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My husband has an internship in San Jose, CA for the summer and we will be living in Los Gatos. I am excited to have a fun adventure and lots of sewing time. I was wondering if any of you guys have any suggestions on things to do while I am there and especially where the best fabric stores are? I am hoping there are lots of fashion fabric options. Thanks so much!
We lived south of there for a couple years and for one of those I worked in Gilroy. You're going to have a hot summer! Things that I'd check out are the Garlic Festival in Gilroy...strange, but fun! :) The boardwalk in Santa Cruz is fun, and you've got to drive down Route 1 at least two/three hours worth from there. It's so beyond gorgeous! You can go down to Carmel and Monterey. Plus there's the one of the best aquariums in the world in Monterey. There are a few standard amusement parks in the area too. It's a fun place to live. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI do know the way to San Jose, it is about 45 minutes from my house in the east bay. There are some great fabric stores in the area. Bobbins Nest in Santa Clara is a great store and I've been told by a friend that Los Gatos has a really nice quilting store. Los Gatos is a really cute, fun town. There are a lot of really good quilting stores throughout the bay area. Feel free to email and I can send you a list of the ones that I know and like. Oh and Harts fabric in Santa Cruz is well worth the 30 minute drive for you from Los Gatos.
ReplyDeleteI am from there and go fabric shopping in the surrounding areas every summer. Try Hart's Fabrics in Santa Cruz. Plenty of little restaurants around to eat at. Go to Berkley(up 880) and go to Stone Mountain and Daughter Fabrics. Britex is in San Francisco, but I haven't been there in a few years. Harts and Stonemountain are my two favorites. Los Gatos has a nice quilt fabric and bead shop on University, but I'm not a quilter or a beader. It is fun to look around though. Have a great time.
ReplyDeleteI second the notion to visit Stone Mountain and Daughter in Berkeley. It's an hour or so from where you will be, but the drive is pretty and the fabric is awesome.
ReplyDeleteMonterey Bay Aquarium is THE greatest! And yes, go visit Santa Cruz. It's funky, beachy, has some cool history - and my parents live there!
ReplyDeleteSuch a great, and timely, question! I just moved to the area too and haven't had the chance to scope out all the good fabric places yet!
ReplyDeletethe fabric outlet in san francisco on mission street is awesome and always has god deals! (im from the east bay and go there a lot)
ReplyDeletemust second {or third} the suggestion of Hart's in Santa Cruz.
ReplyDeleteoh my los gatos is the cutest town ever. in downtown lg there is an adorable quilting shop - i forget the name but you can't miss it. and you must make many trips into the city for britex. amazing amazing amazing fabrics and notions. we moved to utah and i miss it so much. and if you want a silk, thai silks in los altos is cute and has great prices sometimes.
ReplyDeletewow! you are going to be 10 minutes from me! :) unfortunately i dont know of any good fabric stores super near near us, though there's quilting bees for quilters, and Exotic silk in Los Altos, 15-20 minutes away. los gatos is a beautiful town, i am sure you will love it!
ReplyDeleteI live in Aptos, a beautiful little part of santa cruz. You must go to HARTS fabrics. Other places to visit while in santa cruz......Charlie Hong Kongs (by Harts), the Bagelry, Penny Ice Cream, the Buttery, Stripe design group on Walnut Ave, Crawfords antiques in Soquel (about 10 minutes from Santa Cruz), Center St. antiques, Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey, Mountain Bike riding in Wilder Ranch or Nisene Marks. New Brighton Beach for sea glass. .......the list goes on. I would be happy to send more suggestions. Your blog helped ignite my love for sewing....its the least I could do :).
ReplyDeleteKirsten
Not to be missed is Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove (near Monterey)! The best fabric store in my opinion! The fabric store in downtown Los Gatos is nice, but is also mixed with beading, so their notions and accessories aren't much to talk about, but they have a nice selection on their bolts.
