Hi all,

I'm traveling to Italy in a few weeks, and I was wondering if anyone knew of any quilt or sewing shops in Italy? I always like picking up fabric during my travels.

We will be going to Rome, Florence and Venice. Any information or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

My DD was there a few months ago. She didn't see any quilt shops in any of those cities. She was there touring for 3 weeks and said she did look. But I'm guessing not too hard. :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

I found nothing in Florence or Rome when I was there in 2008. And I specifically looked. I did find one fabric shop in Rome that had some cotton on the second floor, buried. It was extremely expensive (over 100 Euro/meter and not what I would consider putting into a quilt.

Same thing in Paris although I did find one quilt shop run by an American that was selling the same fabrics we can get here for about 19 Euro/meter.

I think a trip to Europe is not the time to plan on quilt shop hopping. :)

I have sent fabrics to a friend in Italy because even with the shipping, it was cheaper than getting it there. All over Europe crafts tend to be more expensive.

I could find great yarn in England, which does make sense but couldn't find any really good quilting fabric. When I went about 8 years ago, I had my friend take a picture of me in front of the shop empty-handed to prove that I hadn't bought anything.

No fabric? How sad. But there a other wonderful things to see in Italy.

I would go there to eat! Absolutely scrumptious food.

I heard leather goods in Italy are very nice...shop for a purse!

Are you going on the Country Heritage tour? I am. If not there is going to be a textile fair and quilts are being shown for the first time. Mostly fabric shops with beautiful silks ect. I looked on line for quilt shops and couldn't find any. Have a nice trip

I checked out LonelyPlanet.com at the following link:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/sh..._order=popular

The second one listed seemed the most relevant, Bassetti Tessuti in Rome.

ETA link: http://quiltinggallery.com/quilting-bloggers/c/105/
Quilting blogs in Italy - you may poke around on these and find some ideas for shops,etc.

Lived there for 3 years..if you really want quilt quality fabric you won't find it in Italy!
You can find some cotton flat folds at local markets, and some better cottons at a dress maker's shop, but they don't have quilt shops!

Not sure where you will be in Italy but Ercolano is the Garment/Costuming district and I found you could buy scrap bags of various fabrics/yarns/trims there pretty reasonable. Of course that was back when the $ to Lire was really good...now that the $ is in the toilet and Euro reigns, things are not cheap in Europe!

90% of my customers are in Italy, France, Australia, Canada, Brazil and Russia....They spend big too as even with duty taxes and shipping it is so much cheaper!

and do not forget about Lemoncello!!!!

LOTS of Churches and fountains..ehhehehe

I lived in Naples, Italy for over 2 years, I just left about 3 days ago. I found reasonably priced material at the outdoor markets. Learn your Italian numbers to haggle and you can find some great finds! If you go near Naples, Caserta is a big market where I'm sure you can find some material.

you get on facebook and friend Alex Veronelli....he is MR Aurifil thread! HE knows Italy as he lives/works there!

Also, I used some of the fabric in my quick strippie FMQ, the blue checked material, from an outdoor market. I just posted some pictures.

I miss the markets around Naples...I remember when they opened the big Caserta market and was so happy to offer the AMERICAN's (mostly military wives) a public bathroom.....imagine our shock when we found it to be nothing more than holes in the floor that you had to stand over with only a curtain to pull in front of you..heheheh

Italy was a great place to live if you could over look the filth...we always told our visitors look at Italy from front door UP....and always carry your own toilet paper!

That is too funny! I was so ready to come back to the US. It was a good experience, but it definitely made me glad to be an American!

Since there is not a quilting tradition in Italy there aren't many shops. I go to a couple in Milan and one over the border in Switzerland but they are expensive. We pay from 18 to 20 Euro per meter! Quilting fabric is not produced here. Most is imported from the USA or Japan, some from England.

Hope you enjoy your trip. There is so much to see in all three cities and they are so different. I love Rome and Florence but Venice is magic!

Pippa

not me...I was having great fun touring all over Europe for those 3 years....I made great friends in Sorrento, Brindisi, and more up and down all the coasts...I was never at home in Pinetamare, always packing up the kids and heading out on train, subway, or car....it was a great time!

I've been to these cities a few times and only found a few fabric stores in Rome and they were extremely expensive so I didn't purchase anything.

I am posting some info that might help. received this from a contact/friend that lives in Italy. website of national association, the addresses of shops www.quiltitalia.it/////per Rome (Lazio) asks the delegated regional anne.justo @ fastwebnet.it For Venice (Veneto) rosettacorbetta @ yahoo. com For Florence (Tuscany) [email protected].

not me...I was having great fun touring all over Europe for those 3 years....I made great friends in Sorrento, Brindisi, and more up and down all the coasts...I was never at home in Pinetamare, always packing up the kids and heading out on train, subway, or car....it was a great time![/quote]


I had fun, too. It was the first time I was overseas and I meant that I did not appreciate all of the conveniences and familiarity of being in the US. After not being in the US for so long, it made me really appreciate my own country. Glad you had a great experience!

Been back in the US for almost 10 years. While stationed in Germany for 9 before that found quilting cotton very expensive. It was inported from the US. Kind of takes the fun out of it when it was the same stuff I seen in a quilting catalog only 4 times as much.

Oh No...Not Italy. Germany is not much better in my area but I found a member that is willing to take me to a LQS in Bavaria but she even admits getting a great deal of her stuff in the U.S. I miss home so mcuh!

We were at Bitburg GE for 9 years. I loved it but the LQS fabric was 36 Mark a meter. That was 10 years ago or more. We mail ordered everything. I do have some very pretty shirting that a friend gave me. But it was clothing cotton.

I was in Florence many years ago, before I was a quilter, and found beautiful tapestries at good prices in a little shop. Maybe you can get something like that, made in Italy, that you could incorporate into a quilt. Just one idea.