With the pleasant hum of sewing machines, the brilliant display of more than 1,500 bolts of fabric and the relaxed chatter from shoppers discussing their current projects, there’s always something new to experience at East Coast Quilt Co. in St. John’s.
It all started when the owners of three different quilting businesses in St. John’s — Debbie Northover of Sew Many Stitches, Corey Follett and Ralph Jarvis of The Quilted Stash and Shelly Bowen of The Fabric Merchant — discussed the idea of joining forces. They agreed that each business would bring something different to the partnership.
Debbie’s brick-and-mortar store, Sew Many Stitches, was the most established of the three businesses and specialized in long-arm quilting sales and service. Shelly’s brick-and-mortar store, The Fabric Merchant, focused on the modern quilting movement and she brought an extensive background in retail management. Corey and Ralph’s online-only shop, The Quilted Stash, was known for its creative quilt patterns and proprietary printed panels — including designs honouring Newfoundland and Labrador traditions like Mummering.
“We could see we would all bring something different to the table, and having us all come together in a larger space would make us more of a destination store,” says Ralph. “We wanted a space where people could come and feel like they were part of a community.”
They worked all winter on the vision as well as the logistics of combining three businesses, and looked at six or seven venues in St. John’s before falling in love with the beautiful and historic Templeton’s building off Water Street.
They opened the doors of East Coast Quilt Co. in July, and while it’s officially a retail store for fabric and sewing notions, it also includes collaborative spaces for creating, a live in-store studio and a gift shop where you can buy finished pieces.
The gift shop is called the Dory Compass — a nod to their logo that’s a combination of the traditional box compass used by Newfoundland fishermen, the classic Mariner’s Compass quilt block and their location on the waterfront. Shoppers can purchase ready-made pillows, quilts and other merchandise like quilt-themed coffee mugs.
There’s a large classroom at the front of the store as well as an open work area at the back. The store’s brightly-lit lunchroom looks over the St. John’s harbour, and Ralph says it’s the perfect spot for quilters to mix and mingle over a cup of tea when their class takes a break.
“There’s a very social aspect to quilting, and we wanted a space where people could interact with other quilters,” says Ralph.
There are long-arm quilting machines available for sale, and customers can also choose to become certified so they can simply rent time on a machine. East Coast Quilt Co. also sells sewing, quilting and embroidery machines by Brother and Berina.
Of course, the fabric is the real star. East Coast Quilt Co. is bursting with more than 1,500 bolts of fabric, with new fabrics arriving each week so there’s always something new to see.
The print section includes fabrics from contemporary designers like Rifle Paper Co., Tula Pink and Liberty London, fabrics with themes or motifs and the classic “blenders” used by traditional quilters — sometimes curated by theme or designer, and sometimes organized by colour or style.
Ralph says they make a point of stocking plenty of Newfoundland-centric fabrics — like puffin prints — and at one point they’d locked up every bolt of puffin fabric in North America!
Since many quilters like to use solid fabrics in a wide variety of colours, East Coast Quilt Co. is the only store in Atlantic Canada carrying all 366 solids in Robert Kauffman’s Kona cotton — widely considered to be the highest-quality quilting fabric.
Ralph laughs that they’d planned to organize the Kona solid bolds across one wall and nickname it “the Great Wall of Kona,” but there were so many bolts they wound up filling two entire walls and a hallway. The result is a beautiful array of bolts arranging by colour, from the palest of creamy yellows (“Meringue”) to the deepest inky blues (“Regal”).
Almost everything in their in-store inventory is also available for purchase online (eastcoastquiltco.com) with free shipping across Canada for orders over $100. Ralph says they ship many of their unique Newfoundland and Labrador quilt kits and panels — like one featuring the famous Jellybean Row houses — to customers in Ontario and Alberta who are missing their home.
There’s also an in-store studio where folks can get a behind-the-scenes peek as Corey and Ralph design new quilt patterns and work on projects. Corey is a well-known Canadian who travels across Atlantic Canada running quilting workshops, and he made headlines last year for his huge portrait pixel quilt of Barbra Streisand.
Ralph says the quilting world is a unique mix of traditional quilters who’ve been piecing and patching for decades, and a younger generation of quilters taking a modern approach with colour and pattern — but he’s noticing more people of all ages taking up fibre arts as a way to relax and “get offline.”
Whether you’re interested in learning how to quilt or developing the sewing skills to make a simple apron, he says there’s something for everyone. East Coast Quilt Co. has nearly 45 workshops and classes scheduled this month alone, with everything from beginner sewing classes to explorations in fabric collage, thread painting, chenille techniques and jelly roll rugs.
“We’re seeing parents and children getting involved in creating projects together. We’re offering mens’ quilting classes. It’s really growing,” says Ralph. “We want as many people as possible to come in and try something new with us.”
