How To Locate That Hard To Find Fabric

I have something to share today  in regards to locating hard to find fabrics. Here is my story on this subject. Some may already know about this....but if there is one person out there who has never heard of this..well....it was worth sharing.

I have spent a lot of time online searching for fabrics for a sports themed quilt I have been commissioned to make for someone else. I began to see the quilt form in my mind, but was still missing one fabric for one of the blocks. Well, as luck would have it, I found what I wanted to use and nothing was going to take the place of this fabric.....this was the one I wanted. The End.

I almost hesitated showing this swatch because should the person not like it, I'd feel bad....but trust me, I do have a plan and it will be great....pending if I can find the fabric.

I began searching online, and found no one had this. Next, I emailed the manufacturer and was told that it would be almost impossible to find, as this had been discontinued and they felt sure that I would not be able to locate any. She said it was popular about 5 years ago or earlier. She asked me why I did not buy any of this fabric when it was in the quilt shops.....I told her...."Lady, I did not even know quilt shops existed over 5 years ago....and that is the truth!"

That was the end of the conversation....she was stumped, in fact, it was almost like I could hear crickets chirping on the other end of the phone. True. This is a reproduction fabric and I really loved it.....especially knowing it was going to be paired with two other fabrics. I had to have it. It became an obsession. Sorry....I am that way!

To make matters worse, I saw several discussion boards on line with people looking for the same fabric.....did not make me feel better seeing those messages with no leads on anyone having it. I pressed on.

However, I did call one quilt shop and she told me the same thing...they did not have it. But she gave me a bit of information I want to share with you. She explained that there was an email address to send a request for what type of fabric I was looking for. She exclaimed to be clear, if you have a picture, include it and the message is sent to all over the country. She assured me if a quilt shop had it, they would contact me. I sent the email on Saturday.....and waited....did I mention that I do not have the patience of Job in things like this???

Now, being on the impatient side, and I did manage find a quilt shop in Georgia that had this fabric after hours calling and searching online. I wanted two yards, and they had a little under two yards. The lady was not very friendly at all, promised to call me back and did not, I had to call them back. I was just sorta put off by their lack of customer service. And to make matters worse, they had a online business as well, that is how I found her in the first place. Anyway, I was going to call them on Sunday afternoon and order all that they had, but I forgot and remembered once the store had closed.......fate.......or bad luck.

Monday morning, I had a email in my in-box from the sweetest lady from a quilt shop in Pennsylvania. They not only had the amount I needed, but it appears I could have ordered a couple yards more without any problem......and the real deal was the fabric was $2.00 cheaper per yard than the fabric at the quilt shop which totally lacked in customer service in a bad way. Fate.....bad Luck......it is a good thing.

Now, if you are searching for a certain fabric and can not seem to locate it....send an email to this address below, tell them what you are looking for and cross your fingers. I only got one reply from my request....but that was all I needed.

fabsearch {at} aol {dot} com

I hope this is something useful to you, I had never heard of that as a search option and would not have known about it had the lady volunteered the information to me over the phone. Now, I have another fabric I have been looking for and hope an email proves to find that one for me too! It is an older MODA floral and I don't think it will be any easier to locate than this print was...but there is always a shot. Anyway, that one is for another project sometime down the road!