Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Winter in July?

While the cool temperatures of last week mirrored the oddly-warm December we had this past year, they will be spiking more typical highs this week ahead.

To help you feel cooler, we'll be showcasing winter fabrics this month at Quilters' Quarters ... Christmas delights, snowy landscapes, polar bears, deer, bears and more are beautifully illustrated on fabrics from Wilmington Prints, Quilting Treasures, Ink and Arrow and more ... Here are a few to entice shoppers to think of cooler setttings and the warmth quilts will bring to them: Fabric books, panels, blenders and more! The price of each fabric book and winter fabric is  reduced by 10% for the rest of the month of July, 2016!

This new shipment of fabrics is from Wilmington Prints, and Quilting Treasures.

Fabric book


Two beautiful blenders for the fabric book

Advent Calendar with a "Home Sweet Home" view

With a subtle plug for Wooden Toys, of course!
Another fabric book


Full vertical panel of 35" x 44" 

Another fabric book!
Book pages with wonderful messages


Quilting Treasures winter fabric

5" squares and 10" squares from Wilmington Prints

Two more bolts of Ink and Arrow designs ...
some arrows are easy to spot, and some arrows are not!

Can you find the arrow in the trees?

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Happy Independence Day!  

This brief update is to let you know our holiday hours: Surprise!
We are still open from Wednesday through Saturday, 11 am - 7pm.


As always, if we are home on other days and can accomodate your own schedule needs, we will do so - just give us a call to make sure we can. 

In other news:

Quilters' Quarters is happy to announce that our recipient for July's first week of FEEL GOOD SHOPPING will be


"Stitching Your Wishes"

Helping our community one stitch at a time

This is a group of non-profit volunteers who meet at the Stevens Memorial Library in North Andover on the second Saturday of every month. 10:00AM – 3:00PM. (Except for July & Aug.) They knit and crochet preemie hats, baby blankets, baby sweaters, shawls, scarves, hats, mittens, chemo caps, lap robes, etc., and donate these items to local organizations, such as veteran's homes, nursing homes, pregnancy centers, homeless shelters, Hospice House, cancer units and neo-natal units at hospitals, etc.
Mark your calendar and plan your fabric, notion, thread and book shopping for July 6th through 9th and know that 10% of your purchase amount will be donated to "Stitching Your Wishes!"
Quilters' Quarters is featured in our local newspaper this week; you can read the article online at this link: Georgetown Record

We've had a strong beginning for Row by Row™  2016 Adventure, with quilters finding us through the national Row by Row website, and several paperback travel books that now list our shop in Massachusetts. 

Rick and I have begun visiting local libraries to present information on the vintage and antique sewing machines that we've learned about -  we give a talk about the history and creators of these machines, and then speak to the relative ease in maintaining the hundred-plus year old work horses. We bring a treadle maqchines, a few hand cranks and Featherweights and invite the audience to visit the machines hands-on and ask questions or tell stories of their own families' machines. We've spoken to the Hammersmith Quilt Guild in Saugus, and the Georgetown Peabody Library here in town. We're scheduled for an early August presentation sponsored by the Langley-Adams Public Library in Groveland, MA.
If you would like us to visit your quilt guild or library, please contact us via email: needlesandpens@comcast.net, and we'll be happy to schedule with you.

Wishing you each a Happy Independence Day and a happy, healthy holiday weekend!

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Welcome to Row by Row 2016™

Home Sweet Home is the theme this year for the now-global Row by Row summer long shop hop. Quilters' Quarters has chosen a fun row for this year's theme, and titles it "Patch Puppy Paradise."


Click on any photo to make it larger

When Rick was a young child, he had a Dalmatian, and of course named him Spot. So many Dalmatians were named Spot in the fifties, as children learned to read with Dick and Jane, and their dog's name was Spot.

