasn’t very far away.
Bunny Hop: End of hallway
In the hallway, the shop had a selection of patterns. There were a wide variety of aprons and some embroidery patterns with examples and supplies. The thread was in the clearance room, however. They have a large selection of thread as I discussed last time I visited.
I saw some redwork and some dishtowel projects as well. The photo shows hoops as well as small 1930s patterns. I didn’t look very closely at the mini-quilt projects, so i don’t know if they were patterns or not. There were definitely some other quilt patterns, a Broderie Perse pattern as well as an embroidery pattern from the Girls Getaway collection. I also saw some EPP supplies.
I enjoyed this shop again even, though I didn’t buy much.
Bunny Hop Quilt Shop
Address: 1809 Albee Street, Eureka, CA 95501
Phone: 707-497-6356
Email: info@bunnyhopquiltshop.com
Website: http://www.bunnyhopquiltshop.com/
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I know you remember me talking about Ocean Waves Quilt Shop. I have visited this shop 2 or 3 times before. I think this was the first shop I went to on the North Coast. This is the first shop I visited on Saturday with Karen, one of the other NSGW wives.
Ocean Waves Quilt Shop, Eureka
The shop was full of fabric, patterns, projects, kits, notions, tools and supplies.
The lady who works the front counter was very friendly. Karen and I had talked about Jelly Roll Rugs and the lady was happy to show us a selection of patterns. She had the oval version as well as the square version. Karen isn’t a big fan of jelly rolls so she bought the square rug pattern and some of the pre-cut batting. She inspired me to make one of the square rugs, too. I already have some of the pre-cut batting and I will cut my own strips. I just have to figure out where to put it so I can select the fabric.
Ocean Waves Quilt Shop, Eureka-7-11 quilt
The lady also told us about their shop quick quilt pattern. It is called Seven-Eleven (I didn’t ask why) and is basically squares. You can see olive green quilt in the corner, on the left. I don’t really need a pattern or kit for that type of quilt, but if I was a new quiltmaker, it would be a good starting point. They had a number of pouch patterns including the Knot and Thread Design’s Hello Pouch. I need another pouch like a need a hole in my head, but there you have it.
The Seven-Eleven quilt kits were made from Laurel Burch fabric. Seeing the Laurel Burch fabric gave me some ideas for things I could make, so I bought a bit to use for gifts. I haven’t used Laurel Burch fabric before and was surprised at the wide variety of designs that were available.
Philip Jacobs Chrysanthemum Blue
I was VERY tempted by one of my favorite Philip Jacobs designs. I have a couple of lengths of fabric for dresses that I haven’t had made yet, so I restrained myself.
The shop looks very similar to what it looked like in the past. I think the first time I visited was 2010 and 10 years later it is still in business, which makes me very happy. There were a group of ladies sewing in the back.
Ocean Waves Quilt Shop
305 V Street
Eureka, CA 995501
(707) 444-0252
https://www.facebook.com/OceanWaveQuilts/info
I have been to Stitch a few times and haven’t always had the chance to write another review. I like to see shops that stick around and Stitch has been around for a few years now. I wrote about it in 2017 and I am still a fan.
When I drive to Portland, I will often drive up highway 101. After I get past Petaluma and Santa Rosa, the drive is pretty easy – not a lot of traffic and nice scenery. Often I will take a detour to Ferndale to stop at Stitch on the way to Portland or on the way back. As mentioned, we attended a NSGW event on the North Coast this weekend. The dedication was in Ferndale. If you haven’t been to Ferndale, it is worth the trip. It is a well maintained small town with a Victorian main street. I posted some photos of details of the buildings in a previous North Coast post. Stitch is right on the main drag and while it isn’t large, I want everything in the shop.
Stitch Ferndale – interior
I am trying to use 100 yards net (again) this year, so I decided I would visit quilt shops, but I would focus on looking at the projects displayed, the notions and patterns. The interior of Stitch is long and thin, but they have really packed great fabrics into it. I had to lighten up the photo as it came out a little dark, but the shop is not dark.
I saw a lot of bags displayed again and I was pleased to see that they had a lot of ByAnnie products. In addition to the bag patterns, they had a good variety of her handbag zippers as well as foldover elastic and mesh. I bought a couple colors each of the mesh and elastic.
Stitch Ferndale – Valentine’s display
I was surprised, though I shouldn’t have been, to see a Valentine’s display. One of the items shown was the Winter 2019 issue of Simply Moderne (#19). There is a pattern called Diamante in it that I think I will make. It is one of those patterns that is constructed in squares that looks like it is curved. Also, that is just a cool magazine. They had an insulated cup with a “Quilt Drink Repeat” saying on the side. I thought it would make great gift, but at $24.99, I didn’t want to buy it.
I went back later in the day with a friend and there were ladies there working on a really cool block of the month project. It is from Lee Heinrich of Freshly Pieced. I looked at the sample they had and thought it would be easy enough to make. I found it on Etsy and Lee has a lot of nice quilt patterns. I am not trying to make fun of the shop for doing the BOM. I actually think it is a great project for a shop. *I* just don’t want to do it.
