Hi everybody,

Thanks for stopping by my blog for my date with the Playground Showcase!!  My name is Cristi Cooper and I've owned and run a fabric shop called "Whimsy Quilts & Fabrics" for several years, but as I wind that down and close up shop, I'm ECSTATIC to be able to have more time to create!

I love everything Amy Sinibaldi touches and I had an absolute blast playing with her new collection -- Playground -- for Art Gallery Fabrics.  I've touched my fair share of fabric over the years and I've always loved the perfectly soft texture of AGF fabrics!  I was ecstatic when these beauties arrived in my mail box!

I have 3 little kids (Ellie - 10, Griffen - 7 and Gavin - 4) and these fabrics made me think about my favorite tiny humans ALOT.  My kids love to play on the playground and during the summer, we try to go to a different one almost every day.  I really felt inspired to make something that carried the whimsy and nostalgia and the feeling of the collection….  And after much thought and deliberation, I ended up inspired by this image:

To create this:

I've not appliquéd very much (maybe 2-3 times ever) and also haven't made children's clothing very much so this was a serious effort for me!  Now I want to make a patchwork skirt of my very own!  

I overthought every detail (anyone else do that?) but now that it's all done, I'm so excited to put it on my kids' playroom wall!!  I envision that this sweet girl is swinging barefoot, in her Sunday best, on a warm Fall day with a gentle breeze.  Right now, I want to BE her.  I hope I never forget what it's like to hear my kids' giggles as they play, when they are all grown up.

Major props to the people who appliqué on a regular basis!!  Particularly if you needle-turn appliqué.  I thought about doing that and then realized that I think that form of appliqué will have to come after my kiddos have left for college.  All of my patience is used on them. ;)

Thank you Amy for letting me play with your gorgeous collection!  I absolutely love the design, the nostalgia, the colors and honestly, the memories that I already know your fabrics will bring back for me.  That's really an incredible thing to say about fabric. <3 p="">

We're nearing the end of the Playground Showcase, but here's the list of all the lovely folks participating!!  Giuseppe Ribaudo is on tap for tomorrow and I know he'll make something incredible!!  

xo

Cristi

Modern Makers Club!

Membership for this club is currently closed but sign-ups will reopen October 12-14.  New club members will receive all previous patterns and be able join us!!  If you'd like to be reminded that sign-ups reopen, email us at: modernmakersclub@gmail.com !!  

I'm so excited to announce a new pattern club that Lindsey @penandpaperpatterns and I have been working on for you ~ the "Modern Makers Quilt Club".  The designs you see here are 8 of 36 that will comprise a year-long pattern club.  We hope you love them and that you'll be part of it!!  

The total cost of the club for 36 patterns is $50. Once you've signed up and paid, your membership is non-refundable.  Starting August 15 & every month after that for a year, members will get 3 PDF block patterns for 3 unique 9" blocks. At the end of the year, you'll have 36 individual patterns that can be combined to make a totally rad lap size quilt, or if you'd like a larger quilt, you can double the blocks, add sashing, etc. As part of the club, we will provide you with potential layout ideas, sashing amounts needed, etc.  

We are also having giveaways, special discounts, shirts designed by Patchwork Threads and more!  We can't wait to quilt with you!

Cristi & Lindsey

Shop Update -- The long and the short of it.

Dear fabric lovers!  
I hope this note finds you all well!  I've been hinting at some big changes that are happening  here at Whimsy Quilts &  Fabrics on Instagram  and this is the newsletter where I tell you allll  about them. =)  I've included both a short and  long version because I know not all of you want to hear the nitty  gritty details.  ;)

 Short version:  
 We opened a fabric shop in 2012.  It got too big (think 2-3 of  your LQSs combined) and now it needs to get much  smaller.  To that end, we will have inventory reduction sales  all month long, starting with 25% off all non-quilting cotton  substrates (aka canvas, rayon, brushed cotton, lawn, voile,  knits, double gauze & eyelet.)  Use code "SAVE25" to save  25% off anything in this catalog. 

Long version (aka the really honest, behind the scenes  story aka the ones the more "professional" people don't tell.  I'm really transparent and want the people who support our  shop to really know who they are supporting -- a real human family with a business owner wife/mommy who fails and  learns and trys again.):  

 To tell you about the future, I (Cristi) think I need to give a  little bit of history first.  We started selling fabric in April of  2012 as a way to supplement our income as I left my job as a scientist.  I loved it because I love fabric (!!!) and I could do it from home while my kiddos slept, freeing me up to be a SAHM. Our first purchase was just one collection of fabric.  As that collection sold, it freed up funds to buy more fabric and over the past 3 years, our shop has grown in exactly that way.  I am eager to please and as our business grew, I  would get in any collection that a customer asked for and I  loved it!  I loved being able to be all about the customer.  (Of  course, that was within certain parameters -- I've never gotten in something that I hated.  ;) )

