Goodbye Portland, Hello Seattle

Day 5:  Dad and I started the day at the Saturday Market (even though we went on a Sunday and the market is in session both days).  I didn't see any fruit and vegetable vendors.  Mostly hippie stuff like tie dye shirts, incense, pottery, photography, some food booths and the like.

There were some handcrafted items but there were also some booths with odds and ends from China.

After the market, we drove to Cool Cottons.  I liked the store.  Actually, it is very similar to where I work part time.  They carry a lot of Japanese fabrics from Yuwa and Echino and they definitely have a "modern" fabric selection from Alexander Henry, Robert Kaufman, etc.  I could have done a lot of damage but I didn't want to just buy stash.  I have enough fabric (I can't believe I just said that) and want to be able to buy fabric towards a particular project.  Anyway, the store has a great selection and I was able to visit with the owner.  Interestingly, she doesn't offer any classes.  There are more and more sewing studios in the Portland area which offer classes and machine and sewing space rental but no fabric at their studio.  I visited one of them out of curiosity and the rental rate was $8.00 and hour to use one of their Berninas.  I think it's a bit steep and they weren't the friendliest so I won't mention their name in my blog.

Dad and I stuffed ourselves at Petite Provence.  Dad had a HUGE Monte Cristo sandwich and I had a Goat Cheese salad.

(Photo from the Internet)

After lunch, we headed off to Seattle. 

Here are some photos of our Sew Oregon shop hop yesterday.  Here's Mary Kay from The Pine Needle.  She was very helpful.

Here's the exterior of Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe. 

Here's a shot of the ceiling at The Wild Pear.  I think it would make a spectacular quilting pattern.

Here's the exterior of Greenbaum's Quilted Forest.

And finally, here are some pictures of some beautiful fall foliage. 

Day 6:  Dad and I took the ferry to Vashon Island.  I've never been to the island before but the Island Quilter was recently featured in Better Homes and Gardens Quilt Sampler magazine as one of the top 10 quilt stores.  It did not disappoint.  Here is the famous Kaffe Fassett wall featured in the magazine.  The Island Quilter has the newest Kaffe Fassett fabrics, as well as some of the retired designs.  They carry approximately 700 bolts of Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably and Philip Jacobs fabrics.  That doesn't even include the shot cottons.

Paul Robinson, one of the owners, regaled me with stories of Kaffe Fassett.  Kaffe visited the store twice and taught classes both last year and this year.  He taught a peicing class, a knitting class and also lectured on color.  Paul has his own private stash of retired and hard to find Kaffe fabrics.  He even sold a fat quarter on Ebay for $50.00!!!  There's even a sign on the door which states "In case of quilting emergency, please call xxx-xxx-xxxx".  I love that.

Here is Paul with my tiny but lovely fabric purchase.

The store is packed with tons of fabric.  Here's just a small section of their batik selection.

And they also carry yarn.  Trust me, I could have easily spent an entire day in the store and Paul was just so warm and informative but I wanted to visit the rest of the island.

I would DEFINITELY recommend taking the ferry ride over to visit the Island Quilter.  The fabric selction is fabulous and Paul is very warm and friendly.  He even recommended the restaurant across the street for lunch and gave us a 10% off coupon.  The Hardware Store had a great selection.  Dad really enjoyed his crab cakes.

After lunch, dad and I drove down to the light house.  As I parked the car and got my jacket, dad pointed down a trail to the light house.  I took his word for it and we went through a wooded area and muddy trail going downhill.  We were both a little apprehensive about our little hike but I kept telling dad to pretend like we were on the Amazing Race.

Finally, we reached the light house.  It was closed.

And as we walked around, we found a paved road leading us back to the parking lot.  It was an uphill climb but at least we didn't have to go through the woods again :)

After we got back to Seattle, we stopped at Carriage Country Quilt Shop.  I used to frequent this store when I used to take business trips to Seattle as it is close to the airport and they are open late.

They carry a lot of wool, embroidery thread (DMC, Cosmo, Week Dye Works) and primitive fabric and kits.  They are also very friendly and helpful.