Next week I should have a picture of my sister's quilt to share with you. She came in yesterday and leaves on Wednesday.
What if -
a - you went to the quilt shop and the owner told you that you were her first customer of the day at 4:30pm (store closes at 5)
b - you picked out 24 yards of fabric - 4 yards Christmas sale fabric and 20 yards of full price fabric
c - she refused to cut 1/3 yard cuts of the Christmas fabric (sale fabric she only will cut 1 yard pieces) knowing that you had plans to purchase 20 additional yards of fabric at full price
Would you -
a - buy full yard cuts of the Christmas fabric knowing that most of it would end up sitting on your shelves for years
b - not buy the Christmas fabric and purchase the other 20 yards of fabric
c - not buy any of the fabric you had picked out thinking that as you were her only customer of the day that she should be grateful you were there at all and sell you the fabric in the cuts you wanted
hmmmm.......
I started this quilt in February and finished it this week.
It is 105 inches square and will be living on our guest bed. The pattern is "Color Me Crayon" from the Fat Quarter Shop. The colors make it the perfect spring/summer quilt. The pattern had great directions and was easy to make. I used Batik strips.
Used since last stash report - 20.9 / Used YTD - 133.69
Bought since last stash report - 0 / Bought YTD - 41 (bought in 2012, arrived in 2013)
Net used YTD - 92.69
Quilts finished in 2013 - 16
Goals for 2013
1) I am planning on staying out of quilt shops - there is not one thing I need. No patterns, no thread, no batting, no fabric, no rotary blades, no rulers, no gadgets, nothing. If I don't have it then I do not need it. There isn't any reason for me to visit a shop in town or online. I guesstimated how much fabric I have and I will never come close to using it all. The folks who get my quilts don't know if the fabric is brand new or 6 years old, they only know that someone out there in the world cares enough about them to make them a quilt. I will be unsubscribing to all emails from quilt stores, if I don't see it I won't be tempted.
Amendment to Goal #1 - I will be going to the Paducah Quilt Show in April with our new quilting cousin and I will be bringing home some fabric/patterns/etc... That will be the only quilting shopping I plan on doing this year.
1-2
3) Make 12 quilts for Ronald's House
1 - 2 - 3 - 4
4) Finish 5 quilts that I have already started
1 - 2 - 3
Other finished quilts
1- 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6
16 comments:
Interesting questions... Probably would depend on how much I liked the Christmas fabrics and how good the sale price was. I know a lot of quilt stores make that 1 yard rule on sale fabrics--but often those hard-&-fast rules hurt business more than they help.
Kind of explains why she had no customers doesn't it! I've worked in and owned a quilt store and would not lose a decent sale by being so anal about 'the rules'. I would have rung it up as 1 1/3 yards of sale fabric end of story!
So I'm curious, what did you end up doing? One time I went in to a quilt shop where they still ripped the fabric. I asked to have my fabric cut rather than ripped because I think it ruins the edge of the fabric and it's unusable. I think that if I'm buying 36" of fabric, I should get 36" of usable fabric, not a frayed edge and I detest all those strings from ripping. Anyway, they refused so I walked out with nothing. I had about 20 yards that I was planning on buying. Their loss, my gain!
I can see by your stash report which option you chose. :)
Last year a friend and I went to a new quilt shop in Ann Arbor and the owners totally ignored us. Their friends came in and they chatted them up, but we were invisible. I didn't buy anything and we never went back. I'm always amazed by the people who open businesses that have no business sense.
Congrats on the finish! It's a beauty!
I'm not sure that all quilt shop owners understand that they run a business and that customer service does count. Having said that, I've been lucky enough to encounter many that do understand those principles. I just wish they were closer to where I live.
I really like the way the little orange squares seem to be going around in a circle on you Crayon quilt.
Very interesting dilemma. If the owner was so chatty as to tell you that she hadn't had a customer all day, I'd be tempted to nicely ask if she's willing to end the day with no sale or bend the rules to accommodate you. If no, then she's creating her own destiny.
I really love your Crayon quilt, especially the colors you used. I'd like to do one of those. On your dilema about the quilt shop, I would have not bought anything. I worked in a shop for 8 years and "customer service" is first and foremost. Just think what she would have made in sales had she been willing to bend the rules on the "sale" fabric. Her loss.
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with such quandries. I have been disappointed many times when visiting quilt stores...there are two in my winter community that I seldom visit because they always make me feel as though I'm bothering them. I'd have have just left her store without buying a thing.
Oh, I wanted to comment on making quilts without borders. I often leave the borders off.
Awesome goals..... temptation is half the battle isn't it??
L-O-V-E the colour me crayons quilt.... it is BEAUTIFUL!!
Oh Boy - Do I LOVE that quilt!!! As for the quilt store - I am not sure, I think sometimes I am too nice, but I would not have wanted all the extra Christmas fabrics... I might have asked if she wanted the whole day to be a bust? What did you do? ( being nosy of course)
I would not buy full yard cuts when I only needed 1/3 yard of each (not unless maybe it was so spectacularly cheap that it would equal buying the 1/3 yards elsewhere.) I'd still buy the 20 yards of full price fabric if it was something I really, really wanted -- and I probably wouldn't have had it in my arms unless I really did want it.
Good luck staying out of the quilt shops!
It doesn't take a lot of poor customer service to turn me off from a shop. I would probably have walked out with nothing, but I *definitely* wouldn't have bought the sale fabric. My shop has a 1/2 yd. minimum on their $5/yd sale rack, and I think that's reasonable. I rarely buy the sale fabrics that require 1 yard, and much later I'll notice it's still sitting there, so I'm not the only one. To me, the question for the shop owner is, do you want to get your money out of this fabric, or don't you? With the cost of fabrics skyrocketing, I would think they would!
Hey Dee Dee -- I noticed you hadn't posted in a while and just thought I'd check in on you and see how you were doing and if all is well in your neck of the woods. Hope you're doing okay!!
Hoping all is well with you. Have missed you and hope to see you back soon.
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