Penrith Patchwork

I love this place, and I don’t even do patchwork. The shop is long, and you can enter from either end, the main entrance taking you past a few token crockery and decorative items and sewing machines for sale. Then you get to the vast array of beautiful materials lined up against the walls, and past the big tables used for classes and get togethers.
I know you probably think patchwork — mmm, daggy 70’s cotton handbags in pastel colours — but this shop carries some truly lovely materials including a big range of Japanese fabrics which I use for all kinds of things. The colours are beautiful and the prices here are really good, they always seem to have some sort of sale going on. The staff are very helpful and the shop clearly serves as a major stopping point for lots of local women.
You see, while I’m trawling the bins for cheap fat eighths (sewing term, really) I overload on the gossip. This place is Gossip Central. Even if there isn’t a class going on (and they have lots of them, call in and ask) there’s always a bunch of women having a chat. I adore it. As an inveterate Student of the Human Condition (some may say eavesdropper) the conversations swirling around are fantastic.
‘I won’t have him in the house, I said.
And that was after I left my second husband…‘
Love it. Quilting as socially cohesive force. Truly.