Found in the Fabric Shoppers Unite Flickr Group

Photo Credits: 1. Andy by Betsy, 2. The Olde Crow Quilt Shop in Elora Mews, 45 Mill St. West, Elora Ontario, 3. As Padme, 4. YoYo Bliss, 5. Ollo’s Shirt, 6. Hopscotch Charm Pack, 7. Fat Quarter Bundles, 8. Volcano by Rebecca, 9. W. Washington Fabric Shop Hop

It’s been some time since we’ve showcased our Flickr group. Checking it out today, I discovered some real treasures in the pool featuring independents shops, finished projects sourced from independents and fabrics found at independent quilt shops and fabric stores. Add your creations, finds or photos of your favorite independent shop over here!

Meet Nikki – A Fabric Shopper in Pittsburgh

Our new friend Nikki sporting the Project 95 button we gave her.

Project 95’s sponsoring organization, The Fabric Shop Network–the trade association for independent quilt and fabric shop–had a booth at the Spring International Quilt Market in Pittsburgh. (You can read our posts about Quilt Market over on FabTalk.) On our last night in Pittsburgh–hungry and exhausted–we stumbled upon Roland’s Seafood Grill and had an incredible meal. We also were lucky enough to meet Nikki Hollibaugh, our server who just happened to have recently finished her first quilt.

We got to chatting with Nikki and when we mentioned that we were in Pittsburgh for a fabric trade show, she let us know that she’d recently made her first quilt–and even had the photo on her cell phone to prove it. Nikki didn’t have any quilting experience, but told us that she wanted a quilt that was bright and had a lot of different colors and designs–that way she could freshen the look of her entire room just by changing the color of the sheets, rather than having to redecorate. So, with no quilting experience, Nikki made this beautiful, one-of-a-kind quilt.

Nikki's Quilt

Nikki told us that, like many fabric shoppers, she wanted to support independent fabric and quilt shops, but she didn’t know where they were or how to find them. Because Laurie was familiar with shops in the Pittsburgh area, she was able to tell Nikki about some shops in the area–including The Quilt Company in Allison Park, Pennsylvania–that carried beautiful fabrics and had staff who had the know-how to guide her in her quilting adventures.

However, we know that there are many, many fabric shoppers just like Nikki–people who want to shop at independent shops because you want to purchase quality fabric and be able to ask questions with knowledgeable staff people. As a result, one of the major projects that we’re working on for Project 95 is an easily searchable database of independent fabric and quilt shops. This will include both traditional bricks and mortar shop as well as independent e-tailers. We are very excited about adding this useful feature to this site, and it will be launching soon.

All of us agreed that meeting Nikki and talking to her about her quilt and shopping for fabric was one of the absolute highlights of Quilt Market–we couldn’t help but think that it was meant to be that we have dinner at Roland’s and meet Nikki.