Patches and Stitches Online
Patches and Stitches Online
603 Humes Avenue
Huntsville, AL 35801
Phone: 256 533-3886
Toll Free: 877-SHE-SEWS
Hours:
10:00 to 5:00 everyday
(except Sunday of course)
Welcome to the web site of Patches and Stitches -- a needlework and quilt shop that has been catering to the needs of its customers for over 30 years.
We offer online sales of over 10,000 Cross Stitch Books and Pamphlets! Click on the logo to the left or here to be taken to our online store. You can select to have your choices mailed directly to you or choose to pick them up at Patches, thus saving postage.
Patches carries a complete inventory of quilting, cross stitch, embroidery, and needlepoint including an extensive selections in various fibers.
We also carry a complete line of accessories for needlework.
Cross Stitch was our first love. As a matter of fact it was all we had when we first opened in 1978. It is still a major part of our inventory.
Needlepoint is not forgotten at Patches. We have a large selection of pre-worked canvases as well as hand painted canvases from many artist. We carry Paternayan Persian, Appleton Crewel, Elsa Williams Tapestry and DMC Tapestry.
Quilting has become a major part of our inventory in recent years. We carry fabrics from most of the major fabric companies. Having been in business since the beginning of the quilting revival, we are in awe of all of the fabrics available to today's quilters.
History
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", will soon celebrate its 30th anniversary.
Regal Drive LocationLocated 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.
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.
Three capable professionals run the shop. Linda Gewin, who has worked at the shop for twenty seven years, is the buyer/manager for the needlework area. Sharon Stifflemire is the buyer/manager for the quilting area. Rachel Freeman, retired from a 25-year career with a large retail firm in the Midwest, is the general manager. She is also Linda's sister. Many other talented stitchers are shop assistants and teachers.
"Patches and Stitches" offers a full schedule of classes for all skill levels. The class schedule is mailed out quarterly with often as many as 30 classes offered. These include needlepoint, tatting, tassels, pulled-thread, and quilt classes of all kinds. The schedule even includes classes for children. The shop offers "block of the month" patterns and kits.
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.
Huntsville has three very active local guilds; two Embroidery Guilds and the Heritage Quilters of Huntsville, which boasts a membership of over 200. The shop houses the quilter's guild extensive library. "Patches" supports it local guilds with monthly raffle gifts, advertising in their publications, and invaluable expertise and encouragement in their guild endeavors.
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.
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