Where Quilting is Hot! Hot!! Hot!!!–StitchCraft Creative Quilting & Sewing in Boca Raton,

Admin
Jan 13, 2012
3 min read

My little (3" x 5") collage for January 2, 2012.

So far, I’ve been diligent in following my resolution to spend at least 30 minutes a day doing something creative…in fact, most days, I’ve spent much more than that. You know how it is: it’s all about getting started. Once you’re in your space, and get your hands on the fabric and other goodies, the time just flies. For the first five days of 2012, among other things, I made a small, 3″ x 5″ fabric collage a day.

Then, on the sixth day (last Saturday), my husband and I headed to Florida to help my amazing mother-in-law celebrate her 92nd birthday. Since I was away from my sewing room, this required a different type of creativity: to fulfill my “promise to myself,” I spent time walking the beach, taking photos, and writing in my idea journal.

January 8, 2012, Boca Raton, FL: I drew lots of inspiration from my ocean walks.

Then, on Tuesday, I hit the jackpot: I visited the local quilt shop! How lucky can you get? Creative is even part of its name 😉

StitchCraft Creative Quilting & Sewing (originally called Three Crafty Ladies) first opened its doors in Boca Raton, FL, in October 2010. It didn’t take long for word of this must-shop location to get out among the quilters, sewers, and fabric crafters of South Florida (and beyond), and–as a result–it soon became obvious that larger “digs” were a necessity.

It’s just a question of making more room!

Johanna Felberbaum, owner of StitchCraft in Boca Raton

Never daunted, owner Johanna Felberbaum, a self-taught quilter who has crafted since she “could hold a crayon,” simply packed up this past fall and moved across the street to a more roomy location at 399 S. Federal Highway (US 1). The new 3,300-square-foot space is a stitcher’s dream: spacious, bright, and airy; dotted with colorful and inspiring samples and attractive vignettes; and generously stocked with mouth-watering fabric (including the latest from such luminaries as Kaffe Fassett, Kate Spain, and our friend, Malka Dubrawsky, due to arrive any day), thread, notions, books and magazines, patterns, ribbons, fashion buttons, rickrack, garment-making essentials, and more. (I’d show you my purchases, but they include a few surprises for unsuspecting friends!)

Yummy!

StitchCraft stocks a generous selection of batiks.

Johanna's attractive displays make shopping enjoyable and easy.

I loved these cleverly packaged “Espresso” kits by Happy Hollow Designs.

No, that's not REALLY Baby Lock spokesperson, Eleanor Burns, but "she" sure draws a second look!

In addition to providing the aforementioned goodies, Stitchcraft is also a dealer and service stop for Baby Lock sewing machines and sergers, sells the popular AccuQuilt Go! Fabric Cutter, and boasts a Handi Quilter longarm machine on site, which customers will soon be able to rent for finishing their projects right there in the shop.There is even a tropical fish tank to entertain and inspire!

True to its unofficial mission statement–“to be the epicenter of quilting for the community”–StitchCraft offers a full slate of classes. (Jane Hardy “Rusty” Miller, author of the popular French Braid quilting books, was scheduled to teach the day after my visit.) When it is not in use for classes, Johanna opens the large, welcoming classroom space for local quilters to gather, chat, and stitch. As a result, the room is often a hotbed of activity: there are three large official quilt guilds in Boca alone!

So, if you love fabric and all the “fixin’s” (who doesn’t?), are looking for an enriching and creative experience, and find yourself in the South Florida “neighborhood,” be sure to put StitchCraft Creative Quilting & Sewing on your itinerary. You won’t be disappointed…and do tell them I sent you.