Another Snow Day = More Productivity

See what you can do when you get another foot of snow on the ground. No kidding, folks, we've got 3+ feet of snow on the ground. It's ri-donk-u-lous! But it fell into the wee hours, just enough to cancel school but get cleaned up at an early hour so Becca and I got together, threw the kiddos outside for a while and got to work.

First up, Stash Builder bundles with dots. These are Becca's favorite. Dots for all occasions. The incredible, ever versatile dot. Goes with everything. Need we say more?

Stay tuned over the next few days for more print and Kona bundles. They've been photographed and will be listed when we get a few free moments. :)

Lastly, if you're in the Boston Area, we'll be speaking at the New England Modern Quilt Guild meeting tomorrow at the Arlington library at 1pm. Come on out and see some yummy fabric.

Brrr... It's Cold Out There

-4.7°F in Massachusetts this morning. Ouch. Luckily that won't stop Becca from delivering these goodies to the post office today. Scrap bags are going out! Thanks for braving the cold, Becca.



Also, be sure to go over to AnneMarie's blog Gen X Quilters to join in her Love Nest Quilt Contest. We're sponsoring one of the giveaway bundles of Anthology fabrics - seven half yard cuts.


Stay warm!!

The Tale of the Wallet-y Things

It all started with some gift certificates to a few restaurants that I wanted to give my parents for Christmas. Simple enough right? Well, my lawyer sister seemed to think that our parents would lose them. (Why, I really don't know. They raised four of us and we never got lost...) So what's a girl to do but head to the sewing room and make a very fun wallet-y thing to keep the gift certificates in. Easy Peasy. The gift was a hit and won't get lost.

Then my SIL and I decided to do the same thing for our in-laws. And even though we had every confidence they wouldn't lose their gift cards, how could I not make two? I am not sure which was the bigger hit: the gift cards or the wallet-y thing. What I do know is that a week later my MIL emailed and asked for 6 larger wallet-y things that she could put stationary into for some friends hers.


Two down , 4 to go........ Maybe I should have just gone with a tie and some perfume :)

Specials Section Restocked

We've moved over a bunch of fabrics to our "Specials" section. All prints are $5.95, minimum 1 yard cuts. We know many of you have tightened the fabric budget so this should help when you need backings and such.

It's yet another snow day here in Massachusetts. A good day for cutting fabric. And packing it into envelopes for our Scrap Bee. I delivered the labels and instructions to Becca yesterday in advance of today's storm. She's been hard at work making 32 scrap packs for our eager Bee-ers. We'll let you know when they hit the mailbox early next week!

Stay Warm!

Half Square Triangles made a bit easier

Our good friend Liz, from Goddess in Progress Quilts (formerly Teeny Tiny Quilts), began a Half Square Triangle quilt with her scraps paired with Kona bone. The saga begins here. It's a bang up idea and a great way to (use up), I mean, showcase scraps. And let's just say right up front that this is going to be gorgeous. It's one of my "someday" quilts.


The other thing we need to say about HSTs is that they are t-e-d-i-o-u-s in any kind of quantity. What if you could eliminate half of the cutting? Sounds good, right? Enter Moda Bella solids charm packs. We brought them into the shop in White and Snow, a creamy off white.


I sorely wished we had come across these in time for Liz. (Sorry Liz!!) Go on over and start stalking Liz's blog because we're sending a charm pack on over her way to offer to her readers.

Pearl Bracelet is back in stock!

Plenty of yardage is available of the classic pearl bracelet. Shop here. Have you seen it on the cover of the new Block Party book?

In an Ideal World....

.... sewing machines would be cheap and fabric would be free. A girl can dream, can't she?

There's a retailer in our area whose tagline is "an educated consumer is our best customer." Becca and I believe the same thing, being quilters and fabric addicts like yourself. We think it's in your best interest and ours (as ones who want to sell you fabric) to let you know what's going on so you can make smart buying decisions. So what am I really talking about? Cotton fabric prices are going up this year.

Cut to the reality version of this scenario and you'd see floods in China and Pakistan, where the bulk of the world's cotton crop is grown, and droughts in India, another contributor to the cotton supply. Supply is way down, demand is up. What does that mean to me, the quilter/crafter/sewer in my little sewing space, reading blogs and stashing yummy fabric? You can expect to pay an additional .50¢ to $1.00 per yard at your online and LQS shops in the near future.

Most, if not all, cotton fabric manufacturers imposed a price increase as of the first of the year. Retailers, like ourselves, did our best to lock in buys and pricing last December to see us through the next few collection releases. We're trying to hold off as long as we can on passing the increase on to our customers. But sadly, my friends, it's coming.

