I mentioned a few days ago that Checker Distributors has a great new feature on their website that will help you to find my paper patterns, along with notions and fabric and patterns from many other independent designers, all at your local quilt shop! This is one of the things that Checker is doing to encourage quilters and sewists to jump into the Shop Local Movement which encourages the growth of small businesses.
Checker doesn’t sell directly to the consumer, but because they do sell wholesale products to quilt shops, they can tell you many of the local quilt shops that carry what you’re looking for. (There are other distributors who work in the fabric industry, of course, so this is not an exhaustive list, but it’s a great starting point!) Here’s how this feature works: First, click over to the Checker Distributors website.
Once you’re there, to find my patterns, click on “Patterns” at the top of the screen. On the next screen, find the drop-down menu that says, “Select Vendor”, then click on the letter “F”.
Look for “Fishsticks Designs”. Click again to see all of my available patterns.
Choose the pattern that you’d like to find.
Now, look over to the right-hand side of the page, and you’ll see “Shop Local”. Just input your zip code there, and you’ll see a list of the closest shops to you that have stocked that pattern recently through Checker.
If the shop has a website, you’ll be able to click on their link from this list. (If the shop is a bit too far for you to drive or if you just don’t have time, ordering online from a shop close by means that you’ll get your order faster and still be supporting a local small business.) You can also get directions to your local shop by clicking on the Map It button.
Pretty cool and super easy, right? Now, go find your favorite paper patterns and visit your local quilt shop to buy them. You’ll be glad you did!
