A big chunk of inspiration on my trip, was found on a visit with Jan, (Sean’s step mom, who we absolutely adore!) to the Pincushion Boutique in Davis, California. As you may guess from the name this boutique is all about sewing, and features a selection of fabrics that was endless, each one more fabulous than the next. The good news is that one of their specialties are these "sweet treats". Each one is a thoughtfully packaged, color coordinated combination of 8 fat-quarter cuts of fabric, neatly folded and bundled, tied with a pretty ribbon and labeled with titles like, "Ah-Refreshing", "Bug’s Eye View" and "A Carriage Through London". Sweet treats they are indeed. I couldn’t choose between them all, so I brought home 5 bundles, and the best part is that every Thursday, they list new ones for sale on their website. So if you don’t live in Davis, you can purchase them too!! Oh, have I mentioned how much I LOVE the internet?

And the other part of the story that I want to share is that this idea for the "sweet treats" was born out of a slow time at the Pincushion Boutique’s old store location. The Pincushion is a family owned business with 3 generations of women working there. I had the pleasure of meeting Mary who is the daughter of the founder. Mary’s mom came up with the idea of the "sweet treats" because in the summer time when all the students leave town (Davis is home to the University of California, Davis) their business slowed way down. They needed a way to generate a little extra income and "sweet treats" it was. Now a huge seller, Mary even designs quilting patterns using the fabrics and sizing of the sweet treats as a base.

I wanted to share these with you because a) for my creative sewing visitors, the fabrics are gorgeous and b) I know that some of you may worry about these "slower" economic times but the truth of the matter is that people make money in every kind of economy and those that succeed even when times appear "slower" are those that use those times as an opportunity to create something new, to solve a problem for themselves and/or their customers. Since I seem to be leaving little anecdotes in my blog posts these days, this is one for today. And tomorrow (it’s still Wednesday as I post this on the California Coast time), on a Creative Thursday, head on over to sweettreat.com and pick up some fun fabrics. I can’t wait to show you some creations these have inspired for me just in the last few days! All this talk of sweets... I am now craving some dessert. The lemon bars Erika made are calling me, so I’ll see you tomorrow!