MARYSVILLE — The former home of Marysville Music Incorporated, at the intersection of State Avenue and Third Street, now houses an entirely different business, but one whose customers are no less nimble with their fingers.
The Loving Stitches Quilt Shop at 306 State Ave. was previously the Quilters’ Roundup of Heppner, Ore., for more than a dozen years, but for more than half a dozen of those years, owner Bonnie Wenberg has been living locally, due to her family’s connections to the area, and traveling to her shop.
“For the past two years, I’ve actually been looking for a place to set up shop here,” said Wenberg, who saw the exit of Marysville Music Incorporated as an opportunity. “I knew I wanted a location close to the freeway. My first day, I got people from three different quilting guilds come in. I feel like God was leading me to the right spot.”
Although Wenberg sold approximately 1,000 bolts of fabric on her way out of Oregon to help finance her move, she still boasts roughly 3,500 bolts at her new location.
“Quilters are devoted customers who judge a shop by its fabric, and we have a wide variety,” said Wenberg, who began with a basketry business in 1996 and continues to serve basketry customers at Loving Stitches. “A lot of people don’t consider basketry, but when they see my prices, they reconsider.”
Wenberg sees her shop as filling a vital niche for quilters not just locally, but throughout the region.
“I knew that this area needed this shop,” said Wenberg, a seamstress who made her own wedding dress. “I teach and sell supplies for basketry throughout Washington, Idaho and Oregon, and I carry not only a larger amount of fabric than most shops, but a larger variety of different kinds of fabric. I even carry Australian fabric, which is very rare, for prices lower than the average shop. I taught myself quilting because I have a passion for handiwork.”
For more information on the Loving Stitches Quilt Shop, you can log onto Wenberg’s old website at http://quiltersroundup.com, which is being updated to reflect her move.
