SW Washington Fall 2009 Quilt Shop Hop: Shop #2 - Just For Fun! Quilting, Vancouver, Wash.

From quilt.g33k

The front of the Just For Fun! Quilting shop. And half of my mom's upper torso. I probably shoulda cropped this photo...

---

Just For Fun! Quilting's name actually amused a bit. I told Mom I was going to open a shop and name it QUILTING IS SRS BUSINESS. Then I was reminded of the movie "Happy Gilmore" with Ben Stiller threatening to extended arts 'n crafts time by many, many hours! :D

The shop was interesting to look at because it had two HUGE longarm quilting machines. As I've only seen one in real life before, it was pretty impressive. The fabric selection was pretty minimal, but had some interesting choices. The best part was their block quilt, which was hanging on the ceiling! A girl that was working there giggled when I lay down on the floor to take a photo. Another lady told me to go ahead and make myself comfortable.

As a photog, odd positioning is just something I don't notice anymore. In fact, it's normal.

Without further ado, here's Quilt Shop Hop Shop #2:

SW Washington Fall 2009 Quilt Shop Hop: Shop #1 - Art 'n Sewl, Vancouver, Wash.

Kim Mason, my mom, right, and the owner of the Art 'n Sewl quilt shop in Vancouver, Wash.

---

This year is my first Quilt Shop Hop. Actually, it’s my first year as a quilter, too. Being a novice, however, does not make the Hop any less fun than if I were a hardened veteran.

My mom and I loaded up the car around 11 a.m., typed the first quilt shop address into our trusty GPS, and drove south on I-5 towards Art ‘n Sewl in Vancouver, Wash. Our goal for the day was to hit five of the 20 quilt shops on the passport list.

The name of the first shop, Art ‘n Sewl, is a cute pun on the phrase “heart and soul,” which this shop quite obviously had. Walking through the door, I was greeted by a very friendly shop owner and a most adorable shop dog.

For those of you unfamiliar with quilt shops, it’s quite common for the owner to keep a small dog around. Said dog gets oo’ed and aah’ed over and usually slipped treats and nom noms and generally treated like a prince(ss).

The space was smaller than some shops I’ve been in, but I was thoroughly impressed by the sheer amount of cheer, color and life hanging on the walls. There were some really amazing quilts.

Now for the photos!

---