Some trends that are happening in the meantime are slightly narrower bolts and we may see more 42-43" bolts instead of the customary 44-45". Some large chains currently negotiate for lesser quality goods that have a name you know on them and more of this may happen. And the short life cycles for prints may become even shorter. Manufacturers are printing for demand so they do not carry costly inventory on the shelves. Designs are printed with small overages after orders are written. If designs are released but not ordered in sufficient quantity, they may not be printed at all.

As a note of perspective, the price increase for cotton fabric from 1990 to 2010 has only increased about 35%. The prices for bread and meat have gone up roughly 275%.

Deborah at Whipstitch did a fantastic job of laying out the very complex issues at play and how it will affect all of us. Please read her post here for a more complete picture.

Sew Fresh Fabrics (meaning Becca and myself), like most small online and local shops, value our customers, love what we do and strive to bring great products at competitive prices and value for your dollar. The best thing I can say about the situation as a whole is the very thing I love about quilters and this community – we do this for love. We love fabric, love making quilts, love finding good homes for them. If you love a fabric, then buy it, sew it, find it a good home. You'll never regret those few dollars more when you're doing what you love.

We're Starting off with a BANG!

The first round of the Sew Fresh Fabrics Scrap Bee will be making 2 quilts for Project Linus. We were just blown away by the response and generosity of you folks. Quilters really are the best people. The first 32 participants will be receiving emails later today with their instructions and information. You can keep track of our progress on our Flickr page. We're keeping a list of all others interested in future rounds, so please send an email if you'd like to participate. Thanks again, everyone. We look forward to sewing with you!

Won't You Join Us?

We have scraps. Lots of scraps in fact. Many are in strip format from trimming the beginning of the bolt. The rest are left overs from the end of the bolt, too small to sell as is but plenty big enough to sew with. We thought about selling scrap bags, but thought again. You've got your own scraps to deal with, right?

Here's what we've decided to do instead: a Sew Fresh Scrap Quilting Bee. We'd like 16 people to join us. We'll send an assortment of Sew Fresh scrap fabric to you. More than enough to complete a 12.5 x12.5" unfinished block. You make a block (we'll give you a month to complete), send it back to SFF and keep the rest of the scraps. Beginners are welcome, block can be the style of your choice and your commitment is to only one block, one month. We'll assemble the blocks and quilt them then donate it to a charitable organization such as Project Linus and Hopes and Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS. We'd like to do this several times this year starting in February. Sound like fun? Want to play along with us? Send an email to info(at)sewfreshfabrics.com if you're interested.

* First round is filled. Please continue to email if you'd like to be on the list for the next round. It may start sooner than we think if we continue to get such a great response. Quilters are awesome!! :)

** Wow! Second round is filled too. We'll keep taking names as long as we have willing participants. Thanks for your patience. Please make sure we can get your email from Blogger or send an email to info[at]sewfreshfabrics.com. There are a few volunteers that we can't get a hold of. Thanks again!!

Welcome in the New Year!

Becca and I see so many awesome combinations of fabrics that our customers pick that we're really dying to see what you're making. We've created a Flickr group for Sew Fresh Fabrics Fans so you can post pictures of your creations.

We've come up with a few bundles in the shop if you're looking for inspiration. But we've also decided to select one customer per week with the most exciting combination of fabric and give them free shipping on their next order. We'll announce the winners here and on Facebook. C'mon, get sewing!

Congratulations to Jenny from Cut.Sew.Iron.Repeat who won our giveaway with Don't Call Me Betsy.

Happy New Year!

New Year's Day Smorgasbord

Giveaway with Don't Call Me Betsy
We're sponsoring a weekend giveaway with the fabulous Elizabeth from Don't Call Me Betsy. Winners will receive 8 half yard cuts from Art Gallery Fabrics. Pat Bravo's designs are so beautiful and luscious and work for all sorts of quilts and projects. Hurry over to enter before the contest ends on Sunday, Jan. 2!

Must. Have. Now.
That is the message I got from my sister when the 2 new vans/car prints arrived in our shop last week. ( I actually have 3 sisters however this one is the other fabric junkie.) When we spoke the next morning she let it be known that what she really needed was 2 napkins made from these prints to go with the ones I gave my nephew last year. So, since they're easy to make, I whipped these together for him. And I couldn't very well make some for him without also making a couple for his little sister.

Happy, Happy New Year!
On a side note, my youngest sent off a letter to Santa this year. There is a special collection mailbox just for  this. In return, she received a letter from the North Pole yesterday. After reading the letter aloud to us, she said, "Now I REALLY know there is a Santa."

Happy Holidays to you and your families!!
Becca