ReplyDeleteVasona park in Lost Gatos is a great place to take kids.
There is a lot to do in Santa Cruz from a non-tourist point of view (this is where I live). Visit the UCSC web site for summer events (ucsc.edu), including Shakespeare Santa Cruz.
Don't be intimidated by highway 17 and you'll get to Santa Cruz in under 30 minutes! Hart's is pretty big. Nice mix of everything and awesome selection of buttons! You also have two JoAnn's that are within a 10-15 minute drive.
If you take a trip to SF, visit Britex fabrics!
There is a quilt museum in SJ that Ive always wanted to check out...also second that on Back Porch in PG...great store!
ReplyDeleteAlso in Berkeley is New Pieces, an excellent quilt store. Since they moved from their previous location, parking is a complete breeze.
ReplyDeleteBritex in SF is amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteSeriously?? I grew up there! I lived in LG up until January when we moved to London, but my husband and I will be back to Los Gatos in August. My family lives there. Are you LDS? If so Los Gatos ward is the best, a lot of my family is still in the ward (the Waltons). There are a lot of girls who sew there too, I know some were wanting to start a sewing group before I left.
ReplyDeleteNatural Expressions on the main strip in downtown LG is awesome. If you are looking for just a good basic fabric store too, the new JoAnns on Hillsdale in San Jose is the best.
The San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles is great! They have a children's program the first Sunday of every month called Kids Create that I volunteer at. It's about a 10 minute drive from downtown Los Gatos.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sjquiltmuseum.org/learn.html
If you find yourself in Berkeley visiting Stone Mountain and Daughter ( which I love) then go to Piedmont Fabrics also. Great store, wonderful quality fabrics, and very nice people. It is a smaller shop, but chocked full of goodies!!
ReplyDeleteI grew up and live in San José, and i absolutely love it. You will have lots of fun here! the only thing is, it's super hot right right now :(
ReplyDeleteAs other readers have mentioned, Bobbins nest studio in santa clara (right by santa clara university) is super darling, also Natural Expressions of Los Gatos has a lot of cute fabric and also beads.. There is a couple of Hancock Fabric stores scattered around the San Jose area, but my favorite is in Blossom Hill Rd, across from Oakridge Mall (nice little mall with a couple of big chain eateries and a movie theatre)..
For your little ones, I recommend Happy Hallow Park and Zoo (they revamped it completely and is very kid friendly, if possible tale a trip during the week), Monterey Bay Aquarium, Great America (they have a Snoopy area), Bonfonte Gardens in Gilroy, and there are outlets in Gilroy as well.
The Willow Glen area in San Jo' is also really cute, and Santana Row (nice little posh place) in Santa Clara has couple of nice little restaurants,a pinkberry yogurt (mmmmmMMMmmmm) and a Paper Source...
Those are all the things i can think of for the time being.. have fun and enjoy the bay!
Make sure to check out the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco on July 9th & 10th! As much as I love SF, you can't beat the weather in SJ!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.renegadecraft.com/san-francisco
Yeah!
ReplyDeletewe will be in santa clara, so were practically neighbors. We should be down there mid july. lets get together for sure!!!
San Jose has of course a JoAnns. The quilting shop in LG is very cute but a little pricey as all things in LG are. :) Fun place to walk around and in the summer they do fun music festivals in their little park. Great burger place towards the end of Santa Cruz Ave. on the corner next to Cold Stone. Super yummy sweet potato fries. :) Main Street Burgers. Hope you enjoy my old stomping ground!! People might seem snobby, its just the Los Gatos attitude, dont get sucked in to it, most of them are really nice
ReplyDeleteI agree with the many posts recommending Hart's Fabrics in Santa Cruz. Definitely worth the drive!
ReplyDeleteI'd also add that you are very close to Thai Silks (http://www.thaisilks.com/contact_us.php). Be sure to check them out before leaving the area. Great prices and amazing quality!
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