Sale's over....what fun!

This is a picture of Tracey on the first day of the sale wearing the NEW daisy corsage. Isn't she looking pretty cute there? And there's our Emily behind her working so hard. Emily will just be working one more day - Tea Party this Wednesday, since Jan is flying out of town next week. And so is Tracey! Jan's going to a best friend's daughter's wedding in Mexico and Tracey is going to hot, humid Georgia to help her younger brother celebrate his birthday! And we're hoping Emily gets some time to REST before she has to hit the books again at nursing school in just a few weeks. We are going to miss her soooo much!

Anyway....as you can see by the expression on Tracey's happy face - the sale was LOTS of fun! I took the signs down tonight and will be in tidy up mode for the next few days. And when Tracey and Jan get back, who knows where I might have decided to move all of the fabric to!?! I'll be working quite a few days by myself in August because of the staff's fun vacation plans, so please bear with me if I am a bit slow - ok?

Hope your weekend is going well. What did you think about the rain today? I thought my plants and yard were singing a bit when we got home late tonight! Hope tomorrow is back to sun, though. Lydia and the boys (plus cousin Cody who they are babysitting) will be coming up in the afternoon to see John and I and pop in on my Mom. And I guess Cody's Mom and Dad (our son Dave and his wife Nikki) will come to retrieve him from our place. Can't wait to see all of their happy faces! Outside would be good, cause my middle grandson, Benson, likes to help water my plants!

Also hoping to get to play with my KT project as well as do payroll, pay bills and write an August newsletter. Hope your Sunday is wonderful!

Sizzling Summer Sale - we're ready for you....

Well, this is the way the shop looked from the north door when John came to pick me up tonight after work. We are almost ready for you guys! I just need to change the tapes in the registers, vacuum, put up a few more SALE signs in the windows, clear the counters for some serious fabric cutting, mark down some more patterns, magazines, etc. and then we can open the doors at 10 am tomorrow morning. Quite a few of you were in today "pre-shopping". Jan and Izzie and I moved the clearance to the traditional tables in the class area. We got the "Still Shopping" section ready and moved around some samples. Yup - we're just about ready. Don't forget we are open until 8 pm tomorrow. Come and see Tracey and me after your dinner or work - ok?

Not a lot of freight today - new American Patchwork and Quilting magazine that I didn't even have time to look at - rats! And tomorrow will probably be too busy to do much looking too. Oh well...maybe a Sunday afternoon thing?

Today is my husband's birthday and also, our daughter, Lydia's birthday. John was going to school in upstate New York when I was pregnant with Lydia. I always say that we were too poor to afford much of a birthday gift, so I had Lydia for him! And she is a gift, just like her two brothers born on either side of her. Always feel badly though, when she has to write down "Place of Birth" - Canandaigua, New York. Good thing she's a school teacher/reading specialist so she can remember how to spell it! LOL

Hope your week is going well. I need to hit the hay early tonight to rest up for all the fun of the next three days. Hope to see you soon!

A camping we will go, a camping we.....

Well, summer is definitely here and I know lots of you enjoy camping! Some in tents, others in trailers/campers and some love "hotel camping". We have some pretty cute camping-themed fabrics this year, even mosquitoes! This is a set of placemats Jan put together last week using one of the vintage Michael Miller camping fabrics. Look at that classic Chevy convertible pulling the trailer. Jan loved that the man was doing the cooking while the lady sat comfortably in her chair and she was sure the dog was hoping the fellow would drop that hot dog! Anyway, these are fun placemats for your camper or picnic table, don't you think?

Well, we are gearing up at Fab-Etc for our annual Sizzling Summer Sale - you probably got your postcards at the end of last week - right? I'm getting ready to send an e-mail update to everybody in the next day or so and we're tidying racks and putting some "markdowns" in the back for the sale Thursday-Sunday. I'm almost done sewing the binding on the Fruitcake runner and Emily cut Honeybuns of Halloween fabrics and now it's fallen upon me to make a new Honeybun Basket!

Hope you are enjoying the sunshine today. I read the Sunday paper out on the back "patio" area of our house while I sipped my morning coffee. Now, I'm left with the dilemma of what to cook for dinner, since it's going to be warm and nobody grills at our house! I'm thinking maybe crab/shrimp Louie with some homemade thousand island dressing? Of course, that would necessitate a trip to the grocery store....hmmmm....perhaps more thinking required here. Happy sunny Sunday!

Mr. Cool....

So, Sunday we got in the Mustang with the top down and went to Kenmore to visit with all of our kids and grandsons. What a fun afternoon! Lukas' 9th birthday is tomorrow and he doesn't do well with lots of attention, so we kind of had a non-birthday get together. Lydia made us a wonderful dinner and some yummy cake. Everybody was there. This is a picture of our youngest grandson, Cody who is about 21 months old. They'd "spiked" his hair and he decided to play with Luke and Benson's fun glasses. Grandpa John snapped this pic at just the appropriate moment. What a great time!

