Thank you for shopping Small Business Saturday at Quilters' Quarters!

We had several shoppers stop in at Quilters' Quarters on Small Business Saturday, and sold more than in any previous weekend this year. Each quilter was delighted to find all fabric priced 40% below retail. And most left with more than a hundred dollars worth of fabrics at less than a hundred dollars spent!

Quilters' Quarters is going to offer a free gift to shoppers this coming weekend; on Thursday 11/30 through Saturday 12/2, a 45mm rotary blade will be given to anyone who spends more than twenty dollars ... that's a $9.00 gift! And as we have been doing well with our loyal customer rewards, we will continue to offer 20% off all fabric, and 50% for charity project purchases!

Some of our 'collaborative members' have been in the shop this week and have moved our holiday fabric out of the little room and front and center in the cutting room ... and the lights are all working again, so these beautiful fabrics are showing their colors brightly ... come see! Christmas reds and greens and golds, Hanukkah blues and white and golds and silvers ... Kona solids and Moda blenders ... Wilmington Prints' and Quilting Treasures' beautiful prints and panels are just $8.00 each ... so much to see at Quilters' Quarters!

 Thank you to all the shoppers who visited us this past month ... the shop is warmer on cold days now, as we have portable heaters in place. Watch the blog and Facebook pages to keep up with the weekly specials being offered through the month of December.  There will be a free gift offered each weekend!

Remember: Thursday and Friday, 11-5 pm, and Saturday 12-5 pm. If you want to visit at other times, give Quilters' Quarter a call at 978-352-2676 to arrange a time. If it can happen, it will!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Black Friday or Small Business Saturday?? This weekend ... where will you shop?

 Your choice. Whichever you choose, ALL QUILTERS'  QUARTERS FABRIC ON BOTH DAYS WILL BE SOLD AT 40% OFF, INCLUDING THE NEW SHIPMENT THAT JUST ARRIVED YESTERDAY! 

And for the rest of the year, the regular 2017 discounts will continue ... 20% off all fabrics, or 50% discounted for all fabrics to be used in charity projects.

No coupons, no tickets, no tricks ... just treats!

Don't miss out ... only a few more weeks to shop at Quilters' Quarters. And bundle up ... it's cold in the barn!

Quilters' Quarters ends its Fourth Year, and Begins a New Fifth with a New Format

They say if a business is still running in the red after five years, it is a failure. I don't like the word failure ... I think it is more related to the state of the retail world than a particular business ... brick and mortar small businesses have to compete with big box corporations that can buy in bulk at vastly reduced prices and a wider variety of goods, and so sell at lower prices while still meeting and exceeding their costs. To not be able to compete with such an unlevel playing field does not define a failure ... it defines a need to re-evaluate, and re-configure.

I didn't open Quilters' Quarters with an eye toward reaping a profit ... I have already worked a full career and have earned my pension, and am not depending on the shop to generate money for groceries or other necessities. I opened it in part to widen the customer base for Rick's Wooden Toy and Gift shop ... and I opened it to provide a local place where quilters could find quality fabric, threads, tools and notions at reasonable retail prices. 

Quilters' Quarters is presently a sole proprietorship ... as was Wooden Toy and Gift. But today, that means it has become a solo act. Rick is no longer here to 'spell' me ... and his sign that reads "Buy them all; we can make more!" can no longer fulfill that promise ... his goods are now dwindling and finite in number and will soon be put away for our grandchildren. 

I live here on the property, and 'regulars' know that, whether the sign says open or closed, they can always call me and drop by to get what they need. For 2017, I've been offering two ongoing discounts: one is twenty percent off for any fabric cut from the bolt, and the other is 50% off for any fabric cut for a charity project. This is a small town and I am involved in various quilting communities, all doing charity work and also routine friends and family work, I can use the honor system relative to the wholesale pricing for charity work. I don't have a staff to pay ... l can turn off the lights when I'm not in the shop ... my utilities are kept in check. I'm beginning to plan, since my husband's death on Christmas morning, toward changing my identity from a retail shop to a collaborative, where quilters can come and share questions and ideas, skills and talents, tools and patterns. 

For 2018, I envision the shop as more of a gathering place, where fabrics can be purchased and shared closer to wholesale 100% of the time ... where one day a long arm machine can be housed and used by local quilters who want to do their own quilting ... where workshops and sew - ins can be housed comfortably. I will still schedule with fabric reps who will bring their samples but perhaps more often display them to a group of quilters rather than just to one person, and orders can be placed to accomodate the tastes and wishes of the group. 

