Okay, so I feel like this is a little unfair. Only because those of us in the greater Portland area are REALLY REALLY fortunate to have several wonderful fabric shops from which to choose... Bolt, Pioneer Quilts, SewPo, Hollyhill, The Pine Needle, and though it's questionable whether this falls into the appropriate category, there's always Fabric Depot.
BUT, none quite compares with my home away from home away from home - Cool Cottons - in its individuality and character. Probably because no other shop has Marie. Nor an entire inventory based on her unique tastes.
The Organics Alcove!
I was initially hesitant to share my endorsement with the event at the heart of this "Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day" for fear of crossing a conflict of interest line (I'm one of those lucky gals who gets to work part-time at her favorite LQS), but in scouring their page and the photo contest rules we didn't find anything to deter employees of the individual shops from participating. So I decided to add my photo to their photo contest, open until 11:59 PST tonight, January 24.
Some of the friendly critters you might have the luck to meet on a visit to Cool Cottons... gathering to say "Goodnight!"
I actually took over half a dozen photos trying to capture just the right image to share. I hope this one goes over well...
And as a little boon, she's been giving away some fun "free with purchase" fabric samples like these:
The bag was dwindling by the time I hit the road this afternoon, but if you're in SE Portland there might be a few little gifties for the taking - and 4 more hours to shop and get photos to enter in the contest!! And even if you don't have a chance to enter, go and vote for your favorite photo, starting at midnight Jan. 25th! But most of all, keep the spirit of this throughout the coming months and patronize your favorite places so they can continue to be there for you! WE LOVE LOCAL!