Hearts Ahead! (click images to enlarge)

Congratulations, Darcie! You've won our FIRST drawing for the Valentine's Day Contest!  Thanks for using the Snoopy Valentine Fabric for your beautifully-embroidered and quilted pillow!

****IMPORTANT: DEADLINE EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 28TH ****

We have had so many days of restricted driving due to heavy snowfall, we are going to double your opportunities to win this Valentine's Day Contest! We will hold a drawing for a winner on February 14th as scheduled, but will hold a SECOND WINNER'S NAME on February 28th! It's not too late to begin a project using our sweet collection of Valentine Fabrics!  Remember, winter hours are 2 - 7 pm, Wednesdays through Saturdays.

Our first, new quilting event for 2015 will be a Valentine's Day Contest: come in to see our new collection of fabrics and make something for a loved one using some of our Valentine quilt-quality cotton.  We have several bolts to select from, and you can design your own project. Maybe a lap quilt ... or a pair of comfy quilted slippers, or a Valentine's Day box, or bag, or hat ... or a yoga mat, or a set of placemats and napkins ... there are so many ideas on the internet today, and we have some of these as patterns in the shop! Be creative and come up with something someone you love will love!

Here's how the contest will work: there are three potential levels of your choice.

•   If you use at least one of our new Valentine's Day fabrics in your work, you'll qualify for a level one prize ... a ten dollar gift certificate for Wooden Toy and Gift or Quilters' Quarters.  
• If you use two of our fabrics, you'll qualify for a level two prize ... two $10 gift certificates, to spend or share with your Valentine.  
• And if you use three or more of our Valentine Fabrics in your Valentine Gift, you'll win a $25.00 gift certificate for either Rick's shop or Terry's ~ the winner chooses! Both shops are located together at 59 North Street, Georgetown, Massachusetts ~ just two doors north of Perley School.
• Bring your finished Valentine's Day Contest project in to our shop by Friday, February 13th to have a photo taken of it. Your name and the photo of your project will be put into an envelope and then into "the heart sack" and the winner will be drawn on Saturday, February 14th.

Wooden Toy and Gift puzzle

If you're not familiar with Rick's Wooden Toy and Gift shop, stop in to see it, or visit his website: www.WoodenToyandGift.net.

Here is our new collection of Valentine Fabrics; we also have a "make your own yoga mat and carry sack" pattern for only $2.00! And don't forget to mention that you are entering the Valentine's Day Contest - because that will get you a ten percent discount on the Valentine's Day Contest fabrics (prices range from $4.00 to $11.00 per yard.) You can also purchase these fabrics at our webstore: Valentine Fabrics

Fabric collection from Quilting Treasures,
an employee-owned company in the U.S.A.

Yoga Kitties in their Yoga positions...

with a matching paw-print fabric

Snoopy fabrics with kind, encouraging messages

This panel makes a fabric book of "Tips from the Gang" 

Lots of blending hearts and flowers fabrics

As always, if you are reading this update in your email, thank you for signing up for the newsletter. We usually publish it about twice a month, but in between editions, we also update the various pages that comprise this blog. December additions are at the Georgetown Quilts of Valor page,  and progress on current quilts at Terry's Quilting Journal 2014 page.  Come visit us at the blog and see what else is happening at Quilters' Quarters

Feel free to share this email or blog link with your friends and families. Thank you for sharing our pages.

Terry, web page TerryCrawfordPalardy.com, email: needlesandpens@comcast.net
Rick, web page WoodenToyandGift.net, email: woodentoyandgift@comcast.net
Rick's blog: WTandGNews.blogspot.com

Holiday Hours

Hi everyone,

Quilters' Quarters and Wooden Toy and Gift will be closed for the holidays next Wednesday, Christmas Eve and Thursday, Christmas Day.  So that means that we have only TOMORROW, Saturday December 20th, as an official open day.

But we will probably be around town on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of Christmas week; the signs may not say open, but if you need some last minute stocking stuffers, we'll be happy to open our shops for you. Just give us a call at 978-352-2676 to schedule a visit; if we're not home, we'll hear your message later in the day and return your call if you leave your number.

