91 Mile Yard Sale in 12 hours....

Sorry....been battling the cold my dear husband "shared" with me this week. I meant to take a picture of some of the "stuff" we've gotten ready for the 91 Mile Yard Sale tomorrow, but somehow, time got away from me. It all takes place in just over twelve hours from now. It's 91 Miles from Bothell to Lynden and there are 15 shops in the Tri-County Quilt Merchants Association taking part in the Sale Friday and Saturday, October 1-2.

We've got some GREAT bargains at our shop, as do all of the other 14 stores. At Fab-Etc we are selling our black/white and red/white section at 20% off for the two days. Beyond that, we have a huge table of fabrics marked down to $3.99 and $4.99/yard, plus lots of new 6 yard "Back for the Future" cuts for $24.95. There are also marked down magazines, patterns, and just lots of great clearance items, plus a "free" table - what yard sale isn't complete without one!?!

We are open from 9:30-6:00 both days. Hope you can make it.....you can get a map from participating stores or visit www.quilttour.com for directions.

Oh.....and for each $20 you spend at a shop, you can enter your name in a drawing. We'll be choosing one winner from each shop and then the grand prize winner will get a $25 gift certificate from EACH shop - over $375 in gift certificates - WOW!!!

Quilt Show Preview....

Well....I spent the afternoon with Alicia setting up our booth at the Moonlight Quilt Show! My wonderful husband came and loaded up all of our goodies and brought them to the show and then set up the booth for us. Then it was Alicia and my turn to transform all of those boxes and blank muslin walls into something that would excite all of you show goers! Alicia is just fantastic with color and layout and helped me make it look great THANK YOU, ALICIA!

So, before I left, I took these pictures. I didn't have time to look at the quilts...too busy setting up. But Donna took me up to the balcony and let me take this shot. That's Carrie (of "Baby Babushka" pattern fame) who was one of the many people helping out. And you can't see too well, but in the back corner is Dave McCallum from Featherweight Rx.

And look at this picture of the Tea Room. It doesn't do it justice. Rose and her helpers (including our Jan) turned this spot into a little heaven on earth! I saw just a few plates of the goodies - you

really need to visit the Tea Room when you're at the show.

Okay, I can hear you asking - where, when, how much? The show is at the New Horizon Church at the corner of Horton and Guide Meridian. Just about a half mile north of Costco on the east side of the road. Hours are Friday from 9-7 and Saturday from 9-5. Cost is $3. When you come, be sure to stop and say hi and pick up a coupon good at the shop until the end of the month for 25% off one cut of fabric - ok?

Well, I have a few last minute things still left to do, so that's all folks! Hope to see you at the show.

We've got class....

We've got some great classes scheduled in the near future! So, I thought I would start putting pictures up of some of them for you to take a look at. This is a class called "Black Eyed Susans". Each of these are the same basic pattern, but done with a "twist". Suz designed the pattern and is ready to show you how to do this fun and simple applique technique. The class is scheduled for Saturday, October 9th. We have the quilt pictured at the right at the shop if you'd like to come and take a look at it....it's even prettier in person! Our Tracey of Sew What did the quilting and it really just comes to life! Suz is an excellent instructor with lots of great information. Why not grab a couple of friends and have a fun day?

Well....things are hopping around Fab-Etc this week. We are feverishly getting ready to put up our booth at the Moonlight Quilt Show this Friday and Saturday. We have kits we've made up for some of our models. We'll have our "usual" 1/2 yard cuts at a great price and just some other fun stuff to see. The folks at Moonlight always put on a spectacular show - they even have a Tea Room where you can sit and rest a spell and enjoy some treats along with your cup of tea! Be sure to say hi at the booth and pick up a coupon good at the shop. The show is at New Horizon church on the corner of Guide Meridian and Horton (about 1/2 mile north of Costco on the east side of the road.)

Okay...I'll put up some more pictures this week of our class samples - wait until you see the Spiral Runner....I guarantee you are going to like it. Still working on the binding for the blue/white quilt, so best do a bit more - you may see me stitching on it at the show! Night all.

Got fabric....

