Cool Place Alerts

Now, I know what you're thinking: "BATTLE GROUND?! What?"

Fair enough - Country Manor Fabrics is a little off the beaten path. Okay, a lot off the beaten path. But I'll tell you what: getting there is a nice drive in the country, and this is one amazing fabric store.

The outside is pretty unassuming . . .

. . . But inside, fabric bolts pack every available space. The shelves are full, so they're stacked along the floor. Aisle after aisle. So very much fabric. You'll quickly fall into a Fabric Trance, and let's face it: there are worse states of mind.

Country Manor is all about quilting, so you'll find lots and lots of cottons. There are also flannels and calicos and batiks. You'll find everything from the currently-hip Denyse Schmidt line to wacky novelty prints of poker-playing dogs. I also loved that there were holiday-themed fabrics for every holiday - what a gorgeous selection of Christmas stuff! Not that you want to think about Christmas right now. I'm just saying.

If you're a fat quarter fan, there are racks of them capping almost every aisle. On the day I visited, there were also big bins of sale-priced quarters for as little as a dollar. I bought a really embarrassing amount of fabric that day.

Country Manor also carries an impressive array of notions - every gadget imaginable for sewing and quilting. You can also browse lots and lots of quilting books and patterns.

The store has no website currently, so you'll find the address below. I also took a photo of the turnoff sign, because you'll need to keep a sharp lookout for it.

While you're out in the country, I'd highly recommend that you complete your day with a visit to Pomeroy House Living History Farm, which is nearby and lovely, and hosts all kinds of great weekend events through Fall.

. . . A day in the country AND crafting. Now that's what I call a Grand Day Out.

Country Manor Fabrics and Quilting
7702 NE 179th Street, Battle Ground, WA
(360) 573-6084

I've been hearing it around town lately: "Have you been to that new store where you can make your own yarn?" You bet I have! And, like its famous namesake, Yarnia is something of a magical land.

The first thing you see upon entering is color. There are shelves lined with cones and cones of gorgeous, saturated color. Look more closely, and you'll see that these colors are also fibers - wool, cotton, rayon, silk, bamboo, acrylic, novelty . . . .

But see how thin the strands are? That's because they're meant to be combined. That's where you come in. You get to choose a series of strands in just the colors and fibers you want. Wool for warmth, rayon for strength, silk for softness - you can make the perfect yarn for the new project you have in mind.

Once you've selected your yarns, then Lindsey Ross, Yarnia's proprietress, will thread all those cones onto this amazing machine and wind you up a cone of beautiful custom yarn while you watch. It's pretty much the coolest thing ever.

If you get stumped by the prospect of assembling your colors and fibers together, Lindey can help you. She also has lots of sample cones on display, wound from various combinations of fibers. Each one has a helpful swatch pinned to it, so you can see how it knits up.

It bears mentioning that this is stranded yarn rather than spun yarn. So the strands will lie flat together as they wind along the cone. At first, I was worried that this configuration might be tricky to work with, but it hasn't felt any different after all than a spun yarn. In fact, it's lovely.

You may be asking at this point, "Yeah, but how am I supposed to figure out how much yarn I'll need?" Not to worry - Lindsey is a wizard at this question, and will help you determine how many yards your project will require, and how much yarn to wind.

. . . And here's the best part: Yarnia sells yarn by the pound rather than the skein. The price of your yarn will vary according to what kinds of fibers you put into it, but when you buy in bulk like this, you can save a lot of money. When Lindsey quoted me the price of my newly-wound wool and rayon yarn, I blurted out, "Are you sure?"

I'd highly recommend a visit to the Yarnia website, where you can read Lindsey's story of how she first discovered this wondrous yarn-store concept. You can also get info there about upcoming classes at the store.

And when you visit, here's a helpful hint for locating the store. Look for this building. See the gent on the stairs? There's a downward staircase below him on your left. That's the entrance to Yarnia. Sorry, there is no wardrobe, but you'll definitely feel like you journeyed into a storybook.

Gossamer is a beautiful, serene craft store at 24th and East Burnside, devoted to fiber arts and Waldorf learning and creativity supplies.

Let's start with the Waldorf school, in case you're not familiar. It's a system of education that dates back to 1919. There are many components, but in particular, Waldorf schools emphasize creativity as an essential part of a child's education.

