I have lived in the bay area my entire life except for a brief period of time in my early 20's but I have never been to Gilroy. Nimble Thimble is a wonderful little shop located in Old Town surrounded by little shops and cafes. I wish we could have spent a little more time just walking along the main drag but we were women on a mission. Nimble Thimble has a little bit of everything. When you first walk in you will find pre-cuts and patterns galore. There is a huge selection of Bali pops, Moda Jelly rolls and an entire wall of patterns ranging from modern to vintage. It is a small shop but they have made a great use of the space with their fabrics peppered around the front and then concentrated in the middle. At the back of the store they have a cutting table and an area for classes. When we were there a woman was working at one of the back tables and picking her fabrics as she went from the store stock. One thing that I just loved was they had entire lines of fabric, not just one or two. In all of my quilt store travels I hadn't seen a shop that had all of the S'more love by Moda line, but they did. I bought a few fabrics for the Poe quilt I have planned. The owner was very helpful and as we were leaving with our purchases we asked her about other quilt shops in the area. Originally our next destination was going to be Morgan hill which is a bit closer to home but she suggested we try San Juan Bautista and even told us of a place that we must stop for lunch.
Off we went to San Juan which was a bit out of the way but we were on an adventure so why not? Family Threads is a good sized quilt shop with a huge selection of batiks. In the back they have a large class area and there was a class in session while we visited. If I lived closer I would definitely be taking a class or two here. There is a decent selection of novelty fabrics and their patterns are all together in one small room.
Now we went back to the original plan and headed back towards Morgan Hill. In this town there are two quilt shops fairly close to each other the first we visited was Sew Bee It Quilting. This is a small quilt shop with a large selection of Batiks and Novelty fabrics. It is a fairly small shop with a good selection and if you're in the area it is worth a stop.
Quilts and Things is the other Morgan Hill shop. It is bright and well stocked. They have a decent selection of blenders, a good sized class area and many patterns. One of the classes I would have liked to take was an appliqued felted wool block of the month. It was such a cute pattern and I am on the waiting list to see if they can send the blocks to me instead of having to travel to the store each month to buy the block.
At this point in our trip we had run out of time and knew that we would have to fight traffic so we headed for home. We hadn't visited all of the shops we wanted to and knew that there would be a shop hop part 2 in our future. The need to do part 2 came quicker than we had planned. I have been applying and interviewing for jobs this week and it is looking promising that I will have a new job soon. Due to my mother working weekends and me potentially working weekdays we had to plan the next trip quickly. Yesterday was the day.
Our first stop was a small shop in San Carlos called Laurel Leaf Quilts. This shop is located in Old Town San Carlos and has a huge selection of vintage patterns. They also had a couple of unusual polka dot batiks that my mother bought a couple of yards of. This is a small shop that doesn't carry entire lines but if you need some coordinating fabrics it is worth a stop.
Now it was time to head to Campbell and Golden Gate Sewing Center. Again, this shop is small but if you like Kaffe Fassett, this shop is for you. They have an entire section with every fabric he has out and always replace what they run out of. They also have a small selection of Japanese fabrics including textured. This shop is where I was able to find the elusive Roxanne Glue Baste It. Believe it or not this stuff is just plain hard to find unless you buy it online but it is worth it. I will tell you what I have recently used it for in my next post about the two classes that I took this week.
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Wish by Valori Wells from Intrepid Thread
Intrepid Thread is a shop that I have written about before but it is a must visit shop. They have entire lines of modern fabrics and I could spend my entire mortgage here if so inclined. It is a bright quilt shop with very helpful staff and the selection is unbeatable. If you are a modern quilter then run, do not walk to this shop.
Kimberbell "Home is where the haunt is" Pattern
Next shop on the list was Prairie Queens in Campbell. This is a big shop that from the outside seems much smaller. They have a huge selection of Civil War fabrics and a large section for wool felt supplies and patterns. They also specialize in kits and have kits available for many of the quilts hanging in the shop. I picked up a kit myself for a fun Halloween quilt called "Home is where the haunt is" that I am excited to start.
Last but not least on the hop was The Granary. This shop is located in Sunnyvale and I am so glad we stopped here. The selection of 1930's repro fabrics is huge and they have Novelty fabrics galore. There is one small section of Civil War fabrics and an entire wall of blenders. This was one of my favorites as I found fabrics here that I had never seen before including "Plug & play". I had to have it since my darling husband is a computer geek and I want to make something special for him soon. They also have a selection of Sarah Rose patterns. If you don't know who she is I am sure you will soon enough. Definitely check her out.
So, That is the shop hop. I hope that if you are in the area that you will visit one of the shops that we did.
Happy Quilting!
Key
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