This last week I was visiting with one of our sales reps who we've known for over 15 years. We were discussing how the industry has changed so much, and speculating on what it might be like 10 years from now.
When we first opened eQuilter in the basement of our house 15 years ago, it was *very* difficult to find these types of fabrics all in one place. I would go looking for big bold contemporary fabrics in quilts shops local and national, and nobody carried the contemporary fabrics narrow and deep. Thus the idea for our business was born.
Now my job as the head buyer is totally different! Instead of hunting for rare fabrics, my job is to cherry-pick from an over-abundance of choices. As I have mentioned before, I figure I look at 150,000 fabrics a year, and buy about 14,000.
People often ask – how do you choose?!?
I do it the same way that you do. I can look at a bunch of fabrics and immediately know which ones our customers will want, because the winners jump out to me, just like they do to you.
Choosing fabrics for a quilt or other sewing project is not hard. You know what you like, and you know what looks good, or what touches your soul, the first time you look. What we sometimes lack is the confidence to trust our first impression. Some people call it intuition, but I call it Color Confidence.
If you look at a color, or a fabric with a particular combination of colors, and it calls to you, there is a reason! If you don't trust your gut feeling, then pick up a book on Color Psychology and maybe it will explain why you are drawn to certain colors.
My rule is … when I look at a fabric and I have to think about it more than 5 seconds…I am not following my gut instinct. Don't overthink your color choices. Sometimes mistakes turn into the most glorious innovations!
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