Decades ago, Lydia Sorenson, owner of Homespun Quilts & Yarn in Astoria, was resistant to taking a quilting class with a friend.

“I like to say I started quilting against my will,” Lydia said. “I was terrible at it, couldn’t cut or sew a straight line. I had trouble getting my pieces to match or be right side up. The teacher told me later she thought I would quit,” she added.

But now, Lydia is dedicated to Homespun Quilts & Yarn, which sits just a half block from the Astoria Riverwalk. Lydia, along with husband and co-owner Thor Sorenson, calculates that the shop’s total combined experience, including employees’, totals 176 years in quilting, 135 years in knitting and crocheting and 27 years in sewing machine repair.

“Nothing compares to feeling fabric and yarn and seeing the color, quality, feeling the hand and weight, which can’t be gauged on a computer screen,” Thor said.

The Sorensons moved to Astoria from Port Townsend, Washington, in 1994. Thor first took a position at the Wauna mill, and after transitioning from her veterinary technician career, Lydia eventually became a vendor at the Astoria Sunday Market, selling items for pets. In 2005, the couple decided to look for a permanent retail space and, noticing that the quilt shop was for sale, they switched course and immersed themselves in the business.

The pair later expanded, adding yarn. “We hadn’t come from retail backgrounds, so we took all four years of the business management program through Clatsop Community College, which absolutely helped us understand the how-to of running the shop,” Thor said.

The pair has announced that Sit & Stitch, a popular meet up for crocheters, knitters, spinners and needleworkers will return to the shop on Saturdays. Open to all skill levels, these sessions can include mini lessons on themes like fiber types, knitting styles or even “knit-a-longs” where people make the same project but in different colors or yarns.

“It’s always been a welcoming and happy group with lots of laughter,” Lydia said. “Fiber artists tend to be friendly, collaborative people who appreciate their community.”

As in-person offerings expand around the community, the Sorensons plan to offer short classes at the shop. “Shop hops” are another planned offering, where quilt shops around town will encourage participants to visit other area shops, stamping a passport as they visit locations. “Astoria is a great place for a quilt store,” Thor said. “Our community and climate make for a strong crafting environment. We’re a gateway to the coast and the peninsula and draw tourists from around the world.”

A major part of Homespun Quilts & Yarn, the sewing machine support program allows customers to walk in for a quick check of their machine for thread, needle and tension, and Thor is a certified technician for Bernina sewing machines.

The shop is also an official Bernina dealer. “Most all the problem behaviors clients are experiencing with their machines: breaking thread, skipping stitches, and most thread tension issues, we can resolve with a good cleaning, fresh lubrication, and adjustment of the timing and clearances inside the mechanism,” Thor said. “It is so gratifying to bring an older machine, which might have been in the family for generations, back to its like new performance.”

Lydia sees online and physical storefronts as two different spaces that don’t try to compete. An online shop can’t provide in-person support and sewing machines purchased online don’t come with hands-on lessons. “There are so many reasons to be here,” Lydia said. “To share, teach, solve problems and create a sense of community.”

Sit & Stitch

Homespun Quilts & Yarn, 108 10th St., Astoria

Saturdays from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

www.homespunquilts.com