When we decided to buy a puppy for our son, Rob, we found a Dalmatian that seemed to have gone through the spot machine too quickly to be called that. This one was nearly all white, with small black dots here and there, and larger spots on his ears. Rob decided to call him Patch.
Patch, 1993 - 2004
As a firefighters' daughter, wife, and mother, I was very fond of the Dalmatian dogs, though my family had mixed breed puppies when we were growing up. But this year's RxR theme gave me an opportunity to honor those wonderful animals that brightened the childhoods of the men in my life. So I created a comfortable setting with some beautiful fabrics, and built small dog houses for four Dalmatians. I machine-appliqued the houses and dogs to the strip setting, then added some embellishments (visiting puppy pals and birds in trees) before free motion quilting the row.


The kits are package in three color-ways; one has a mix of different colors using 5" squares from Quilting Treasures' charm packs. The other two are of 5" squares cut from Moda's marble swirl fabrics; one of rainbow colors, and one of similar colors but including pink and purple. There is fabric containing four Dalmatians to be fussy-cut included in each kit, as well as the background stips of sky, grass and rock wall.

The kits are being sold in this first week of Row by Row 2016 for the introductory/celebratory price of $10.00. They will be $11.00 for the rest of the summer.

We're also featuring a retro-license plate for this Home Sweet Home theme: Massachusetts had a burgundy colored plate 'back in the day.' Plates have an introductory price of $5.00 this week, which will rise to the regular $6.00 for the rest of the summer. We also have some 2014 (Seasons) and 2015 (Water) license plates left, and will sell those for $5.00 all summer long.

The Pin Peddlars who make and sell high quality metal pins for the Row by Row™ group have sold their business to Missouri Star Quilt Company; Quilters' Quarters has ordered the rectangular shaped pins for 2016, These will be sold, like the license plates, for $5.00 this week, and then for $6.00 through the summer, for as long as they last. We do still have some 2015 pins left (for $5.00 all summer) in case you missed those last year.

We're looking forward to seeing all of our traveling quilters this summer! And we have a bonus to offer you - a $6.00 Humble Beginnings Adventure Pass that will get you double-block fabric kits from six small quilt shops in Massachusetts for the special inaugural shop hop we're holding from September 30 - October 2! That's fabric and patterns for twelve 6" blocks and three days to gather them for one single payment of $6.00! Don't forget to ask for yours at Quilters' Quarters - the first fifty will receive this re-usable, un-losable, un-missable orange tote for the hop!
          



And don't forget - each time you shop with us, your purchase amount is entered on your "Five Box Card" and earns you a store credit of 10% of your totals after your fifth visit. And new bags have been ordered and will be here next week for those who have filled their Five Box Card and are eligible for the special refillable Loyalty Bag ... to be filled on any and every Fifth Friday with as much as will fit, at a 20% discount! And... this July happens to have a Fifth Friday! In fact, this month of July has a fifth Friday, a fifth Saturday, and a fifth Sunday! I think we'll need to do something special with the number Five on that weekend! Stay Tuned for more 'Feel Good Shopping" promotions!

                     
Thank you for your loyalty!

Terry's email: needlesandpens@comcast.net

Terry's webstore: TerryCrawfordPalardy.com 

(Remember, if you see something here at the blog and you don't see it at our webstore, just email me and I'll put it up for on-line sale.)

Rick's website: www.woodentoyandgift.net

Rick's blog: WTandGNews.blogspot.com


And, one more thing: 
Quilters' Quarters is happy to announce that our recipient for July's first week of FEEL GOOD SHOPPING will be
"Stitching Your Wishes"
Helping our community one stitch at a time
This is a group of non-profit volunteers who meet at the Stevens Memorial Library in North Andover on the second Saturday of every month. 10:00AM – 3:00PM. (Except for July & Aug.) They knit and crochet preemie hats, baby blankets, baby sweaters, shawls, scarves, hats, mittens, chemo caps, lap robes, etc., and donate these items to local organizations, such as veteran's homes, nursing homes, pregnancy centers, homeless shelters, Hospice House, cancer units and neo-natal units at hospitals, etc.
Mark your calendar and plan your fabric, notion, thread and book shopping for July 6th through 9th and know that 10% of your purchase amount will be donated to "Stitching Your Wishes!"


Monday, June 13, 2016

Beautiful Panels Make Your Quilts Grow Quickly!

