This store was one of the hardest things about leaving Modesto, and one of the pure joys to come back to.

Elegant Stitch is one of the best independent needlework stores in the country. And it’s right in my backyard. Among crafters, the local specialty store (LNS if needlework is your passion, LSS if it’s scrapbooking, LQS if you’re a quilter, you get the idea) is the holy grail. The place where you can go for serious selection from smaller designers, specialty items, in depth knowledge and customer service from people who are as passionate as the subject as you are. It seems that everywhere I live I find myself getting really into whatever medium is reflected in the independent stores. My needlepoint really suffered during the San Diego years while my quilting took off. Now that I’m back I find my fingers itching to pick up a needle and thread and to play around with beautiful overdyed linen.

On the day I came by to visit Elegant Stitch had just moved locations from a cozy storefront to a massive industrial space, and already they were hard at work transitioning the warehouse into a feast for the eyes and offering serious inspiration. Everywhere I look I find some other intricate little treasure I want to hold in my hand with awe.

Not only do they have rooms full of beautiful things to marvel at, but they also have rooms full of patterns to pour through, including an incredibly gorgeous floor to ceiling card catalog of patterns from popular designers. If Atti would let me, I could spend hours there.

The customer service is wonderful. I swear there have been times when they lady helping me was just as excited about what I was making as I was, pulling out bolt after bolt of linen to pick out exactly the right shade to use.

And best of all, not only does this place have a couple of store cats, but the owner also brings her little doggies around. The last time I was there the doggies and Atti couldn’t get enough of each other as they licked his little toes and crawled into the stroller to snuggle. All while I dreamed of intricate little designs and all the beautiful things that could be made with them.

By now you all probably know of my obsession with flavored oils and vinegars. I’m such a sucker for them I swear that as soon as my feet hit the pavement of a fair or farmers market, I can smell the balsamic calling to me. I was telling a local friend about the day I ate an entire 8 oz bottle of dipping blend with a big hunk of bread, and she told me that I should check out Sciabica’s.

I’ve driven past this building a million times and only admired the architecture. It’s straight out of the late 50’s with gorgeous stonework and it just sent my midcentury design alarm pinging (More on that in a future post). But the other day when I found myself stopped at the light on the corner with this building, I decided to go in and poke around.

I didn’t take too many pictures for two reasons. 1) I managed to leave home without a stroller, so I had to carry a squirmy and angry Atticus in my arms the whole time I was there, and 2) the clerk was the most adorable boy who couldn’t have been older than thirteen, and I thought it would be wiser to avoid taking pictures without parental approval.

My host gave me an olive oil tasting, and talked me through all the different flavors of each variety, sounding every bit like a practiced sommelier. I got such a kick out of him. Here was this sweet toehead in a black t-shirt with Darth Vader on the front, pointing out the nuttiness of one variety of olive oil, and the earthiness of another.

It really was wonderful stuff, though. Most flavored oils I’ve tried are flavored by immersing ingredients in the oil, and then the oil picks up the flavor. But it’s always subtle, and the major note is still olive oil.

Sciabica’s actually cold presses the other ingredients at the same time as the olives, so you get tons of wonderful basil oil or garlic oil or lemon oil right along side the olive oil. The taste is so exceptional. My young friend was telling me about all kinds of uses for them besides just dunking them in bread as I am wont to do. My favorite was when he mentioned that they’ll brush the griddle with orange olive oil before spreading out waffle batter. Is that a great idea, or what?

Sciabica’s is a family business, as evidenced by my young olive sommelier. He told me stories of running the cash register when he was too short to see over it. A great, local product from a family business in my new hometown. It just warms my heart with the all-American-ness of it all.