Fun Story

Several years ago, I saw a little pack of what I thought was breathtakingly beautiful fabric in a Keepsake Quilting catalog. It was a package of about a dozen or so 6 x 9 inch pieces of fabric, for I think around $15. It was a lot of money at the time, but it was so gorgeous, I couldn’t resist. After I got the fabric, I made a few small projects out of it, including this leaf wall hanging. It was intended to be greeting cards, before I was even making those to sell, but I realized when they were done that I should have made them a standard size, so I turned it into a wall hanging instead. I ended up using every sliver of fabric in that package, I loved it so much. The package of fabric said Starr Design Fabrics on it, so I went and bookmarked their website, and signed up for their newsletter. The fabric was a bit expensive, since it is all hand dyed, but I continued to drool over it and hope for a sale so I could get some more!
In the meantime, I was having fun making quilted cards, and by fall 2007 I had enough to get a table at a bazaar. I sold about 100 of them that day, which was quite astonishing, so I kept making them. I also had to raise the price a few times…they were selling too fast! That next summer I asked a shop in Denali National Park if they wanted to sell them, since many of my cards had polymer clay buttons on them that were made using mini cookie cutters I had gotten there. They also sold quilt fabric, so it was a good fit, and they sold well there too. I gradually added a few more shops, and was making them like crazy. In 2012, after I had sold 600 of them, I decided I didn’t want to work that hard any more, I was not feeling well at all and couldn’t keep up. So I raised the price again, and the next year I sold 930. Clearly, something had to be done… I had been working on writing patterns for them so people could make their own. I got several patterns made, and started a website where they were sold in download form only at first. I eventually had them in print form also, and in several quilt shops around Alaska. In the spring of 2014, I decided to start selling a few of the designs in kit form, with all of the materials included. By then, Starr Fabrics had started a ‘fabric of the month’ club, which I signed up for and got 8 fat quarters a month. I was buying a lot more fabric in general by then, but I still got so excited when those packages came, the fabrics are just so nice.
On May 2, 2014, I had a First Friday show at the Material Girls quilt shop in Fairbanks. It was an evening show, so I didn’t have to be there until 4:00. At noon I realized I was pretty much ready to go, so I decided to try to fit in one more quick wall hanging to bring to it. I had some of my recent Starr Fabrics and a few batiks already kind of put together in a pile that I liked, so I started sewing strips together and made a background. I asked the kids what should go on it, and they suggested a butterfly. I didn’t think I could do a good butterfly that fast, so I decided to do a dragonfly instead. I went to my show, and had the card kits for sale for the first time. They sold like crazy, but thank the Lord the dragonfly quilt did not sell! Everyone raved over it, but no one bought it. Also during this show, I got a call from my doctor with test results I had been waiting a month for. Sure enough, the Lyme Disease test was positive. It was a little dreadful, but so great to have answers and a direction to go!
After the show, I put a photo of the little dragonfly quilt on a large Facebook group page, and on Pinterest. It got such an overwhelming response, I decided to think about making it into a pattern, which really needed to be in kit form, since the fabrics are what made it. I talked to Kathleen Starr, who has been wonderful to work with, about using her fabrics in some kits. By August, 2014, it was ready to go, and immediately started selling like crazy. I got the moose and leaf wall hangings finished pretty soon after that, and Kathleen offered to bring some samples and kits to the Houston Quilt Festival. That was amazing, since that was where they were discovered by Keepsake Quilting, and have since been in their catalog. We soon added table runners to match the three wall hangings.
My husband and I have always believed in the Biblical principle of giving, and have done so even when it has been hard. With my business, we decided to give a higher percentage, since it is pretty much extra income anyway. Or was, before the medical bills started to pile up. We have certainly found this verse to be true:
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it”. Malachi 3:10
It’s so cool when God gives us a glimpse of the big picture that He sees all along. As of fall 2014, I had placed an order for 500 yards of Starr Fabrics! It’s still just as exciting for me to get as that little pack of 6 x 9 inch pieces, but we are definitely at the “not room enough to store it” stage! I will soon have at least a fat quarter of every single color they make, which is beyond a blessing for a fabric addict like me.
