Two Birds Take Flight

There is something special about living on a street of homes built in the 1950's. Maybe because the homes are considered small by today's standards, or maybe just because it's enjoyable, there seems to always be a gathering of neighbors in the middle of the street. We talk about everything from why my lawn is brown in spots to how big the 3-year-olds are getting. I love my street. My house is the fifth house on the right. If you go down four more houses, you'll meet my friends Amanda and Jeremy Coon. Over the years, I've had a lot of conversations in the street with the Coons. At some point, the conversations went from being about lawn and kids to fabric.

Amanda and I both have a bit of a fancination with fabric -- for very different reasons, but more about that in subsequent posts. Jeremy has no facination with fabric itself, but is taken in by any quirky endeavor that seems like it might possibly be successful.

So, from the street our little fabric venture was born. One day we just decided to take the leap. Amanda and I, the two crazy birds, started researching fabric lines and decided on about 70 bolts of fabric. We both fell in love with Erin McMorris's Wildwood, Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks and Lizzie House's Red Letter Day.

As the fabric started to stack up, we decided we needed a big debut. Provo, Utah is home to America's Freedom Festival. The timing was perfect for us to book a booth for the three-day 4th of July fair. We loaded up all the fabric, samples and project kits and set up shop. Our booth, tucked in between a puppet vendor and two tattoed girls selling religious art was a hit. We met hundreds of new fabric friends at the festival and made a huge dent in our initial stock.

Most of the people in my life are scratching their heads and thinking, "Fabric?!?" But with each new sell on Etsy and every person who comes to my house to look at bolts of fabric for a special project, I get so excited! I love working through process of fabric selection and seeing the wheels of creation turning in minds of my new fabric friends.

Talking about the fabric with my friends on line and in person is like standing in the street chatting with my neighbors. My street has expanded to include the creative quilts, baby nurseries and dresses with ducks right along with the shrinking -- finally! -- brown spots on my lawn, lemonade stands and 3-year-olds learning to ride bikes.

As we grow and progress, watch our blog for more stories of what all of you are doing with the fabric you buy from us. We'll be posting pictures and stories of our projects and yours.

-- Carol-Lyn