Closed
My favorite quilt shop closed this month. I rarely get emotional over a business that ends--though there was the restaurant where I had my first date, and rehearsal dinner, with my husband. But the quilt shop wasn't just a "store".
People who love fabric know what I mean when I say how warm and luscious it is to be surrounded by walls of beautiful material. How you can walk among the rows of batiks, solids, whimsical prints, and how you just can't help but reach your fingertips out and touch it.
And then there are the friendships you strike up in a place like this. My first quilt teacher, a vibrant, charismatic woman who loves bright bold prints like I do. The employees who got as excited as I did when I had to coordinate 12 fabrics for a quilt, and it became a team effort. They loved seeing the finished products, and shushed my protestations when I didn't have something just quite right. And the owner, who was quick to order special items for me, and who wore me down into buying a *real* sewing machine (and do I owe her a debt of gratitude for that!)
Then there's the fact I taught my first quilt class there......that it was a haven when I was feeling a little stressed, a short little trip to a much-needed dose of fabric therapy. Even if I didn't purchase anything, just being in that room of color soothed me.
When I got the announcement they were closing, I literally had tears in my eyes. It went beyond knowing that I'd have to drive quite some distance to get quality fabric and quilting tools (the cheapo low-thread count fabrics just don't do it for me). It was losing a small community of like-minded people (mostly women) who share the same passion I do about quilting. Thankfully we'll all still be able to get together. And I can only hope that someone will see the same promise, the same charm in that shop, and it won't be long before I'll be seeing "Opening Soon".
posted by Angel @ 2:14 PM
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