Ten years ago, Oroville native Ashley Coffey was hanging out downtown with some girlfriends she’d know since high school. She expected to come home with maybe a purchase or two from one of the historic district’s shops; instead, she came home with a lease for her own shop.

“My girlfriends kept telling me I should open a store,” Coffey recalled. “I went into the mini-mall on Myers Street, and the landlord was there, so I talked to him and signed a lease. It was a whim.”

That whim blossomed into a successful business, Pieces of Love Quilt Shop, which outgrew its first 250 square-foot space downtown in about 18 months. Coffey then moved the business to an 1,800-square-foot space in the Mission Square Shopping Center on Fifth Avenue. By 2020, Pieces of Love was overflowing with bolts of fabric, quilting notions and sewing machines — and class space was getting pretty tight.

“Right in the midst of COVID, I bought a building on Lincoln Street, remodeled it and moved in,” said Coffey. “I just kept putting everything I could back into the business and grew from there.”

While Coffey admits she didn’t know anything about running a business when she decided to open Pieces of Love, what she did know was quilting.

“I started quilting when I was 5 or 6,” said Coffey. “My stepmom was making a quilt, and I was very fascinated with it. She bought me a machine (and) gave me some fabric that I cut up and sewed back together. My first quilt fell apart, but I loved quilting and was intrigued by it.”

Coffey continued quilting but didn’t think her treasured hobby would ever become her livelihood. After high school, she left Oroville to attend Le Cordon Blue College of Culinary Arts in San Francisco, where she earned a degree in culinary arts and restaurant management. Returning to her hometown, Coffey worked as an elementary school special education aide. From there, she moved into the school district’s kitchens and when she left the district had worked her way up to the head cook at Central Middle School.

Through the years, Coffey’s made quilts for her three sons and her three granddaughters as well as other family members, friends and for the community through the Oroville Piecemakers Quilt Guild’s philanthropic projects.

“I’ve made thousands of quilts,” said Coffey. “I have well over a hundred, maybe hundreds of quilt tops in the back room of the shop.

“It’s like an addiction. I want to see what else I can do. Each quilt is different even if you use the same pattern. There are so many ways to arrange the blocks and so many different colors and patterns of fabric to use.

“I’m very peaceful when I quilt. I can forget about problems in life and just focus on quilting and creating something.”

The quilt shop’s current 2,000-square-foot home at 2313 Lincoln Street seemed luxuriously spacious five years ago, so Coffey expanded her fabric, notions and kit offerings; Elana sewing machine inventory; and her longarm quilt finishing services.

Potpourri

Walking into the shop is like walking into a rainbow of fabrics in every color and pattern imaginable. Among the more than 20 different designer quilting fabrics that can be found at Pieces of Love are Tula Pink, Art Gallery Fabrics, Cotton and Steel, Marcus Fabrics, Andover, Poppie Cotton, Riley Blake Designs, Free Spirit, Island Batik and Windham Fabrics.

Coffey carries just about every notion and tool a quilter could need. She also carries quilt kits for those who need a little kick start as well as quilt design patterns including some she’s created herself. The shop also offers classes and sewing machine repair.

“I still love what I loved when I first opened the shop,” said Coffey. “And that is helping others with their projects. Watching and working with beginners who are struggling to get along and seeing them progress over the years and the creations they make is my favorite thing. There’s a lot of talent in our area.”

Her penchant for helping others piece, stitch and create led to Coffey offer classes and workshops, including three-day quilting retreats and WIP Wednesdays where quilters are invited to come and finish “works in progress.” In July, she’s offering the “ultimate quilting adventure,” a seven-day quilting cruise to Alaska.

Due to the popularity of her classes and workshops, Coffey once again found herself a little tight on space at the Lincoln Street shop location. So, in April, the Coffey brought part of her business back the city’s historic district.

“I opened up what I call Pieces of Love Retreat on Myers Street downtown,” said Coffey. “That space is strictly set up for classes and workshops. It’s about 1,800 square feet, so there is plenty of room to spread out and really work, which is wonderful.”

When Coffey is teaching at the retreat, customers who visit the shop are assisted by other knowledgeable quilters including Grace Merchant and Terri Clary. Merchant also owns her own online quilting store, Moonlight Quilters (moonlightquilters.com).

Samples of Coffey’s quilts are displayed at Pieces of Love to give others “inspiration” — but the seasoned quilter is quick to point out that none of them are art quilts.

“My style is eclectic. I use traditional to modern fabric designs and patterns. I’m all over the place because I like a lot of things,” said Coffey. “But the one thing about all my quilts is that they are meant to be used, not hung on a wall.

“I make my quilts for the love of it. I want the people I give them to feel that love, comfort and warmth when they use them. You can’t do that with a quilt that hangs on a wall.”

For more information about Pieces of Quilt Shop and retreat classes, visit piecesoflovequiltshop.com

Reach Kyra Gottesman at kgottesman@chicoer.com