Beret
2023 Update! I ended up finding Plexus supplements which gave me most of my health back, so I can keep doing all of this! I can't recommend them enough, there's a link in the sidebar of my blog! I have several new designs, and have started a new line of collage style kits as well. And I'm even more excited about the online classes that I have, Framed Collage, and Simple Secrets for Starting Art Quilting. And more on the way!
Click the photo to see them all:
In the meantime, I was having fun making quilted cards, and by fall 2007 I had enough to get a table at a bazaar. I sold about 100 of them that day, which was quite astonishing, so I kept making them. I also had to raise the price a few times…they were selling too fast! That next summer I asked a shop in Denali National Park if they wanted to sell them, since many of my cards had polymer clay buttons on them that were made using mini cookie cutters I had gotten there. They also sold quilt fabric, so it was a good fit, and they sold well there too. I gradually added a few more shops, and was making them like crazy. In 2012, after I had sold 600 of them, I decided I didn’t want to work that hard any more, I was not feeling well at all and couldn’t keep up. So I raised the price again, and the next year I sold 930. Clearly, something had to be done… I had been working on writing patterns for them so people could make their own. I got several patterns made, and started a website where they were sold in download form only at first. I eventually had them in print form also, and in several quilt shops around Alaska. In the spring of 2014, I decided to start selling a few of the designs in kit form, with all of the materials included. By then, Starr Fabrics had started a ‘fabric of the month’ club, which I signed up for and got 8 fat quarters a month. I was buying a lot more fabric in general by then, but I still got so excited when those packages came, the fabrics are just so nice.
On May 2, 2014, I had a First Friday show at the Material Girls quilt shop in Fairbanks. It was an evening show, so I didn’t have to be there until 4:00. At noon I realized I was pretty much ready to go, so I decided to try to fit in one more quick wall hanging to bring to it. I had some of my recent Starr Fabrics and a few batiks already kind of put together in a pile that I liked, so I started sewing strips together and made a background. I asked the kids what should go on it, and they suggested a butterfly. I didn’t think I could do a good butterfly that fast, so I decided to do a dragonfly instead. I went to my show, and had the card kits for sale for the first time. They sold like crazy, but thank the Lord the dragonfly quilt did not sell! Everyone raved over it, but no one bought it. Also during this show, I got a call from my doctor with test results I had been waiting a month for. Sure enough, the Lyme Disease test was positive. It was a little dreadful, but so great to have answers and a direction to go!
After the show, I put a photo of the little dragonfly quilt on a large Facebook group page, and on Pinterest. It got such an overwhelming response, I decided to think about making it into a pattern, which really needed to be in kit form, since the fabrics are what made it. I talked to Kathleen Starr, who has been wonderful to work with, about using her fabrics in some kits. By August, 2014, it was ready to go, and immediately started selling like crazy. I got the moose and leaf wall hangings finished pretty soon after that, and Kathleen offered to bring some samples and kits to the Houston Quilt Festival. That was amazing, since that was where they were discovered by Keepsake Quilting, and have since been in their catalog. We soon added table runners to match the three wall hangings.
My husband and I have always believed in the Biblical principle of giving, and have done so even when it has been hard. With my business, we decided to give a higher percentage, since it is pretty much extra income anyway. Or was, before the medical bills started to pile up. We have certainly found this verse to be true:
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it”. Malachi 3:10
It’s so cool when God gives us a glimpse of the big picture that He sees all along. As of fall 2014, I had placed an order for 500 yards of Starr Fabrics! It’s still just as exciting for me to get as that little pack of 6 x 9 inch pieces, but we are definitely at the “not room enough to store it” stage! I will soon have at least a fat quarter of every single color they make, which is beyond a blessing for a fabric addict like me.
Beret
2023 Update! I ended up finding Plexus supplements which gave me most of my health back, so I can keep doing all of this! I can't recommend them enough, there's a link in the sidebar of my blog! I have several new designs, and have started a new line of collage style kits as well. And I'm even more excited about the online classes that I have, Framed Collage, and Simple Secrets for Starting Art Quilting. And more on the way!
Click the photo to see them all: