What is Batik fabric, really?

New: Direct link to Batik fabrics at our online webstore! (under construction, but getting there ... Webs.com is having technical difficulties.)
http://www.terrycrawfordpalardy.com/apps/webstore/products/show/7138653

Batik is an unusual fabric, and customers seem to either love it or ignore it. I began stocking Batik this spring, and had to learn how to order it. Fortunately, the salesman from WilmingtonPrints  Fabric introduced me to the idea of having fabric collections that tell a story... and so I looked at dozens and dozens of fabrics before I began to choose.

The rational part about buying lots of fabrics at one time is spreading the deliveries out over a season, and so the batik bolts began arriving seven at a time... but the challenge was in the fact that the colors didn't arrive in coordinated color groups. But this beautiful pink and blue floral was in the first delivery, accompanied by some brown and orange bolts ... nevertheless, the day they arrived, a friend and loyal customer immediately bought a few yards from the bolt! So my initial thought of tucking them away until the coordinated colors arrived was banished, and Rick built us a new set of shelves to hold them.

Click here to order Batiks from our webstore online, via Paypal

By the end of summer, the bolts had all arrived, and arranging them on the shelves has been delightful. A collection of coordinating charm packs arrived with the last shipment, and those include 5" squares of the many, many bolts that I could not afford to order all at once. 

Click here to order charm packs from our webstore.

Each company producing Batik fabrics has their own individual patterns, and the prints used are applied by hand. The stamps are developed by hand as well. Hoffman fabrics produced a video available at youtube that lets us see the workers skillfully creating the stamps, and then applying the colors and patterns to the fabric yard after yard after yard. Click here to view the video.

Come in to Quilters' Quarters to see which bolts whisper a story to you. And watch for our future kits and patterns that will be featuring these fabrics.

Let me know which colors or styles or patterns most appeal to you, or most suggest a quilt or project that you've been thinking of beginning.

Another of our frequent customers came in today and bought some of the blue collection, as she plans to make quilts for family friends in return for their generosity and kindness. Quilters are like that!

And remember, pre-cut packs like the 5" charm packs add a great variety to your new stash of Batiks ... it may take us a while to collect enough to include something for everyone, but give us a chance and we'll do our best!

Remember: when I get a deal, you get a deal!

And one last comment on Batiks: they are as clear and beautiful on the reverse side as they are on the 'right' side ... in other words, there is no 'wrong' side! Sometimes silk, sometimes, cotton, but always beautiful ~ all of the fabric at Quilters' Quarters is 100% quilt quality cotton ... tell your friends to come and check out our shop ... we'd love to see you and them!

If you've received this in your email, thank you for following our blog. Please invite your friends to sign up at the top of the page so they will receive updates from Quilters'  Quarters!

Terry's email and online webstore for our distance customers: 

• needlesandpens@comcast.net
• http://www.terrycrawfordpalardy.com/apps/webstore/

Rick's email, online webstore and blog: 

• woodentoyandgift@comcast.net
• www.woodentoyandgift.net
• http://WTandGNews.blogspot.com

Humble Beginnings Reminder

Our first involvement in a multi-quilt shop adventure is almost here ~ The Humble Beginnings Adventure will occur from  Friday, September 30th through Sunday October 2nd. Have you secured your pass yet?

You can still buy them at Quilters' Quarters for the inaugural price of $6.00, and let me refresh your memory as to what that small fees entitles you to:

• Six very unique quilt shops run by their owners ... shops that haven't been involved in many or, in my case, any other shop hops to date.
  
• Each shop will give to you a unique, free Humble Beginnings Adventure kit that contains enough quality fabric to make two autumn-colored 6.5" blocks. We all have chosen different patterns for our blocks, and when you bring the twelve free blocks together you will have a wonderful small quilt to share during New England's beautiful fall season.

  

  Quilters' Quarters 2016 block
  made with  Moda Marble Swirl fabric
• Each shop will have its own unique sample quilt made with these twelve blocks and some blender fabrics, and will share their pattern with you.
  
• For the first fifty customers buying an Adventure Pass in one of the six shops, a free Tote Bag for Humble Beginnings will be given as well.
  
• The shops will have their own special offerings available to Adventurers during the three days of Humble Beginnings. There will be door prizes provided by Moda Fabric at the Quilters' Quarters shop ... and others at each of our shops. There will also be a sewing machine given as one of the prizes!

  

  1915 Singer Model 66 hand crank sewing machine
  refubished with a white oak two storage compartment base
  made by Rick Palardy for Humble Beginnings Adventure 2016

• Light refreshments will be offered to our customers as well.

We are very excited to be offering you our first shop hop adventure for such a reasonable price; it is our humble offer to thank you for visiting our shops and helping us to spread awareness of what each of us has to offer.

