Last week I went for a little field trip and visited this shop in downtown Temecula California.  It’s Quilter’s Coop, and I had a great time there.

Joann, shown here helping a customer, is the owner and I had a great time chatting with her about different aspects of her shop.  She proved to me again that most of the shop owners I’ve encountered, as well as people who work there, are friendly and helpful.  And cheerful.  And probably brave and thrifty, too, but I don’t really know about that.

When you walk in the front door, you enter what I came to think of as The Americana Room: full of primitives and reds, whites, and blues and flag quilts and all sort of things to get you in a patriotic mood.  I loved the flag quilt on their deacon’s bench up front, with the use of the different colors for the flag blocks.

Cutting table in the Americana room.

Her table displays are inventive and have a mini-quilt or two, along with some fun antiques.  This fits in with the general tone of downtown Temecula–that of a frontier Western town, with lots of cute shops and antiques.  One of my favorite shops in Temecula is the soda place–with tons of different kinds of soda to choose from (I do like the Route 66 root beer). But I digress.

Here’s the Christmas room, which they were getting ready for the Southern California Quilters’ Run, happening this coming weekend (and next, too). Click on the link to see a map, as well as information about the run on the weekends of June 18th and 25th.

This quilt, titled “The Reason,” is designed by Laural of Simply PutPlus Patterns, who works at Quilter’s Coop (and who cut my fabric for me).  I saw quite a few other patterns I wanted as well.

Next to that was this display of Lighthouse Fabrics, as well as the ironing board.  I must have ironing board covers on my mind, but I picked up a pattern to make myself a new cover.  I’m sure you know by know (after looking at all my pictures of my ironing board cover) that I am in serious need of a new one.  Or maybe I just shouldn’t take anymore pictures of my ironing board.  Either one. . .

Quilter’s Coop has just about everything: holiday fabrics (Halloween, above), a few novelties, a wall of 1930s, a sale room, a room dedicated to creams and white, a corner for batiks–as I was shooting pictures I kept thinking of how to write about this shop.  How about this: they have something for every style of quilter.  Here are the photos to prove it:

I had a great time shopping here, the attitude personified by this sign that hung over the doorway to their classroom.

I loved the look of this–stacks of colorful fabrics, pins hanging from hooks, and the orange cutting mat.

Here’s my takeaway: the ironing board cover, a selection of brights, and fun prints–including a lovely fabric from Japan.  If you go there, they are on the corner of 3rd and Old Town Front Street, across from the market.  They have a parking lot next to their store.

Note: if you are looking for the Red/White Challenge, it is the next post!

Monday.  A very pretty Monday at that, just the thing for a little field trip.

Intrigued by their Red/White Quilter’s Challenge, I headed south to the Temecula Quilt Company.  They give very good directions on their website; it is located in a newer section of Temecula, more suburban than the Western-themed downtown Temecula.

Our Quilters Run begins at the end of June and this shop is getting ready.  They’ve divided up our large Southern California area into four sections, and each section has a season.  This area is Winter, and their cute winter quilt is displayed on the table at the front door.

I obtained permission from Sheryl Johnson (above), who owns the shop, to take some photos.  So here’s my little tour.
First up, notice the little mini quilts hanging behind here.  More on that later, but you’ll see them throughout the shop.

Temecula Quilt Co. is orientated around Civil War Reproductions, with fabrics predominantly in the creams, tans, and deep tones of the color wheel.  Sheryl has lots of great displays everywhere to entice the quilter into diving into the creative process of making a quilt.

On Monday mornings, they have a sewing group that meets, and by paying a small fee, you get the expert advice a fellow quilter.  I love how the quilts are displayed on the wall–lots of inspiration to keep the machine humming along–or at least that’s what I assumed, since the quilters were really going to town.

They have their own line of quilt patterns.  A “Monthly Mini” program exists that allows you to receive a kit for a mini quilt, and get the pattern too.  I think mini quilts are a good way to try out designs and techniques without investing in huge amounts of time or money.  When I used to take a lot of classes from designer quilters, I finally learned to make a mini quilt, which guaranteed that I would finish the quilt more often than I did when making the bigger (even wall-sized) quilts. You can always learn new things from field trips, I think.  Another good reason to break out of the sewing studio routine once in a while and hit the road.  Here are some more pictures of her shop:

More quilts arranged over a rack (I was taking this from the back, so that’s why they’re upside down).

Detail.

She has a Red and White Challenge going on. {Details are •here•}  Bring your Red and White Quilt into the shop by September 15th, or if you are too far away, send a photo.  Head to her page for more info.  And come back tomorrow for my own little red and white challenge!

When we were up in Utah over the holidays, I stopped by Piper’s Quilts and Comforts in Salt Lake City.  It’s in an area of the city known as Sugarhouse, not too far from where my husband lived as a teenager.  It’s housed in an old home, on 1944 South 1100 East and their phone number is (801) 484-5890.

The front porch had two quilts hanging from it–one was this very clever one of different colors of snowboots for skiing.

The other was this frilly and fun apron quilt with cool scalloped edges.

Open–come on in!

The first thing I noticed was another quilt, hanging on the back of the apron quilt, framed by little hanging baby shoes.

I asked for permission to take photographs–always a good idea.  This makes me wish I had babies again (almost).

The main room is filled with bolts of fabrics, books, yarn and on the back wall–a display of old hats–an homage to the woman who used to live here (I think–my notes/brain is fuzzy on this one).

More fabrics in the room on the other side of the stairs, and I found this shop a pleasant place to be on this cold, rainy day.

I thought using a tub and a sink was a clever way to showcase goods and trims.

More fabric bolts.  The young woman who helped me said they’d just had a huge sale, but I still found things I wanted to buy.

I love those applique blocks on a red background!

A Christmas tree quilt up on the side wall, near the cutting table.  It’s always fun to see shops all festive for the seasons.

To the right of the Christmas tree quilt, was this window of blocks (detail on right) that the shop owner was making.  Great inspiration–I think it would be fun to string blocks that I’d complete in a clothesline fashion like this.  (Melissa over at ISLY blog has a tutorial that might work for me.)

I just washed up some of the fabric I bought there–in preparation for the Lollypop quilt I’m making with my friend Rhonda.  My husband went with me on this little expedition, but slipped out to wander through the shop across the street: 10,000 Villages–one of his favorites.  I was happy with that because it left me more time for browsing.  I enjoyed it all, and hope to come back next time I’m in town!