please ignore the impulse gum purchase ;)
...buy some of Denyse Schmidt's new line for Joann's!
If you saw me on Facebook yesterday you saw me anxiously hoping that my Joann's would have the line in stock. What you didn't see was me hoping that the fabric quality would be on par with her other lines and deciding if I was really ready to spend $9.99 a yard for fabric at Joann's.
The answers... yes, they had the entire line in stock!
... yes, the fabric quality is great!
... yes, I spent the money even without a coupon!
After my last experience of several bad experiences with a local quilt shop {LQS}, I decided that I would stick with my online shops and support them. So as I was driving home yesterday I was thinking about how odd it felt to to buy designer fabric in person.
I have read some comments about the idea that Denyse has sold out by designing a line for a big chain store. I would imagine that local quilt shops aren't happy... if they know that this line exists. And that's a big IF because my LQS has a lot of fabric and very little appeals to me. Their selection is out of touch and missing a big part of what appeals to a lot of quilters.
I don't think Denyse has sold out at all. In fact, I think she's a genius. She is reaching a fairly untapped market because for every fabric snob {myself included} who won't buy fabric from Joann's, there's probably ten who will.
So guess who's learning Denyse's name and will begin to seek out her other new lines? Yep, all the Joann's crowd. Like I said, genius. And If more and more designers begin offering lines at Joann's I can't help but think that that will be good for quilting.
But is it too late for the LQS? Not at all. Because if they will pull their heads out of the sand and see what trends are taking place in quilting, both traditional and modern, they might be able to catch the upswing of this. The key will be in how they treat the new customers who walk through their doors asking for so-and-so-designer.
And you never know, I just might give them a try again sometime. And I hope they will give me a try too... because I'm a quilter who is willing to pay $9.99 a yard at Joann's and I would be thrilled to do the same at a LQS that carries more of the current fabrics that we are all crazy about.
Will I ever stop shopping for fabric online? No way. Because there is no better cure for a bad day than fabric shopping online! Sorry, Steve... ;)
PS: don't forget to enter to win an Accuquilt Go! Baby. The giveaway is still going on!