Portland Oregon shops
 

I will be in Portland in July visiting my DS and DIL. My DIL would like for me to make a Christmas quilt for her. It would be great to shop for fabric while visiting them. I would like to shop at a row by row experience shop so that I can get the license plate, too! What shop would you recommend that is participating in RBR and has a great collection of Christmas fabrics. Ps. I know that I will have limited time so can only go to one store. We are staying downtown and they live on NW Everett. Thanks!

Fabric Depot in Portland is a shop I would not miss. It's not a quilt shop - won't have RBR or lots of quilts on the walls or things like that - but it has a huge assortment of quilting fabric, also patterns, notions, batting, thread, etc. It has a huge assortment of Christmas fabrics in season, but probably not this time of year. The prices are lower than most quilt shops, and lots of fabric on sale all the time.

Wellll.... there are a LOT of quilt and fabric stores in and around Portland, and they all have different "flavors" - i.e., one store specializes in modern prints, another carries nothing but repros. There's even one that focuses on flannels. Most of them do a fairly good job of carrying a little of everything. There's a store in Vancouver that carries nothing but Moda.

Most of the quilt stores are outside of the downtown core area and would require driving. I agree with Dunster, Fabric Depot would be a great place to go if you can only hit one store - it's massive. It's on the SE side of Portland, 122nd and Stark.

If there's anything specific you're looking for, or you tend to like a certain "flavor", let me know.

Fabric Depot is listed on the "Row by Row" website as a participating vendor. As long as you're this close, you may want to hop across the river to Vancouver and get a Washington plate, also.

Oregon shops: http://www.rowbyrowexperience.com/oregon.htm
Washington shops: http://www.rowbyrowexperience.com/washington.htm

I'm amazed that Fabric Depot is part of RBR. I didn't realize they participated in any of the quilt shop hops or activities. Of course they always run sales when there are big quilt shows anywhere around, and they usually have a booth at the larger shows. But the sales ladies, although very nice, don't often have much quilting experience, and there aren't that many quilts hanging on the walls. It's not a place to go to get inspiration, unless you get your inspiration from the fabric. But it is a spectacular place to shop for fabrics! Now that I've moved to SoCal I am going to miss being able to visit Fabric Depot on a regular basis.

I'm surprised at how different your experiences are from mine! There are probably 15-20 quilts hanging from the ceiling in the quilting cotton section, plus another 10-15 on the wall over the doors. It may not look like a lot of quilts, because the store itself is enormous, but if you compare how many quilts are hanging in FD to how many are hanging in your LQS, I think you'd be surprised to find the number is very comparable. And every time I've chatted with a clerk, we've discussed quilting challenges, techniques, and designs. I think in the 20+ years I've been shopping there, I've run into maybe 4 clerks who didn't quilt. They were, however, able to direct me to another employee who could answer my question or help me with a problem.

Fabric Depot is the Costco of fabric. Check their website ahead of time to get current sales & coupons. If you have time - Sisters Quilt Show is July 11th. I agree with 'Peckish' above, the clerks have always been helpful. Fabric is displayed by vendor so if you are after a particular line it is easy to find. This is not a place for a quick visit. There are also knitting supplies, lots of notions, thread, etc.

Maybe Cool Cottons might be close to you too? I just pulled up Portland OR quilt shops near Everett street. Cool Cottons has 3 plates for RBR. http://www.coolcottons.biz/

My experiences with Fabric Depot have been more often good than bad. I live about an hour south and sometimes, I even shop the website before I go and have my purchase "Hold for Pickup" so no shipping. They have regular sales, you can get the latest mailer with coupons if you sign up for the newsletter on their website. The last time I was there I couldn't find what I wanted for a backing and the clerk talked me out of buying a plain muslin, saying I wouldn't be happy with how much it would shrink and I should look elsewhere for something to match my batiks. If I could only go to one shop in Portland, this would be it. www.fabricdepot.com

There are a lot of awesome shops around that area, have fun. Fabric Depot is great for a big store.

Fabric Depot is a great place to buy fabric, notions, etc but the they do not have as many discounts as they used to have. It still is a must see since they say they have an acre under the roof which includes sewing machine sales.

Wow! Thanks so much for all of the information! I just hope my family will give me time to shop! If not this time, there is always another trip in our future. At least until they decide to come back south!

Fabric Depot for sure. My best friend went there last year and she told me it is as big as Home Depot. YIKES! Don't get lost.

Check out M & L Fabric near Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland. I like them even better than Fabric Depot. You won't find quilt samples at M & L but they have some great bargains, especially in the flat fold section.

Thanks again for the suggestions. I went to Fabric Depot yesterday. Wow! The train ride from downtown was worth it! They happened to be having a store wide sale plus an outdoor area sale. I bought enough fabric for a twin size bed, some notions and a small ruler all for under $100. The experience of the store itself was wonderful. Everyone who works there was extremely helpful.

Thanks so much for all the info. I'm off to visit my niece on Tuesday. She lives in Washougal in southern Washington and Portland is only about 30 minutes away. She just asked me today if I had any place special I wanted to go. Fabric Depot - here I come!
Oh and quiltsrfun is so right about M&L Fabrics in Buena Park. I hit them up about 4 times a year. Their flat fold section is awesome for quilt bacing material, especially for really large quilts.

Okay go to FD first. Then you can check out Fiddlesticks Quilt Shop in Vancouver, Country Manor in Battle Ground, and Craft Warehouse in Vancouver on Mill Plain. Craft Warehouse is a craft store similar to Joann's or Hobby Lobby, but they have an excellent quilt shop with high-quality fabrics. They also have flat folds at very affordable prices.