Independent Fabric Stores

Sometimes spur of the moment shopping can be a good thing. On the other hand there is trying to figure out what to do with spur-of-the-moment purchases.

While our friends little girl’s Birthday Brunch was coming to an end, it was apparently decided those of us crafty folk were going to a fabric shop in Battle Ground. I had a cake to deliver in a couple hours so there were a few trepidations on my part, but not enough to stop me from going anyway. My partner decided to stay with the husbands and I went with the wives and if I hear one crack about it…

So since the other two had a few too many mimosas with brunch, I drove to a little shop called Country Manor. Or so I thought it was a little shop. The space is pretty large and wherever there is room there is fabric, either on shelves or the floor if the shelf space is full. While the clearance room was a little overwhelming trying to find anything as it wasn’t really laid out with a plan of any sort, or at least none that the analytical part of my brain could identify, there was so much to choose from that it kind of made it like a treasure hunt.

The rest of the shop had an order, usually by brand and designer and/or line. Seeing the wide selection of Moda Solids made me drool and I wish I would’ve gotten a couple yards to work into a few projects, or maybe some of the lightly patterned monochromes for a little interest. Ah, this tight little shop filled with just about every fabric line imaginable was like a dream for me. And yes, they had the precuts I so adore in Charms, Honey Buns, Jelly Rolls and Layer Cakes. I didn’t find the Layer Cakes until I was about to check out, but as I was looking over the Jelly Rolls I instantly picked one up that I liked and was perusing the rest when another caught my eye and I swapped them. Funnily it was also by the same designer who did the line for the quilt I am currently working on, but that shouldn’t be too surprising that I would like other works by her as her eye for color coordinating are amazingly similar to my own tastes. It was fall-like and I thought it would make a nice autumn throw.

As I was going through the plethora of Charms I saw one called Figgy Pudding which looked incredibly fun and wintery and would go with our Christmas décor well, so I grabbed one. I then decided I needed two so I could make a throw with alternating squares. What those alternating squares will be I don’t know… maybe I’ll have to pick up a couple more Charms or may get the Layer Cake and alternate simple Charms 4-patches with the larger Layer Cake squares. Hey, I didn’t say I wanted to get too creative with it, I just really like the pattern. But that is at least three quilts away before starting it, so we’ll see where I go when I start it. Besides, I really want to make a few for either my Etsy shop or a Holiday Bazaar I’ll probably be doing this winter at our church and maybe both if I get rambitious. Of course, if I need to get more fabric, I’ve got a more local place to go and some good friends who will join me and offer their expert advice.