And we’re back with another giveaway and discount code AND the 12th post in the Canadian Online Fabric Store series! Today I’m interviewing Judy from Sew Sisters – an Ontario-based brick and mortar shop with international online shipping. She and her sister Karen started Sew Sisters together in 2000. I’ve visited their booth at the Creativ Festival and I always find something new and fun to purchase!

I am super excited about their monthly fabric clubs – they have 3 of them! A Kona Club, a Bargain Lover’s Club and a Batik Lover’s Club. As if the cute graphics were not enough – you can get fabric shipped to your door every month, hooray! I’ve been meaning to sign up for the 1/2 yard Kona Club for a while now and I have finally done it. I don’t stash enough solids to go with my projects and now I’ll have them. I love the surprise factor too – it’s lots of fun checking out which colours came in the mail!

Before we get too far – here’s a little preview of a few of my favorites from their shop:

Want to know more about Sew Sisters in 3 sentences? Carol has written up a tidy summary for you:

Sew Sisters Quilt Shop is A Canadian Source for Top Quality Quilt Fabric at Fair prices. Whether shopping online or in person at 3961 Chesswood Drive in North Toronto our goal is to provide you with great service and offer top quality products at the lowest possible price. Sew-Sisters have a large selection of quilting fabric and classes, patterns, books and notions – everything you need to complete your unique quilts!

Thread Riding Hood: Why did you decide to start Sew Sisters?

Judy: In 2000, I made an “I spy” quilt for my son that required almost 500 different pieces of fabric. I had to do a lot of shopping, trading and searching to amass the collection and when it was finished, I had both a lovely quilt and a massive amount of leftovers!

Figuring that other people making I Spy quilts would have the same problems I had finding enough fabric, I decided to sell packets of my leftover fabric online. The fabric square kits did very well, so much so that I began to think about continuing to make and sell them. I did so, and as the square packets became more popular, my sister joined me. Karen took over the shipping end of the business and soon we were able to expand the number of products we carried.

After many successful sales, we realized that our hobby had grown into a business! We registered a name, got a tax number and hired someone to do our books – our Dad, a retired accountant. Local quilt shops became interested in our square packets so we started supplying them as well. Soon we started selling at local guild shows and larger craft shows such as the Creativ Festival. Each year we continued to dramatically expand our product line until eventually we outgrew our house.

In September 2007, we opened a retail store at 3961 Chesswood Drive in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Our shop is loaded with fabric, notions, patterns and books that inspire quilters to create quilts to treasure. We are constantly growing and stretching to provide our customers with a larger selection, more projects and greater service. My passion for quilting and serving the public know no bounds and we aspire to provide the best customer service and the best prices possible in the market place!

Thread Riding Hood: What are a few favorite sewing projects you can share with us? 

Judy: We had a week long Sew-a-thon a few months ago and made some great projects with Tim Holtz’s Eclectic Elements, Jenny Pedigo’s Quick Curve Ruler and Northcott’s Stonehenge Oh Canada fabric. It was such fun! (You can see the projects here!)

Thread Riding Hood: What is something coming up in the near future that you are especially excited about?

Judy: We’re having a 3 day Free Shipping in Canada event this week! This is always fun for our online customers.

Thread Riding Hood: Thanks Judy! I really like how your quilts took you from a hobby to a brick and mortar shop. Such a unique beginning! 

Sew Sisters has decided to give away an amazing 10 fat quarter bundle of Tim Holtz’s Eclectic Elements! WOW!

This giveaway is open to everyone, internationally from today (Jan 7th) until midnight on Tuesday evening, January 13, 2015. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter – and if you don’t have Facebook to sign in with, just use your name and email address. There’s a “click to enter” no social media login entry too!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

All ready to get some fabric? Sew Sisters has generously offered you a discount! Use the code “THREAD1015” to get 10% off your purchase from January 7-13th, 2015! Here are a few more fabrics to get you started. And don’t forget about the free shipping (within Canada) offer from the 9th-11th this weekend!

Disclosure and Privacy Policy: I asked Sew Sisters Quilt Shop to be a part of this series.  I will never recommend or highlight a shop that I do not love, and my opinions will and have always been my own. Thanks for reading!