โExcelsior Buzzโ is a recurring column on changes, tidbits and other news from the Excelsior. Got news? Send us tips at xueer@missionlocal.com.
The Excelsior is getting a new stitch: City Made Quilts, a custom quilt shop, is coming to 1021 Geneva Ave. between Paris and Lisbon streets.
Owner Sarah Cain has been sewing her love letter to San Francisco one quilt at a time for more than a decade now. And this August, she’s turning that passion into a business. Cain describes the shop as patching a hole in the city’s fabric landscape.
โWe have a lot of garment shops and fabric [shops] for making clothing,โ Cain said. โBut nothing for quilts.โ
City Made Quilts is one of the new businesses that benefit from a city grant program offering between $50,000 and $100,000 to fill empty storefronts along the Excelsior’s commercial corridors.
Previously, Cain ran a pattern-design business from home and has been working as a licensed marriage and family therapist and in behavioral health for the last 20 years.
Cain said her husband spotted the opportunity and encouraged her to apply. She did, on a whim, and walked away with $50,000, helping her set up shop at the space on Geneva Avenue that used to house a carpet store. Along with Cain’s quilt shop, the Excelsior is also welcoming a comics shop and an arcade.
A native of Modesto in the Central Valley who moved to San Francisco in 2013 with her husband, Cain has long drawn inspiration from the city’s streets and architecture.
Her quilt pattern designs reflect that: one called โHaightโ captures the neighborhood’s ornate Victorians. The โLombardโ uses circles and zigzags to imitate the famous crooked street, and a recent โHunters Point quiltโ draws color and sharp lines from a new mural at Third Street and Hudson Avenue on the side of an auto shop in the Bayview, where Cain currently lives with her husband and daughter.
โI’m super excited!โ Cains said. โJust to share the love of quilting, and also bring the supplies to the quilters in the city who need it.โ
The Internet has been obsessed with the FIFA World Cup, and even moreso with people who are watching it.
Japanese fans have gone viral for enjoying the juicy barbecue in Texas and getting emotional over the free chips and salsa at Mexican restaurants.
Scottish fans have reportedly nearly depleted Boston’s beer supply. Norwegian fans have been taking over subways and escalators in New York City, Viking-row style.
San Francisco wants in on the fun, too.
The city is setting up โGoal Rush watch partiesโ spanning six areas, a collaboration between the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. The Excelsior is one of them.
Two of the places to watch the game are Bravo Pizza at 5145 Mission St. at Geneva Avenue and Media Cancha Restaurante at 4995 Mission St. at Italy Avenue. Will these go viral?
Even though not on the official city list, The Korner Store, a Korean restaurant at 4516 Mission St. at Santa Rosa Avenue, is also hosting watch parties.
The earliest will be on June 24, Wednesday, at 6 p.m. for a game between Korea and South Africa, featuring a $25 all-you-can-eat anju food buffet (meaning food served with booze). Doors will open at 5 p.m., so arrive early to grab a seat.
Want to learn about where else in the city to watch a game with fellow soccer fans? Check out Mission Local‘s guide here.
Join your neighbors in cleaning up the streets of the Excelsior this Saturday, June 27, from 11 a.m. to noon.
The free event, organized by Civic Joy Fund, a beautification initiative under nonprofit Civic Space Foundation, and Refuse Refuse San Francisco, a volunteer street-cleanup organization.
You will meet others outside the Recovery Room, a bar at 4528 Mission St. between Santa Rosa Avenue and Harrington Street, to grab cleaning supplies from the crew. Food and refreshments will follow after the cleanup.
Don’t worry if you miss the date, as this is a recurring event every Saturday until at least the end of the year, according to the event sign-up page.
Another volunteer opportunity is at the Family Connections Center in the Excelsior at 5016 Mission St. near Seneca Avenue for the monthly Friday Family Fun Night, where children and their families get together to do special projects together.
The upcoming fun night for June will be at 4 p.m. on Friday, June 26, at the Family Connections Center, which is a San Francisco-based nonprofit helping low-income families with child support and education.
You can sign up here to help set up and run activities, greet families and answer their questions, manage snacks and drinks and clean up afterwards.