Holiday Wishes

I want to take this entry as a chance to thank all of my customers and friends for helping me continue the dream Rick and I shared.  I'll start by sharing a Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa and a Joyous New Year to all.

Christmas was always Rick's favorite holiday, and he was one of Santa's best helpers. He loved making simple toys of wood, without batteries or plastic parts that would break off. I enjoyed painting the Christmas ornaments he cut, first with an old scroll saw and later with a new model, complete with dust collectors and a belt sander alongside it on his work table. When we finally were able to finish the second floor of the barn and he moved his work benches and small tools into that space, he felt he had achieved his dream ... a full woodworking shop ... and enough time to make the best use of it.

The fall of 2016 was exhausting ... we saw the roof of the barn finished, the skylights installed, all according to the careful plans Rick drew. Our son was married on a beautiful foliage-filled day. We joined five other small shops for a "Humble Beginnings" shop hop the weekend after the wedding, and worked that with the help of many of our friends.  And just a week after that,  the driveway for our shops was widened and paved, to make it easier clearing it in the winter with Rick's new snowblower. It was larger and more powerful than the one he had bought when we sold his pickup and plow five years earlier to save money when I retired ... we needed to cut back to one vehicle with my retirement  ... but the new snowblower was so large that I couldn't manage it's size and heft as Rick could... until he had shoulder surgery. 

He knew it would take all of the winter and most of the spring to regain the use of that shoulder, and that thought concerned him ... he wondered if he ought to have waited until spring for the surgery. But he was reminded every day that pain-filled fall that the weakness in his dislocated rotator cuff would prevent him from using the new snowblower, and even limit what he could do with his beloved woodworking tools. So he went ahead with the surgery in December, determined that we would be able to clear enough snow with shovels and the help from friends, now and then. 

Neither he nor I had any idea that he would pass away so unexpectedly, long before recovery, just two weeks after that surgery. Minutes after midnight on Christmas morning of 2016, he took his last breath quietly, with his head on my shoulder and a first responder trying to measure his vitals after my hurried call for help. Rick was concerned because he had a dull pain high in his leg ... he asked me to "call the guys" and I did. He was suddenly gone shortly after they arrived. 

Many thought I would sell the house and the shop and move into an easier place to maintain on my own ... a place to begin over on my own ... as I had never been on my own before Rick's death.  But leaving our dream ... no, I couldn't think of that.  Leaving our home ... no, I didn't want to do that.  And so I stayed here.

The first year was harder than anything I'd ever experienced, and I nearly didn't make it. I can't say it has become easier as time went on, as challenges continue to arise with each passing season, but I continue to find ways to deal with those issues. It is hard to believe it has been three years since his death ... it still feels like just yesterday ... fresh, raw, and endlessly unbelievable.  His shop sign that reads "Buy them all, we can make more," remains above the quilt shop window, and I take heart each time I look up and read it. I believe he is here in spirit with me ... children believe in Santa, and Rick was my Santa ... and I believe that one day those tools will again be lovingly used to make beautiful things for beautiful little people.  Someone like Rick will find a way to use them. Maybe someone in the family, or among our friends ... or maybe a stranger that will be sent to find them.

In the meantime, I'll keep the fabric and notions in stock at Quilters' Quarters to help quilters buy quality goods at reasonable prices.  I'll continue to make the emergency comfort quilts for the police and firefighters to carry in their vehicles, in Rick's spirit of kindness. With friends, I'll keep making military service appreciation quilts for our town veterans. I'll happily help young and old learn to use today's special  tools for quilting. And I'll try hard to continue believing that one day, when my work here is finally finished, it will be my chance to rejoin Rick in the hereafter so we can resume our happily ever after.

The shop is now closed for inventory, but will optimistically reopen on the Thursday January 9th.  Happy New Year, all. I'll work to make the best of it, again.

~Terry

Holiday on Main Street, Georgetown MA

This Saturday, December 7th, local small businesses in Georgetown are pooling our resources to participate in a shopping event. Lisa Scala, of Scala Art Center on West Main Street, is the proprietor of this event, and Quilters' Quarters, though not on East or West Main Streets, is offering door prizes, free fat quarters and friendly company to all those who venture 1/4 mile from the square where East and West meet North Street.

Come in and see what you'll find ... a bin full of FREE donated fleece fabrics (dark, solid colors.) Zippers at VERY low prices, Skeins of embroidery floss at half price, tins-full of old buttons at a penny apiece, fabric cut from the bolt with a 20 to 40% discount .... notions, rulers, cutting mats, rotary cutters and blades ... all at the same discounted rate... and no single use plastic bags!

