Dawn-Marie A.

I have been an occasional sewist for the last 20 years. I knew enough to make my kids' Halloween costumes, pirate garb for school plays, and faerie skirts for festivals, but never really had a need to invest much time or money into the hobby. It was more of a "mom" thing to do than a true "I love this!" hobby.

Then COVID hit. Early on I pulled out my ancient Singer Scholastic and started making masks. And it was a chore... then miraculously, my Singer died. After a few trials I ended up getting a Husquvarna Viking Brillance 80 (I wanted the Epic 2, but really could not justify that price tag for something I may or may not use on a regular basis). I fell in love. My Viking has replaced my iPad as my favorite toy. So all of a sudden looking online for sewing notions replaced me obsessively looking for toilet paper and Lysol wipes as the bedtime anxiety shopping. I don't know what I was looking for but I found a link to the Fat Quarter Shop (FQS) and I had hours worth of virtual shopping fun instantly! I compiled a fairly large order but let it sit in my cart for a while. I was afraid of the unknowns with COVID: shipping and new (to me) vendors. My husband, tired of watching me lust over this cart nightly, encouraged me to hit "buy".

I absolutely love being able to use PayPal. I appreciate the level of detail given in item descriptions, the videos and tutorials, and the large variety of everything... especially everything pink (the Lori Holt line is a new favorite!).

So I obsessively checked my order status and finally called after about 8 business days. I am NOT a very patient person under most circumstances and I wanted my pretties. The original order confirmation email stated an 8 to 14 day delay, longer times reserved for yardage... so I just wanted to check in. Customer service was highly apologetic but wonderful in explaining why things were delayed.

In my opinion, as an immune compromised individual, any company that needs a small amount of time to make sure that orders are being processed safely, taking the health and wellness of employees, their families and communities, and customers into account deserves business; regardless of how long their location of origin has been opened up from stay at home mandates, safety first. I finally got my order at 15 or so days after I hit "buy" and an item was missing. I called and had a lovely exchange with the customer service rep and my issue was handled quickly. It was a packaging issue and nothing that could have been prevented by the FQS, but they did everything that they could to take care of the issue in a timely manner. Before my replacement item arrived I placed a second order that shipped within a few days.

I am excessively impressed with their customer service, as I have called three times in the last month. The level of care with packaging seems appropriate for the items purchased and I found the yardage packages ingeniously nested with exceptional care.

Now I have a beautiful and almost fully stocked sewing room that is a joy to work in, making me love my newfound hobby more.

I know in a COVID world we are all experiencing a delay in the instant gratification of real time shopping, but the Fat Quarter Shop is doing everything they can to keep us supplied well. We cannot blame them for a worldwide pandemic and should be appreciative that they are working so hard to accommodate what I can only assume is a very large uptick in orders at a time when supply lines have been drying up. As of the date of this review their COVID-19 delays are between 2-4 days from order. To quote the Christian community, some grace is in order, especially given the extreme extenuating circumstances we all find ourselves in.

Photo is of my dining room turned sewing room... we aren't throwing any dinner parties any time soon, I might as well use the space fully.