At Quilters' Quarters, you will find not only quilt quality 100% cotton fabric, but also interfacings, elastic,zippers, buttons, rotary cutters, mats, templates, pins, needles, threads and more for those sewists who create custom clothing. We also feature antique and vintage sewing machines, as we are too small to have a contract with a sewing machine manufacturer ... and what we can do is help you learn to maintain your own vintage machines ~ you will be surprised at how simple restoring and sewing on these beautiful treasures can be. We have been accumulating so many antique Singers, their treadle tables, and reproduction hand cranks for those that have lost their treadles, that we now have enough to offer some to you ... again for reasonable, humble prices!

Merrimack Valley Quilters Raffle Quilt
2015-2016

While it is ironic that the Merrimack Valley Quilt Guild has chosen the same weekend as our Humble Beginnings Adventure (a change made too late for us to alter our printing orders) we're going to be optimistic that our MVQG friends will be able to attend the quilt show in Newburyport and still have time to visit our partner shops in the same weekend. We're sure you will enjoy both!

Merrimack Valley Quilters Show Poster 2016

We have invested a lot of time, energy and materials in preparing for Humble Beginnings Adventure, to provide what we want to be a wonderful, colorful, beautiful New England weekend quilt shop expedition ... please put us on your calendar for those three days. You can visit the special website that

we have set up for your convenience to learn more about our six shops. We've provided maps in the flyer that will help you locate us and plan your route. We've also posted the Humble Beginnings Adventure (and the MVQ show in Newburyport) at Quilters Bug website, and at each of our own sites.

Will you honor us with your company? We promise it will be well worth your while~

Mothers' Day Sale on Notions!

Twenty-five percent off any notions bought during this week and/or next, in honor of Mothers' Day!

 Wednesday May 6th through Saturday May16th, all notions will be sold at 75% of their retail value.




Bring your mother in to choose, or suprise her with something you know she would like, or give her a gift certificate that can be used in either of our shops: Quilters' Quarters, or Wooden Toy and Gift.

Let her know that the shop has two working treadle sewing machines, and one or two hand crank Singers as well - she can 'sit 'n sew' a spell, or you can while she shops!

Happy Mothers' Day to all the moms and dad who give so much love and care.

1918 Singer Model 66, Red Eye Treadle

1923 Singer model 128 LaVencedora Handcrank

1925 Singer model 99 Eye with Trapezoids Handcrank

1927 Singer model 66 Red Eye Coffin Top Treadle

At Summer's End

Quilters' Quarters has had a wonderful summer season, with many thanks owed to the Row by Row 2014 quilters who visited us each week.  What a wonderful, kind, patient group of people to invite into one's life! This morning, a quilter brought her finished Row by Row quilt in to Quilters' Quarters, and received her prize of 25 hand-picked fat quarters, and a special prize because her quilt includes our  "Beyond Winter Windows" row!

We will celebrate our First Anniversary in November, on "Small Business Saturday,"  the Saturday after Thanksgiving Day.  That was our "Mini-Grand Opening" day last year, and with a dozen bolts of fabric standing in an old travel trunk, some hand and sewing-machine needles hung sparingly on a peg board, and a basket full of donated fat quarters from the stash of a very good friend, we began our quilt shop adventure.  For the first few weeks it was simply called Terry's Thoughts and Threads Quilt Shop, as my business name was established with the town and the state years ago when I began writing and selling books, and making quilts.

The shop became known as "Quilters' Quarters" once I'd begun writing my new mystery series ... the story of the octogenarian couple, Helen and Henry, and the mysterious things happening to them in this new millennium. It was important to me to have the apostrophe in the right place in the shop's name, so that all Quilters would feel at home in our Quarters. The book title, though, uses the singular form, The Quilter's Quarters, as it is the story of Helen's role in her shop.

She and Henry are there to greet quilters who come to visit. The heat bothers Helen a great deal, and she has shortened her skirts and rolled down her stockings for the duration of summer. Henry is always comfortable in whatever the weather offers, wearing his long-johns and jeans, flannel shirt, white socks and work boots all year long.

There is a second story of Helen and Henry in the works, and it will optimistically be available for our First Anniversary celebration. Winter Wonder in the Quilter's Quarters will pick up where book one ended, with Helen and Henry entering the beautiful winter season with some trepidation due to unexpected events.

Rick and I are looking forward to the cooler weather of Autumn and the return of school children to our neighborhood.  The Little Free Library at the end of our driveway will be replenished with books for children and parents alike, and then the shelves of free books in the Book Nook of Quilters' Quarters will begin to bloom with new additions as well. All are invited to "take a book, share a book." And any donations left in the tin will be brought to the public library's Friends group, to help fund the summer programs and museum passes each year.

