Tuesday, June 21, 2011

A Visit With Me and My Sister Designs

PHOENIX, Arizona – While attending a quilting class at a local quilt shop sisters Barbara Groves and Mary Jacobson found out the shop was for sale. They purchased it and for three years found they never had worked so hard in their lives. Selling the shop but not wanting to leave the business entirely they thought creating fabric designs would be an ideal solution. Me & My Sister Designs was born.

Barb and Mary and Amelia on the rightBarb and Mary tell me they are now working on their 19th and 20th fabric collections and have branched out into designing patterns (more than 40 now) plus they have authored seven books.

One of my favorite fabric collections is named Amelia about which Barb says, “Our style has always been whimsical and we tried to add a bit of a ‘watercolor feel’ to some of the prints this time. We had just returned from teaching in Florida…on Amelia Island…and really liked the name Amelia.”

Both sisters are certainly creative but day to day Mary spends more time on the computer and handling the accounting part of the business while Barb does more of the customer contact. They meet in the middle though when its time to design fabrics with Mary being the diva of color selection. 


Barb pointed out a big part of their success is having Moda Fabrics as their fabric distributor. The duo finds the people at Moda easy to work with which leaves them time for the job they most enjoy, designing new fabric collections.

Me & My Sister’s newest collection entitled “Twirl,” will debut at the quilt show in Houston this fall. It features butterflies as one of the motifs.

The top photo shows Barbara Groves and Mary Jacobson with some of their Amelia fabric and below is an Eazy Peazy Tabletop Pocketeer also made from Amelia.

Check out the website MeandMySisterDesigns.com and their blog to see more of the sister’s creative products and ideas.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Shop Stop in Georgia

A Scarlet Thread
MCDONOUGH, GEORGIA – South of Atlanta and just 2.5 miles east of Interstate 75 is the largest sewing and quilt shop in Georgia, A Scarlet Thread.

Owner Karen Taylor has a warm and welcoming personality, greeting longtime customers and first timers as they enter with her soft southern voice and “Southern Lady-style.”

A popular seller for the shop are bundles of five one-yard cuts, ready for any pattern and with a bundle purchase Karen includes a free unique pattern, designed just for the shop. Patterns range in difficulty…something for everyone.

Visitors will notice shop displays are built vertically and lit by natural light coming through the many windows. There are also special spotlights which show off the inventory of more than 7,500 fabrics to best advantage. Karen knows how important displays are and employs a decorator who constantly works to keep things new and fresh. The picture illustrates these merchandising techniques - Karen just happens to be holding an Eazy Peazy Second Heaven Two Handbag, isn’t it cute?

Bringing the kiddies and hubby? A Scarlet Thread has a kids’ zone and even a man cave.

You can learn more about A Scarlet Thread at their website, AScarletThread.com.