I look forward to seeing you this weekend ... If you begin at my shop and then work your way to the library around the corner and then on toEast Main, and then West Main, I will give you the event card to have punched by shops you stop into along the way, and then you can drop your card off at Scala's to be entered for the raffle basket ... And to make that easier, you can pick up your punch card and a MAP showing the shops in this event at the start of the day. Quilters' Quarters, just two doors north of the red brick Perley School building, will be opening two hours earlier at 10 am for this December 7th event. Park in the driveway or in the street. (You can ignore the no parking signs ... they only apply Monday through Friday!) Or, as it is a weekend, you can park right at Perley and walk in the clean fresh air from Quilters' Quarters to the library and then on to the Main Street shops!

Please plan on spending a few hours right here in town, visiting your local small businesses and supporting our efforts in keeping Georgetown's downtown a vibrant commercial area where your shopping needs can be comfortably met.

See you soon!

Terry

ps: bring a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots to Quilters' Quarters, and receive an additional free fat quarter!

SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY 11/30/2019

I have good news and bad ... let's start with the good news!
Every Quilters' Quarters customer will receive a free fat quarter with their purchase today, in celebration of Small Business Saturday. Your choice of any fabric in the shop for this promotion!

 This promotion will be repeated on Georgetown's "Holiday on Main Street" event Saturday December  7th, from 10 am to 5 pm.

Click on this Facebook link to this event for more details!

The bad news is that my credit card tablet stopped working earlier in November, and though I have purchased a newer device, I remain, despite numerous efforts, unsuccessful in uploading the credit card reader site on the new device,.  Until this is resolved, I can only accept cash or checks, or put your purchases on a TAB, and ask you to send or bring a check later. i will not charge any interest, and trust your honesty in doing this. Please and thank you for your patience. I apologize for this inconvenience.

Five New Bolts from Quilting Treasures

Beautiful fabrics that have that soft 'hand' that quilters love and search for ... now printed digitally allowing greater depth of color.  My first reaction to the rep's news that QT was going digital was hesitation ... would printing the artwork in that way enhance the detail but lose the quality feel? I am so relieved that this employee-owned company has lived up to its reputation. And, in a few weeks, pre-cut strips of more Quilting Treasures' fabrics will be arriving.

Labradors!

With Blenders of Paw Prints and Wood Planks.

Why put a flamingo on your neighbor's lawn, when you could
offer a lap quilt or toss pillow  instead?

This is a green ombre square print that brings that
popular game to mind...

Here's a close-up of the paw prints and planks of wood that enhance the Labrador print:

Our Dalmatian of years ago did leave paw prints on my heart!

This beautiful wood print would have been a favorite of Rick's ...
and will add such depth and warmth to your projects

 These new bolts have arrived with 2019 retail prices, but remember that at Quilters' Quarters, you will always receive your shopper's discount~ $11.60 per yard at 20% discount is $9.25,  and our frequent customers or those making charity projects receive even larger discounts. Share this email with your friends and neighbors, and let them know that they will receive discounts, too.*

Thank you for reading this post, and enjoy a warm, loving Thanksgiving with those who matter most in your life!

~ Terry

* Here is a reminder of Quilters' Quarters discount pricing: 

All quilters will receive a minimum of 20% reduction in price. Those who become 'frequent flyers' and share their ideas will be considered members and will receive 40% discounts on all fabric cut from bolts. (Wow ~ $11.60 per bolt minus a 40% discount will cost only $6.96 per yard!)  And people doing charity work (for hospitals, first responders, veterans, nursing homes etc.) will be able to purchase fabrics at cost, which is 50% of the current retail pricing. Even fabrics that I buy online or at the warehouse which already have lower retail prices are discounted at these special rates ... So come see them all!

Feels like Fall ~

It's getting chilly out in the evenings, but I'm back in the house by five pm, so the cooler evenings are not a problem for the shop.  The new heater is working well when I do turn it on, which hasn't been too often yet.

It dawned on me that putting the Sweet Sixteen in the room that had been Rick's toy shop meant either starting up the wood stove, or using the portable electric heaters... guess which won? 

There is still a lot of stored pine lumber in the far end of the back of the barn, but a friend's grandson / woodworker is coming tomorrow to see if he can use any of it.  And in time, I will contact the Vo-Tech schools to see if any of the specialty wood Rick had collected would be appreciated by their students. Step by step, inch by inch, I'll make progress in converting his wonderful workshop into a classroom for quilters.