The links in the preceding paragraph will take you to the Wikipedia entry for the Waldorf school, but if you really want to know all about it, I'd recommend chatting with Gossamer's owner, Rose Sabel-Dodge. She ran a supply store in the Portland Waldorf School for nine years. But in addition to being an enthusiastic proponent of Waldorf, she's also an avid fiber artist. And her dream was to open a store that could blend these two passions.

Poke around the Gossamer shelves, and you'll find lots and lots of wonderful natural materials, including wool felt in so many glorious colors, available both as squares and yardage. (If you've never crafted with real wool felt, you are missing out!) There are also wonderful plant-dyed felts, with subtle colors and an interesting surface texture. And in addition, you can buy pieces of pre-felted wool sweaters - saving you a grungy trip to The Bins.

Needle-felting is also a big theme here. These felting kits sell like hotcakes, and Gossamer also offers regular classes in wet felting and needle felting.

I love this inviting, tactile display of embroidery goodies. Gossamer carries wool and linen flosses.

Look deeper, though, and you'll find some really interesting Waldorf-related supplies that brim with creative possibilities. On the top shelf here, we have these pretty slabs of colorful beeswax, which is often used as a sculpting material in Waldorf education. (See that tiny snowman?) You warm this material up in your hands, and form it. Rose also stocks sets of thin beeswax sheets in an array of colors, which you can cut into shapes with cookie cutters and adhere to pillar candles.

The shelf below has traditional Waldorf-style block crayons. There are also wonderful soft pencils for drawing, and gorgeous artwork by Waldorf School students on the walls. (I should mention, too, that if you're a Waldorf teacher, Gossamer offers discounts on many items for you.)

Gossamer is also a community gathering-spot. Rose hosts a Tuesday morning open crafting session for Moms, and a Tuesday night "Mini Vacation" craft night that "travels" to a different destination each week. Recently, the group has explored Ireland, India, and Italy. There are snacks and music, and people bring their own projects, or use the resources around the shop to start a new one.

The shop really has a lovely feel to it - the kind of space you want to relax and take your time in. Maybe take a seat on the sofa and pull out your knitting. Do plan a visit soon - that wool felt is calling your name . . . .

Let's continue our exploration of Crafty in the 'Couv with a great yarn store: Unraveled Fine Yarns. You can plan an afternoon for Unraveled, Main Street Bead Connection, and maybe take in the Vancouver Farmer's Market.

Anyway, I knew Unraveled was a quality LYS (that's Local Yarn Store, for the uninitiated) when I walked in and saw a great big table in the center of the shop, with people sitting all around it knitting and chatting. This is a sure sign that a store has a fan-base.

The yarns here run toward the special and beautiful, with lots of hand-spun and hand-dyed options. So many of them are simply breathtaking - this is a great destination yarn shop for those rarified projects.

In fact, you can take a look at the Unraveled website for a complete list of the brands they carry. The store also has lots of needles and books and magazines to browse.

That website also has a list of classes, and if you act fast, info on Unraveled's upcoming 5th Anniversary Sale. Lisa, who owns the store, told me that her stockroom, basement, and every nook and cranny are bulging with yarn, so she's got to have a blow-out sale and make some room. That's on Saturday, March 15th, by the way.

But if you miss the sale, you can still stop by for some shopping, knitting, and chatting. That big table awaits you.

I know, I know, there's a whole mythology involving sales tax and driving distance that keeps some of you from venturing into "The Couv." But there are fantastic crafty resources up there! Make an afternoon of it, bring friends, visit Unraveled, and have lunch. (La Bottega is an excellent choice for that, by the way.)

And then, check out Main Street Bead Connection. One thing I notice about bead stores is that they seem to either specialize in one type of bead, or they carry lots of different types, but only a little of each. So I loved that Main Street had both variety and depth in their inventory. Let me illustrate...

You can find glass beads, both new and vintage...

And a great selection of gemstone beads, in some really interesting shapes...

And wooden beads, and shell...

And a nice wall of seed beads...

And a nice, sparkly wall of crystals, too.

There are also lots of findings, and vintage buttons, and books and mags. And there's a classroom in back - and our own Teresa Sullivan Studio teaches there sometimes, among lots of other talented artists. Main Street doesn't have a website, but you can call the store for information on classes: 360-750-1444.

Manager Diane Lauderbaugh and her staff are very friendly, and the atmosphere is very relaxed and stay-a-while.

