Quilt Shop: A Quilt Forever, Vancouver, WA
On my drive to Tacoma yesterday, I decided to stop off at one of the many quilt shops in Vancouver, Washington, just across the border from Portland. Since I didn't want to delay too much, I just looked at my quilt shop app (did you know there's an app for that?) and found the one closest to Interstate 5.
The app is pretty good at staying updated, but I usually call ahead just to be sure. In the case of A Quilt Forever, they have an excellent website, and I was able to click on that. I figure a live website is a good sign, and so I just drove straight there without calling first.
It's an easy and quick trip both getting off and getting back on Interstate 5, and the store was easy to find, located in a small strip mall.
(Check out the reflection in the window if you want to see the photographer and her trusty Jeep sidekick.)
As you walk in the front door, the cutting counter and cash register are directly ahead of you. To the right was a nice display of Christmas fabric. (I know...get ready, Cat Patchians...it's coming.)
To the left is a nice display of embroidery patterns and notions. Crabapple Hill and Bird Brain Designs were well represented, and since those are some of my favorites, I stopped off to drool.
While I was looking, one of the store employees approached me and asked me if I did embroidery. Does a bear crap in the woods? Is the pope a Catholic? Do cats bring in little furry critters and eviscerate them on your carpet? Actually, I didn't say any of that...I just said, "Why yes!" So then we started discussing the merits and drawbacks of DMC floss (which is what I usually use) and Cosmo. I've never actually try Cosmo, and both Crabapple Hill and Bird Brain Designs recommend it. So, the employee kindly gave me a sample skein of Cosmo.
Wow! I hadn't even been in the store one full minute, and they were already stuffing my pockets with freebies. I think I'm going to like this place!
So walk to the far end of the store, and this is what you see. It's brightly lit because of a whole wall of windows on the left. It's also neat as a pin with many colorful displays. I don't know about you, but when I walk into a quilt shop, I want to see COLOR! And this shop had it in abundance.
Square footage-wise, it's a small shop, but they've done a good job with the space they have managing to stuff bolt upon bolt of fabric on their nice stainless steel shelving. There was something for every quilter here.
Another employee was kind enough to open and hold this quilt up for me to take a picture. Cute, huh?
While it was tempting to buy out the whole store, I settled on this fabric, which I think is just cute as can be.
And this one...both colors are on one fabric. It's darker in the center and the edges are lighter. Wouldn't this make a pretty winter night sky?
As I was having my fabric cut, I noticed the cutest buttons in a bin next to the register. I sort of messed up my guild name tag when I tried to do one of my fancy machine stitches on the appliqued guild label. I was planning to cover it with a button or something, and then I saw this button. It's about as big as a nickel, and it will work perfectly for what I need.
As an Oregon resident, they didn't charge me any sales tax, even though the shop is located in Washington. And for spending over a certain amount (I forget the amount), they let me choose a free fat eighth. With Halloween approaching (even sooner than Christmas, if you can believe that!), I chose this orange with black stars. And they had these lip balms free for the taking in yet another bin.
So geez. What's not to like about this place? I'm giving it the coveted five rotary cutter rating for its friendly service, generous-with-freebies attitude, beautiful fabrics and easy access on and off I-5. For someone like me traveling north from Portland, it's a must-stop-in-shop. Definitely check it out if you find yourself traveling through the area.
*Disclaimer: Cat Patches accepts no advertising, nor any sponsorships. The opinions expressed on this blog are based on the personal impressions and perceptions of the author. They are formed on the basis of one short visit, on one day, and may or may not reflect the experience of others visiting on a different day. They are no more descriptive than a single snapshot image can be, and nothing written in a review of a quilt shop should be construed as objective fact. The reviews are strictly the author's subjective opinion and should not be interpreted as anything more.
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