Post Christmas we will be open our regular hours (11 to 7) on Friday 12/26 and Saturday12/27.  We'll be closed most of the week of New Year's (Sunday 12/28 through Thursday 1/1/2015) with just early afternoon hours on New Year's Eve.

Post New Year's Day we return to our regular schedule of Wed. > Sat., 11-7 pm.

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday		Friday	Saturday
					12/26 Open 11-7		12/27 Open 11-7
12/28 Closed	12/29 Closed	12/30 Closed	12/31 OPEN 11 am - 3 pm	1/1/2015 Closed	1/2/2015 Open 11-7		1/3/2015 Open 11-7
1/4 closed	1/5 closed	1/6 closed	1/7 OPEN 11-7	1/8 OPEN 11-7	1/9 OPEN 11-7		1/10 OPEN 11-7

There are new listings at the web store now for Quilters' Quarters - the winter fabrics are there, and Terry's patterns for not only the Row by Row 2014 but also the Quick and Clever tube pillowcase, and the snowflake applique.  Kits are also available for the pillowcase and snowflake ... look elsewhere on the webstore page for those.

Valentine's Day fabrics have just arrived in the shop this week, so watch for those in our next newsletter.

As always, if you are reading this update in your email, thank you for signing up for the newsletter. We usually publish it about twice a month, but in between editions, we also update the various pages that comprise this blog. Recent additions are the Massachusetts Women Artists' page,  and progress on current quilts at Terry's Quilting Journal 2014 page.  Come visit us at the blog and see what else is happening at Quilters' Quarters

Feel free to share this email or blog link with your friends and families. Thank you for sharing our pages.

Terry, web page TerryCrawfordPalardy.com, email: needlesandpens@comcast.net
Rick, web page WoodenToyandGift.net, email: woodentoyandgift@comcast.net
Rick's blog: WTandGNews.blogspot.com

My favorite season begins!

Remember that you can click on any photo to enlarge it for detail. :)
Temperatures here in northeast Massachusetts have been yo-yo-ing this past week, from below freezing to warm sixties. We've had a few dustings of snow, never more than 2 - 3 inches, which is about right for early December. The weather forecasters make "much ado about nothing" and when we don't have enough to satiate them, they spend a great deal of time talking about the weather elsewhere in the country and beyond.

winter fabrics in blues

My favorite season is winter - partly because I was a school teacher and the occasional cancelled school days did give me extra hours at home to catch up on correcting, scoring and reporting. But I'm also enamored of the elimination of things like mosquitoes, and the clean look of snow-covered autumn debris. The slowing of traffic is balanced by the quickened pace of walkers, and the world seems purposeful, and centered.

When the snow covers the dying grass
and reaches to the bottom of the windowsill,
all will be right with this scene.

Many suffer from the loss of sunlight in winter's darkened days, but I had chosen to avoid the sun decades ago, due to heat intolerance of multiple sclerosis then un-diagnosed but clearly present; the more recent diagnosis of melanoma confirmed my decision to avoid the sun's rays as much as possible, and so winter doesn't have the same effect on me as on others. I'm happy when I'm inside, with doors closed until opened to welcome friends and customers.

Our Sugar Plum Fairy

This is a month of celebratory get-togethers: this week I vended at our Essex County Needlecraft Guild on Wednesday, and then participated in a notions swap at our Merrimack Valley Quilt Guild on Thursday. Good food and good company in both of those settings. And between events,  the change of seasons has seen Rick and I moving things around in our shops, getting ready for our next holiday event: on Saturday December 13th, we'll be participating in Georgetown's Holiday Shop-Hop, treating customers to sales and light refreshments, Christmas music and Season's Greetings.  And then the following day I'll go to the theatre and watch my niece dance once again as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker Ballet. I'll be working later this winter on a quilt made of her costumes through the years of ballet recitals.

dark background,
metallic accents

Many Christmas fabrics!

Our new Christmas fabrics are in stock and are beautiful. In bolts of Hoffman's and Timeless Treasures, red cardinals and green firs on a gold-metallic-trimmed black fabric, with white snow covering off-white birch branches on another cardinal print... a small print of poinsettia  blossoms and another of blue jays.

