Quilting in an RV by Jo : Worth the Detour

On a tip from my Dallas sister that shares my love of quilting, we detoured from a trip to the Oregon Coast to make a stop in McMinnville, OR to check out Boersma's Sewing Center. We plugged the address into Google Maps and were pleasantly surprised at what we found when we heard the "you have arrived at your destination" announcement. Located in the heart of Willamette Valley's wine country, McMinnville is midway between the coast and Portland. With green rolling hills as a backdrop, this historic city has kept its turn-of-the century charm.

Boersma's is situated in the old downtown area of McMinnville on a charming tree lined street bedecked with numerous containers of lush and colorful flowers. In fact, the building they occupy was once a Montgomery Ward's store. It's always nice to see an old building lovingly "recycled". With an abundance of interesting shops and eateries, we could have easily spent a pleasant day or more here. That's always a nice plus for a trip to a quilt shop. In fact, there was a nice looking coffee shop and a pizza parlor right across the street from Boersma's. And at the end of the next block was a shady, attractive city park.

Sarah and Marie

Boersma's has been owned and operated by the same family since 1935. It's a spacious and wonderfully well lit shop. I love a shop

with good lighting where you can actually see true colors when putting together a quilting project. Spread over three floors, there's room for everything. As you enter at street level, the first thing you notice are the numerous finished quilts hanging about the shop from an unusual track system designed by the owner. You almost feel like you have stepped into a Quilt Show. The system has a very clean and industrial look to it and I discovered it allows the sales clerks to easily change out the quilts.

The next thing you notice is the amazing

collection of antique sewing

machines, etc. beautifully displayed throughout the shop. All this provides the perfect backdrop for the thousands of bolts of fabric and all the "stuff" that goes with them. The selection of fabrics was very well rounded but I was especially impressed with the flannels collection. It was the most extensive I have seen.

Lots of batiks

Old fashioned display case located just inside the front door.

Kids Corner

There were some really cute patterns for cloth toys.

Just some of the many flannels in stock.

Good selection of solids.

Choices for the holiday season.

More batiks

Notice the lineup of Featherweights!

Nice assortment of toweling displayed in an old wash tub.

Wonderful selection of buttons and trims for embellishment.

Boersma's has a large selection of the American Made Brand fabrics. In case you haven't heard of them, this line of solids in 50 colors is manufactured in the U.S. from American grown cotton. I have purchased some and love them. They have a high thread count and are firm but soft. The colors are not "flat", they seem to have a subtle sheen to them. Very colorfast too. So buy American, quilters!

I enjoy these printed panels for making wall hangings, etc. and have purchased a number of them.

The spacious landing leading to the shop's lower level provides an attractive nook for wool fabrics and yarns.

This is a full service shop with the upper level devoted to classrooms and the lower level to quilting machines and sale

Innova quilting machines. Notice the great lighting.

fabrics. They provide long arm quilting services but are also a dealer for Innova quilting machines. There are several on display and ready for trial runs.