Why I opened a fabric shop.
In fact, that’s just the first part of the sentence. The second half is more to the point. ‘Why I opened a fabric shop… in my house’, is the real question.
We live in Fergus, Ontario. If you’re unfamiliar with this neck of the woods, allow me to explain. Fergus (Pop. approximately 25k,) is situated in beautiful Wellington County, roughly two hours north west of Toronto, Canada. Elora, the most “influencer-ed” town for miles around, is our immediate neighbour to the west. In fact, Elora is so close, we can walk to it from our home in Fergus. Google Elora, and you’ll see what all the hype is about. Suffice to say, we’re happy to be here and not there.
While we’re relatively new to Fergus, having located here just under two years ago, we feel entirely ensconced in the community. This amazing little town has completely surpassed our expectations in a multitude of ways. The only thing missing is our closest friends and family. We’re working on it!
After settling in a few months, finding the local quilt guild and new sewing buddies, I learned there was nowhere close by to purchase fabric or sewing supplies. The closest town, Guelph, has a few options but that requires at least a half days journey. I also learned there had been a quilt shop in town but the proprietress closed during the pandemic. Coincidentally, her name is Virginia too!
Within a years time, I had started teaching classes at a local crafter’s shop. Its wonderful owner operator welcomed me to share her space. Sadly her landlady wasn’t quite as enthusiastic. Not daunted by this small set back, I pivoted and decided to set up shop at home, at least for the time being.
Our dining room has become increasingly ‘shopped-up’ with fabric, notions, sewing and quilting supplies and more.
While I may not be the busiest shop in town, I enjoy the opportunity to get to know my customers one at a time and in a truly unrushed and meaningful way. We chat about what we’re both working on, how long they’ve been quilting, which grandchild is taking to it best, friends and acquaintances we share, and what they’d like to see in a local fabric and quilting shop. I always learn something new about quilting and I hope I can share and pass on my growing knowledge to others too.
My lending library (with no limit on length of loan,) is stocked with magazines, patterns and quilting books I frequently find in my local thrift store.
My goal is to welcome both local sewists and quilters to my shop as well as online shoppers. I simply hope folks will think about visiting my shop as an alternative to what they have been used to. They just may find what their looking for and enjoy a friendly chat while they’re at it.