I squeezed in a trip to the Pembroke New England Quilt Supply this past week, and gathered some new batiks and prints and blenders ... not too many, as I still have outstanding orders with Quilting Treasures that ought to arrive sometime this month or next. 

Some beautiful new Batiks , some soft cotton prints and blenders, all at warehouse prices... come and see what's been added recently.

There are only sixty more days until Christmas, and though that day doesn't hold the joy that it once did when Rick and I celebrated it together with our children and grandchildren, I will look forward to seeing friends and family as time allows.  The shop will keep the new regular hours, three days of five hours per week, and the discounts will continue as established.  So bring a friend and enjoy the colors~ and thanks for following this blog.

~ Terry

`

Out with the Old, and In with the New...

Many who have visited the shop have noted the old treadle machines that Rick and I collected and restored, and passed on to new 'caretakers.' Other than the Featherweights which we sold for a church benefit, many of our Foster Machines were given away to young students and older enthusiasts ... one was a shop hop first prize, and one was a quilt show raffle item ... others just came and went as we had time to find missing parts and spend elbow grease cleaning and restoring these old treasures.

It's time now for me to let go of that passion; not only do I miss Rick's company, enthusiasm and talent in restoring these beauties; I also lost the source of my machines' missing parts ... Cindy Peters passed away not too long after Rick, and without Rick and Cindy, my interest in restoration has waned ... so I am in the process now of finding new homes for those machines that we did NOT have time together to fix, clean and restore. There are only a few left in the shop, and a few more in the house.

In their space, I will be bringing a new adventure to life ... I am purchasing a "Sweet Sixteen" sit down long arm quilting machine.  Unlike a full size long arm, with which the quilter moves the machine across the span of the quilt, this sit down model uses Free Motion quilting skills, so I and a few of my friends are boning up on teaching our muscles to remember the motions of making feathers, curves, arcs, swirls and such... One of us has read a book that calls it 'train the brain' to facilitate muscle memory. Who said we can't teach old dogs new tricks?

While it is sad to say goodbye to old treasures, it is a wonderful blessing to be able to replace them with new opportunities. I trust that our 'fosters' will have happy landings in their new settings...

Stay tuned for more information ahead ... I'll also be adding our Bernina 180 Embroidery Machine to the shop ... we're turning the back room into a place for individual lessons! Now, I just have to learn how to make that embroidery machine module sew where I want it to sew! Rick had mastered it, and he could make it do wonderful things ... I have a few new coaches that are trying to help me learn new things... it's not a new model, so we ought to get along... and maybe my coaches will offer classes for others, too. 

As always, thanks for following the Quilters' Quarters' blog. Please feel free to invite your friends to sign up at the top of the page to follow with you. Remind them that ALL quilters get 20% off fabric and notions, and that some who visit often get more. All charity project materials are sold at 50% off, as well.

Zanzibar prints and a few others...

 Beautiful new prints titled Zanzibar by Quilting Treasures arrived this week!

The teal blue is from a line called KASHMIR prints, also from Quilting Treasures.

And this fun bolt features balloon animals!

All of these Quilting Treasurers feature new digitized printing, allowing more vibrant colors without losing any of the well known 'soft hand' that makes this employee-owned company so famous and respected. Retail price for each yard is $11.60, but Quilters' Quarters always has a discounted price ... 20, 40 or 50% less!

The shop will be closed on Friday October 4th as a friend is in need of hospital transport ... but will be open as usual from noon to 5 pm on the Thursday and the Saturday.

Come on in and see what else is in store! 

Thanks for signing up to follow this blog. If you are reading this in your email, please feel free to share this with your email friends. Fabric discounts continue in 2019 ... all customers will receive a 20% discount; folks who become frequent customers will receive a member discount of 40% on everything cut from the bolt. Quilters who are working on charity projects can purchase fabrics for those at 50% discounted!

Terry

AtQuiltersQuarters.blogspot.com

Do you want to make some toss pillows?

I can purchase pillow forms from an online wholesaler.  I had ordered some a few years ago for a customer, and she was pleased with them ... I think she ordered the down filled forms ... 

This week, I ordered some regular poly-filled forms, because they were more affordable and I knew they could be washed and dried as needed. I plan to turn a spare bedroom into a playroom, and wanted to use the bed as a day-bed, so needed pillows to dress it up.

Imagine my surprise when the smaller, 16" x 16" pillow forms arrived ... six of them ... in a box that I thought must hold only two!  And then I opened the box ... and found what appeared to be six flat, seemingly-deflated, balloons! But they were not as light as deflated balloons would have been...and so I tentatively reached into the box and drew one out.

