Sierra Sewing Center in Reno and Carson City!

As formerly promised in an earlier post it is time to discuss another Reno Quilt Shop-Sierra Sewing Center!

Sierra Sewing Center

Reno, NV

Hours:

Mon-Sat: 10-5:30 pm

Sunday: Closed

Sierra Sewing Center has two locations in Nevada.  Their largest store is located in Reno and a slightly smaller version can be found in Carson City.  (In fact, it is currently the ONLY quilt shop in Carson City!) 

In the Reno store, you will find the employees hard at work.  Owner, Linda Lakso and manager, Lori Whitworth, devote countless hours to keeping their shop ever evolving and exciting! 

This is one of several aprons on display in the store showcasing the hot, new apron patterns!

Lori has a famous way of greeting each and every customer and wants to make sure that every customer leaves the store having had a truly enjoyable shopping experience!  As a matter of fact, I think you could say that customer satisfaction is one of their highest goals.

They say that one of the most rewarding aspects of their business is to match the right person to the right sewing machine.  A good functioning sewing machine makes the quilting experience SO much more enjoyable. 

I've heard people say that they sew on their mother's/grandmother's/aunt's old machine from 19...(fill in the blank).  I'm sure that they're functioning fine but there really is nothing to compare with a new sewing machine.  The technology of the new machines will take your breath away.

And...it's very affordable with Sierra Sewing Center since they even offer Lay Away!! 

If you're at all in the market for a new machine consider buying from Sierra Sewing Center at the upcoming Quilt, Sewing and Craft Expo coming to Reno at the end of June, 2010.  

Sierra Sewing Center will be supplying ALL of the sewing machines for the Expo and will be offering some "dynamite prices" (as Lori says) on all of the machines.  They will be offering Pfaff Express 4.0's and Viking Sapphire 875's.  Each machine will come with a full warranty and free instruction in the store!!  If you need a machine, now could be the time!!

What is unique about Sierra Sewing Center?

I LOVE their Moda Bake Shop!  They always have a great selection of charm squares, layer cakes and jelly rolls.  They carry the newest fabrics not to mention those that you might have missed the first time around.  When I'm looking for Moda Bake Shop, I always try them first.  (And pssst....their prices are great!)

Also according to Lori, they just got in 100 BOLTS of blenders from Moda.  They have the full spectrum of colors!!  Whoo-Hoo!!!!  I know I'll be checking this out soon!

I love their new patriotic display.  Who doesn't LOVE red, white and blue!!

When I asked Lori and Linda what sets them apart as an independent quilt shop from the other chain stores they were quick to respond.  They pointed out that in their store you will always get Personal Attention.  Whatever you may need, they are there to help.  Not to mention, they know what they have in terms of merchandise and they can (drum roll please) FIND it!!

Linda said she is pleased to know that her customers think they have a great selection of fabric and a nice variety.  It is a compliment she often gets.  Their goal is to appeal to as many people as possible, she says.

Below is a quilt that can be taken as a class as part of the monthly "Scrap Therapy" program. 

Come September, Sierra Sewing Center will be participating in the Sierra to Sage Shop Hop as it prepares to celebrate its 3rd year this September 23rd-26th.  This year's theme is the Pony Express.  Their block will be featuring Applique and they will have a store sample representing their block.

There's no end to the creativity as you can see from the adorable quilted figures above.  It's not just about quilts! 

Lastly, don't forget that SSC offers a Fabric Punch Card.  Each yard of regular priced fabric is worth a $1 punch.  The first Saturday of the month is usually Double Punch Day (this day is subject to change so be sure and ask before you line up for your double punches)!!  On these days you'll earn $2 in punches for every yard of fabric.

Filling up your card means you've earned $20 in free fabric!  I don't know about you but I'm a fan of earning free fabric just from purchasing more fabric.  (Oh- the sacrifices I must make!  :)

Below is another adorable project from their Scrap Therapy classes.  They also offer monthly purse classes in the "Bag Ladies Club".  Too fun!

Their class schedule comes out quarterly so consider taking one in their comfortable classroom.  Here's a peek of their room...

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you've been inspired to stop by Sierra Sewing Center soon!  If we're going to keep our local quilt shops alive, we've got to give them our business!  

Take care!

Heather

Maui, Maui Quilt Shops...the FUN continues!

Today we made our way down to Kahului, Maui.  It just so happens there were two quilt shops within 1/2 mile of each other! 