Hope your weekend was good as well. I've been fiddling around with some Kansas Troubles fabric and a pattern from the Antique Quilts magazine we have at the shop. Of course, you know how I love KT, so it hasn't been too hard to cut it up and put it back together again. Today, I cut a piece for the back of the Fruitcake runner, but didn't get a chance to layer it up and start quilting yet. Maybe tomorrow?

The last couple of days have been really busy with customers and freight. We got our re-order of battings and then today, we got some New Look patterns and a couple of new groups from South Seas/Wilmington. One is a dramatic eagle panel and the other a stunning sunflower group. And some fun new flannel arrived mostly in dots! Alicia dropped in to sew some more on the Halloween topper she's been making.....she's down to just sewing the center seams together! Then we'll have to take a picture to show it off. Everybody says a big bowl of candy will look great in the middle of it.

Well, I have a couple of notions orders to complete and the laundry is almost ready for the dryer. So, guess that's all from here!

You're gonna like this Fruitcake....

Fruitcake - it can get a pretty bad rap around the holidays! I confess to never having made it and frankly to rarely tasting one I truly liked. But this Fruitcake....you're really going to like it! Fruitcake is a line of fabric from Moda designed by Basic Grey. They were the ones who designed the very popular Figgy Pudding line last year. Hmmm....I'm noticing a food theme going on here. Anyway, this runner pattern was one that I found on the Moda Bake Shop site...only made for a different line of fabric http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/06/lumiere-table-runner.html I had saved it because I liked the design, but couldn't get any of the fabrics. Then one day when I was straightening bolts I wondered how this group would look made up in that pattern. I made a minor change to the pattern (can you spot it?) and the rest is history! Still need to quilt it, but we really like it. We have some of the fabrics by the yard, layer cakes and charm packs.

Today was fun. I saw two sales reps because you know there was great danger that we could run out of fabric soon - NOT! Anyway, I bought some more fabric, just in case. Harriet and Emily have been replenishing the pillowcase kit stock with some fun combos. We got more PUL in today. And yesterday, we got some new books from Martingale/That Patchwork Place. I finished a white shell from a New Look pattern and am ready to try it now in a rayon batik or silk/cotton blend.

Tomorrow promises to be another great day here. The ladies from the Applique Society will be here in the morning. Tracey's meeting a customer who wants some quilting done and Emily and I will be tidying and cutting fabric! I'll try and get a couple of more pictures of some of the new stuff to show you next. Pleasant Friday evening all!

Scrubs....

I never thought about it really until I was sitting down to write this - Why do they call these "scrub" tops? Is that because of the days before antiseptic hand cleaners and the docs and nurses scrubbed their hands all the time? Or "scrubbing" before surgery? Inquiring minds want to know these things! Okay, I digress greatly. This is a picture of the scrub top our Emily made last week using a New Look pattern and one of the Loralie Designs nurse-printed fabrics. As you may know, she is enrolled in the nursing program at a Midwest college. (Her parents and the rest of the Fabettes are VERY proud of her!) Anyway, she cannot wear one of her own tops just yet, but this one is hers to wear after she completes the program. She says it was very easy to make and the directions were excellent. Know anyone in a profession that requires a scrub top? This can be a great way to wear something fun to work!

Well, things are going just dandy around here at Fab-Etc. Last night Tracey led the KT Klub. We have a lot of fun with Kansas Troubles fabrics and she is designing a great sampler quilt that we are working on a few blocks at a time. Earlier in the day, Diane had another session with her Back on the Farm group. They are "building" the McKenna Ryan blocks and Diane is truly the master at this technique.

Today? Well, Jan and I will be playing with fabric. I got the runner top done with the Fruitcake Christmas line - now I can take the picture and show you! Imagine we'll find a few new projects to start on and tempt you with. The sun is shining, my planters are finally starting to bloom after my late start on them and I get to be around fabric and fabric lovers all day....what could be better? Hope your day is equally enjoyable!

"Little Wallet" plus....

Valori Wells of The Stitchin' Post/Jean Wells' daughter fame designed this really cute pattern that we've sold for a long time. Well....as you may remember, last month's Fantastic Find was Texture Magic (or as our Jan likes to call it, that shrinky dinky stuff!) Before Shop Hop she made some great samples using the Little Wallet pattern and Texture Magic. We had kits made up, but the patterns we ordered were accidentally sent to the wrong store, so we ran out of them. The patterns are back and so are the kits! So, if you missed trying out Texture Magic last month, we have these great kits for only $8.95 that includes the pattern, Texture Magic and everything down to the snap needed to make one of the Little Wallets. Take a look at them the next time you are in.

Well, the HOT weather seems to be just a memory for now. Hope you enjoyed/survived it! We managed to keep pretty busy at the shop this week. I am fiddling around with a few things Christmas right now, plus a top from a New Look pattern. I need to finish something soon, though, before the staff gets on my case (in a very nice way) about starting too many things! I'll have to put up a picture of one project that I am really enjoying. It's from a contemporary Christmas group by the same designer, Basic Grey, that had the Figgy Pudding line out last year. This one is called Fruitcake - what's not to like about fruitcake?!? I am going to get our Emily to help me Monday with the "scrappy" aspect of the project, and then it's just whip it together - right?