It was a wrapped white fabric (I thought,) wrapped in a clear plastic bag. When I slit the bag open, nothing happened ... until I pulled the item out of its plastic wrapper ... it began to decompress ~ it had been vacuum-sealed into the wrapper. I had my doubts ... I'd seen vacuum-sealed vegetables at my mother-in-law's house years ago,  and while the bag was deflated, the green beans had their same size and shape, before and after opening.  But within moments, the pillow form achieved its intended shape and size ... I measured it ... and then struggled to put it into the fabric cover I'd made for it. It fit perfectly, and retained its shape!  When I opened the second one, I put it into its fabric cover more quickly, before it reached full size, and it was a bit easier!

I've made four pillows so far, and will make a few more to fill out the look of the intended day-bed. In time, my grandchildren will perhaps enjoy their soft cushy nest. Meanwhile, I'll order more pillow forms and make some up for gifts.

The forms took only two business days to arrive. If you want some, let me know what size you'd like. And if you're not sure how to make a pillow, I'll be happy to show you a way with just fabric, no zipper. If you'd rather a zipper, we can figure that out together, too.

I'll price these forms to agree with the regular retail price at fabric shops, but remember, you'll always get your Quilters' Quarters discount! 

Yes, that sad looking thing on the right is the pillow form

But to its left is a pillow made with one of these 'flat' forms! 

It fills out nicely and fairly quickly once the
plastic wrapper is removed!

left

Two sixteen inch and two twenty-two inch pillows ...
it's a start!

You'll find a complete size and price list, but for a start here are a few of the sizes available at the online warehouse ... I can order what you would like and it will be here within a matter of days.

Pillow Form Size	Poly-filled	Feather/Down filled
16” square	$11.99	$18.50
18” square	$14.50	$23.50
22” square	18.99	$36.00
24” square	$20.99	$40.00

More to See at Quilters' Quarters

They apparently had a backlog of fabric orders overseas (where many of our fabrics today are printed.) But the July order of Quilting Treasures fabrics arrived this week, and I'm told the August order will be here sometime in the next month ... then more later as winter begins. 

Fabric prices have increased each year ... those I purchase from the companies directly show the steadiest climb, and today's prices can run between 11 and 13 dollars per yard, retail. But you will always have at least a 20% reduction in per yard prices at Quilters' Quarters ... and sometimes I can buy last year's prints at a lower price, and when I get a sale, so do you!

Here's what arrived just the other day:

This line is titled Blanc et Noir, and I chose
the floral and 'scribbled floral' bolts

Carnivale Dots and Floral Designs

The unicorns measure about five inches in length
and are scattered across the 44" width of fabric.  

Here they are shown with some batik fabrics
that blend beautifully with the Mystical line.

Artworks Rainbow Animal Panels is the name of this line ...
the animal bolt has alternating zebras and elephants

The blender bolt that accompanies the panel is called
"Paint Strokes."

Beautiful New Fabrics Arrived

Six bolts of beautiful Timeless Treasures 100% cotton quilt-quality fabrics arrived this morning.  When I get a sale, so do you! A beautiful black on black blender, two gorgeous colorful prints and three sweet Tonga Batiks priced to sell before the summer season ends! Stop by to see these bolts ... and enjoy working with nature's beauty as you stay cool indoors...

Timeless Treasures "Electric Trees" and "Garden Sanctuary"

Garden Sanctuary print by Timeless Treasures $7.00  yard

Tonga Batiks by Timeless Treasures, $9.00 // yard

And another bolt arrived ... this one is a panel that measures 36" x 44" and bears the Psalm 23:6 verse ... "Goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life."

Designed by Susan Winget, for Springs Creative fabrics

Come back to this page later today to see the July Block of the Month ... and more information on Quilters' Quarters stock. 

June 2019 Block of the Month at Quilters' Quarters!

I didn't want to post the block until the new Clover tool for making yo yo's arrived at Quilters' Quarters - but now they are here ... and we are half way through the 2019 block of the month patterns and kits! I think you'll like this new way of forming the yo yo's ... I've made hundreds of them through the years ... some for family quilts (my first quilt ever~) and some for Books in Bloom entries ... But here is my favorite so far, made with the Clover tool!

A rusty-looking watering can filled with bright June blossoms,
set on a background of fabric that echoes 1970 kitchen wallpapers!

