Lola Pink Fabrics

An Introduction

Fabric

Feb 012012

We are so excited to finally relaunch the website!! As you all know, Melanie decided to sell her website in November last year. We were fortunate enough to be able to purchase the site from her. We have always been fans of Above All Fabric and will do our best to carry on with all the good she has created. Melanie’s still around blogging at melaniedramatic.com and we’ve got some great collaborations in the works too.

For those who don’t know us, Lola Pink Fabrics is a mother-daughter team made up of Janet, the mom, and Jennifer, the daughter. We started Lola Pink Fabrics in early 2010 and opened a brick-and-mortar shop in May 2011. If you happen to be in the Lafayette, Louisiana area, we’d love for you to stop by!!

Our focus is providing modern fabrics, patterns, and notions at great prices and with excellent customer service. All the great features you loved about the Above All Fabric site, we have kept with a few tweaks … you can now purchase as little as a 1/4 yard of fabric! And as with Melanie, we do all we can to ship your orders the same day as the order is placed.

Please let us know if you have any questions. The blog is still in the process of being reconfigured and will hopefully catch up soon!

We look forward to a brand new chapter for both Above All Fabric and Lola Pink Fabrics!

xo, Jen & Janet

PS. Thanks, Melanie!!

New Jammies

Fresh Fabric, New Fabric, Patterns

Nov 182011

I’ve been meaning to tell you about these Jammies. They’re awesome – from Terrain Flannel and the O+S pattern. But I’m STILL cutting orders from the 11th (almost done with that one day…then onto the rest!) so I don’t feel like I should take time out to blog. Therefore, I’ll just share a picture with you. That’ll be much better than being greeted by the sad post below…and THANK you for the love and support. It means so much to me!

Saying Goodbye

Fabric, Fresh Fabric, Sale

Nov 112011

I started a journey back in March and boy am I shocked at where I’ve ended up! I feel very strongly that we need modern representation in our cities and our towns – not just online. So I was working on doing that in Tucson. And then it all fell apart (To be clear, this was because of my decision to back out. I know I could have moved forward and put on a fake smile that everything was perfect, but it would have been far far from perfect…perfect wouldn’t have even been visible!) I was kinda in limbo for a little while but….

Sometime after that fell apart, new factors also came into play in our personal life. This actually made it clear – 100% clear – that I am not supposed to open a shop in Tucson. So I had a big decision to make – ‘go all in’ online or cut way way way back. The same personal factors means that, at this time, I simply cannot ‘go all in’ online.

So I’ll guess that based on the title of the post, you can predict the direction I choose. The time has come to say goodbye to Above All Fabric as an online fabric store – at least as one run by me.

What the heck does that mean?

First: Almost ALL inventory is on sale! SUPER sale. And I haven’t even raised the shipping price to the actual cost! It’s still a super low $5/order in the US. (You can find it here!) Cotton fabrics start at $3.99/yd. The sale includes minky, voile, linen and knit too (and at crazy crazy prices!) Even the velveteen is only $4.99/yd!

Second: Starting in January, I will only be doing one group kit per month. These have been so well received and I’m excited about the kits I have planned for the first 5 months of 2012. Each kit will have multiple fabric options. And IF you want to buy just the fabric, I will have it for sale. But I will order only specifically for the kits.

Third: And this is a big one, someone may wish to take over the Above All Fabric website and continue it as a fabric store (run by someone else, obviously not me!) I have put a lot into this business, and I plan to see it continue one way or another. If you think you might be that person (or persons) please contact me! (The name can easily be changed and the domain forwarded, so don’t let that stop you.) And it’s easy to make simple changes to the layout and sections. It has so many possibilities!

As far as the inventory goes – almost all is on sale from 25 to 50% off. Shipping is still only $5 in the US. (The very few items that aren’t on sale fit into my new plans for 2012.) These prices will remain as long as the inventory does. I’m really hoping to have most of it out of my house by the time Thanksgiving weekend comes along. We’ll see how that goes!

If no one wishes to buy the website, then it will get a bit of a makeover in order to move forward with the kits. And so that’s where I am! Most of the time, I feel okay about it. Like I said, it’s not where I actually thought I was headed. Life is funny that way. But I am really excited about family time (and vacations!) not to mention other ideas I have swirling around in my head that I couldn’t really dedicate time to when I was trying to run an online fabric shop.

If you could please please please help spread the word about the sale, I’d really appreciate it. I’ve even made a button you can post on your blog if you wish. Everything is while supplies last – orders will be cut in the order they are received. If there is a shortage on the bolt, then you will automatically be refunded for the difference and shipped what is here.

<a href="http://www.aboveallfabric.com/"><img title="huge_sale" src="http://www.aboveallfabric.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/huge_sale.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="250" /></a>

So I guess this isn’t really goodbye after all – it’s really more of a change of direction. So can I say “See ya later” instead?

Sudoku Quilt

Fabric, Fresh Fabric

Oct 312011

This may have been briefly shared when I was guest blogging, but I think it’s grand enough that it deserves it’s own post here!

Central Park Sudoku Quilt

This is my Sudoku quilt made from Kate Spain’s Central Park collection. The concept is easy – take 9 fabrics. Each fabric represents one number on your Sudoku board. Each block will contain only one of each fabric…and you place that fabric based on the Soduko Puzzle – so you end up with one square of all nine fabrics in each block, row and column!