The first quilt shop on our agenda was Sew Special in the Queen Kaahumanu Shopping Mall. 

OMG-this shop was Amazing!!!! They had thousands of bolts of fabrics.  Batiks, Hawaiian themed fabrics and everything in between!!

They have been in business for 32 years in the same mall.  One of the owner's daughters, Patricia, filled me in on the history of the shop.  She was SO much fun!!

After seeing how much fabric this shop had, I sent my husband off on his own to explore the mall.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Our second stop was at the Fabric Mart. 

Located just across down the street from Sew Special and directly across from Whole Foods.  This shop was easy to spot.

 

This was also a fairly large store but completely different from Sew Special.  This was not a quilt shop, rather they carried a huge selection of Hawaiian fabrics (on the roll) at extremely low prices.  Most Hawaiian prints were $3.25/yd.  They were more of a shiny shirt fabric rather than a traditional quilting cotton.

There was a medium size collection of "quilting fabrics".  However, these fabrics were not comparable to higher quality quilt shop cottons.  They were similar to the low end fabrics in JoAnns or Wal-Mart.  However, if you're looking for a deal, they were only $4.99/yd!

 
Done quilt shopping for the day.

Here's a peek at my "Stash Upgrade" compliments of Sew Special!!

Aloha!  Heather

More Quilt Stores in Maui- "Quilts 'N Fabric Land" in Lahaina

Another quilt shop can be found in Lahaina (west Maui) just one street over from The Needlework Shop.  "Quilts "n Fabric Land" is located in a multi level shopping complex on the main street AKA Front Street.

This shop was very difficult to find.  I had an address but didn't realize that it wasn't a shop on the street front.  Instead, it was located in a multi level outdoor shopping complex.  You know, one of those places with restaurants and t-shirt shops?

I finally found it on the second floor (right hand side) in the very back.  Here's a picture.

 They don't have a website so I sort of stumbled upon this by chance on the internet.

So here's the skinny.  It's not a huge shop but they do have a long wall made up entirely of quilting fabrics, lots of Hawaiian fabrics and batiks.  This was a nice selection of fabric, albeit not huge. 

The other side of the shop and the racks in the center of the floor were made up of completed Hawaiian quilt products.  Potholders, wall quilts, quilts, bags, purses etc.  These reminded me of every other quilted Hawaiian product I see in Hawaii, although they had a fairly large selection to choose from.

In addition, they also had a reasonable selection of "how-to" books on Hawaiian quilting.  There were quite a few to choose from and if you're looking for a how-to book, you could probably find it here.

I would not personally consider this a "quilt shop" but they did have a nice selection of Hawaiian related quilting fabrics. 

 Aloha!   Heather

Quilt Store Hopping in Maui...

**Please NOTE:  According to a recent visitor, this shop will be closing at the end of November 2010.    Sorry.....   :(



So...of course, I don't go anywhere without looking for ANY and ALL quilt/fabric stores.  I've found several so far and thought I would share!

First off...The Needlework Shop in Lahaina, Maui -click on shop name to go to web site.  (This shop is located in WEST Maui which happens to be where we are staying.)

Here is a photo of the shop. 

 It's just off the main street and very easy to find.  I went there because they said they carried Hawaiian quilting supplies and gave classes and I wanted to look into taking a class.  The cost is very reasonable.  Only $35 for all of the supplies and the lesson is free.  You get 2 1/2 hours of their undivided, personal attention.  I thought this was pretty good.

The picture below was borrowed from their website.  It shows what you basically get in a kit.  I noticed that they seem to use Batiks a lot for their backgrounds and I liked that a lot.  It was a nice change from the usual plain, solid. 

I spoke with the teacher and she was very helpful.  She gave me a mini demo of the process.  Basically, in the two and a half hours you will learn the entire process from start to finish.  How to cut the fabric (you cut it like a paper snowflake, where the fabric is folded into eighths), basting the fabric to the background, appliquing around all possible combinations (corners, turns, etc) and the final process of "echo" quilting. 

Overall, I thought this was a real steal for $35.00 for anyone interested in learning Hawaiian quilting!!

I've really thought about taking a class just for the experience.  I just keep holding back because needle turn applique is NOT my thing and I don't think it ever will be. 

Still considering it though!

By the way, they also sell completed pillow forms and small wall hangings made by employees.  Well worth checking out.  These really are a labor of love.

Aloha!  HEATHER