Quilt Shop: Piece By Piece, Eugene, Oregon

We don't get down to Eugene often, and when we do, we're generally just passing through. Since we were staying the weekend, I wanted to look up at least one local quilt shop. Checking my quilt shop app, I discovered quite a few listings.

Oftentimes these listings turn out to be long arm quilting businesses or shops that have gone out of business. We've gone on more than one wild goose chase, but in general, I like the app and use it whenever I'm looking for a quilt shop close by. The best way to find a good listing is to use the "map view". I chose Piece by Piece because they had a website...always a good sign. Plus, I can look up the hours.

There was a nice big parking lot to the right of the image below, and there was also some on-street parking, although you wouldn't need it.

Here's their business card. They were training a new employee the day I visited, and so I figure business must be good.

Walking in the front door, you see this...lots of fabrics. Something for everybody's taste.

They had their Christmas fabrics out.

To the rear of the store was a classroom, and I heard them discussing their beginner quilting class.

To the left of that image above was a nice shelf of sale items, including fabric, fat quarters, patterns, and books.

They had a nice supply of good-quality thread. To the left of the Presencia were some pretty Sulky threads.

Lots of fun buttons. I wish quilts required more buttons because I love buttons. Let's face it, I love all things sewing-related. What I really need are more hours in my day. Just now, I went in search of more hours on Amazon Prime, but I came up empty. It's the first time Amazon Prime has let me down.

They had a good supply of notions for a small shop...pretty much anything you'd need.

They also had several sizes of these Creative Grids rulers. These are my new favorite ruler. They have a non skid surface on the back, and I just like how they're marked. I'm gradually replacing all my rulers with this brand. They're great.

And just so you know I'm not kidding around, I bought this size that I haven't seen before...4 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches. I really like these smaller ones when I'm working with blocks.

Just beyond the notions, they had some pretty batiks.

They had a nice supply of quilt patterns and books, and they also had a lot of children's patterns, including the pattern for these two adorable bibs. Sigh.

Okay, and then I saw this.

Well, don't you know I snatched that pattern off the wall quicker than you can say Jack Robinson.

Did you ever wonder about Jack Robinson? Well, here's the skinny. It seems the phrase can be traced back to the 18th Century (when I was a teenager). It seems Jack Robinson was an English gentleman who changed his mind quickly. A person had to be quick to catch him in a decision. But don't take my word for it. Check it out for yourself right here.

Okay, and I picked up a few fabrics along the way. As I was standing at the cutting counter, I was looking back the other direction. Here's how it looked from deeper inside the store. Nice light coming in from those windows.

So what did I take home? Well, you know I needed this.

And I liked these next two for bindings.

And you know I'm collecting fabrics for my 365 quilt when I go into quilt shops these days. Since we were in Eugene specifically to visit the Cascades Raptor Center, I chose this owl fabric. It was the closest thing they had to represent a bird of prey. 

Surprisingly, they didn't have any University of Oregon fabric. "We don't do that," I was told. "You can find it at Joann," she finished with a sneer. And who can blame them for not wanting Ducks in their shop? What do Ducks do but walk around quacking and sh*tting all over the place. A Beaver, now, that's an industrious little bugger, although I'll admit to not seeing any Beaver fabric either.

So I really liked this shop, and I give it my highest rating of five out of five rotary cutters

for their well-organized and brightly lit store, their wealth of fabric and notions, and their smiling faces devoid of support for Ducks. We'll visit again if we find ourselves in Eugene, and you should too!

*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.