Quilter's Coop -- Temecula CA

Whenever I'm in Temecula, I have to stop by Quilter's Coop, not only because it's a great store, but because my friend Joann Maxson owns it. So Mikey and I zipped in to see what was new, which shows remarkable forbearance on Mikey's part because she's not a sewer, a quilter, or any other kind of crafter. She puts up with me and my obsessions....

New fabrics are always arriving at the Coop and Joann and her staff are constantly rearranging to show off everything when we quilters visit, looking for fabric and good ideas for how to use it.


Took a picture of the baby project corner, mainly because the Cat in the Hat fabric was new, but then I noticed that the crib wasn't here last time, either....

And a picture of the Christmas corner. I had seen the pattern for the sampler quilt on the wall in a catalogue, but decided to buy it here. Of course, the quilt was much prettier seeing it in person!


These two shots give you an idea of how much fabric is in this store! It is large, spacious and has many, many bolts....

....as well as a lot of samples made up.

It was Friday, the day the weekly stitch-in of the Quilts of Valor ladies takes place here at the store. These quilts are made all over the country by groups of quilters and given to American soldiers who have been wounded overseas.

Shame on me for not getting this beautiful lady's name, but don't you just love how she has decorated her sewing machine? If one of you will supply her name, I'll amend the post -- thanks!

At right is Sue Cesa; I took her picture because of the patriotic name tag, but she also makes vintage inspired handcrafted jewelry. She had a few pieces for us to ooo-and-ahhh over....You can see her shop on etsy: click here.

Quilter's Coop is located across the street and down a building from The Wool Lady, making it an easy hop, skip and a jump from one to the other. The Coop's address is 28677 Old Town Front Street (phone: 951-694-3600). To go to their website, click here; to see my last post on this store, click here.

The Wool Lady -- Temecula CA

As Mikey and I wandered around Temecula, poking around in various shops to see what gifts and goodies we could find, we passed The Wool Lady a few times. I thought it was most likely a yarn store and would be worth a quick visit. On yesterday, our last day, we ate breakfast at a restaurant very close to The Wool Lady and decided to stop in.


There was a beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the front window; the Christmas parade was planned for yesterday afternoon, so all the merchants were decorated for the holiday season, both inside and out.

At first glance, The Wool Lady has supplies for knitters, rug hookers and embroiderers, but as I looked around I saw things that weavers would buy and probably other crafters, too.

I was intrigued by little brown paper bags with small pieces of folded wool in them; as I looked around, I realized that they were used for appliqued and embroidered wall hangings, such as the one below.

There were richly colored perle cottons, flosses and other embroidery threads....

...and a whole wall of patterns to inspire and get you started on your own wool project!

The hand-dyed yarns at left are just scrumptious and I had to touch them!

The pink is gorgeous, but look at the depth of color in those blues!

Here is Ruth Molina, The Wool Lady, holding a yummy yellow and pink scarf kit that I bought. Ruth said that she works in the shop all day, teaches several classes a week, and then dyes the yarns, fabrics and other items for the store after she gets home at night. WOW -- what a schedule!

If you are heading to Temecula, definitely visit The Wool Lady, located at 28690 Old Town Front Street, Suite 410 (phone 951-699-2900). Ruth even has her cell number (951-609-4817) printed right on the bag where she put my scarf kit, some pretty tissue, raffia ribbon and a pretty decorated old fashioned wooden clothes pin. So if wool is your thing, there is absolutely no excuse not to call her!

Temecula Quilt Company -- Temecula CA; And (I'm Sure You're Not Surprised) A Winery!

My friend Mikey and I have been taking short, 3-4 day vacations once a year for probably at least 20 years. Supposedly, we are going to visit 26 places with names representing the 26 letters of the alphabet, but since we haven't done them in any semblance of order, I don't have any idea of what letters are left, if we have duplicated any, etc. Complicating the situation is that because so many cities in California start with San or La or Santa, we've dropped those first parts from the names.

While I'm totally confused as to what's left on the list, Mikey has been faithfully keeping track all this time and I have every confidence that an accurate record of our travels resides somewhere in her condo. This year, we decided on Temecula....


Along with wineries, shopping and really good restaurants -- after all, eating at new, different places is one of the primary reasons we do this -- if there is a quilt store new to me, we will find it! I had been to Quilter's Coop in Old Town Temecula a few times before, but had never visited Temecula Quilt Company.

One of the things that really impressed us was the number of classes on the schedule on the bulletin board above, sometimes two in a day! Lots of things to keep customers busy and coming back into the store.


The shop's focus is Civil War reproduction fabrics and patterns. It's not a large shop, but space is used well to display fabric and every wall is covered with quilts in this style.

Anyone who admires or is interested in making a quilt of this type would definitely want to come to this shop....

