Good News for the Crafters of Victoria!

The other day I found myself in need of some more white Kona cotton (seriously - I should just break down and buy that shizz by the bolt) and batting so, The Boy, The Kid and I trekked down to one of the best stores in Victoria - Capital Iron.

Like an old time-y General Store but with new stuff!

Up on the third floor is the home decor and fabric department, which I had kind of forgotten about until I wandered in there a few months back.  I had been looking for some blackout lining for curtains for The Kid's room, and they didn't disappoint.  Since then, I've gone back a couple of times to restock on the aforementioned white Kona, and to pick up some laminated cotton.  They have a pretty decent selection of quilting cottons, some nice big bolts of cotton and cotton/bamboo batting, and a whole bunch of home decor weight fabrics, vinyls, chalkboard cloth, etc.

Victoria has a couple of other fabric stores (which I'll review and tell you about later) but in general, we're pretty hurting in locally available modern or new prints.  Plus, prices can be a little high.  While I love the thought, and try as often as I can, to support local businesses, the selection I find and the prices (even with shipping) while shopping online are hard to beat.

BUT!  The fabric gods have smiled on the quilters and crafters of Victoria!  On my last trip to Capital Iron, I got some great news.  There has been a lot of action going on up on the third floor - at first, I was afraid they were downsizing or phasing out the fabric department.  Luckily, I was wrong and as the lovely lady who was cutting my fabric informed me, they are actually rearranging everything because their selection will be expanding!  Come June they will have an even bigger range of quilting cottons, including Moda and Kaffe Fassett.  Exciting!  I will definitely be going back in a few weeks to see how things are coming along.

Also, and I didn't know this until my last visit, Capital Iron has a Sew n' Save card that you can get ($5.00 annual fee) that gives you 20% off fabrics, notions and some other items that have fallen out of my brain (excludes: sale items, drapery panels and hardware, blinds, foam and patterns).  Since I was purchasing a few meters of batting and Kona, my card paid for itself in one trip.  With that discount, CI is now more than competitive with online shopping, with the added bonus of not having to wait for things to come in the mail AND supporting a local business.  Hooray!

P.S. Sorry to everyone who doesn't live in, or near, Victoria (or Sidney)!  Please also note, this post is in no way sponsored by Capital Iron.  I just wanted to share the info and show support for one of my favourite shops in Victoria :)

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