Patches and Stitches

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At dinner one evening back in 1977, Linda Worley, a needlework enthusiast, complained to her husband that she was frustrated by not having available every single color of DMC floss. "Why don't you open a shop and carry all of the line?" he replied. And she did. Her shop, "Patches and Stitches", has celebrated its 43rd anniversary. 

 

Located in Huntsville, Alabama, "Patches", as the locals affectionately say, mirrors the astonishing growth of its home city. It was first housed in a 400 square foot space. Two years later the shop moved into a charming little house in the old part of town.

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In 1988, Linda found a centrally located site, near a busy shopping center but on its own quiet street. There, only a block away from Huntsville's main north-south thoroughfare, she built her own  building.

In 2001, she decided to move the shop back to a old house located in one of the historic mill villages of Huntsville.  In the early part of the 20th century, a large portion of the population of Huntsville worked in the mills some of which made the grey goods for making cotton prints that are now so popular in the quilting industry.

 

"Patches and Stitches" offers a full schedule of classes for all skill levels.

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When Wehrner Von Braun and his team of German scientists were sent to Huntsville (located in the foothills of the Appalachians in north Alabama) it was a sleepy little town of 10,000. Its population is now approaching a quarter of a million. Many of these are highly educated professionals, who work directly or indirectly in high tech businesses supporting NASA or the computer industry. "Patches" mirrors both the rapid growth of the town and the eclectic progressive nature of its customers, who are rarely from "these parts." The shop carries the latest books, tools and a wide range of fabrics including traditional lines, reproductions, documentaries, batiks, Japanese, and novelty prints.

 

While "Patches and Stitches" attracts customers from a 200 square mile radius between Nashville and Birmingham, and serves a loyal base of Huntsville residents, it still exhibits an unpretentious air of practicality and neighborliness. Beginning stitchers and quilters are made to feel at home, customers on a tight budget receive helpful advice, and experienced innovative needleworkers are assisted, all in a seemingly effortless blend of what has to be true Southern hospitality.