We did get some freight in the last few days. A few new Halloween prints - not sure what I was thinking, but we seem to have an abundance of cute prints this year. Maybe that's what I was thinking - cute prints! Some new flannel came in and a great bold floral, plus some fall leaves and the batik row is full again - whew!

Well, around here, my husband enjoyed a week off in the nice weather, and I took some extra time to hang out with him. We messed around in the yard and got things looking better and he's been tackling the garage the last day or two while I've been working at the shop. Tomorrow's tidy up and take it easy day around here....hope you enjoy your Sunday!

It's a wall....

It's a wall in my basement sewing area that recently became "available" when we moved the treadmill upstairs, thinking we'd use it more up there. (That's another story for another time!) I mentioned in my last post that John has vacation time this week. So, today we went out to breakfast and went to Home Depot and got some 1/2" foam insulation sheets. My dear husband put it up on the wall using screws and large washers to keep it from "denting" in. I brought home some cotton batting that we put over it and voila - design wall! I still need to bring home some t-pins to secure the batting to the edges better, but it's up and these are my latest couple of projects that I can see and play with. The beauty of the foam insulation is that it's inexpensive (around $10 for a 4' x 8' sheet) and you can pin into it. The one we built at the shop nearly 5 years ago is still going strong! So....I am happy, happy, happy!

We had just a wonderful day today. Bought a few plants for my pots. Then, went down to Boulevard Park and walked the dock into Fairhaven and had halibut and chips at the bus! I LOVE halibut and chips....we split an order and it was soooo good!

I went over to the shop around 4:00 to help close. Jan and Alicia were having lots of fun sewing on holiday table toppers when I got there. We cleaned up and then finished setting the table for our Tea Party tomorrow.

Well, it's time for bed....what a full day! And lots more fun tomorrow at Tea - Jan's scones are the best! The weather person says HOT for the next few days. Please remember, you are always welcome to come and "hang out" with us in our air conditioned store. Bring something to sew, a book to read, some knitting, or "whatever". If your house is unbearably hot, please take advantage of our offer - we always love to have company!

Don't leave home without it....

Remember that old commercial about "Don't leave home without it!"? Well. for the serious quilter who loves to see everything "out there", this is the don't leave home without it guide to LOADS of shops across the United States and Canada. I think I may have mentioned once that we had gotten the latest copy (came out a month or so ago). but that was before many of you were headed out the door for a summer trip. Anyway, we have a few copies at the shop if you'd like to pack one in the car.

I admit to being a bit disappointed when I woke up this morning. Somehow, I had hoped the weather person was wrong about the clouds and cool. Oh well....I know it's supposed to warm up later in the week, but I have Sunday, Monday (remember, the shop is closed Monday the 5th), most of Tuesday off! Okay, enough boo-hooing!! We have a quiet day planned. Kids all scattered about the state enjoying the Independence Day holiday, so since the weather was cool, I put a pot roast in the oven. (That doesn't sound right, does it? Should be burgers on the grill!) Anyway, we'll take some leftovers to my mom who's not feeling so hot today and just putz around doing little projects.

I started "playing" with a Sandy Gervais pattern that goes with her "Adoring" line of fabric. It's done with honeybun strips and turns out to be a small topper or hanging. John doesn't know it yet, and since he doesn't follow my blog much, I'm safe to tell you that I'm going to hit him up this week (he's on vacation) to make me a small design wall in my basement sew room. Yippee! I'll take a picture when it's done with the Adoring "Calico Christmas" project on it - ok?

Well, I hope you all have a glorious day today, whatever you are doing. From our house, we can see parts of the Bellingham fireworks, so I may venture out on the front lawn tonight. Happy Independence Day all!

60 degree fun....

This is a picture of some holiday fun that Jan has been having using a few of the great stripes we've gotten. she's been making 60 degree runners and centerpieces using the 60 degree ruler. She doesn't know it, but we got another GREAT stripe today that's a Christmas fabric. My goal in the next few weeks is to get a class schedule going for the early fall into the holiday season. I'm pretty sure I can convince her to teach at least on 60 Degree Runner class in September. They are so quick and fun to make for holidays and gifts.

Today was pretty busy at Fab-Etc. We got some fabric both today and yesterday. How about crabs, "Seattle" fabric, hair dresser fabric, cheerleaders, Asian, Christmas, Halloween, eagles, and a few others that escape me at the moment. Quite a few shoppers in to get what they need for the holiday weekend. I'm busy trying to reorder what the Hoppers bought us out of!

Tomorrow should be another fabulous day. Tracey is meeting a beginning quilting customer at the shop to talk about longarming one of her first quilts. Remember your first quilt? It's so exciting to get to the stage where you start to see what it's going to look like completed! So much fun!!! I am on a cleaning mission...but moving slowly. Saturday is usually paperwork filing day, so I am hoping to catch a glimpse of the top of my desk. And I NEED to get that July newsletter done for all to see.

Hope your Independence Day weekend is wonderful!