Quilters' Quarters has received beautiful fabrics over the past few weeks. From Wilmington Prints and Quilting Treasures we have panels that are perfect season by season. More batiks have arrived from Mirah. Varied prints and patterns in precuts of 5" charm packs half the size and half the price of others, and packages of 2 1/2" strips also in few numbers and lower prices. Ten inch blender blocks will also speed your projects along and give your stash a boost in color and pattern.

Dolphin Island panel from
Quilting Treasures

Dolphin Island
Blender Fabric


Sand and Sea Panel
from Wilmington Prints

Sand and Sea
Blender Fabrics
and 2 1/2" Strips


Winter Whispers Deer Panel from
Wilmington Prints

10" Blocks of Winter Whispers'
Blender Fabrics


Quilting Treasures' Northern Lights
Polar Bear Panel


Northern Lights Blender Fabric

Patriotic Santa Panel
from Quilting Treasurers'
Peace on Earth

Long May She Wave Panel
from Quilting Treasures

Long May She Wave
Blender Fabric


All of these, and more, are in stock at Quilters' Quarters. We have many more panels, and fabric books, and fat quarter packs, packages of jelly roll strips, and 5" charm packs of 24 rather than 42, saving you money while still offering the variety of colors and patterns. Come visit us soon!

The summer long Row by Row™ international shop hop begins in just a few weeks! And when you're in our shop, I'll invite you to join our Humble Beginnings Adventure 2016, being held at the end of September. 

And don't forget - each time you shop with us, your purchase amount is entered on your "Five Box Card" and earns you a store credit of 10% of your totals after your fifth visit. 

Thank you for your loyalty!
Terry's email: needlesandpens@comcast.net

Terry's webstore: TerryCrawfordPalardy.com (remember, if you see something here at the blog and you don't see it at our webstore, just email me and I'll put it up for on-line sale.)

Rick's website: www.woodentoyandgift.net

Monday, May 30, 2016

In the Very Merry Months of May and June...

Quilters' Quarters saw four times as many customers this May as compared to last May ... I think all the new fabric in stock was sending out telepathic messages to quilters nearby. Thanks to all who visited us. And there are still more shipments ahead!

June begins this week, and we have a new beneficiary of our "Feel Good Shopping" promotion. The Georgetown Historical Society will be re-opening the Brocklebank Museum for their annual Third Grade field trip next week, and that is the inaugural visit for this year's season. To help them raise money for the year's activities, Quilters' Quarters will be donating ten percent of our first week of June's total sales. Come shop with us knowing that your purchases will help both the Historical Society, and you! Our number of "Five Box Cards" is increasing ... we keep them for you so you won't have to remember to bring it when you stop in to shop.


The summer-long Row by Row™ for 2016 begins in three weeks, and Quilters' Quarters is ready.  Kits are being prepared; patterns have been printed. If you visit our Facebook Page for Quilters' Quarters, you'll see our row there. Here's a small peek:


 Rick continues to build more shelves to hold more bolts of fabrics that suit the "Home Sweet Home" theme for this year.



Some of our new fabrics are reminiscent of last year's nautical theme ... this is a 24" x 44" Wilmington Prints panel of quilt-quality cotton, and would make a great beach blanket. We always have coordinating bolts of seashells anad starfish, as well as strips that have smaller images of the same.


We also have a wonderful collection of red, white and blue fabrics, and our fabric contest using these fabrics is up and running - you'll find the details of the contest at this page.  And we've added some new bolts to our red white and blues!

This is still one of my favorites: we've used it on
a few of our Local Heroes' Quilts of Valor.

Our collection of red, white and blue
fabrics continues to grow.
close up of one of the original flags 
on the 24" x 44" panel by Wilmington Prints

The Wilmington Prints panel

Santa panel for patriotic memories, 
also by Wilmington Prints


a patriotic blender bolt of small stars
We're looking forward to seeing you again, and sharing ten percent of your purchase with our Feel Good Shopping beneficiary each month.

Thank you for your loyalty!
Terry's email: needlesandpens@comcast.net

Terry's webstore: TerryCrawfordPalardy.com (remember, if you see something here at the blog and you don't see it at our webstore, just email me and I'll put it up for on-line sale.)

Rick's website: www.woodentoyandgift.net