Oh, and by the way, part of the store is devoted to clothing, hats, and bags which have been beaded, embroidered, and embellished. There are some gorgeous things here.

See? You'd drive for all that, wouldn't you?

If you're one of those people who collects and hoards beautiful fabrics, well . . . there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. But you could use another place to get your cloth fix, so check out cool cottons, at 24th and SE Hawthorne.

Cool cottons, as the name implies, is all about woven cottons in an astonishing rainbow array of prints. Quilters will find much to sigh over here, but these are also excellent cottons for bags, skirts, and home decor.

Oh - and also, a growing selection of high-quality canvases.

I absolutely love the atmosphere of this store. The space is a big old house, formerly used as an art gallery. There's lots of natural light streaming in through the windows (even on gray days), and room upon room of fabric bolts, arranged by color. You just wander and discover.

Nothing makes me happier than walls of color like this. Well, nothing except buying more fabric.

Cool cottons is also a great place for cool tools. For example, this Therm O Web Vinyl, which irons a waterproof coating to one side of your favorite fabric. Ooh! Lunch bags and totes and backpacks!

The store is co-owned by Pam Oakes and Marie Ritten, who met some years back while working as airline reservations agents. They would bring their quilt projects-in-progress to work with them, and chat about "Wouldn't it be great to own a fabric store?"

Well, now they do, and they love to share their passion for quilting. Many's the time that I've been in the store and watched them helping a customer choose just the right fabrics for a new quilt, spreading bolt after bolt out on this big table and eagerly discussing the pros and cons of each one. If you have questions about quilting, Pam and Marie are so friendly and helpful.

. . . Speaking of which, Marie once showed me an applique technique that changed my whole outlook on applique. So unbelievably simple, and such perfect results. Stop in and ask her about it. And tell her Sister Diane sent you.

Let's do the acronym first: IPRC stands for Independent Publishing Resource Center. I think the IPRC is one of Portland's great creative resources. It's a space dedicated to self-publishing, art-making, and expression.

The IPRC has been around since 1998, offering the use of copiers, typewriters, computers, and more to creative Portlanders. To make use of all this bounty, you simply purchase an annual membership (at a sliding scale of $45 - $100), and attend one of the monthly orientation sessions.

Of course, the IPRC is also locally famous for its letterpress studio, which is usually busy with people turning out their own business cards, wedding invitations, stationery and such. As a member, you just sign up for one of the Center's wildly-popular letterpress printing workshops, and you'll be printing away.

Mmmmmmm . . . Letterpress . . . .

While we're on the subject of workshops, you should know that the IPRC offers a continuing schedule of interesting sessions. Here's a recent sampling from the winter calendar: Zines 101, Transfer Printing, Intro to Calligraphy, Intro to Web Design, Marketing Your Craft, and Beginning Bookbinding.

For those of you who are itching to learn the mysteries of Gocco printing, the Center offers periodic classes. (What's Gocco, you ask? Short answer: the coolest home screen-printing rig you ever saw.)

Here's another IPRC claim to fame: its vast library of over 5500 zines. Whether you're a member or not, you're welcome to come in and browse. Locals can even get an IPRC library card.

(In case you just said to yourself, "What's a zine?" here's a quick primer. A zine (rhymes with "keen") is a self-published booklet, made by a real person, about a subject that matters to them. Zines can be about anything under the sun, and they're fascinating reading.)

The IPRC is also a hub of community, providing meeting space to several ongoing groups, and giving workshops and presentations around town. When you look at all that activity, then consider this: the Center is run by a small, dedicated staff and an army of volunteers, and funded primarily by memberships and donations. Wow.

If you'd like to pay a visit, be sure to check out the open hours on the IPRC website. Or if you're inspired to become an IPRC volunteer, stop in and fill out an application.

A really cool art show has just opened at Central Library in downtown Portland. It's a Mail Art show. What is Mail Art, you ask? Well . . . .

Mail Art is any piece of art that uses the Postal Service as part of its creation. It can take lots of forms - postcards, zines, letters, artistamps and more. The artist then mails these pieces of art to other artists, and the postage and Post Office markings become part of the piece.

The history of Mail Art is fascinating. I'd highly recommend a visit to its Wikipedia Entry.

But, back to our local library. Leslie Waygren, a member of the Central Library staff, is also an active Mail Artist, exchanging pieces of art with people all over the world. She came up with the idea of curating a show of Mail Art around the theme of "Library," and then put out an open call for entries. Anyone was welcome to create a postcard and mail it in.