The quilt shop is continuing to grow; we love to hear about things quilters are

looking for.  In response to one quilter, we are now stocking Bosal foam stabilizer, which helps those making bags, slippers and such. And we've added that and more to our on-line web store at

 http://www.terrycrawfordpalardy.com/apps/webstore/

that is where you can get my books and now fabrics and kits easily, from the comfort of home ... particularly inviting when winter's icy roads set in. Henry can tell you all about his experience with icy roads in the next story.

We've met more than two hundred new customers this summer, and look forward to seeing them again in the near future.  The organizers of Row by Row 2014 have an announcement ready for release in late September ... something to do with state postcards ... and quilter contacts .... you'll have to stay tuned for more details!

Come visit us and see the new Autumn fabrics we have in stock ... beautiful harvests, and Halloween fabrics, and more birch trees and cardinals to grace your tables. We have a few guests who've come to stay in the shop as well: Scooby-Doo, the Pink Panther, and a herd of nearly invisible unicorns. Snoopy, Linus and even Charlie Brown make an appearance now and then, and Dalmatians, Dogs of all kinds, Butterflies and even Rudoph can be found in various cabinets in the shop.

Be happy in what you choose to do; share your talents with those you love.
~ Terry and Rick


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

In the Heat of the Night

UPDATE 8/16/2004: Our re-order of Row by Row License Plates has arrived, and prepaid orders have been mailed to customers today. There are still plenty more to sell - we look forward to seeing those who wanted to wait until both license plates and kits were both back in stock, and we achieved that today.  Come visit us for your free pattern, and take a look at our new kit fabric, with glow in the dark constellations!

As August continues to bloom in all it's heated beauty, the quilt shop continues to grow in summer fabrics. We've gone to a cool, minimalist window display to get us through the summer while the carpenters are hard at work in the hot attic above us. Martyn Richards and his crew are "sistering" the old beams of the attic of the barn, and a new six over six window will replace the old one to hold securely an air conditioner. The new skylights are already helping to pull the heat up and out of the attic room, and of course, ice cream treats from Jeff and Maria's new Ice Cream Shop on route 97 help, too.

Friends continue to stop in and add to our collection of 'orphan fabrics' and the lending library of quilt books. Here's a simple wooden dimensional picture of a quilt block that resembles something Rick and I plan to add to the front of the barn, brought to us by our artist-friend, Lynne.

Our quilt-artist-friend Ann keeps us well-stocked with quilt quality fat quarters and color family fat-eighth bundles, as shown in the new display case that Lynne also donated to the shop. Often, when quilters come in to pick up their Row by Row free pattern, and maybe a kit and/or a license plate

collectible, I talk with them about the artists who help keep Quilters' Quarters as diverse a quilt shop as it can be.  Many recognize Ann's kaleidoscope purse kits and know her as a teacher of workshops at their quilting guilds throughout the state. It gives all of us a sense of friendship and shared experiences to talk about with each visit.

I've done some shop-hopping myself this summer as part of the Row by Row experience, and as a new quilt shop owner I've learned a lot from the various shops I've visited. And along the way I pickup some beautiful fabrics and cut a few into fat quarter collections for Quilters' Quarters. I'm most often out in the shop during open hours, but sometimes also in the evenings, preparing the next day's

supplies of Row by Row kits.  And when I find a sale and get a lower price, the fabrics in the shop also have a lower price, which helps us keep a good range of prices to please both quilters and crafters alike.

Our kits have a new dark sky background in the Attic Window Pane: the galaxy print by Timeless Treasures was out of stock a month ago, and so I chose another fabric that has the same blend of deep, dark blues; this one, though, has distinct constellations rather than distant galaxies in its focus. You can see it on the top of the Sew a Season stack of fabrics, below:

I've also begun making our kits with a slightly smaller dimension; rather than 3 inch strips, I'm using 2.75 for both the season side panel and the winter tree window sill. This small change allows me to use the other 3/4 of the Sew a Season tree fabric for other season rows, and for 'All Four' season rows.  Recently, a completed quilt was brought to a shop as a winner of the 25 fat quarter prize, and it included our Summer Row, but rather than placing them in a horizontal row, they were used as the four corner blocks. Here's a picture of that quilter and her winning quilt, and another with our row:

Stop in to see us, and take a look at the new fabrics sitting on the floor in a large box, waiting for more cabinet space to be built. All are quilt-quality, ready for your end of summer projects, or back to school outfits, or picnic table toppers.  And remember, if there is something you are looking for that you don't see in our shop, let us know so that we can shop and stock what you want to find at Quilters' Quarters.

This fall, watch for a new set of patterns and kits in our shop; we'll be adding some different media that I think you will be excited to find and use!

