Over Sixty Inches in Sixteen Days

Yes, winter has caught up with us here in North East Massachusetts; it's nearly the middle of February, and spring is less than forty days away. Rick has been kept busy every day for the past three weeks blowing snow from the driveway, the pathways, the sidewalk ... and shoveling the steps and the fire hydrant near our home.





While I've been comfortable inside the house, kept company by the pretty plants that weather over in our attached greenhouse, I've been staying busy planning and drawing quilt designs and figuring out which fusible interfacing is right for a  T-Shirt quilt. I finally called Pellon and asked if the bolt that I'd bought (lightweight) would be enough for the job, as it didn't match the sku (stock keeping unit) number that I'd read in other Facebookers' posts would be perfect for the job. With relief I heard that yes, I had the right alternative. The one praised on the web was only available to Joann's Fabric Store. But the one I had was as good.

My 2015 quilt journal is beginning to grow, and I'm happy to add each project to the page as the year progresses.  Do you keep a journal of projects begun and finished? It's a very satisfying task, takes only a few minutes now and then to update,  and is a good record of the work that I've done. I encourage you to keep a journal, too.

I'm looking into a new thread supplier: Superior threads is one recently  recommended by quilters that I trust.  I'll try to order from their wholesale pages to get the best prices for Quilters' Quarters' customers. I read that lint in the sewing machine is a non-event with this brand, and that breakage is rare. It's worth giving it a try, if we can afford it - it's more expensive than the other top of the line threads that we stock. The colors are vibrant and the variety of weights offer many choices to hand and machine quilters.

A beautiful shipment of pre-cut strips has arrived at the shop, ordered last fall from Quilting Treasures.

  Some are warm, some are cool, and some are in the design of the Lola fabrics.  A box of earth tone fat quarters in many colors also arrived (and joined the abundant collection of fat quarters that we always have on hand, courtesy of our quilt artist Ann Lainhart.)

We also have plenty of checked flannel prints on hand. And we're planning another trip soon to New England Quilt Supply where we will be able to look at quilt quality fabrics for spring and summer projects.

Please remember, our winter hours are 2 to 7pm Wednesdays through Saturdays; we can always accommodate different hours on request.

I'll be in the shop for Sit 'n Sew drop in sessions on Friday Evenings (6:30 - 9:00) and Saturday afternoons.  Bring a friend, bring a project, bring a question, bring a snack if you want.  I'll be out there working on something  and will be happy to answer questions that I can, or research what we need to know.

I'll be sharing my vintage sewing machines with you in the shop - I'm doing my best to learn all that I can to maintain and restore these old beauties.  I'll be happy to share what I learn with you. Maybe you have one in your attic that you'd like to be using, too.  I hear they are fabulous for piecing and quilting - who knew?!  Read what I've begun learning about these precious beauties at my new page, Vintage and Antique Sewing Machines. 

Don't forget our Valentine's Day contest - we've extended the deadline to February 28th, due to the statewide emergency/driving bans this month. We have only one entry so far, and two drawings planned, so you have an excellent chance of winning!

Thanks, again, for following our blog. If you haven't signed up yet, it's easy - just enter an email in the top of the right margin, and you'll receive our semi-monthly newsletters.  We're planning a bi-monthly fabric contest this year, too, and you don't want to miss the heads-up that will be in the newsletters.

The park bench under the most
beautiful red maple tree out front
is buried beneath the snow,
but in time it will emerge!

Please share this blog with your friends to let them know that we're here and we want to be helpful to them.  We can't beat big box stores like Joann's with large discount coupons now and then, but we want to be predictable and stable for our customers.  Come visit and let us know what you want to find in a community quilt shop!


Meanwhile, here are the links where you can learn more about what we have to offer.

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

We're expecting more snow this coming weekend, but we'll keep the light and heat on for you!

How We Stock the Quilters' Quarters

Every now and then I'll post a new resource here.  Quilters' Quarters is in its fifth month of existence this week, and our goal was to have a strong presence in town and on line by the time we have our first annual celebration. That gives us seven months to be sure that we are carrying things that you want us to carry.

Here's a look at some of our suppliers, or resources:

New England Quilt Supply

•  Located in Pembroke, Massachusetts, NEQS is a four-floor warehouse of fabrics, notions, batting, books, rotary mats, cutters, blades and threads of all sorts. Because Quilters' Quarters is a registered retail store with them, we can buy goods at wholesale prices. We then sell them in our shop or online at retail prices, but can discount to promote however we wish (and can afford to do.)
  