Clover Yo-Yo Maker
Very clear directions in several languages,
 and free patterns for various yo yo uses!
Less than $6.00 each with your QQ discount.
Only five more of each in stock at Quilters' Quarters.

These are the first six months' QQ 2019 BOM blocks.
Patterns, fabrics, tools for each are available at
Quilters' Quarters in Georgetown, Massachusetts.
Quantities are limited!

Zipper Sale!

Quilters' Quarters is receiving some much needed maintenance this month ... this weekend, a new storm door replaced the old one, which was decaying from the moisture ... and many of you had tried to close it and found it wouldn't line up anymore with the frame.

But new storm doors are no longer made of wood, and some don't have much in the way of horizontal  or cross-cut structure, as the old ones had. So to help myself, and all of my visitors, avoid blindly walking into and through the nearly invisible screen, I've hung ribbons and colorful zippers across the screen, at eye level!

Look closely to see the red white and blue zippers~
on the nearly-invisible screen door.

To celebrate the new door and its 'decorations,' I'm having a sale on 14" nylon zippers ... both the traditional style, and the new 'invisible' style. I'll be helping people find videos on you tube that instruct you in creating 'box pouches' using fusible fleece ... with your choice of a visible or invisible zipper.

The yellow zipper is 'invisible' when sewn in;
the blue zipper is the traditional style.
Both at Quilters' Quarters for 75 cents each!

Quilters' Quarters does not stock the invisible zipper pressser foot, but you can find them for your favorite sewing machine at eBay, Amazon, and in quilt shops that sell new sewing machines.

This is the bottom of the new clip on 
invisible zipper presser foot.

For those choosing an invisible zipper, there is another you tube video that you will find instructive ... and another clip-on "invisible zipper" presser foot that you might or might not have in your collection, depending on the age of your machine. I found some on eBay, for Singer and Brother low shank sewing machines, and for Bernina tall shank as well.

Two coordinating pouches in dark and light
purple prints, made for my granddaughter's
vacation!

Stop in to Quilters' Quarters for help with the directions ... I'm happy to learn with you!

Here are the links:
Zippered pouch bag tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-SsfnXbVrc
Invisible Zipper Foot instuctional tutorial:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ttAN0D1XOI

Stay tuned for the June Quilters' Quarters Block of the Month photo in the next post!

May Flowers

The lilac bush in our back yard in South Boston grew at the edge of the man-made cliff ... hundreds of years of coal furnace ash built up the land behind our two family home, creating a space that measured about 12 x 15 feet and ample room for a five line clothesline, an ash shed for the rubbish barrels, and a lilac bush.  When we moved to Georgetown, we found a similar old fashioned lilac outside the screened in porch, and enjoyed the fragrant blooms each May. The date of blossoms opening varied with the weather year to year, but I planned to carry some of our home grown lilacs as my wedding bouquet ... unfortunately, that year the bush bloomed early and by the thirtieth they had all passed their bloom. My bride's bouquet forty nine years ago, a small white, French family bible covered with trailing stephanotis, was instead a simple one. But every year following our wedding, Rick brought lilacs into the house whenever in May they bloomed, and we enjoyed their beauty and scent for weeks. He could always reach the best blooms at the top of the bush.

Curved blossoms, heart shaped leaves and wooden stems...

This month's QQ Block of the Month honors those lilacs ... The background is a deep blue print that echoes the cool, clear spring skies here in New England;the blossoms are made with Moda marble swirl fabrics, the  leaves and lilac blossoms are fused in place and will be decoratively quilted. The stem is a simple narrow zig zag stitch repeated three or four times. The pattern and various appropriate fabrics are available in the shop upon request.

The shop itself will be once again 'under construction' at times this spring and summer ... old clapboards are sagging, the window shutters are losing their louvers, paint is peeling, the storm door has paid its dues and will be replaced with a newer model, and some windows need replacing.  I had enough of a tax refund this year to do one large project and had two to choose from ... and the shop repairs won out over the new kitchen floor.  Such is life in New England, where one's barn is always prioritized, as it is where one's occupation takes place. One step at a time, one project per year ... eventually it will be as good as a two hundred year old barn can be.

I took my first sick day in five years today ... Grieving my loss of Rick sometimes leaves me without wind. But tomorrow is another day, and things to be done await. I'll be out in the shop at noon for quilters looking for fabric, notions and ideas.

As always, thank you for reading this. Please share the link for this blog with your quilting friends ... tell them of the automatic discounts that increase with time. I look forward to seeing you all. New shipments of fabric will occur in June, August and November ... come check on what's on hand each season!