Mary Jo’s Cloth Store

I’m very fortunate to live about 45 minutes from Mary Jo's Cloth Store in Gastonia, NC. If you live on the east coast and sew, quilt or make crafts, there's a good chance you already know about Mary Jo’s, a mecca filled with quilting fabric, specialty fabrics, drapery fabrics, thread, tools, notions, patterns, and pretty much anything you could want or need if you sew.

Looking for 25 different shades of dupioni silk? Civil War reproduction fabrics? Drop-dead gorgeous fabrics for prom or wedding dresses? No problem. Mary Jo’s has it.

Don’t believe me? Check out the “360-degree virutual tour” on their website! This place is so huge and has so much stuff that I practically start hyperventilating when I get about 10 minutes away.

Mary Jo (Margaret Colien Cloninger) has been selling fabrics since 1949. That’s her in the photo above. She’s still going strong, now in a 40,000 square feet space in the Gaston Mall. Customers regularly drive from 250 miles away to shop there.

Mary Jo’s now has a website, so even if you live far away, you can still scan and purchase the fabrics they have in stock. They’ve also just launched a blog, which shares the stories of Mary Jo’s customers. Today, they posted about me, and Barnful of Quilts! Thanks, Mary Jo’s!