Tag: Travel

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Here, Karen saw the Posh Pack pattern** from Sew Kind of Wonderful. I extolled the virtues of the the Quick Curve Ruler**. I mentioned this the other day. The shop had a Jelly Roll rug example, so Karen was able to see one in action.

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.

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/

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item you click on. 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

As I mentioned yesterday, I am just back from a trip to SoCal for a Native Sons event. I have mentioned the Charitable Foundation in at least one previous post along with its mission to help children with craniofacial anomalies such as Cleft Palate. If you want to make a donation, use the form.

While the boys went on a tour of a local historic playhouse, a friend and I went to a quilt shop. I was initially disappointed because of the small size of the shop, but quickly found that Cat’s Quilting Corner is a great shop.

The front entrance is a little hard to see, but it is right on the street. There is no sign sticking out from the building, so you have to look for the other businesses, park and trust that it is there.

The front of the shop is a little worn looking, but the inside is bright and fresh with, what looks like, a new floor.

There were a small selection of fabrics, which was my concern. The fabrics, however, were primarily modern and well curated. They had 6 shelves of solids and another two-four of tone-on-tones.

Across from and next to the shelves of solids were prints. They had about 12 shelves of prints. Most of the prints were current. It didn’t look like they were trying to fob old fabric off.

The shop also had a nice, if small, selection of patterns and notions. I saw some new-ish patterns from Elizabeth Hartman (formerly the Oh Fransson blog) and others as well. I didn’t see any bag patterns, but I did hear the owner/manager say she could order anything. There were the usual types of notions and tools: rulers, mats, pins, rotary cutters, etc.

When we arrived, the owner (or manager) was giving a lesson to a lady who had been frustrated by a class at Joann. The room in which they were working was light filled and fully equipped. I did get the impression that they had another classroom upstairs, though I didn’t see it.

Their online presence is wonderful as well! They will cut out a quilt or some blocks for you! This shop is definitely worth a visit.

• 941 1/2 Foothill Blvd. Monrovia, CA  91016
• Tel: 1.626-256-0153
• Email: catsquiltingcorner@gmail.com

The other day I wrote about the Calico Mermaid. The second shop we visited was Thimble Towne. It was closer to the hotel, but we went to it second. I think SIL #2 was right in going to Porterville first. It was a long drive and I might not have done it if we had visited Thimble Towne first.

Thimble Towne is a large shop. They sell BabyLock sewing machines, have a large amount of fabric, embroidery designs and projects as well as notions and tools for both quiltmaking and embroidery.

It is nice to see shops with lots of fabric. Again, I didn’t buy anything, but I was tempted by some Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics.

I did like the embroidery patterns and projects. They had a number of ‘in the hoop’ patterns. I no longer have an embroidery machine, but I like the idea of embroidering something that can be immediately made into a project. The projects were small like key chains and change purses. I might like to have an embroidery machine available to me to make projects like this whenever I felt like it. I don’t want to invest in a machine, though.

The shop had a fair number of batiks. They didn’t have as many solids as I would expect, but, perhaps, they are not following trends like the Bay Area shops do. I saw a wide variety of fabrics and think that they do a good job catering to different types of quiltmakers.

The shop had a class sample for a travel notions tote. There was no pattern with it, but I am hunting for one, because it looked like a super useful bag.

I asked about a pattern and the shop owner (worker bee?) said that there was no pattern for sale, but that someone taught a class regularly on making the tote. This is not a convenient option for me, but I might try to collaborate with Lynette to make a pattern of our own. It might be a good bag to give to officers.

I worry that I just like the challenge of making the bag and don’t really want the bag. After all, I have the Tool Tote waiting to be filled. The tote at Thimble Towne has some very useful features, however, including a small pressing mat, many zipper pockets, slip pockets and mesh pockets. It might work well as small project tote – or a tote for various small projects. The tote has features that other bags I have made have. I think the construction may be similar to the All Rolled Up Tote, in part. The slip pockets and other pockets could be customized, but I have made similar ones before.

Thimble Towne also had a large classroom (sorry about the vacuum cleaner! I didn’t notice it until we were already gone). Not only is the classroom large, but it includes high quality chairs. I also saw cutting and ironing stations set at a good ergonomic height. The shop really takes good advantage of the space they have.

Thimble Towne has two locations and I recommend a visit.

Visalia Location:
400 West Caldwell, Suite F
Visalia, CA 93277
Ph: (559) 627-5778

Bakersfield Location:
2841 Unicorn Road, Suite 103
Bakersfield, Ca 93308
Ph: (661) 399-5778

I recently returned from a week in the beautiful Central Valley where I attended the Native Sons of the Golden West Grand Parlor. Grand Parlor is the organization’s statewide convention. As you may remember, my DH was Grand President in 2016-2017, so he is now a Past Grand President. He has a lifetime vote, which is one reason he enjoys attending. I enjoy seeing some of the ladies I have met in the past. Mostly, I go because DH and I get to spend a dedicated week together. I have gotten him interested in audiobooks, so we listen and have book discussions on the drives.

What I enjoy when I go on these trips with him is visiting quilt shops. While I didn’t buy anything (shocking, I know), I did visit two shops. Somehow I missed the outside sign in this photo. Not sure what I was doing.

The Calico Mermaid is in downtown Porterville. It was about 45 minutes from where we were staying in Visalia. Google Maps got us there, though some of the roads seemed a little odd. Also, not all of the roads have street signs so we had to go on faith a little bit.

The shop is very bright and cheerful. I think it was all painted white and the shelves were see through metal. The wooden shelves were white. The local area was very bright, but the decor and furnishings of the store made it light-filled.

In the photo, left, you can see the umbrella, which I thought was a unique and fun touch.

There was a lot that I liked in the store. I was particularly drawn to the area with violets this time. I am not sure why. That isn’t a color I use particularly, but I saw some fabrics I would have purchased. I didn’t feel like I was in the mood. I was also thinking of my fabric spreadsheet and how much I have used recently.

I felt like they had a lot of fabrics. In addition to the violets, there was a great shelf of dots that was very tempting.

The shop had a wide variety of notions and patterns. I didn’t see a lot of bag patterns, but, perhaps, I missed those? My SIL was my partner in crime on this outing and she was able to find some nice fabrics.

There was a class going on. It was some kind of finishing class or UFO class. The people were laughing a lot and it seemed like they were getting things done. I am a big fan of quilt shops using their classrooms. Finishing/UFO sew time are a really good way to get things done. Sometimes having people around really motivates me to make progress on my projects.

Visit the Calico Mermaid, Downtown Porterville’s Quality Quilt Fabric Shop
122 N. Main St
559-793-2510
georg@calicomermaid.com
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 10 – 6, Sunday 1 – 5