My friend Sarah has been organizing a very cool new sewing and quilting resource, Project 95 through the Fabric Shop Network. It’s a fantastic database of independent fabric shops — simply type in a global location and the site shows you the nearest stores, or you can use it to find online retailers, too. And if you know of one that isn’t listed yet, you can let the 95ers know so they can update the list (which currently includes thousands of shops, and counting). I talked to her a bit about it today and wanted to pass the details along here, too!

Sarah says:

Project 95: Fabric Shoppers United — Shop Independents is a worldwide network of independent quilt and fabric shops, e-tailers and design studios who have joined forces to promote shopping independents. By buying from Project 95 shops, you support that movement and join with consumers just like yourself to ensure that you will have access to specialized quilting and sewing supplies, no matter where you live. Even if you don’t have an independent quilt shop or fabric store near you, there are many independent web-based shops or bricks and mortar stores that retail to customers over the Internet.

The Flickr pool is our latest roll-out, and we hope that fabric shoppers can share images of their favorite stores or items that they’ve made using materials from independent shops. We hope that the pool can be a celebration of independents!

Here are some of my favorite photos from my local superstar shops Bolt and Cool Cottons as well as some of the pieces I’ve made with their wonderful fabric!

You can see more details on all these photos (plus lots of other folks’ finds) in the flickr pool! Please add your own pictures if you’re up for it, too — what are your favorite fabrics lately, and what have you made with them?