On this blog, we usually post about new projects, new fabric, new patterns and basically fun things we are doing. Today may be a little disappointing for some of you. This was kind of a big decision for us- something we have been mulling over for awhile. Not anything bad or life-changing. But something that needed to happen to keep our sanity. So here it is. After six and a half years, we have decided to take a break from our Sweetwater Label Crew.
It was a hard decision for many reasons. Most importantly, because we have so many loyal members. And then we have members who just joined the Label Crew. And then some of you participate for a while, take a break, and come back again. We are so thankful for all of you and we so appreciate your membership.
So it was hard. Really hard. But there are a couple of reasons we need to take a break. The most basic and honest reason is sometimes we just run out of ideas. Seriously. We generally have more ideas than time, but with the Label Crew, we need a project that actually includes a label. We have created almost eighty projects for the Label Crew. That’s eighty projects with labels on them. In the past few months, when it is time to decide on a new project, we just sort of look at each other and laugh. Sometimes we just can’t think of something that needs a label!
The other reason is just plain time. Even though we run out of ideas for the Label Crew, we have never run out of ideas in general. From our block of the month quilts to our new Project Sweetwater boxes and about 100 other ideas, we always have more ideas than time. So by not having the Label Crew for a while, we can concentrate on our new projects. We just had to face it. We can’t do everything. And if we try to do everything, some projects will suffer, meaning we won’t do them as well as we could or would like to. Most of you know that there are only three of us. But we do get a little laugh sometimes when we get emails directed to the “shipping department” or an “account manager”. Um…the same person that designed the Sweetwater fabric is also the person who folds and packages the patterns, who personalizes and creates the blocks for our embroidery quilts, who stuffs the envelopes for the Label Crew, who posts photos on Instagram, etc, etc, etc.
The last reason is that every business needs to change at times. It keeps it fun and fresh. We were blown away by the response to our first Project Sweetwater box. Which makes us want to make each box better than the one before. It definitely keeps us more engaged and excited to come to work. And without the pressure of coming up with a label project and all the clerical and logistical things it takes to mail out those kits each month, it is definitely a stress reliever. We also hope that it will be beneficial to our customers. Not only will we be able to make our current projects better, we will have more time to implement other ideas.
I’m anticipating lots of you will have the same questions: when is the Label Crew coming back? The answer is- we aren’t sure. We aren’t even sure that when it does come back, it will be exactly the same. The only thing we know is that we are taking some time to think about it.
The other thing we know is that we are so thankful to all of you. To all of you that even received just one Label Crew project. To those of you who have been members since the beginning. To all of you who read this blog and follow us on Instagram. For all of you who look forward to our 12 Days of Christmas. For our customers who participate in our Block of the Month quilts. To those of you who pre-ordered our Project Sweetwater boxes. To those of you who come to our website to get inspired. We thank all of you, and know that without you, we wouldn’t even have the opportunity to create things that we love. So thank you.
Now, for the clerical part of the Label Crew break. Over the next couple of days, we will be cancelling all of the subscriptions, and you will receive an email confirmation of that. Subscriptions are a bit complicated, and some of you are charged earlier than others. We have a few customers that have already been charged for the April kit. We will be refunding those accounts, and it will show up on your bank statement in about a week. If you have any questions about your account, make sure to email us, using the tab above.
The other thing you should know- you will still be able to order past projects and labels from our site. They aren’t going anywhere!
Now for some good news. I think I mentioned last week about the arrival of new fabric. We are photographing it this week and hopefully we will get to show you in a couple of days. There is another blizzard scheduled to arrive in Colorado tomorrow, so I can’t promise anything- but it will be worth the wait! It is currently my favorite fabric collection. I know I always say that. But seriously. I love it!
One more thing- just a reminder- you have until Friday to sign up for our Home for Christmas quilt!
Have a great week….