Spokane-based retailer The Quilter’s Corner has moved to an 850-square-foot location at 5008 N. Market, in the Hillyard neighborhood.

Established in June 2024, The Quilter’s Corner previously shared space with The Hook & Needle Nook LLC, a yarn shop in the Garland District, at 3808 N. Monroe, where the former occupied 300 square feet.

“There just wasn’t enough room,” says Jana Bowman, owner of The Quilter's Corner.

Word had spread about The Quilter's Corner, and last year, the closures of the three Spokane-area Joann fabric and craft stores drove more people to Bowman's business and others like it, she says. Joann, a trade name for Jo-Ann Stores LLC, closed all of its stores last year after filing for bankruptcy.

“It made me more aware that maybe I should look at a bigger space, and I ended up over here on Market Street,” Bowman says.

The smaller space had held back the business’s growth, she says. At her new location, Bowman estimates her shop attracts roughly 30% to 40% more activity.

The Quilter’s Corner offers several different goods and services. The business sells a variety of fabrics and some sewing and quilting notions, including measuring tape, pincushions, scissors, and thread, says Bowman.

Beyond its inventory, the business provides multiple services, including repairs and alterations, and it specializes in longarm quilting, she says.

A longarm quilting machine is a professional machine that sews all the layers — the top, batting, and backing — of a piece quickly, says Bowman. 

“The time it takes to sew all the (quilt) layers together on a regular sewing machine takes so much more time, and you have more variety of designs to quilt on a longarm than you do on a regular domestic machine,” she says.

The Quilter’s Corner also offers sewing and quilting lessons for $25 per hour plus materials, typically on an individual or small group basis, Bowman says.

A beginning sewer in her classes could make either a pillowcase or pajama pants, for example.

“Then, they can branch out from there, and we can find more detailed things to make,” she says.

For quilting classes, what a customer works on depends on their experience. If they have some experience, they can start working on a simple quilt, says Bowman.

Along with classes, The Quilter’s Corner also holds quilting retreats. 

Last March marked its first retreat, A Stitch in Time, at the Roberts Mansion, in Spokane's Browne’s Addition neighborhood. The retreat was open-sew style, so attendees brought their own sewing supplies and projects to work on, says Bowman. A second retreat is in the works for this March. As of Dec. 5, the event is still in the planning stages, but information will be available on The Quilter’s Corner’s Facebook page and website.

The community and the creative process are Bowman’s favorite facets of quilting, she says.

“It’s such a hands-on thing. You really can get into it, all the visuals that go with it," she says. "The community behind it is the best part. You start making friends and associates, and that just helps foster the creative aspect of it.”

Bowman started sewing Barbie clothes when she was eight or nine years old, and she got into quilting when she was a teenager.

“I remember my first quilt. I made a dress, and money was tight. I cut that dress up — I was probably 15 years old — and made a quilt,” she says.

Her sewing skills strengthened after she had children; it was cheaper to make clothes than buy them at the time, she asserts. As sewing and quilting evolved from a necessity to an art form, Bowman’s interest grew, and it intensified after she tried out a longarm machine.

“I was pretty much sold,” she says.

Looking forward, Bowman projects she will gradually add products to The Quilter's Corner. She has been building up the shop’s inventory without debt. Because of this, she doesn’t have many notions available yet.

“Instead of me paying a credit card company, I’m basically using my own funds to make part of this happen until the sales of the business come up enough where it can start buying and feeding itself that way,” she says.

Bowman declines to disclose business revenue, but says it has increased.

Bowman also projects she will continue to build the business’s presence at its current address. However, the shop may move again in the future.

“While this is a good space for the time being, for what I want to do, it may not be big enough,” says Bowman, the shop's sole employee.

As of Dec. 5, The Quilter’s Corner is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Monday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Hours are subject to change.