And Solved…..

I really enjoyed this approach because it took the guess work out of where the fabric should be placed! It didn’t matter if there was a blue next to an orange in block #1, if block #6 required it also (per the puzzle) then that is what I did!

Central Park Sudoku Quilt

The blocks are 5 inch squares. (Perfect for charms!) The sashing in between blocks is simple 1.5 inch strips with a 2.5 inch border around the outside edge of the blocks – then a 4.5 inch border around the whole thing (I did that to make it a little larger!) The result is a nice sized lap quilt…and this one is backed with minky! It required 1.5 yards of minky (no piecing the back!) and the quilting looks soooooo cool on the back. (and the front too!)

Back Quilt with Minky

Speaking of quilting, I sent it to Joanna of Designs by Laura Jo to do the quilting! She gets my complete and total recommendation!!! She worked with me to make sure every detail was just right – and she was fast too! (Granted, this was before her super busy pre-Christmas season…still she was fast!) If you need something quilted, contact her!

Machine Binding Picture

Okay, now for the first time ever, I also put on my binding completely with my machine….and the result is okay. I am still a fan of hand binding, BUT this was way faster and I felt it was so much more secure with the minky. My friend, Heather, has a really detailed description of her binding process here. I think that if I continued to do this, they might someday look as good as hers!

Central Park Sudoku Quilt

So there ya have it! My Sudoku Quilt….that won’t actually be mine since it’s a gift. I hope you have a fabulous week!!!

October Dress of the Month: Urban Prairie Girl

Fresh Fabric, New Fabric, Patterns, Sale

Oct 282011

Okay – so now you know that Urban Prairie Girl is the dress this month! Don’t you love it? This will be THE LAST kit of 2011! With the holiday season coming up, I decided it made sense to stop here. I’ll be starting the dress of the month deals again the end of January. And the options this month are so great, that I’m certain you don’t want to miss out.

There are three fabric choices this month….and they are all SO cute! You can’t go wrong!

The Funky Flowers Dress

The Swoon Dress

And the Party Dress

All three options can be made with 3/4 ruffle sleeves or short sleeves! So don’t let that specific detail sway you. The kits include the elastic as well as the fabric you need. The pattern, as always, is optional. (I do this in case you already own it, are buying more than one kit or have another pattern already in your stash that is similar enough that you want to use it instead.) The kit can make from a size 12-18 months, up to a girls size 10. You can see all kits and options here!

As far as the deal this month:

30 people need to sign up by Sunday night, October 30th. If that happens….
You will be emailed a 30% off coupon to use on these kits Monday, October 31st.
The coupon code will be active until Thursday, November 3rd.
Kits will begin to ship on Friday, November 4th.

Sign up for this month’s kit

And I have a little favor to ask you – totally optional – but if you could leave a comment (or even email) with either 1, 2 or 3 (fabric choices) I’ll have a much better idea of which option is selling the most. That way I can order more fabric on Monday if I need to. I would hate to run out!

Dress of the Month: Version 3

Fresh Fabric, New Fabric, Patterns, Sale

Oct 272011

The last option for this month’s kit is so cute too! How are you going to decide? Beautiful brown and pink. Once again, modeled by the cutest little girl. Seriously!

Buttercup’s mom told me that she has worn the dress repeatedly this week. She LOVES it sooooooo much. That just makes me smile! And I’m certain it’d be true with any precious girl in your life too.

This time, we opted for the 3/4 length sleeve with the ruffle. Isn’t it adorable?!?!?! The fabrics are from Sandi Henderson’s new line, Secret Garden. The brown fabric is called “Party Dress” which is too perfect, no? These fun colors are great for fall but will be warmly appreciated all winter and spring too.

Okay – so three choices this month. (And actually this will be my last kit of 2011. With the holiday season approaching, I decided that it’d be best to take Nov. & Dec. off from the group kits. More on that soon too!) Fabric choice one can be seen here, Fabric Choice Two is here. Tomorrow (because it’s late and I’ve been away all day!) the details of the fantastic group deal (if enough people sign up!) Seriously, how are you going to decide?!?!?

Dress of the Month: Version Two

Fresh Fabric, New Fabric, Patterns, Sale

Oct 262011

Back today to share another fabric option for the kit this month! I was thinking of Christmas when I made version two…..and I must say, I think it’s wonderful! Beautiful grey, red, pink and green….with a sweet little red dot fabric for the accent.

This is from Ruby (Bonnie & Camille) for Moda….this print is called “Swoon” and it makes me want to do just that! The light grey background is so pretty with the red, pink and green. I love it!

I have plans for my sewing schedule the first week of November (NEXT WEEK! ACK!) – I’ll be using this little red dot to make the boys ties. And if all goes as planned, they’ll also get newsboy caps and pants from this corduroy. It will be our Christmas picture. It will be adorable and even more wonderful if I actually manage to get it sent out to family and friends this year. I dream big, people.

Haley found a flower while we were out taking pictures, and I thought this was such a sweet picture that I had to include it. After I finished the dress, I had her come try it on for me…and she did not want to take it off! She has wanted to wear it every day…but I’m making her wait til I get those Christmas pictures. I better hurry up!

So this is the second fabric option for this month’s kit! I hope you love it as much as we do. We think it’s just precious. (See option one here and check back tomorrow for option three and details on the deal!)