Thanks for keeping in touch with our blog - we've had almost 6,000 visitors already. Take a look at the Feedjit post in the right margin to see how far-reaching our followers are!

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

New Purchases Continue to Arrive at Quilters' Quarters

It has been too cold to step out of doors lately, and so I've had a week of small packages of items I've ordered for the shop online. There isn't a lot of room for profit with these purchases, but it is fun seeing what arrives day by day, package by package. Sometimes, I'm lucky and hit a "free shipping" offer at a website. But other times, I pay almost half of the fabric's price in additional shipping.  Such is life~ here's what I've acquired this week, courtesy of the post office delivery:

NEW: 40 pink variety 2.5" quilt fabric strips

NEW:  20 silk skeins hand embroidery thread

NEW: ten batik variety 2.5" strips

NEW: ten quiet purple and blues variety 2.5" strips

NEW: ten flip flop design variety 2.5" strips

NEW: ten bright floral variety 2.5" strips

NEW: six new fat quarters

NEW: 20 batik variety 2.5" strips  

NEW: 100 pre-cut charm pack 5 inch squares

There will be still more deliveries in the next few days~ these are what we are expecting to arrive: military quilt of valor fat quarters, ten-inch 'layer cake' squares of quilt fabric in spring colors, and a charm pack of forty 6" squares of different patterns. We'll post photos when they are in - I promise!

Come on in and see if we have what you're looking for! And if we don't, you know we'll do our best to find it for you! We have another shopping trip to the warehouse planned in a few weeks. 

Remember, if you're reading this in your email, thank you for signing up for these updates.  Please feel free to forward this to your quilting friends, so they can sign up in the right margin to hear about new arrivals: http://atquiltersquarters.blogspot.com/

Be well, be warm, and happy stitching!

~Terry and Rick

 Thank you!

More Threads and a Collection of Thimbles

One of our consignees, Ann, has shared a collection of thimbles that her mother had saved through several decades. Ann thought there might be some quilters who could add some of hers to their treasures.  Come  into the shop to see them.  Here are a few pictures of the fifty thimbles she's placed in Quilters' Quarters:

Fifty sweet thimbles collected over many years.
From the top shelf of specials
to the lower shelf of plain metal thimbles
One of wood, one of fabric, and one of plastic
Each one unique.

Pewter, silver, fabric, ceramic and bone china ...
so many different thimbles!

The top right thimble is marked inside:
Spode Fine Bone China, England
and has gold cherubs painted around the rim. 

 I love the pewter pot thimble, though I haven't a clue how to use it to sew!

The top opens to reveal a dimpled thimble surface.

More enamel embellished, filigree design and hand painted flowers 

I've been able to add some more things to Quilters' Quarters inventory this week by monitoring auctions at eBay.  But I must offer a caution here: I lost a few auctions in the very last seconds because my fingers are not as nimble as others. I had made a higher bid, and for more than a day I had the lead on two lots of embroidery thread. On the first lot to come to its deadline, I was online and watching. Two seconds before the clock stopped, eBay released my hidden maximum bid, in time to let another bidder add one dollar to it. I was not  happy to see it happen that way.  On the second lot, the next morning, it happened again ... my maximum bid, thirty dollars higher than the standing bid, was suddenly released, and before I could hit the bid button, another did, and the bidding ended. I called eBay and asked why, as no other bids had come in, had they released my maximum in time to allow the other bidder to see it and beat it. They said simply 'that is how automatic bidding works.'

Lesson learned ... I was able to buy a few lots and did so, without bidding. Buyer, or bidder, beware; this is not our century!  Here are some photos of what I've added to the shop:

I have 166 bobbins of embroidery floss that come on numbered bobbins, all tightly packed together, and I will sell them separately for 25 to 50 cents each.  Some have had some of their floss removed from the bobbin; hence, the different price ranges. 

I also was able to buy 165 skeins of six-strand DNC embroidery floss, in a range of colors from whites, ecru, beige, pale pinks, reds, all the colors of the rainbow and so on through dark browns, and a single skein of black. And when I took a picture of the reds, yellows and green portion of the color spectrum, without the flash, they seemed, with my tremor, to blend into an image of salsa!  

If you know of someone who is looking for just that particular shade of color in embroidery threads, let them know of Quilters' Quarters and our reasonable prices.  I think these will go for fifty cents a skein. 

Be well, all.  Happy Sewing!

~Terry and Rick

email:

Terry:  needlesandpens@comcast.net          Rick: woodentoyandgift@comcast.net

websites:     www.woodentoyandgift.net             www.terrycrawfordpalardy.com

QuiltShopUpdates: http://atquiltersquarters.blogspot.com

Wooden Toy Updates: http://wtandgnews.blogspot.com