Or, more realistically, the locations of quilt shops are published in guides available to sewing fanatics worldwide. For The Granary of Sunnyvale, these listings contribute heavily to the quilt shop's success, as quilters from the Bay Area and around the world peruse their wares. But to Paula Ivers, who celebrated her third anniversary as owner of The Granary this fall, the shop's appeal lies with the love of the craft.

"We call ourselves the friendly neighborhood quilt store. You don't have to have the most bolts of fabric to be successful," she says. Ivers touts her shop's high standards of customer service as the reason why quilters keep coming back. "With beginners, we'll help them out with picking the fabric since that's the hardest part," Ivers says. "More advanced quilters will come in with their projects just to get a second opinion."

Ivers and her employees offer numerous classes in the shop's location in the De Anza Square Shopping Center. Girls and boys of elementary school age and young adults make up a surprising percentage of their quilters. "We do have a really young following. We're showing that quilters aren't just a bunch of old ladies," Ivers says.

She began quilting in 1994 when she was pregnant, and ended up not returning to her job as a paralegal. At that point, she began working for The Granary under its former owner. "I really like the combination of the business side and the creativity," Ivers says. She bought the shop outright in 2000 after her boss was diagnosed with kidney cancer.

The Granary itself was first opened in San Juan Bautista in the 1970s and moved to the Vallco Shopping Center in Cupertino soon after. Ivers herself remembers shopping at The Granary as a child. "My older sister was a seamstress, but I never imagined I would get into it to this extent," Ivers says.

In 1996, the shop moved to its current location after the retooling of Vallco dispersed the stores in its "craft corner," as Ivers puts it.

With her ownership, Ivers brought a doubling in profits as she sought to keep inventory fresh and her customers happy. "People say the most phenomenal things when they come in here," she says.

Ivers, a Sunnyvale native who graduated from Fremont High School, makes sure her reach stays fairly local. She gives quilting demonstrations at Cupertino Junior High, where her old sewing instructor still teaches. The Granary was nominated for a recycling award from the city of Sunnyvale, and Ivers plans to use her 3,000-member mailing list to mount a jacket drive for the holidays like she did last year.

But despite her attempts to remain a "friendly neighborhood quilt store," Ivers still attracts a national (and international) audience. Quilters from other states and countries come in with quilting guidebooks tucked under their arms, looking for fabric and notions they can't find at home. "Our selection is so much better than overseas, and it's not nearly as expensive," Ivers says. "We see Japanese women whose husbands have been assigned here for work, and there's one lady from Canada who comes by and takes a class every time she's in town."

No matter where the customers come from, they find good prospects in the "breath of fresh air" available at The Granary. "We get brand-new fabric in almost every day," Ivers says. "They're always looking for something new."

The Granary is located at 1326 S. Mary Ave, Sunnyvale. For more information, call 408.735.9830 or visit the website at http://www.thegranaryquilts.com.