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Tuesday 10am - 5pm Wednesday 10am - 5pm Friday 10am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 5pm

Hometown

Visit Kent's most colourful quilt shop! 1800+ fabrics, FQs, wadding, haberdashery, books, workshops and gift vouchers.

Online ordering now possible on our website! Specialist patchwork and quilting shop in the historic cathedral city of Rochester. We sell fabulous fabrics for quilters and textile makers and we also teach regular workshops in quiltmaking and other textile crafts. Ask for a Loyalty Card when you shop with us - a full Loyalty Card means you can choose a free metre of fabric - hurrah! Note that we are

also open one Sunday a month. It’s usually the third Sunday (Farmers’ Market), but can vary in Festival months). Check our FB posts for the latest updates or call us to check…

03/06/2026

Today I’m not being a tea lady or accountant, but I am being RUTHLESS (thought that deserved some capitals!)

Our recent Pint Pot promotion was, to be honest, not a success, so it’s up to me to finish off all the fabrics that I’d hoped would have left the building during May. So, say so long to this lovely print. Half an hour ago we had meterage on the bolt. Now it’s history, with just 2 fat quarters left for the box.

That’s the third bolt of fabric I’ve cleared this morning. I’m a woman on a mission to make some room for all the new fabric deliveries that are waiting for shelf space. 📦📦📦 Now, which fabric is next? 👀

01/06/2026

Anyone who runs their own business wears many hats. I’m no exception. Today WFH, I’ve been chief accountant, paying invoices; stock controller, ordering stuff and more stuff; events planner, fine tuning the summer school programme; webmistress, updating the website; stylist, turning my living room into a photo booth; oh and laundress, washing staff aprons. But what I really excel at is tea lady. The number of cuppas I’ve drunk today will hopefully hydrate me in the shop tomorrow as I always forget to drink…

What’s the quilt I hear you say? Well, thanks for asking… it’s called Dark Side of the Moon, finished as if by magic, yesterday evening when there was an extra full moon in May, known as the blue moon. It’s another sample for Summer School (1-16 August). More details coming soon. But first, more tea, I think… toodlepip!

29/05/2026

It’s a running joke when we’re packing up online orders, to pick which we’d like to hand deliver. Today it was easy to decide - yes please, an away day to Guernsey! In reality - we leave it to 📮 to whizz back and forth across the UK, whilst we use our rotary cutters to whizz back and forth across the fabric. More patchwork Pat than postman Pat 😂

28/05/2026

After a few day’s break, I feel healthy and bright eyed (not sure about the last adjective!). A few photos from the past days away with Mum/Mavis proving that you can take the girl out of her colourful cloth shop, but she’ll always track down colour and cloth…

Hometown reopens on Friday, so order online today to get to the top of the pile for tomorrow. See you soon!

23/05/2026

Morning folks! Quick reminder to all our lovely online customers. We’re taking a short break 24-28 May in the shop. Any online orders received before 4pm will be processed today. After this, we’ll get straight on it when we return on Friday. Our high street store (with new window display 💙) will be open for you 10-5 today.

20/05/2026

Yesterday we did something that we try to do once a year. (Any more often and I need smelling salts).
Sally counted the number of bolts/rolls of fabric in the shop (and in the stockroom waiting to go on the shopfloor). 😬

Oh my word! Now I thought that our Pint Pot offer would have significantly reduced this number. But it seems folk don’t want to save 15% by finishing a bolt of fabric, as the number of 15% discounts we’ve handed out can be counted on the fingers of both hands. 😳

So this is just a gentle reminder that you have 6 shopping days left in May to nab a rather lovely saving when you finish a bolt of patterned patchwork cotton.

Open today, Friday and Saturday as usual, then we reopen on Friday 29 after a short break. Hope to see you soon ⏱️!

18/05/2026

Gingham - following last week’s post, I’ve had a couple of questions, so here are some answers!

1 - our gingham is 100% cotton (a lot of gingham is a poly-cotton mix).

2 - our gingham is wide - 144cm (56-in), so it’s perfect for dressmaking at 115g/m and the width makes it ideal for quick home projects like tablecloths and pantry curtains.

3 - can you use it for quiltmaking? Of course you can! The wide width makes it a perfect choice as a well-priced backing. I wouldn’t personally use it for sashing just in case some of my cutting lines weren’t absolutely straight. But you do you!

4 what does yarn-dyed mean? To make gingham, first, half the warp and weft threads are dyed in a colour. As the classic check is woven, the deeper and lighter grid lines appear. Lighter in colour where you have coloured/white thread (yarn) and darker where both the warp and weft are dyed. So the pattern is part of the cloth, not printed later.

4 - is it my eyes, or are the checks different scales? Correct! We have a 9mm check and a 17mm check. More in 9mm as that seems to be your preferred scale.

5 - will I look like I’m heading back to school? No! I’ve chosen colours which give off more of a Merchant & Mills vibe, not Brampton Road primary flashbacks! (There is also a red and white version as that’s just classic, but it didn’t work in the photo..)

And finally, is it online and instore? Absolutely. Check it out! 😳 Sorry, one pun per post is OK, right?

16/05/2026

Dear British Isles,
🥶
I apologise for this current wintry weather in May. It may be my fault.
I’ve had delivery of so many summery fabrics this week, that I think I spooked our wonderful temperate climate and replaced it with an arctic blast.
I am deeply sorry.
In my defence, I think it’ll all change again for tropical temperatures next week.
And we’ll be ready. With new colours of Linen Handle. And cotton Ginghams. And outdoor fabrics. And embroidered cottons. And Double Gauze. And summery quilting cottons.
In the meantime, we still have stocks of boiled wool for another quick cosy Amara vest. (I’ve been wearing mine all week).

Yours sincerely
Marion
💌

14/05/2026

My version of the test card with advance notice of shop holiday closure. Both the shop and online will be closed between 24-28 May. We reopen on Friday 28 May, when all online orders will be processed.

So you know the drill! Get any orders in by early Saturday 23rd, so we can cut and post to you, thank you!

13/05/2026

I spy with my little eye … so many skinny bolts on the shelves. Remember, when you finish a patterned quilting fabric bolt, you can save 15%. Yes, that’s 15%!

FYI - very few have taken us up on this offer (which lasts to the end of May). If it was me, I’d be sprinting to the shop to get my hands on these lovely prints. 💙💙💙

Address

62 High Street
Rochester
ME11JY

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm

Website

http://www.hometownrochester.co.uk/

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