...a big announcement...

After a year of waivering back and forth, we have decided to close up shop.  While there are many factors involved in making this decision (obviously, if it took us a year to decide! :), the main reasons are time and health.

For a couple years now I've been dealing with tendonitis in my wrist which is caused by overuse syndrome.  In other words, the daily, repetitive motion of cutting fabric took its toll on my poor little wrist and the doctor & physical therapist both say it won't get better until I stop cutting fabric.  Earlier this year, I had the genius idea of only selling patterns, pre-cuts and notions, but that hasn't been enough.  I still have the same (visibly) swollen tendon on my wrist even after tapering off the yardage section of our shop.  The sharp pains, sleeping with a heavy metal brace (seriously, I could do damage if I hit someone!) and weakness in my whole arm are all starting to wear on me.  It's time I get this arm back in shape!

Another reason is time - I want more of it!  I'm sure you can imagine how much my fabric stash has grown over the past 3 years.  I want to have the time to sit down at my sewing machine and use some of that fabric!  I'd like to try things that I hear and see on Twitter, Facebook and all the wonderful crafty blogs.  To stay competitive by offering what I hope has been excellent & speedy customer service, I've been working 7 days a week for the past couple years.  Now, in a way, that's good because it means you all have kept me busy with a steady stream of orders (thank you!), but it's also not so good when you have a hubby that wants to hang out with you and a house that needs its remodel finished (I mean, come on, you'd think we'd be done after almost 5 years, right?!).  There is a lot that goes into owning and operating your own business by yourself.  You do all the customer service, shipping, packaging, cutting, researching, ordering, photo-taking, blogging, tweeting...the list goes on and on.  I'm not complaining because I enjoy doing all those things, but it really does get tiring after a while because there is always something else to do, and you're always "at work" when you work from home.

This has been an amazing experience for me.  The amount of small business knowledge I've gained has been used in mentoring friends (& even strangers/customers!) who have thought about opening their own businesses.  The flexibility of working from home has made many things possible, including helping hubby recover from surgery last year and keeping the household maintained for the last 2 years while he worked and went to grad school, both full-time.  This experience has also brought some new friends along the way.  How fun to have a first-time customer become someone that you email back and forth with, and eventually meet in person!  And how great to "meet" fellow fabric shop owners through Etsy and Twitter who know exactly what is to be a shop owner.  There are some fabulous shops out there and if you want any recommendations, I'd be happy to give some.

Sooo, while I will miss all of our wonderful customers and being immersed in the fabric world, I do look forward to a new chapter in my life with a little less responsibility and a little more time on my hands.  Maybe you're wondering what I'll be doing from now on...maybe not.  I've accepted a job at a  private school that provides one-on-one education for students in grades 6-12, many of whom have learning disabilities.  What else am I going to be doing?  Finishing this remodel and spending time with my hubby!  And of course, sewing :)

Ok, I'm sure you're all just anxious to hear about the store closing sale, so here goes.  Everything has been marked down and is currently up to 40% off.  Prices are as marked.  They could potentially go lower and I will definitely let you all know when further markdowns happen.

Pre-cuts:  I've done my best to show accurate quantities in each listing, so what's listed is what we have.

Yardage:  As usual, yardage will be listed by-the-yard, and the quantity available will show as 1.  I've always done my best to indicate when only 1 yard remains, or mark the listing as a remnant if it's the last bit of a particular print.  If you want more than 1 yard, convo me and I can let you know if we can accommodate your request.  A PayPal invoice will be sent for any additional fabric you'd like to add to your original order.  I would recommend purchasing the 1 yard listing, then convoing so you can be guaranteed to get at least the 1 yard.  If you convo and don't purchase the listing, you risk that fabric being purchased by someone else.

Patterns & Books:  Patterns and books might not necessarily reflect an accurate quantity available count.  I try to indicate when it is the last one available though.  If you would like more than 1 of the same item, convo me and I'll see if we have the amount you want.

Notions:  Trims and ribbons are listed in a variety of amounts (4 yards, 2 yards, 1 yard) so if you want multiple yards, let me know how much you want and I can do an inventory check.

Shipping:  I pack as much as I reasonably can into 1 envelope, mailer or box before moving up to the next size and, as always, shipping overages will be refunded.  I'll try to stick with shipping next business day, but if it gets crazy busy, I may not be able to do that, so please be patient and I'll convo you when your order ships!

In closing this very long post, we'd like to say thank you for your patronage over the past 3 years - you guys rock!  Now, head over to the shop and buy all you want, then go tell your friends about it...gotta make sure you get first dibs, right? ;)

Happy shopping!