Welcome New Sponsor – Mid-Michigan Mitten Company

Project 95: Fabric Shoppers Unite–Shop Independents is thrilled to announce the addition of a new sponsor! The Mid-Michigan Mitten Company was established in 2010 by Peggy Chiarenzelli in Riverdale, Michigan after her felted wool mittens became explosively popular. The wholesale company specializes in making the felted wool mitten kits and sells to local retail stores.

Mid-Michigan Mitten Company produces a unique product that crafters are sure to love:

Our mittens are cut from 100% recycled, felted wool knit and come with a fleece lining. Kits are cut out and ready for you to sew and embellish and com in three sizes: small (for children) medium (for women and teens) and large (designed especially for men). If you would like to embroider or customize your mittens, look for kits marked “especially made for embroidery machines”. The top of these mittens are made with felted wool fabric and are cut to fit embroidery machine hoops. Because our mitten kits are made from recycled fibers, you can get them in an array of colors and heft. Some will be very classy while others will have a more woodsy or country theme. Others will be just plain cute! Because of the huge variety of colors and weight, you can choose a kit to specifically fit your personality. One thing all of our mittens have in common is their unsurpassed warmth! Snowball maker approved, these mittens will keep your hands toasty warm even on the coldest days of winter.

Thank you, Peggy, and welcome to Project 95: Fabric Shoppers Unite–Shop Independents!

One Million Pillowcase Challenge Featured Fabric Slideshow

One Million Pillowcase Challenge Pattern, Made with Robert Kaufman's Iota

Looking for some inspiration as you start sewing your One Million Pillowcase Challenge pillowcases? Then take a look at APQ’s inspiring featured fabric slideshow–the fabrics are gorgeous and I love the way they’re used in the different pillowcase patterns. Of course, don’t forget to check the sidebar on our site for the APQ patterns as well as other original patterns.

Make a Pillowcase, Make a Difference

Join the One Million Pillowcase Challenge! This yearlong national challenge—spearheaded by American Patchwork & Quilting and sponsored by Fabric Shoppers Unite, among others—asks independent quilt shops and fabric stores to join forces with quilters and sewers to create and donate 1 million pillowcases to local charities.

This exciting yearlong national challenge—spearheaded by American Patchwork & Quilting—asks independent quilt shops and fabric stores to join forces with quilters and sewers in 2010 to create and donate 1 million pillowcases to local charities, with the message, Make a Pillowcase, Make a Difference. Many worthy organizations and causes can benefit from pillowcases, including nursing homes, domestic violence shelters, foster children and the homeless.

On Novemeber 15 APQ’s One Million Pillowcase Challenge website went live, where you can find a shop that is participating in the Challenge. There you will also find pillowcase patterns to sew. You can also download pillowcase patterns from the our web site (in the sidebar on the right)!

Welcome New Sponsor – AccuQuilt!

We are incredibly excited to announce that AccuQuilt has joined Project 95: Fabric Shoppers Unite–Shop Independents as our newest sponsor!

AccuQuilt has a great line of products that make your quilting faster and easier with their innovative hand-operated fabric cutting machines, individual dies and die sets. They introduced the AccuQuilt GO! fabric cutter this past spring and it has been a real hit–it’s small enough for the home user and reduces your cutting time by 90% from a traditional rotary cutter. The AccuQuilt Studio fabric Cutter is  becoming popular with quilt shops, who rent out time for customers to cut their projects on the larger cutter, so look for one in your favorite independent quilt shop, if you want to take one for a test drive!

Thank you, AccuQuilt!

Welcome New Sponsor, Quilters’ Travel Companion!

We are very excited to announce that Project 96: Fabric Shoppers Unite–Shop Independents has a new sponsor, Quilters’ Travel Companion! Quilters’ Travel Companion is the printed guide to quilt shops in the United States & Canada, so teaming up with Project 95 was a perfect fit! If you travel, and love to quilt and sew, this is your guide to finding shops along the way. The book is packed with information, and also comes in a handy CD version. Take some time to explore the Quilters’ Travel Companion website–you’ll discover a treasure-trove information about everything from quilt shows to shop hops.

Thank you, Quilters’ Travel Companion!

Learn About FabShopU

One of the important things that Project 95’s parent organization, The Fabric Shop Network, does as part of its mission to help independents grow and thrive is offer business education courses specific to fabric retailing. There are a lot of unique facets to this industry, so business education is critical. The Fabric Shop Network is kicking off a series of courses, the ABCs of Opening, Owning & Operating a Quilt Shop or Fabric Store, later this month–and they’re geared toward aspiring shopowners and equally appropriate whether you want to open a storefront or an online shop. They would also be wonderful classes for folks new to the industry who already are retailing fabric. Because they’re packed full of information you won’t get anywhere else and are very affordable, enrolling in this series would be absolutely invaluable to anyone considering opening a fabric store or quilt shop.

Our friend Kim, from popular fabric blog True Up, recently interviewed FabShop founder Laurie Harsh about these classes–go check it out to learn more!