Pillowcase kits and pattern

Soft flannel prints of green and blue backgrounds are sporting prints of snowmen wrapped in brightly-colored scarves (duly printed with the warning that they are not intended for children's sleepwear.) I'm offering a $3.00 pillowcase pattern free when the flannel kits are purchased.

Tea Cozies made from my
pattern and kits

 I also have patterns for tea-cozies for sale, which come free when a kit of quilt-quality fabrics are purchased to make your own lovely tea-cozy. Or you can buy one ready-made by me!

We have another fabric artist sharing remnants of her beautiful choices: we're calling her collection

Barb's Yards

"Barb's Yards" and show-casing them in the antique black bureau of our shop. Barb Harrold makes sculpted fabric characters and creatures of the most amazingly eclectic fabrics!

We've collected an abundance of rulers, needles, pins, cutters, mats and other notions and arranged them in an area we call the Quilters' Toolbox.

Quilter's Toolbox

A tree full of notions!

Come and see the special collection which includes a Tucker's Trimmer, Dear Jane's triangle and square, Olfa's rotating 15" cutting mat and so many more. We've even found an ergonomically correct cutting wheel from Martinelli's that is for left handed quilters! We got one for the right handed, too.


Come visit us any Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday from 11 am to 7 pm. We'd love to see you and share our first full year of collecting fabrics and tools for you.

Vintage Machines 

We always have tea and cocoa along with quality products and reasonable prices to warm you. And on the thirteenth of December, we'll have those light refreshments as well! And sales! And a raffle ticket drawing at check-out for total sale discounts!

Green blenders with a mellow birch fabric

Christmas novelty prints that kids love!

Another vintage machine

As always, if you are reading this update in your email, thank you for signing up for the newsletter. We usually publish it about twice a month, but in between editions, we also update the various pages that comprise this blog. Recent additions are the Massachusetts Women Artists' page,  and progress on current quilts at Terry's Quilting Journal 2014 page.  Come visit us at the blog and see what else is happening at Quilters' Quarters

Feel free to share this email or blog link with your friends and families. Thank you for sharing our pages.

Terry, web page TerryCrawfordPalardy.com, email: needlesandpens@comcast.net
Rick, web page WoodenToyandGift.net, email: woodentoyandgift@comcast.net
Rick's blog: WTandGNews.blogspot.com

Fabric Christmas book and more panels

What's New at Quilters' Quarters?

The shop's roof was finished at the end of July, walls were painted upstairs in August, and some of Rick's woodworking tools were then moved into their new, clear space.

That left room in the downstairs workshop for the Wooden Toys and Gifts shop to move into newer quarters. And that move created more open space in the front of the barn for Quilters' Quarters to expand ... and so it is!

Ann's Fat Quarters and Bundles of Eighths

We plan to have all of the moving around finished in time for our 20th and 1st Shop Anniversaries on Small Business Saturday, November 29th.  All of Rick's toys and Terry's quilts will be back from their Art Exhibition display at the Pine Grove School in Rowley. And we have some new offerings from our consignment artists as well:

Ann Lainhart's  Fussy Cut Fabric note cards

Ann Lainhart has restocked our special fat quarters and "bundles of eighths" color family selections from her own collection of beautiful quilt-quality fabrics.  Ann has also added to her collection of quilted note cards, including some Christmas designs for kids.  Remember, these cards include actual hand done "fussy-cut" kaleidoscopic designs worked by Ann herself. Catalogs of Ann's work, including her jackets, vests, tile trivets and more are in the shop; remember to ask for yours if you don't see them while meandering through the cabinets full of fabric, the trunk of orphan offerings (remember: you set the price) and the new Wooden Toy and Gift showroom in the back of the barn.

Lynne Schulte LaValley's art cards

And our local painter, Lynne Schulte LaValley,  is also offering a selection of cards representing some of her favorite holiday images for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years and, if you're really planning ahead, Valentine's Day! Each of her cards contains a high quality print of one of her paintings.

Sandra Golbert's Fibre Art Note Cards

 Sandra Golbert's fibre art cards contain many clever sayings to enhance the images she chooses to incorporate in her mult-media collection of note cards. Birthdays, Weddings, Showers, and Holidays are made more memorable when a special card hits exactly the right spot with that special person.  All of our artists keep their prices reasonable: five or six dollars per card, and a discount if more than four are bought from one artist!