This is a picture of the new fabric we got late last week. On the right is a cloth book. I think it's about transportation and it came with a couple of coordinates. In the middle is one of about 7 bolts of ombre fabrics that came from Clothworks. It came with a pattern using a 45 degree angle ruler to make really interesting blocks. When life slows down for a minute maybe I'll get to try it out? On the far left is one of about 10 bolts of new batiks. Quite a few of them were lighter ones - you know how hard those can be to find! Actually those are only a few of the new fabrics that came last week! Our UPS and FedEx guys were keeping us hopping.

Hope your Sunday has been pleasant. As some of you already know, I am in the middle of sending out an e-mail update. Then, I am going to go sit in my chair with the beautiful blue and white quilt that Nikki from The Country Quilter just finished quilting for us and sew binding like I didn't have a care in the world!! Doesn't that sound like a great way to finish the weekend? More fun stuff soon, but for now - that's all, folks!

I'm back.....

Sorry it's been over a week since I posted. Things have been pretty crazy! As you may remember, Mom's condo sold in less than a week and we had very little time to get everything out of it. Our Tracey, aka the Vice President of Bekins Bellingham Transfer, was hired for THE MOVE last Friday. Bellingham Transfer was wonderful and her guys, Dan and Riz, were just great and had the job done by early afternoon! John and I spent most of his vacation boxing things at the condo and getting stuff ready over here to receive a houseful of "stuff". But it's done....our house pretty much looked like a furniture store explosion for a few days, but now it's at least gotten a bit better. Garage is half full and we have to park one vehicle outside, breaking the rules of never having so much stuff in the garage we couldn't park there! (But we both agreed that these are exceptional circumstances.) Kids are coming next weekend to get quite a few things of their Grandma's and it will get better, I am convinced. This is a picture of the roll top desk my Dad refinished many years ago that I am now typing this from - you should see all of the little compartments I can put things in! WOW! I love it and it's pretty special to have something he did and that Mom used for so many years. It's going to take some time to assimilate everything and go through all of the boxes, but the job is done. Just a 9:00 appt. at the bank Monday morning and the title company Tuesday.

The other picture here is of what I've been able to sew on the last two Saturdays at the shop (my sewing room at home is also full of "stuff"). Isn't it great? It's a jungle print from Hoffman. I pieced the blocks last Saturday, Diane helped me cut the giraffe rectangles last Monday and I just got the rows sewn together today. Hoping to work on the circles tomorrow in between laundry, groceries and trying to get an e-mail update ready to send! We cut a few kits and hope to do a few more before the Moonlight Quilt Show Friday and Saturday ( you really should come!)

Okay...it's getting very late and I am getting blurry-eyed. Good night, with more to come tomorrow!

Do you EQ.....

Last Saturday was our first EQ class of the season. Jan came early so I could sit in on the class - it was fabulous. Velina is such a good teacher....I think I may actually get to learn EQ7 and be able to use it for shop samples - woohoo!! This is not a good picture - sorry, Pattie - I forgot to get a picture while this quilt was hanging in the shop. Pattie Long won the $100 gift certificate in the Virtual to Reality EQ Challenge with this quilt. She totally designed the quilt using EQ software and even the motifs she used to quilt it. Congratulations, Pattie!

Yesterday was Tuesday - right? These weeks that aren't "normal" throw me off quickly - not a hard thing to do for me anyway! Jan worked yesterday and she managed to get the borders on that gorgeous blue/white quilt Team Fab-Etc has been working on. It turned out fabulous, if we do say so ourselves!! Last night I sewed the back together and today we'll cut a batt and call Nikki from The Country Quilter to have her quilt it. Hoping to have it "kitted" by the end of the week and ready to show off at the Moonlight Quilt Show Sept 24-25.

Other than that, we had lots of fun customers yesterday doing fun projects. We got some "basics" to restock our notion wall, including some Mettler variegated thread that I finally found for my emptying rack - hooray! (It truly bugs me to have empty slots in the thread racks. I just know it could be THE color you need for your project and I'm out of it.)

