Coming Soon to Quilters' Quarters!

The deadline is approaching! January 15th, all completed Post Card Party Swap materials will be mailed to Janet in New York for interstate distribution. Quilters' Quarters will be hosting needle-workers on Wednesdays through Saturdays January 2 through 15, 2015. Bring your own fabric or use some of ours ... maybe something in the Orphan Fabric trunk, or a small amount from various bolts in the shop.  We'll have our 1947 Featherweight set up in the shop for you to use, too.  We're open 11 am to 7  pm and look forward to helping you make your own postcard. Just 2 doors north of Perley School in Georgetown, MA.  We are the ONLY SHOP in Massachusetts where these kits can be found and completed for exchange with quilters and needle-workers in other states~ don't miss out!

The wonderful Row by Row creators have come up with a new initiative for quilters and needle-workers who visit quilt shops: The Postcard Party!

Join us:
Participating shops (of course, we are one) will be offering fabric post card kits that creative fibre-arts people can buy and use to create a unique piece.  One side of the postcard will come pre-printed with the state's design (created, of course, by Debra Gabel of Row by Row fame) and the other side will be up to the individual person making the post card! Sandwiched between the two fabric sides will be a piece of thin foam stabilizer.

Here's what we'll do:
A quilter might piece or applique a 6" square for the back; a fibre artist working with brushed felt might create a small 3-D figurine/setting, a knitter might knit mini-sweaters, socks or hats for the card ... cross stitchers could add an embroidery back, and needle-pointers could as well.  There is no restriction, no limitation on what type of back you create! The finished card will be slipped into its protective plastic sleeve.

What then?
You can purchase as many kits as you like and create as many different designs as you want. You can then keep your finished post card, or give it as a gift for someone special in your life. Or...

Or... you can continue to participate by leaving your special postcard(s) at the shop. Quilters' Quarters will collect them until the collection period ends.

Where will your card(s) go?
Cards made in Quilters' Quarters will then be sent to a Postcard Party Distribution Center (a quilt shop) in New York (yes, I believe it is the quilt shop owner who created the original Row by Row experience, Janet Lutz,) and your card(s) will be sent to quilt shops outside of Massachusetts.  And no worries - they will not be sent individually via post office mail, but rather packaged carefully and addressed to out of state quilt shops in batches sorted by the Row by Row team!

 I've ordered 100 Massachusetts kits to begin. If we send out 79, we'll receive back 79 ... it's a 1 - for 1 - exchange. Quilters' Quarters will receive postcards created in other states ... When they arrive at the Quilters' Quarters, I'll send out a "Mail Call" for you to come back to the shop and pick (one for each of those you sent out) from the out of state quilt shop postcards.  Imagine how different they all will be! Janet promises to send back an assortment from different states.

Of course, someone(s) at a shop outside of Massachusetts will be picking up the card(s) you created. No doubt, you will be in touch with each other afterward, either by post, telephone or email, whichever you chose to share on your card(s).  And who knows what you might be able to share with and learn from each other!

Here's the schedule:
Quilters' Quarters (and other participating shops) will receive the first shipment of post card kits by the end of October.  We'll start holding workshops for making the cards in November, and we can continue work-shopping them through the winter months.  By the end of winter (maybe February?) all of the cards will be finished and sent off. Sometime in March we'll receive our batch of out-of-state cards and will have a Mail Call for pick-ups.

It sounds like a lot of fun; I'll be looking for creative artists to demonstrate different types of needle work to groups that can come for the workshops. A schedule of workshops will be posted here at the blog and on Facebook by mid-November.

Stay tuned for more information about Postcard Parties at your local quilt shops! Remember, there is no limit to how many you can make, and so receive.

Anticipation!

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 web store page at www.TerryCrawfordPalardy.com for fabric deals. And stay tuned for more information on the Postcard Party event!

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