The weather outside is frightful (heat waves, drought and wildfires) but the snow is so delightful, so this week I am bringing you to a Winter Wonderland.
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!
(Hoping that earworm will keep you cool for the rest of the week….thank you Dean Martin.)
I am sure you have heard about the supply chain disruptions that have interrupted production and delivery of a wide range of products during the pandemic, from toilet paper to car parts. Well guess what? It is still impacting our industry, although things have been improving a bit over the last month. However the deliveries of Christmas fabrics has been severely impacted, with Holiday fabrics being delayed anywhere from 2 to 4 months. Normally our peak stock levels of Christmas collections would come in May and June at the latest, but this year it is coming in August.
Christmas collections are seasonal products, i.e. they are mostly ‘one and done’, so we buy extra of what we think will sell best. There is generally no opportunity to reorder a holiday design once it sells out for the season.
Since we are experiencing ‘Peak Christmas’ right now, I thought it would be good to point this out and give you that insider tip that you should snag your favorites now while you still can.
I have a particular fondness for snowy scenic panels, and we know many of you do too, so we stock up on those lovely landscapes and Santa scenes. Many of them are digital prints these days, and I have to tell you the technology of these digital prints has come such a long way in the last 10 years. If you are still harboring fears about the quality of digital prints, I invite you to come on in …the water’s fine!….and these digital-printed fabrics are colorfast and have beautiful saturated colors with exquisite illustrative and painterly details. Gosh, it is such an exciting time to be in this industry, and to see digital technology having reached this level of artistry and high quality.
The best part about these digital scenic panels is that they tell a story, and to a starry-eyed child on Christmas Eve, you can get wonderfully lost in the magic of the story as you take in all the details that are packed into these amazing works of art. Take a peek at our ‘Peak Christmas’ categories and you’ll see what I mean. You just might need to make a cup of hot cocoa!
…sharing your love of fabric,
Luana and Paul
Quilt/Travel Calendar:
Aug 23-27 – Santa Fe
Sept 27 – Anchorage Log Cabin Quilters Guild – Lecture.
Oct 23-30 – Houston Quilt Market & Festival
Dec 4 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt Canada
Jan 12 – Apr 9, 2022 – New England Quilt Museum – “For the Love of Gaia” quilt exhibit
Sat, April 9 – “International Quilt Trends” lecture & closing reception at NEQM
