12/28/21

Quilt Shop: Lavender Rose Fabrics & Retreats; Eureka, California

Good morning, my friends. How cold is it where you are? 

When I'm finished with the laptop computer each morning, whatever I'm using it for, I put it in sleep mode and then set it on the floor, leaning against the exterior wall of the RV. When I pick it up, it feels as if it's been sitting on ice. Maybe I need to make a little quilt for it, to keep it warm you know. Certainly it must be against the law for a quilter's inanimate objects to go uncovered, wouldn't you think?

We decided to run our errands yesterday, and there was a quilt shop in the mix. It isn't the one I intended. When we drove by the first one, it appeared closed, despite what their website said. Also, the windows were boarded up, which didn't seem like good news at all. Instead, we went to Lavender Rose Fabrics & Retreats, a very small shop off the main drag in Eureka.


This is how it looks from the entrance. I'll say I was prepared to be underwhelmed at such a humble greeting.


When I stepped through the front door, it looked like this. A disembodied voice greeted me, followed by the body attached to it. I don't know if she was the owner, but the woman working there was friendly and chatty.


It was a small shop, but it was stocked with lots of fabrics. They had some pretty batiks, and lots of ocean scenes. There was also a nice supply of prints representing indigenous peoples. I looked closely at those with the Blackwork Baskets project on my mind. They were tempting, but I already have plenty of those to finish off my quilt.


There were lots of panels too, and you can see them decorating the walls of the shop. I didn't take a lot of pictures in here, simply because the size of the store allowed me to capture most everything with just a few shots.


Toward the back corner was a table with sale fabrics for $7 per yard. There were a couple here I considered as binding fabrics, but then I remembered my bins back home are stuffed with fabrics I purchased to use as bindings. Really, I don't need any more. There was also a wall of notions here...the usual suspects. A few rulers, needles, rotary cutters and blades...the essentials.


There was a nice supply of Kaffe Fassett prints. I love these, but their scale makes it difficult to use them for anything other than quilt backs. Maybe I just need more imagination.


It was a fairly quick in and out for this shop. It was worth the visit to see such a surprisingly large and diverse selection of fabrics in such a small shop. I would go back again if we visit this area in the future. It was tempting to choose something "ocean" for my regional print. I settled for this snowflake print. 


The swirling background made me think of snow on the beach for some reason...maybe because it was shelved with the ocean stuff. I bought a yard of it. I need only about a 9-inch square for my Shop Hop quilt. The rest will get used some other way.

In other news from yesterday, I filled my hoop again on the Blackwork Baskets piece. I'm estimating I'm about 2/3 finished with this now.


The weather has been chilly, with rain off and on. There is a nice river walk just across the street from the RV park. We're expecting relatively dry weather this morning before the rain starts up again around noon. I'm going to don my rain gear and go out one way or another. There has been entirely too much sitting for the past several days. Also, it's unlikely we'll be back here again, and so I'd like to see the area at least a little bit.

If you're enjoying this post, know that it was written under careful snoopervision by Smitty. 

Glad that I can be of assistance. You're welcome.


Mike will be heading out briefly this morning, but I'm staying in. I'll do a little more slow-stitching and then get out for that walk. Christmas has set me back some on my diet goals. A little exercise will do me good.

10 comments:

Barbara said...

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

Darlene S said...

Shame that another quilt shop was boarded up. I hate to see that happen. But what a delight to find the inside of the small quilt shop to offer so much to quilters and what a nice treat to your time in this community. Also wonderful that there is a river walk nearby. Smitty did a great job "snoopervising" today's post. Pretty cold here in So. Cal., but not as cold as where you are. Over night we've been dropping to ~34, daily highs in the 50's, with a cold brisk breeze. Still, ok to go for a walk outside (between showers) if you wear gloves and bundle up. More rain forecasted for the coming week. We really need it, but wonderful to hear many of our lakes in California, as well as water reservoirs are filling up. Yippee!

Joni said...

A computer cozy! I guess it could be a larger version of a tablet sleeve. It is 30F, cloudy with 5 melty inches of snow on the ground in the Willamette Valley. I love river walk trails, enjoy!

Ioleen said...

It’s -28C with wind chill it’s -35C. That’s -18F and -31F. I’m staying put in my sewing room!!

Jenny said...

Its Summer here in my part of the world, and we are currently staying in Napier where the temps are generally much warmer than our home town, it was 30C the other day.
I'm relaxing in the camp working on my stitchery project under the shady awning, and it's rather nice enjoying the balmy early evening temps after dinner.

Dont know about you but I sometimes get overwhelmed when I visit a new to me quilt shop, too much to take in if I dont have anything specific in mind.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

A cute little shop with a lot of good stuff in it. Hey, you are going south for the winter - and it is snowing! Good print to mark the trip.

Julierose said...

Beautiful snowflake fabric--I love it!! good choice on that--
Your basket is coming along so well. I am ready to turn the heel on my sock--I need quiet time with no interruptions for that...;000

It was 39 here this morning...and got no higher than 42...a chilly wind DH tells me--I didn't go out either..[Stayed in with Mr. Sciatica]--

I did a little "secret" quilting on a delayed Christmas gift this morning and
hope to get it finished tomorrow...trimmed and bound and labeled--we'll see how it goes...hugs, Julierose

piecefulwendy said...

I'm sorry to hear the other shop was boarded up, but glad you found this one to meander through. Hope you were able to get out for that walk!

SJSM said...

Lots of weather reports from various places in the world. I finished two jigsaw puzzles while doing laundry. What an exciting day. Cleaned up after guests and getting ready to have guests for dinner New Year’s Eve. Then split pea soup for New Year’s Day.

Safe travels as you go south. Sounds as if weather could be interesting for you as you head south.

Lyndsey said...

Closed quilt and fabric shops seems to be the story all over. Several near me have closed. The larger shops that do online orders, longarm quilting or classes are fairing better. I am also trying to lose the weight gained over Christmas. How does it manage to go on so quickly but take so long to lose again?