Today? I'm headed to the shop soon to set things up. Then Jan and Linda will be there for most of the day. We'll be starting to cut some fabrics to take to the quilt show, doing some tidying and maybe Jan can cut a 60 degree runner using the new Tea Party fabric? We'll be scheduling a class for the 60 degree runners in October - you might watch for that. Okay....I've bent your ear long enough. Have a super Wednesday!

An apple a day....

Okay, let's start off Labor Day by making your mouth water! Linda brought this apple crisp to our tea party last Wednesday and as I said the other day, I overheard one gal say it was the best apple crisp she's ever had!! So, as promised, this is the recipe. I'll get our webmaster, aka my husband, John, to add it to the website when he gets a chance - ok?

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Linda’s Tea Party Apple Crisp

3 cups sliced apples

1 cup sugar
1 egg
¼ t. salt

¾ cup flour
½ t. cinnamon
¼ cup butter

½ cup brown sugar

1. In a bowl, whisk egg until light.
2. Add sliced apples, sugar and salt. Turn into an 8” x 8” buttered baking dish.
3. Mix remaining ingredients together with a pastry blender until crumb like.
4. Sprinkle over apple mixture.
5. Bake at 350º for approximately 45 minutes.
6. Serve warm with whip cream or ice cream – yum!

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With the real estate market "iffy" we listed my mom's condo, thinking that we'd have at least 6 weeks or so after it sold to get it ready for someone to move into. Well.....it sold right away and it's set to close in less than three weeks - yikes! So, we're working on going through things and getting ready to move or store them until as a family, we can assimilate them. I'm sure many of you have gone through similar times of sorting through loved one's possessions. So, I don't need to tell you it's been an emotional few days so far with more to come, no doubt. My mom was a pretty special lady to all of us. And just like her, she's got everything so neat and tidy, that this task is not burdensome. It gives me a high standard to live up to for my own kids. I promise, I'll try Pete, Lydia and Dave - except for the fabric....I may not be able to keep that as tidy!!

Not sure what you're doing today, but hoping you'll have a great day.

Laboring....

So, tomorrow is Labor Day.

I guess Labor Day was first celebrated and made a national holiday to pay tribute to labor organizations? Now, it seems to mark the end of summer, back to school and in Western Washington, usually cool and sometimes damp weather! Whatever the original intent, we are celebrating Labor Day at Fab-Etc by taking a rest from our labor. While it's true that working with fabric every day is truly a "labor of love", I guess it's still good to take a break - right? (Not that I may not play around a little bit with some projects I have at home involving fabric.) Hope you all have a wonderful day of rest both today and Monday.

Bitty Bunny....

"Bitty Bunny" is a Bunny Hill Designs pattern for a pincushion. Our customer, Katherine, made Bitty Bunny out of some of the 10" wool squares we have for sale. She changed his thimble pincushion to a carrot she designed. Isn't he adorable? She did just a fabulous job and really, he looks a lot better than the one in the picture on the pattern!! Filled with our crushed glass, he stays put better than most rabbits out there. He's on loan to us for a little while, so he's sitting at the counter watching the fabric world turn! Take a peek at him the next time you are in - ok?

Well, the Tea Party today was fun, as usual. Be watching the website for Linda's recipe for the fabulous apple crisp she brought today. I overheard one of our guests comment that it was the best apple crisp she's ever had! It truly was yummy.

We've gotten some new fabric, including a Tea Party line from Diane Knott - how fitting!! We had to reorder some of the Halloween candy fabric, too. And remember the Hungarian Blue group. Well, Team Fab-Etc (mostly Jan) has the inside all done and we just need to put the borders on, have it quilted and make up some kits! Oh...I did get the buttons and buttonholes done on the little brown jacket Harriet made - woohoo! It's really cute. I'm working on a redwork pattern that Alex Anderson designed - we have great red and white fabric, you know. Only problem is, I keep making silly mistakes from not reading the pattern carefully.....rats! This Saturday is the beginning of the EQ7 classes again and I am hoping to be able to sit in on one of the sessions. Think there's still room in one of the sessions if you are interested.

Well, I still need to get a newsletter for September done, my dishes are in the sink from dinner and there's a load of clothes in the washer. And I might try and work on the redwork cherries now that I have them oriented correctly! Have a lovely evening all.