My friend Beth and I headed over to Pacific Grove to explore Back Porch Fabrics, located in Pacific Grove, California, just up the road from Carmel and next door to Monterey, California.
It has nice high ceilings, an abundance of quilt samples, and lots and lots of interesting fabric.
The sale table, easy to find because of its umbrella, and since they are located near the coast (you can see the ocean from their front door), a beach umbrella makes perfect sense.
Some shops like to carry lines of fabrics, but I found Back Porch Fabrics unique because they carry a LOT of different lines, but not all the pieces or colorway in each line. I found this to be invigorating, as I saw many interesting and new bolts of fabric.
They’ve grouped their black and whites together.
These are not all blenders, but instead different novelties, patterns, and designs, grouped by color family.
Dots and little sewing machines!
They carry a wide range of Kaffe Fassett fabrics.
In talking the person who was cutting our fabric, she said that since they are the closest fabric shop to Asilomar (which runs quilting seminars), they need to be able to provide a wide range of fabrics. They also had a section of traveling fabrics for the tourists who stop in.
Solids.
A view into the classroom, by the side of their wide selection of books.
I’d love to take a class here, with all the interesting quilts on the walls. Apparently these quilts switch out, as they can be an exhibit from one quilter.
Fat quarters.
The cutting table is in the center of the main room, a beautiful solid wood table. Wood is everywhere, which makes me feel like these shop is here to stay. In talking with another customer, she confirmed my suspicion that this began as Back Porch Press Patterns (I have a couple of those), and the shop has been here for 17 years.
If you are ever in the Carmel/Monterey area, leave time for a stop here. Pacific Grove also has a lot of cute shops to browse and if you are there at lunchtime, head to Red House Cafe, which is a couple of blocks from the shop. Amazing food, and quick, so you can head out to the coast. (Don’t forget to pick up their Red House Signature cookies: Oatmeal, Apricot and Pecan cookies.)
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 
Drooling! Love your shop recaps, this one looks like a place I need to visit 😀
This is such a lovely shop. Interesting factoid: I was there like the second day they opened–they were still frantically folding fat quarters. And I have spent enough over the years to fill up a couple of punch cards. Oh, and also taken a machine quilting class. The class was very good. Not that I actually put anything I learned to good use…my fault, not the instructor’s.
You have convinced me to shop there. Love all of your pics! You are right, a class in that classroom would be a hoot!
I’ll have to make sure I stop there next time we are in the area. It looks like a fabulous shop.
We were there several times when living in Marin County and always spent a good deal of cash. /there is also a lovely yarn shop near by. How I miss California!
I’m glad to see the multitude of shops with you.
I remember going to Back Porch as part of the Shop Hop by the Bay event when I was a teenager – my mom, her quilter friend, my sister, and I did the whole Hop a couple times (more than a dozen shops!). I think I still have fabric stashed from there. Thanks for triggering the memory.
Absolutely wonderful shop which I have visited each time I have been on holiday in San Francisco. I get e mails advising on classes which I would love to attend but as I love in Scotland the distance is the main challenge for not participating in these classes.