About Us
Fantabulous Backs
The Best Online Store for the Most Variety of 108" Extra Wide Backing Fabric
Have you ever had an idea cross your mind and then down the road you wish you had acted upon it? I have been longarm quilting since 1990. I started off by making some quilted bedspreads for myself and my kids. In 1994, my mother, who owned a longarming business, asked me to come work for her. In 2013, she sold her business which allowed me to start my own, Swirls And Curls Longarm Custom Quilting.
Not long after, I saw the need to carry high quality, extra-wide backing fabrics for my clients. One night, as I lay in bed not being able to sleep, this idea came to me to not only carry wide backs but to have a different name other than Swirls And Curls Longarm Custom Quilting (which I still do). Fantabulous Backs was the name that kept coming to my mind.
By the time the sun came up, I had acquired my domain name, email address, contacted my web designer, designed a flier and made appointments with fabric reps!
It started out slow. The last thing I wanted was to go into debt while sitting on inventory that didn’t sell quickly (Rome wasn’t built in a day and most successful businesses are not successful overnight. I slowly bought fabric!
I didn’t stop there! In 2017, I had my first opportunity at being a vendor at the San Diego Quilt Show. I brought the “bolts” (never do that again) and put on Home Depot racks that were bought the previous month. I so red-necked it that I had packaging tape wrapped on the racks to keep the bolts from falling off in my 10 X 10 booth. What a lesson learned!! I did well with selling product but it was a pain cutting off the bolt.
The following year (2018), I pre-cut the fabric into 3-yard bundles…SUCCESS!! And I got rid of the racks, those were a pain to set up. Since then, I have built up my vendor schedule with adding numerous quilt shows throughout California and now Arizona plus, I also do trunk shows at various quilt guilds and retreats where I bring my 3 yard bundles and offer the guild members a percentage off.
What started out slow has now been rapidly growing. I have a huge selection of different fabrics and the inventory is constantly changing each month. If you don’t see your choice of extra wide fabric, give me a call or an email. Most of the time I can order it for you!
Enjoy your shopping experience at fantabulousbacks.com
Carrie Wilson
Below are pictures from past quilt shows. First one is obviously from my first show. We have learned to adapt with the size of booth!!