This picture was taken over a low wall separating the main part of the store from the classroom. You are looking at the back wall of the classroom and all the quilts hung there. Temecula Quilt Company was featured as one of the 10 shops in the Quilt Shop Sampler magazine last year and I would be willing to hazard a guess that it was chosen because of the number of quilts on display.


Getting ready for customers, cutting fat quarters and smiling! One of the ladies was using a pair of electric scissors to cut the fabric; at first, it was funny to hear the "buzz" of the scissors rather than the softer sound of a rotary cutter....it's really fast, though, she was getting a lot of fabric cut!


More gorgeous quilts on the walls....

Temecula Quilt Company is located at 33353 Temecula Parkway, #103, in Temecula CA (phone: 951-302-1469). To visit their website, click here; to visit their blog (which has pictures of their applique block of the month), click here.

One of the wineries we went to today was Wilson Creek, known for their Almond Champagne as well as other varietals. This picture is of a very large building near the tasting room. They do a lot of events here, so this is probably the building that houses the ballroom and other large rooms for weddings and the other occasions that they cater and provide rental space for.

At left is a shot over the vineyards which are dry and done for the season....

...at right is the bridge over Wilson Creek leading to another scenic area on the winery grounds.

I liked the grape cluster pattern etched, or imprinted, into the cement under our feet near the bridge.

What I bought: A bottle of the almond champagne, which is amazing with Mardi Gras king cake! And a couple of packages of funny Christmas party napkins.

Unfortunately, the restaurant where we wanted to have dinner tonight has closed, so in about a half hour, we'll be off on a search for yet another yummy meal! We're going back to our respective homes tomorrow, so we have to make this a really good one for our last evening in Temecula!

Teaching Embellishment by Machine at The Quilt Basket -- Tucson AZ

My second day at The Quilt Basket was an embellishment by machine class. This picture was taken just before class; I got to do all of my demonstrations on the BERNINA 830 above.

Most of the embellishments were done with monofilament thread in the bobbin. The only thing that you need to remember about winding monofilament on a bobbin is that you need to wind it slowly so that the nylon or polyester won't stretch as it winds. The pertinent feature on the BERNINA 820 and 830 machines is that the bobbin winding speed can be set, all the way down to 12% of normal if need be. You can also specify how full you want the bobbin; for this purpose, I set it to 50%. After winding the bobbin and threading up, I was ready for class.


This bolt of fabric from the store looked like it would be really fun to embellish; with it are some of my couching samples and the latest issue of Quilting Arts magazine...

...a closeup of some of my couching and beading samples; in the morning I did a demonstration of how to couch down various threads and beads using some of the BERNINA presser feet and the dual feed feature of the 830 machine..

One of my embellished quilts was displayed in the back of the room along with needles and other supplies for class.


This is Lena Tsuruda, owner of The Quilt Basket and The Sewing Room -- another PINK girl!

Here are pictures of some of the workshop participants -- look at all the goodies that they brought to play with! Several of them had shopped at a store in town that had all sort of beads, ribbons and other trims at very low prices. They offered to take me there after class, but -- darn it -- I had a plane to catch!

Maybe next time?

The Sewing Room & The Quilt Basket -- Tucson AZ

My trip to Utah, New Mexico and Arizona ended last week with two days teaching at two shops that are located right next door to each other in Tucson AZ. Both stores are owned by Lena Tsuruda and used to be across town from each other. When Lena got the chance to move them together, she did.

The Sewing Room contains the BERNINA machines, a kazillion threads, embroidery supplies and designs, sewing machine needles and other machine related things. The Quilt Basket is a well supplied quilt shop with fabrics, books, patterns, notions and all the things we expect a quilt shop to carry -- and more! Both are beautifully decorated and fun to visit!

I started my photographic journey in The Sewing Room, but wandered all over both stores, camera in hand.....


The photo at left is part of the BERNINA display area; below is the BERNINA 820 on a frame with a beautiful star quilt displayed behind it.

This colorful and incredibly well-pieced, as in "You should SEE these points!", is the 2011 Raffle Quilt offered by the Tucson Quilters' Guild. If you would like to take a chance on winning this beauty, you can buy tickets at the Quilt Basket.


A glimpse into the Asian room at The Quilt Basket; Lena says she is ordering new Asian fabrics all the time for this part of the store and plans to expand this section.









Closeup of some fabrics and an issue of Asian Fabric magazine.

The fall quilt was particularly appropriate for the weekend before Thanksgiving!


This picture was taken from inside the store, but it is the front window display.....











...more of the same window display. Beautiful fall fabrics make a simple quilt special....

Some colorful quilts in the machine area....

Some pictures of the store show how well everything is displayed....

I've come full circle and am back in the machine area to get a picture of a smiling happy sewer and some of the beautiful threads....

I taught two days here and will post pictures of some of the fun things that we did!

The Sewing Room and The Quilt Basket are located at 6538 E. Tanque Verde Road, #130, Tucson AZ (phone: 520-722-8810). To go to their website, click here.