National Wildlife Federation
explanation of embossed image

And our newest artist to join our group is Elizabeth Golz Rush, who, in addition to sharing her fabric line with us, also has been commissioned to provide drawings for gold foil embossed note cards from the National Wildlife Federation, and has generously given us packs of three of her designs, shown below; each of the birds featured in her designs is described in detail on the back of the card.

Elizabeth Golz Rush cards, counted-
 cross stitch kits and bolts of fabric

Her work has also been incorporated into the renowned Elsa Williams' cross stitch kits shown in the photo below, just behind the cards and in front of the fabric line.  Remember,  you can click on any image to enlarge it. There is much more to see at Quilters' Quarters, and even more to find in our webstore

 As the shop's spacial changes occur, more room will exist for workshops, lessons and eventually classes.  One such workshop is being planned for mid to late January: it is my goal to have the two Red-Eye Singer Treadle Sewing Machines in good working condition, and then offer a workshop on how to clean and maintain those old treasures that might be hiding in your family's favorite hidey-hole!

As always, if you are reading this update in your email, thank you for signing up for the newsletter. We usually publish it about twice a month, but in between editions, we also update the various pages that comprise this blog. Recent additions are the Massachusetts Women Artists' page,  and progress on current quilts at Terry's Quilting Journal 2014 page.  Come visit us at the blog and see what else is happening at Quilters' Quarters

Feel free to share this email or blog link with your friends and families. Thank you for sharing our pages.

Terry, web page TerryCrawfordPalardy.com, email: needlesandpens@comcast.net
Rick, web page WoodenToyandGift.net, email: woodentoyandgift@comcast.net
Rick's blog: WTandGNews.blogspot.com

Wow! 9,000 Site Visits as of Today~

We've had a large increase in followers here at the blog since the Row by Row Experience this summer, and today, just a few minutes ago, we reached the number 9,000. I cannot estimate what the size of that crowd would be in person; it is approximately the total number of people living in our town!

Rick and I are still working to move things around in our shop ... the toys are gradually migrating into their new space, formerly Rick's renovated workshop.  And Rick's smaller tools are moving upstairs to his new second floor studio, where he will concentrate on the scroll saw art he is doing.

The quilt shop will take over the other half of the front of the barn, gaining space where quilters can gather for workshops or just for social "Sit 'n Sews" in the evenings. We do have a heater in that space, so we will be cozy in the dark of winter afternoons as well.

The vintage sewing machines (that were there in the shop but not very visible) are now more prominent and accessible in our enlarged space. I plan this winter to give workshops on treadling, including information on cleaning, maintaining and USING those family treasures hidden away in attics and cellars of every small town in New England. Maybe you have one waiting to be found and loved?

To that end, I'll begin adding new items to our inventory that will help with the machine's upkeep.  We've started with a small purchase: sewing machine oil (commonly referred to by collectors as SMO) and Singer Lube in a Tube.

Most manufacturers sternly advise that THEIR SMO is the one to use ... Singer advises Singer oil, Bernina advises Bernina oil ... and some old wives tales tell of other alternatives such as mineral oil or generic "three in one" oil.  These alternatives are not used by those in the know ... in fact, those who repair vintage machines say that 'other oils' are often the cause of gummed-up mechanisms.  Mineral oil has minerals, which are miniscule but abrasive. And 'three in one' has earned a bad reputation with some fix-it men and women because it is heavier than true, clear SMOs.

 I want to be as cost-conscious as possible, as we are living on a pension now, and plan on running our shop to help quilters and other needleworkers be able to shop locally, conveniently and frugally.  We keep our prices in line with what we could afford to pay ourselves.  So here are our first two new items, available presently in the shop itself, and soon to be added to our web page when we've been able to build up an inventory:

In the shop for $2.99 plus 0.19 MA Tax

This is a plastic bottle of white sewing machine oil.  White is not a brand name - it's a description that tells you (and visibly shows you) that it is a clear oil at the light weight that sewing machines will appreciate.  The story goes that 'white is light' and will not gum up the works.  Both Singer and Bernina use white oil in their machines, and advise their customers that when the oil darkens, or yellows (or eventually turns brownish) it is time for a new bottle.  When the oil darkens, it is becoming thicker ... the viscosity is different, and the oil can  then make your sewing machine work harder than necessary, with more stickiness than slickness. 

