Ordering fabric for the shop

One of the perks of being a shop owner is getting to see all the new fabrics that will be coming out in the next season.  Representatives for the fabric companies and distributors visit the shop on a regular basis bringing with them suitcases full of samples and swatches of hundreds and hundreds of new fabrics and collections that will be shipping in the next 6 to 9 months.  Out of the suitcase comes swatch card after swatch card of every color and print that you could imagine.  They pile up high on the counter until the case is empty - then she starts folding them up and putting them back.  We watch carefully as they go - "No, not that one." "I love it but we don't need it." "Hmmm, interesting, but not quite right for our store."  "That one is really unusual - maybe a little too unusual for our customers."  But - there are a few that we pull aside and put into the MAYBE pile.  After 4 suitcases have been shown, our MAYBE pile is pretty big.  We only have room and budget for a small percentage of what they show - which means we have to make some very hard choices!  We ask ourselves:  What do our customers want to see when they come into the shop?  What colors, types of collections, novelty prints, do we need in the shop right now?  We also wonder what is the next popular notion or fabric that will hit the quilting community - so we can have what is new by the time our customers look for it in the shop.  Above is pictured Kristy Osborne, who reps for a number of fabric companies. She spent 3 hours today showing and advising us on fabrics for the next year.  We hope that the 100 bolts of fabric that we ordered are just what our customers will be looking for.  These fabrics will be arriving from now until next June. I hope to show you some of them here as they arrive and see if you are as excited as we are about what is new! 

Winter in the Pines Flannel Quilt Kit

Here is a preview of our newest flannel quilt kit - Winter In The Pines. 67x80  Made from Moda's luscious flannels, it will be cozy and warm for cold winter nights.  Available November 29, 2013.  A Lickety Stitch Quilts Exclusive.  Limited number available. Call 307-334-9963 to reserve one today.

Jane's Old Red Truck Quilt

Having difficulty coming up with an idea for a quilt for the man  in your life?  Here is a great quilt - and it goes together quickly.  Strips of the focus fabric - here one with old red trucks - are alternated with strips of complimentary fabrics between them vertically, then bordered with the same.  Easy. Fast. Fun.

Taking it from here.....

As the owner of a quit shop, there is always a myriad of jobs needing done and so many things that get put off until tomorrow because of lack of time.  Blogging has been one item that has definitely been put on the back burner around here for quite awhile - but I intend to change that as of today!  Many times in a day something comes to mind that we want to share with customers and friends - new fabrics, techniques, projects we make or our customers make, interesting facts...  So, we will see how this goes and hopefully keep much more current from here on out. 



  

Spring Cleaning

Sorry for not being around much lately, we've been busy spring cleaning.  We've been shifting stuff around the store trying to streamline the shop more & make room for all the new goodies we've been getting in lately.

  

This column used to have all our notions hanging from slat board, but Karen's talented husband, Dave, turned it in to a lovely bookcase.

A fun new way to display our panels.

More fabric panels.

Dave also built this open shelving unit to display patterns, pillows, more books, whatever!

A new set of drawers for all our ribbon & serger thread.  We have fun plans for this piece & hope to be able to share it soon.

We've also been getting tons of new fabric in, so be sure to head over to the shop to see what we have!

New Fabric Monday

The past couple weeks we've been getting in lots of new licensed fabrics. I remember these stories from my childhood and I'm excited that there's a new way to share them with my niece & nephews.

Dr. Seuss

Berenstain Bears

Richard Scarry's Busytown

Spiderman, John Deere, Pickles & Maxine. Even Poky Little Puppy & Little Engine.

And all our licensed fabrics are 10-25% off this week! So get over to the shop and pick some up before it's too late. :)

Batiks & New Moda

We've got a good selection of batiks and they're all online now. If you love handpainted fabrics you need to check these out!

We also recently got in a couple fun new collections from Moda.

Tend the Earth by Deb Strain

Winter's almost over here & Tend the Earth is the perfect collection to get you in the spring spirit.

Sassy by Sandy Gervais

The name says it all with this collection. Vibrant colors & bold design make these fabrics lots of fun!

And both of these collections would look great in BasicGrey's new jelly roll friendly pattern, Hello Luscious.