Then at a certain point about 1.5 years in it got way WAY too big... and I was honestly too busy working to ever really see it. For several months in a row, we were getting  deliveries every day and over 5000+ yards of fabric a month.  That's over 350 bolts of fabric a month.  BOLTS.  (Just let that image sink in for a second.)  After about 6 months of that, we took a step back and asked ourselves  "what do WE want this business to look like?"  We had  been working all day (16 hours a day) for 7 days in a row for  a while.  My hubby would work the shop when he got home from his job all day.  My good friend Desiree helped out 1-2  days a week back then and that's when I would grocery shop and clean.  And I would mother my 3 AMAZING children right in the middle of it all.  We were exhausted!  I mean like literally e.x.h.a.u.s.t.e.d.  And fabric was in every room of our house (even our master bedroom).  We asked for advice from our local bank's small business advisor (word  to the wise:  your bank probably has one and they are SO smart!  They will help you for free if you have a business account!!)  He told us the shop was driving us (and not vice versa) and we needed to stop buying so much fabric.  (I  suppose that should've been obvious!!)  Anyways, we cut our buying in half.  And then in half again.  Now that's where we have been at most months since (unless Cotton + Steel releases, ha!).  (I mean can we all just stop for a second and say these ladies are fabric geniuses??)  However, I'm  finding that we are still ordering too much and overall running too large of an operation such that I'm not accomplishing my goals. 

This is the place in the story where I sat here and asked myself, what exactly are my goals?  This is what I've come up with: 

1. I can't carry so much fabric that it creeps into our living space. Ever. This means that I need to sell about 1/3-1/2 of what we have (because it takes up too much space in our house). This bodes very well for you, my favorite fabric lovers!!
2.  I can't financially hurt my family because I order too much fabric.  This means I can't order anywhere in the vicinity of what I have ordered.
3. I can't work in the fabric shop so many hours that I can't be a good wife and mother. This means that I need to have designated hours where I respond to DMs, PMs, emails, & texts and that I put my phone in my purse more often.  
4. I need to do this job in a way that serves YOU (the customer) well.  This means that I respond to all of your questions/messages during that time frame so that you never wait a full 24 hours before hearing from me.  And it means that we ship as fast as humanly possible.  
5.  I need to do this job in a way that makes me happy (& not stressed).  What this means to me is that I need to do this business smaller, but with more finesse.  More customization.  More ready-to-ship custom bundles, quilt kits & patterns (like the ones shown below). I'd love to be able to say "yes I have time to design a custom quilt kit!" every single time you ask.  And then lastly, but maybe the most exciting, I want to design fabric.  This is a dream that Desiree and I both share and we have started down the path towards designing fabric and hope to show our portfolio by Spring Market. 

So that's it!  That's our plan.  Sell a bunch, provide more finesse & customer service, curate more bundles & quilt kits, & design fabric.  If you have read this far, holy smokes!  Thank you!!  

We will have inventory reduction sales all month!!  Stay tuned!  And thanks so much for your support!!

xo
Cristi
Whimsy Quilts & Fabrics
ps If you like what you see here, please follow us on Instagram @whimsyquilts !!

Examples of the kinds of  things we want to do MORE of in the coming months! 

I want to make patterns like this (below) available to you!!  Also, this is an example of a quilt made with double gauze which is on sale using the "SAVE25" coupon code found in this catalog!

Custom Quilt Kit made for an *awesome* customer who wanted all Cotton + Steel for a Moda Building Blocks Pattern. We can do this for you!  Just ask!!

Custom Quilt Kits made to go with Lindsey Neill's adorable new Rainy Day Quilt Pattern!

Black & White Custom Bundle curated with the help of one of my favorite quilters Holly @hollygetsquilty!

A butterfly quilt pattern I hope to have ready for you soon!  All of the patterns I 
am designing will come FREE with the purchase of a custom quilt kit. 

The 2 bundles below are Whimsy Girl Custom Bundles curated by Desiree Swanson for our Bundle of the Month Club!

Thanks again for being here!!

Cristi

Whimsy Quilts & Fabrics

What have we been up to?

I just realized I only have photos of a few things Desiree and I have made lately... I'll try to rectify that situation! Hope all my fellow lovers of all things pretty are doing well. =) In keeping with the times, I've added a "Pin it" button! xoxo Cristi

We have a winner!

Congrats to my sister, Erin Penberthy. =) I prooooomise this contest wasn't rigged. Check back again though, I'll be having a giveaway at the end of Nov./beginning of Dec.!! Thanks for all the participation!

Giveaway: Update.

Hi ladies, Just in case you check here, I'm sorry for the delay, but there have been ladies I don't know recently "like" Whimsy Quilts on facebook... This is awesome, so thanks!! But, I want to get your name added to the drawing the correct number of times, so I'm wondering if any of you referred those ladies (#1) and if they'd like to be added to the drawing (#2)... But, because the banner is for Halloween, I'm only going to wait to see if I hear from any of you or them by TONIGHT, Wed. midnight and if not, do the drawing right away in the morning. Then the banner & gift card will be overnighted. So sorry for the confusion!! Also, check back in late Nov./early Dec. for another giveaway!! xo, Cristi

Here's some additional pics of the banner. (Actually, this is a very similar banner that is for sale in the shop. I made two. =) )