Stitch Ferndale -Sue Spargo display
Stitch Ferndale -Sue Spargo display detail
The shop often has Sue Spargo teach. I have bought her thread there before. There was a display of her patterns and designs. I loved the book, but need to finish up some of my hand projects before I start on one of hers. Then, of course, I saw a fabulous circle sampler on Instagram when I got back. Sigh.
The shop was having a sale that day, so I got 20% off of my purchases, which was nice. If I had shown up before 8am in my pajamas, I would have gotten 35% off. I was sleeping then. 🙂
You really need to visit this shop. Make a trip to the North Coast. It will be worth your while.
Visit Stitch!
385 Main St
Ferndale, CA 95540
(707) 786-5007
I went off to the North Coast on Friday with DH for a Native Sons event. I like that trip because the drive up is beautiful, the area is very green and there are three quilt shops!
I have written about the quilt shops, Bunny Hop, Ocean Waves and Stitch before. I am going to update my reviews again in the next week or so, but I was so excited after visiting the shops and talking quilting with a friend that I just had to write.
First, I forgot how inspiring it was to visit quilt shops. I want to use up 100 yards this year, so I am trying not buy a lot of fabric. Still, I wanted to visit the shops anyway, so I focused on color, pattern, and design. I am feeling very inspired right now.
Quilt design inspiration chair
Inspiration, however, started early in the morning at breakfast at the hotel. The lobby had been redone and they had new upholstery. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the design. I noticed that there were jewels like ones that were discussed in the All Points Patchwork book. I reviewed that book a few months ago. Wouldn’t the motif make a great EPP quilt?
Modern Holiday Hearts
One of the things I saw in the shop was a Valentine’s Day Modern Holiday pattern. One of the things I love is the subtle “I love you” message. The hearts were made of up two different fabrics each. The variety of pinks in the example hung at Stitch made me really happy. I can see making a table mat out of one block.
Second, it was fabulous to talk about quiltmaking with someone. Of course, I seem to have quilting discussions all the time, but this was different. Karen and I only see each other at NSGW events. We got to exchange some views about quilting. I heard about her guild woes. We talked about our projects, UFOs and things we wanted to make. I was also able to get her interested in a Jelly Roll Rug** and the Quick Curve Ruler**, though I am not a complete temptress, because she picked up the Posh Pack pattern** before I extolled the virtues of the ruler**.
Talking about the Quick Curve Ruler** made me excited to get that ruler out again and make a couple of the patterns I have waiting in the wings.
After I got back to the hotel, I took a look at Instagram and was further inspired by what I saw. Melody Miller posted a fabulous leaf design. Kate Strasdin posted a dress in emerald and orange. You wouldn’t think it would work, but the color combination is wonderful. I don’t know if I have any fabric in that green color, but if I do I might have to replace the blue in a new quilt like my recent donation quilt with the emerald to see how it looks. Victoria Findlay Wolfe was also in my feed with a new Double Wedding Ring quilt. I love the colors and think that is what attracted me. The way she broke up the rings is also very appealing. Finally, I saw some great bags that a Japanese designer posted. Oh! That designer got a like from Ayumi and Chubby, who also make fun bags.
I am not sure if I got my excitement across. I can’t wait to get back to my machine.
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I originally planned to publish this post on September 19. Somehow, the time got away from me. While I did finish the Running with Scissors tote, this post has mostly to do with working with vinyl. I thought it might still be of interest.
Marking vinyl
One thing that happened while I was working on my project was I had to develop some tips/tricks of my own.
The pattern, in general, is really good. It says, however, in the vinyl pocket part of the pattern to mark the vinyl to make smaller pockets. It didn’t say how to mark the vinyl. I didn’t have access to the video at the time, which may have some tips. I didn’t want to use a Micron pen, though I know that the ink can be washed off of vinyl pretty easily. I also don’t have one of those wash away pens, so I decided tape would work. I used tape to mark the lines I needed to sew along.
Sew along the tape
I sewed right next to the tape. I didn’t want to go through it, because that would create a mess. This was tricky, because I also needed to sew with the vinyl covered by tissue. As I have talked about many times, you need to take care when working with vinyl. I didn’t have my teflon foot with me (duh, oversight), so I used the wrapper from the vinyl. You don’t need much, but you do need longish strips. The only issue was that there was a little residue left on the vinyl from the tape. I’ll clean it off later.
Sewing over zippers
The zippers from ByAnnie are gorgeous. You can imagine that I was a little annoyed when I had to sew over the zipper ends.
I had to open the zipper – move the slide to the center, so it wouldn’t end up on the wrong side of the sewing line. That left the end of the zipper tape flooping around. I wanted the zipper teeth that would remain in the bag (not cut off) to be as close together as possible. I held it together with some tape.
This project has a lot of steps, but it does go together very well.
