I remember walking across campus at Southwest Missouri State University, frustrated that I had to go to a Meteorology class in the bitter cold, when the thought crossed my mind that (despite being a theater performance major), “all I really want to do is play with fabric.”
I just filed the thought away that maybe my grandma would be willing to teach me how to quilt over winter break. She was happy to do so and gave me a sewing kit for Christmas that year. I was immediately hooked and proceeded to make my first quilt (entirely by hand) with grandma guiding me throughout the process.
I’ve been quilting for more than 20 years now. My husband and I love taking road trips, and a necessary part of any road trip in my opinion, is checking out quilt shops along the way. Upon my returning to the car with bags full of fun fabric purchases on one of those trips, Brian commented that in all his years of dating, never did he imagine that he should look for the woman of his dreams in the nearest quilt shop. This was a man who was beginning to understand the magic of quilt shops!
Eventually he proposed the idea of my opening a quilt shop. In the past when I’d thought about “if I had a quilt shop, I’d carry this,” it was just a dream, but I finally started thinking about specifics. I wanted to carry things that stores around here didn’t have, because while you can order almost anything online, there’s a definite benefit for quilters and sewists to see things in person.
My initial focus in stocking my shop was, “what am I most excited to find when I’m in a quilt shop?” and that was the initial inspiration for Stashworthy Fabric!
I love introducing customers to designers with whom they’re unfamiliar, or encouraging them to try new things and think beyond their comfort zone. Many customers feel they can only work within a particular line of fabric for a project and that just isn’t so! Add in some homespun fabrics to add texture or mix in some Liberty fabric to make something extra special. Liberty fabrics are one of my favorite offerings, but I also carry some Australian designers that are hard to find.
I just started working with a French manufacturer, and will have their fabric in store by the time the All Missouri Shop Hop kicks off, too – very exciting! I love reproduction prints and vintage styles, so the majority of the fabric in my shop falls into those categories. I’m known for having the best selection of floral prints and one customer told me she thinks of Stashworthy as having “all the pretty fabric” – and I love for my shop to be thought of this way. I also stock every KONA color available – this is a huge benefit to quilters when they need just the right color – and it’s just fun to have the whole, beautiful KONA rainbow in the shop!
We’ve been open for a year and a half and we couldn’t be more excited about be a part of the All Missouri Shop Hop!