The shop will be opened when people want to shop, be it early mornings or late evenings, but ... there may be times when someone other than myself is able to open it and host others within. There may be times when I am traveling, but other locals will have a key and access to the shop, and locals will know they are welcome whether I'm in town or not. Quilting workshops will have a space where projects can be begun and left and returned to without having to be packed up to serve a family dinner. 

There will be some travelers who may still find the shop through published quilt shop directories, and they, too, will always be welcome to shop here, catch as catch can without a set schedule of hours. The prices will continue to reflect the 20-50% discounts for all quilters. 

I look forward to more time with my young quilters, and with those at the senior center. I ask patience from those who would prefer a set schedule of hours, as I no longer can offer that, once I end this 2017 current schedule of Thursday through Saturday. I encourage all to use the telephone to call and advise me when you would like to stop in at Quilters' Quarters, and I will do my best to be here for you. 

Sincerely,
Terry Crawford Palardy, owner, Quilters' Quarters, Georgetown, MA.
978-352-2676    needlesandpens@comcast.net

Giving Thanks Year-Round

Two weeks from today is Thanksgiving here in the USA, and here in Massachusetts it is indeed a big deal. I remember taking my second grade students on field trips to the 'Plimoth Plantation' to view lifestyle interpreters of that time period. Second grade is such a tender age, and students' curiosity made each year's trip fresh and exciting.

We have Thanksgiving fabrics in the shop, of course.  (And yes, I still use the plural pronoun 'we' despite Rick's death last Christmas morning. I feel his presence in the shop as much as in our 'forever happily ever after' home ... and so do my quilting friends who visit here.) They are not very visible in the shop's entryway, as they are tucked inside the Holidays and Books corner of the shop. 

I've told many of you that this shop was once a dress shop selling semi-and-formal wear, and that I'd bought the 'going away' dress for my and Rick's wedding here forty seven years ago. The little cubby corners of the shop served as dressing rooms then ... now one is the Holidays and Books cubby, and one is the Notions andTool Box cubby. 

Superior, Mettler, Gutterman,
Coats and Clark threads...

Not many realize that the 'kitchen counters' in the cutting room are actually from our first house ... Rick had redone the kitchen and bathroom there just before our daughter's wedding back in the early nineties ... and when we sold it soon after to buy our forever home a year later, the new owners tore it all out and installed cherry cabinets in their kitchen ... and put the still-new white cabinets out on their lawn free for the taking ~ our recently married daughter found them there, and asked if she could take them for us, for 'the barn.'  The new owners of the first house agreed, and they were set up in the barn to be a part of Rick's woodworking shop. Now, they are part of the quilt shop, and display threads, remnants, projects and, of course, Helen and Henry

It's getting colder day by day out in the shop, and I'm spending more time here in the house. I haven't yet found someone willing to install the little gas fireplace/stove, and unless I do, I'll have to close the shop down soon. When we closed it last year, we had plans for traveling through the months of January and February, enjoying the time together. Rick always wanted to travel, to see the country. Unfortunately, he died only hours after our last day in 2016, and never did get to see places he wanted to see. If he were here, that heater would now be installed (or the old one repaired) and we would be deciding whether to remain open or close again to travel more. Without him beside me, I'd just as soon keep the shop open and stay here in our home and welcome quilters in to enjoy the warmth of our shop ... but without the heater, there will be no warmth.

Beautiful winter flannels, soft and warm

If you can brave the chill, come visit Quilters' Quarters over the next six weeks or so before winter has a chance to close the shop ... it will be worth its while. There is a new supply of Superior 'Fantastico' variegated thread spools and cones, and flannel fabrics that will delight your children and grandchildren. The discounts will continue 'til the end of the year: twenty percent off fabrics cut from the bolt (fifty percent off if it's for a charity project - that's wholesale pricing!)

I promise to keep Quilters' Quarters open until Christmas Eve ... lots of Christmas,    winter and Hanukkah fabrics in stock~ 

If you know someone who has the skills and authority to repair or replace a gas furnace, please send them our way? Then, I could choose to keep the shop open longer this winter ...

wouldn't this be cozy?

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Please share this with your neighbors, friends and family via your email? and Thank you!

Terry, at Quilters' Quarters
Call or Text: 978-352-2676
Email: needlesandpens@comcast.net