President's Note
It’s November already! I
thought the October workshop and meeting were fantastic. We all had a great
time. Thanks so much, Bob for the wonderful class. The Question is, what’s
next?
A reminder: our password will
be working at 5pm. Bring your dinner and we can all chat. Also, we did decide
to stop with the snacks list. We are not up to speed yet. If you want to bring
a snack for yourself, or to share, please feel free.
Another thing: while the
newsletter will continue to be sent to members and former members, the zoom
link will go to members only.
There was a lot of enthusiasm
in October for having more sewing events. We are able to do that, at no extra
charge, on the days of our meetings if there is no conflict with the Church’s
schedule. November and December are out. November, because we have not planned
for it and December for the Christmas activities. We can discuss this more.
Looking forward to seeing you
all.
The zoom presentation looks to
be interesting. What can we recycle into quilts? That is not the topic, I know
but just imagine. What else can we use to make quilts?
Programs
November 14, 2022
Julia McLeod, Everything but the Cotton
Let’s explore the world of quilts that were made with what I call ‘Not Cottons’.
When quilters don’t have access to a stash of quilter’s cotton, what do they turn to? This one- hour lecture, trunk show and Q & A session shows quilts – antique and modern – made of wool, silk, polyester and more. The trunk show of my own work shows what you can create with neckties, saris, kimonos and other unusual, ‘not cotton’ textiles.
Interleave workshop. We had a fun time at the workshop and most everybody went home with a finished top.
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2022 Board
President - Carolyn Davis / Jamie Loncaric
Program Chair - Donna Daley
Assistant-Deb Houck
Treasurer - Rita Marie Smith
Recording Secretary - Angela Brant
Corresponding Secretary - Nancy DeTeodora
Membership - Elizabeth Young / Sarah Reindel
Ways & Means - Jen Burke
2022 Quilt Guild Challenge - Rikki Newlander
We are making quilts for Kids or for 40 or a local Hospice. The challenge is to make a quilt 40 by 40 (or bigger) using the scrap bag provided by the guild or your own scraps. You can make a string quilt or a scrap quilt and any size 40 by 40 or above. For anyone doing the quilt challenge I will provide 25 81/2 inch squares to use. I will cut them on my AccuQuilt. Please email me and then I will bring them. to the Dec meeting. I am out of town until after the Nov meeting.
Rikki
Bits and Pieces From The Textile World
1. In
a letter to vendors today, Fabric.com announced that it will be shutting
down. The company, which is owned by Amazon, said it alerted employees to news
on Monday.
Fabric.com was originally the website of
Phoenix Textile Group, a company founded in 1993 as a wholesale distributor of
apparel fabrics. Phoenix Textiles launched the website in 1999 in order to
experiment with selling yardage directly to consumers online. Amazon acquired
Fabric.com in 2008 in an effort to expand its inventory of craft and hobby
materials. Fabric.com was one of a suite of freestanding websites acquired by
Amazon that also included Audible and Zappos.
“We have been selling to them since 1996,”
said Andy Weinstock, President and CEO of Edley Fabrics. “We wish their employees continued
success. It will be interesting to see if anyone or any company steps up to
fill the void.” Weinstock surmised that the labor costs involved in cutting
fabrics were too high for Amazon’s current business model.
For many fabric companies, Fabric.com was the
industry’s largest buyer.
Over the last few years, though, difficulties
had begun to surface. Weinstock said Fabric.com had been paying vendors late.
Another fabric company executive we spoke with also said that Fabric.com’s
payments to vendors had been slow over the last few years. About six months
ago, Amazon reached out to Fabric.com vendors to say that all fabric would soon
need to be sold directly on Amazon.com. Vendors were told to upload all of
their products to Amazon in one, three, or five-yard increments, seemingly with
no regard to the fact that fabric manufacturers sell wholesale by the roll or
bolt, and not by the yard. “They expect us to cut and ship overnight for free,”
this executive said. “They don’t understand fabric at all.” The longtime former
employee we spoke with said that over the last few years, management repeatedly
asked if selling pre-packed cuts would work. They said no.
“I think the exit of Fabric.com in this market
will ultimately open up opportunities for more business for independent quilt
shops, as well as an opportunity for new shops to open,” said Gina Pantastico,
Co-founder and Director of Operations at Cloud9 Fabrics and Felicity Fabrics.
“This will be an
adjustment for fabric manufacturers, but once we all get over our initial shock
and surprise I think this could be a positive change for the fabric industry as
a whole,” Pantastico said.
Fabric.com will close down on October 20. Employees have been offered a severance package or the opportunity to seek employment in another Amazon division. Fabric.com is headquartered in Kennesaw, Georgia
2. Avelea Brings Greek Fold Embroidery to the US Market
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3. Instagram is testing (and seemingly will be rolling out) a new feature that would allow users to schedule their feed posts ahead of time (finally).
4. Members of YouTube’s Partner Program with at least 20,000 subscribers will soon be able to tag their videos, Shorts, and live streams with shoppable links.
And YouTube has made some improvements to the user experience including pinch to zoom which could be helpful for seeing details in a DIY video.
5. “Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art By Women” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D. C. November 18, 2022 – April 16, 2023. https://americanart.si.edu/
6. “ Wild and Untamed. Dunton’s Discover of the Baltimore Album Quilts” at the Maryland Center for History and Culture in Baltimore, MD. Now through September 2023. https://www.mdhistory.org/exhibitions/wild-and-untamed/
