A Brand New Stitchville

I remember 10 or 12 years ago when we used to have five or six different cross-stitch/needlework shops in the Twin Cities area.  Similar to what the quilt shops do today, they shop owners organized an annual needlework shop-hop and what fun that was!

Today in the Twin Cities our choices are limited and there is only one shop that has it all - Stitchville.  Earlier this spring, Deb was faced with an important and difficult decision; either she had to find a new location or close the shop.  Like many of her patrons, I'm so grateful that she chose the first option, but I know it has been a stressful time and a huge amount of work for her and her staff.  Stitchville was closed for two weeks in June and re-opened last Sunday (July 1) in a new, bigger and better space.

I had planned for weeks to be there on opening day (don't want to miss out on anything you know) but woke with a little "bug" that kept me in bed most of the day (thanks to my dear son!)  I had talked to friends who were there and even saw some pictures that had been taken by another friend, but I couldn't wait to see it for myself.  Yesterday morning I got in my car and headed for the new Stitchville!

The new location isn't too far from the old location; it's about 40 minutes for me from my home to the shop each way.  The new location is located in a strip mall just across the street from a major mall.  The new entrance to Stitchville:

Check out all the windows!  Lots of natural light inside the shop. If you've ever visited the old shop, you know that every inch of space was jam packed with all kinds of stitching related supplies.  This new shop has room to grow -- there is space to move around!  I was there shortly after they opened yesterday morning and there were quite a few stitchers there already performing their stash enhancement exercises.

From the inside looking out those front windows:

Here are pictures of just SOME of the fibers; when Deb decides to carry a line of fibers, she carries the entire line; it's all or nothing!  I just love all the glorious color in one place!

The Christmas wall in the back was all set up and the models were hung with care (in the hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there? - no that's a different story.)

And from the back of the store looking forward to the front of the store:

One thing I've always liked about Stitchville is that you can get up close and actually touch the fabrics.  Many of the most popular linens are already pre-cut in various sizes.  If you are trying to kit something up you can take the fabric over to the fiber wall and lay everything out and see how the colors work together.  Here's the fabric wall:

Any of the Stitchville employees will help you with a custom cut of fabric too.  Pat was working at the cutting table yesterday...I warned her that this was going on my blog!  Check out the models on the wall.

A few more shots...

The gals at the shop still have quite a bit of work to do; there still are a number of stitched models that need to go up on the walls.  As Deb said to me, "it's kind of like moving into a new house; it takes a little while to settle in and figure out where everything needs to go."

It's a great location and a great shop and I'm so glad that Stitchville will continue to be around for me and other stitchers to make our stitching purchases.  It's easy to shop at the online stores, but there's nothing like a brick and mortar business when you want to see and feel what the design, colors, and textures will be like! Congratulations to Stitchville on their brand new home!