“We like to bring the fun and the enthusiasm in the store and at shows. If customers are coming through, I want them to touch and feel the fabric. Have a good time with it. Our customers feel the atmosphere we bring. Which is a piece of Louisiana,” says co-owner Lucy Holtzclaw.

“We just like to talk to people. Connect with them, make them feel good, and have a good time,” adds co-owner Suzette Sawyer. “And people compliment us on that all the time.”

The pair (speaking to Friends@Festival via Zoom from their store) have been personal friends for more than three decades, but had never thought about becoming business partners—much less opening a quilt store—until just a few years ago. And with no small contribution from COVID-19.

Sawyer had a sum total of zero experience in quilting or making quilts and had recently retired as a secondary education teacher. While isolating at home, she saw some video of a grandmother teaching her young grandchild to quilt.

“I thought if she could learn how to sew, then I could learn how to sew! So I went to Wal-Mart, bought a Singer machine, watched YouTube videos, and just started. I’m a project person, so this was great,” she offers.

Holtzclaw, who still runs the photography business she founded when she was 19, dabbled in sewing, and her mother was a seamstress and knitter. “My mother made all our dresses, including our quinceañera and wedding dresses,” Holtzclaw—who now designs and makes large quilt tops—offers (a friend does the actual quilting).

The two wanted to make a Mardi Gras project since both are members of the Mardi Gras Crew Janus (and both were former Queens). There was just one problem: They couldn’t seem to find any Mardi Gras-themed fabric, even in the state of its origin.

Their answer? Open their own quilt shop that solved that problem. And with Holtzclaw’s background in accounting, Fat Tuesday Fabrics & Gifts opened in 2021 on a wing and a lot of prayers.

Of course, there were some around them who thought they were crazy to open such a niche business when people still weren’t out and about so much. Holtzclaw says that pretty much follows her character.

“They know when I say I’m going to do something, I’m all in, and then I’ll figure it out,” Lucy says. “And it works. 

At this point, the pair greet a customer who have come into their store, just to show them some small bag projects she has just completed. The woman is clearly proud, and Sawyer and Holtzclaw are very supportive.

“You did great on your matching right there! And the colors are great!” Holtzclaw says. “Look at you making it all fancy!”

Back to Fat Tuesday, both women are aware that some might think they only carry Mardi Gras/Louisiana-themed products. But sleuthing on the internet, social media, and from recommendations, they have made a specific effort to seek out and stock more wide-ranging fabrics, kits, templates, patterns, and notions (some specific to states). And Fat Tuesday is big on the “bright” when it comes to colors.

They are also happy to be something of ambassadors for Mardi Gras, with fabric orders coming in from Alaska, California, and Kansas. And the two—often just known at shows as “The Louisiana Girls”—add that their customers are often making projects for relatives who may have lived or gone to college in the state.

In Houston, they will be attending Quilt Market as shopowners, but have an exhibitor booth at Quilt Festival. It should certainly be one of the most visually striking in all the show, and attendees just might hear the soft strains of zydeco music being played.

“We’ll have a fun, good time,” Sawyer offers.

“We want people to see what we offer and be creative with fun and bright materials,” Holtzclaw sums up. “And with love.”

For more information, visit www.FatTuesdayFabrics.com