(That's another hallmark of Mail Art, by the way - it's thoroughly democratic. You don't need any formal training or a gallery to be a Mail Artist. Just make something and mail it!)

Leslie received nearly 100 postcards for the show: about a third of them are from Portlanders, and another third from the rest of the U.S. The remaining third came from other countries, bearing all kinds of interesting postmarks.

"The message that seemed to resonate with the Library theme, was how much people love reading, love books, and love the library," says Leslie. "As a library worker, it's really great to hear how much people appreciate the work that we do; and to have that sentiment expressed as art is fabulous."

The diversity of all these postcards expressing "Library" is fascinating. You'll see art about the importance of children reading, and political art, and lists of favorite books, and personal stories of how libraries have affected the artists' lives.

Because the show is so large, Central Library will display half of the postcards for the first half of January, and then re-fill the display cases with the other half for the rest of the month. Or, if you aren't near Central, you can view the whole show online.

To see the show in person, just head for the main floor of Central Library, and look for the two display cases to the left of the grand staircase.

DIY Lounge has always been a wonderful place. Imagine a room filled with all kinds of craft supplies, where on any given day, people are learning to embroider, crochet, make bath salts, or paint with wax. The creative energy is just amazing!

Jen Neitzel, herself an avid maker, started the DIY Lounge in 2005. She saw a need in the community for a place where people could learn a wide variety of DIY skills, without spending a fortune. And she saw the kind of community connections that formed from people sharing their knowledge with each other. (DIY Lounge is always open to new teachers. If you're interested in teaching, just contact Jen.)

Earlier this year, Jen and Maria Raleigh (proprietress of Collage) joined forces, relocating the Lounge to the spacious classroom at the back of that most-excellent store. And just recently, the two have been hard at work on giving the space a nice makeover. With fresh new paint, lots of light, and easy-access storage for all those supplies, the Lounge is now a seriously Cadillac environment for learning stuff.

If you haven't before, be sure and check out the DIY Lounge calendar of upcoming classes, because there are so many great holiday-making ones coming up! For instance:

Beeswax Keepsake Ornaments, taught by Linda Womack.

Card of the Month - Winter Holidays, Technique Tuesday - Gift Tags, and Chinese Food Take-out Boxes as Holiday Gift Boxes, all taught by Dawn Sorem

Toolbox Jewelry, Easy Glass Etching and Memory Jewelry, taught by Bridget Benton

Embroidered Photo Ornaments, taught by Sister Diane

Holiday Cocktail Rings, taught by Amanda Horton

Holiday Mandala Mirrors, taught by Christine Claringbold

Rockin' the Stencil with a Little Spiced Eggnog, taught by Jennifer McMullen

Tricked Out Photo Albums - Holiday Style, taught by Miranda Mullin

DIY Lounge and Collage are also putting on a little shindig on Wednesday, November 14 to celebrate their new space, and all the crafty goodness that goes on there. Stop by and you can enjoy refreshments, music by DJ Richard Rockstar, lots of raffle prizes, and 20% off everything in Collage. Woo!

The first thing you notice when you walk into Frock is COLOR. From the Tiffany blue walls to the racks of rainbow-hued clothing, this is one vibrant place. Frock has also got to be one of the funnest places to shop for handmade clothes in this town.

Co-owners Angie Coffin and Ali Wykhuis have an amazing sense of fun in fashion. On a typical visit to the shop, you might find a demure little Audrey Hepburn peacoat, and a wild candy-striped Mrs. Roper jumpsuit (and find yourself seriously considering both). And everything you see is either vintage, or made by a local designer. Some items are a little of both -- vintage pieces that local artists have transformed with screen printing, embroidery, or beading.

It's a store for the whole family, too -- albeit a really, really cool family. You can find men's duds, kids' clothes, and baby gear at Frock. (How much do you love those onsies at the top of this photo?)

I always love poking around in the jewelry display. Frock carries an ever-changing array of cool baubles, whether beaded, felted, scuplted, or smithed. There's also crocheted and vintage hats, and usually, an Enid Collins handbag or two. Once, I found a wonderful Esther Williams-style bathing cap there. It's a great place for treasure-hunting.

Ali and Angie give Frock an inviting, upbeat energy, and are fun to chat up while you browse. And did I mention the colors? What a great spot to escape from the impending wintry grey.