 Vintage Machines were manufactured in the days when oil was less expensive, and they do require oiling and use to run as smoothly as the day they were built.  The tip of this bottle can be pulled up, revealing an extension tube or "Zoom Spout" that makes placing those essential single drops of oil in each designated area on a treadle machine much easier and more accurate.  

Many modern machines are electronic and sealed differently than the old ones, and unless your user manual instructs you to oil, your new machine may not need nor welcome SMO.  Always refer to your manual.

In the shop for $3.50 plus 0.22 MA Tax

Another sought-after tool for maintaining older machines is motor lubricant.  Treadles and Hand-Crank vintage machines do not have motors, and so do not need lubricant. But vintage machines from the twenties and beyond are electrified.  The motors are either external or internal, and need to have their moving parts lubricated. (Often, they also need to have their cotton-coated wiring replaced as well.) And it is worth noting that, conversely, wherever you need lubricant, you must NOT use SMO. 

That the oil and the lubricant come in small packages is a reminder that these products are meant to be 'refreshed' now and then so that  your machine is being helped rather than harmed by old, thickened oil or grease. 

We are selling the SMO in the Zoom-Spout bottle for $2.99 and the Singer Lube for $3.50.  Both of these items, unlike fabric, are taxable. We are limiting our inventory quantity to these small amounts (and their small prices) so that you will always be able to work with fresh products.

Vintage Sewing Machines and Spool Pin Doilies

1904 Singer Model 27, which I bought
 twenty years ago in a local antique shop.
This is my oldest machine. 

I've begun acquiring treadle machines ... they are fun to use (especially with children) and are a practical investment, as they are nearly indestructible and will continue to gain in popularity as they age decade by decade.  Two of my machines, now more than 100 years old (1904 and 1911,) are considered antiques. Two other treadle sewing machines, called Red Eye Singers, are considered Vintage as they are between fifty and one hundred years old, (they will be 100 soon!)  Another two Vintage machines are dated between 1935 and 1947, both with electric motors, but could potentially be returned to "people-powered" by removing the motors and wires and giving them hand cranks. And there are two more are from the late nineteen sixties/early nineteen seventies, considered Retro-Vintage.

The four oldest are all working treadles and my goal is to get them all in good working order and then have a workshop on care and use for those who might have one in their attic that they are thinking of restoring one day.

Dawn's Spool Pin Doilies

What I've found recently are sweet little crocheted or tatted spool pin doilies.  There is a group of people that connect via Facebook to discuss their love of vintage sewing machines and share their tips for restoration techniques.  The spool pin doilies turned up there. I connected with one of the women sharing her patterns and offering to make them for those who could not, and then connected through a friend with another woman locally who would do the same.

Dawn makes white cotton thread doilies that are about an inch and a quarter in diameter, and are a perfect fit for my small Featherweight 1947 machine.

Margaret's Spool Pin Doilies

Margaret hadn't heard of doilies until my friend told her I was looking for some; she immediately went on line, found a few patterns and made some up for me. Hers are of varied sizes and shapes, and I've used some of them on my oldest treadles.

One of Dawn's on my little Featherweight, 

Some who "collect things" collect for the sake of collecting; I collect machines that I want to keep running and share their productivity and versatility with others who want to keep the time honored traditions of quilt making alive.

To be able to do this while protecting their treasured shiny black surfaces with delicate and beautiful lace doilies gives me a great sense of satisfaction and happiness.

Two of Margaret's on a 1911 White Rotary Treadle
given to me by a friend.

If you can crochet for yourself, you will no doubt find a wide variety of patterns for free on the internet. Happy searching! If you can't crochet, you can always reach out to those who can, like Dawn or Margaret.  People who do needlework of any sort are as happy, content, friendly and generous as quilters themselves!