• This company has an online catalog of all of the products they carry. Customers can go to the catalog, where they will, upon clicking open an item, find retail prices, order numbers, manufacturing details etc. A customer can then browse at leisure and let us know via email any products that you would like us to carry or stock personally for you. As we will have to buy a full bolt or at least a half-bolt, we will do order and if it is something that we think other customers will want as well, we will order it and sell at retail the limited amount that you want .  But, if it is truly unique and we don't think we'll find another buyer to buy the rest, or at least more, of the bolt, we will ask the customer ordering it to buy the full or half-bolt from us. Most bolts at NEQS are 15 yards, but they will split a bolt in half if asked, charging a small fee of $1.00 per bolt.
• You can find a link to our shop on New England Quilt Supply's Retail Store Locator by clicking Massachusetts on their map. A large number of local quilt shops work with new England Quilt Supply and their websites and locations are available at this link. We are happy to refer to other quilt shops to help our customers find what they are looking for as quickly as meets their needs. 

Quilting Treasures

Click Here to Link to the Linus Project Fabrics

• Located in Cranston, Rhode Island and owned by employees who live in many areas, this company has a long history of providing quality quilt-shop fabrics. Once made in a factor in western Massachusetts, the fabrics are now ordered and delivered from South Carolina and New Jersey. The designs, patterns and kits are all developed specifically for Quilting Treasures. Our Quilting Treasures Sales Representative lives nearby in Southern New Hampshire.
• Each season a new line will be released, and will be available for at least two years. Fabrics that sell well will be repeated for another two year cycle. Designers are creating new sets of pattern designs continually. 
• One of the panels I've ordered (which will arrive in mid-March, 2014) is of Linus holding his blanket; this is part of the Linus Project, which the Merrimack Valley Quilt Guild has supported. I'm happy to be a part of that guild, and will continue offering fabrics that are child-centered.
• As with New England Quilt Supply, we will order full bolts of 12 yards each. 
• Quilting Treasures also has a second line of fabrics called V.I.P., which have lower prices per yard and sometimes fewer yards on a bolt. These are fabrics that you may also find at large retail chains like JoAnn's and Walmart. We can order those also. 
• Customers can view fabrics of Quilting Treasures at their website. 

A Traveling Salesman named Joe

• Joe travels from shop to shop offering fabrics from many manufacturers (similar to the lines of fabrics offered at New England Quilt Supply, with whom he works directly.) Joe's bolts are  10 yard bolts, and prices are very similar to both NEQS and QT. 
  
• Joe does not (to my knowledge) have an online catalog of his own: however, he does deal in fabrics from Timeless Treasures, Henry Glass, RJR and many more. I bought several bolts of 'blender' fabrics from Joe on his first visit to our shop. Blenders are tone on tone small prints that provide complementary backgrounds for quilt blocks.  
• Joe deals only with quilt-shop quality fabrics. I will get a complete list of the companies he deals with in the near future, and customers will be able to browse those company's sites and I will be able to order through Joe to find those fabrics being sought. 

Online fabric and notion websites

Occasionally, I will go online to purchase something for the shop.  Some of the sites I favor for this shopping are easily accessible, and most offer "follow by email" links to give a heads-up now and then for special sale items. Shipping is always an expense, but occasionally free shipping is offered if buying in quantity. Here are my favorite on-line sites:

• Keepsake Quilting a shop in New Hampshire filled with fabric!
• JoAnn Fabrics lots of coupons for special sales
• Annie's many pages of fabrics, notions and classes
• Craftsy video classes for nominal fees, and easy to save and refer to when needed
• Fons and Porter more notions and books than you could shake a stick at - fabric quarters, too.

And, don't forget: You Tube has a lot of FREE videos on specific quilt skills and ideas! Once you try one, you'll see many more along the side margin.  Some of the advertisements can be skipped after a few seconds. Give it a try! This one is one of the companies that has many videos that are very clear. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHfIXnk_W4A. 

Enjoy some quiet computer time that will whet your appetite for visiting quilt shops! I love having company in the shop and talking with quilt makers - such nice people!

If you're reading this in your email - THANKS! for signing up to follow the blog:  http://AtQuiltersQuarters.Blogspot.com

Happy sewing! ~ Terry