You can find many of Margaret's talents at her Facebook Page.   And you can contact Dawn at her Facebook Page as well. And if you want to have one of these delightful doilies at home with you today, stop in to my shop to see if I still have one or two to spare! Some day soon, perhaps, I'll find someone who will produce another dozen or so that I can post on my web-store page

As always, if you are reading this update in your email, thank you for signing up for the newsletter. We usually publish it about twice a month, but in between editions, we also update the various pages that comprise this blog. Recent additions are the Machine Quilting Classes page,  and progress on current quilts at Terry's Quilting Journal 2014 page.  Come visit us at the blog and see what else is happening at Quilters' Quarters

Feel free to share this email or blog link with your friends and families. Thank you for sharing our pages.

Terry, web page TerryCrawfordPalardy.com, email: needlesandpens@comcast.net
Rick, web page WoodenToyandGift.net, email: woodentoyandgift@comcast.net
Rick's blog: WTandGNews.blogspot.com

A Lovely Night Celebrating Art with Friends.

Yesterday was the night we shared Rick's woodworking artwork in his first public exhibit, hosted by the Pine Grove School in Rowley. His work will be there in the school's alcoves that exist because Pat Marshall was intent on reserving space during the building's renovations just for that purpose.  One of her co-workers described Marshall in these words:

"Pat was a much loved teacher, assistant principal, and then principal at Pine Grove.  She cared deeply about her staff and students and always put them first.  Pine Grove became an award winning school under her leadership. The Gallery is named in memory of Pat Marshall (thus the Pat Marshall Link Art Gallery)  and it was originally called the Link Gallery, for the fact that that space "linked" all the wings of the school, and as a gallery, we hoped it would "link" the school and community." 

A few years ago, Rick was approached and asked if he could use some wood and Plexiglas to make some protective but see-through 'gates' for the alcoves that had been designed for the new section of the building a decade or so earlier, to prevent accidental damage from the displayed artwork. And he did.

Later, the couple who had come to Rick with that commission funding remembered his beautiful doll furniture, trucks, and other woodworking art in his shop, and came back and asked if he would lend some of his work to the school, to be displayed for about six weeks. The students and faculty and parents of that school community have enjoyed years of such changing displays thanks to the space provided by that forward-thinking educator.

Here are the photos we took of each Alcove. The display was shared with the public last night, and will remain for the students until the last week in November. As the reception was on a weeknight, none of our family were able to attend, but our artist friends who have so often shared their art with us came to the reception to celebrate Rick's beautiful work, as did other friends we have in town.

It was my honor to provide several themed quilts to be the backdrop for each of Rick's displays.  Many of these quilts will be offered for sale in Quilters' Quarters and on my webstore, and will be shipped to buyers after November 30, 2014, just in time for the Christmas, Hanukah and New Year holidays.

Remember, you can click on each photo to enlarge it and see detail clearly.

Autumn Holidays

The see through 'gate' allows small children
to see the full display -- Rick's original work.

The Halloween Quilt

Winter Holidays

The Hanukah Quilt/Table Cover

The Christmas Quilt

Construction and other Vehicles

the Under Construction Quilt

 Dollhouses

Silly Birds and Crazy Daisy Quilt 

Sewing/Knitting Plaques and Doll Furniture 

Retro Kids Needle Crafts Quilt

Public Safety Officers

First Responder Quilt

Entry Way and Stairwell Wall Displays

Linus Project Quilts

As always, if you are reading this update in your email, thank you for signing up for the newsletter. We usually publish it about twice a month, but in between editions, we also update the various pages that comprise this blog. Recent additions are the Machine Quilting Classes page,  and progress on current quilts at Terry's QuiltingJournal 2014 page.  Come visit us at the blog and see what else is happening at Quilters' Quarters

Feel free to share this email or blog link with your friends and families, and encourage the quilters among you to check out the Row by Row page of the blog as well as the website itself. We're in for a great experience this summer ~ jump in and join us!

Terry, web page TerryCrawfordPalardy.com, email: needlesandpens@comcast.net
Rick, web page WoodenToyandGift.net, email: woodentoyandgift@comcast.net
Rick's blog: WTandGNews.blogspot.com