End of month.....

The end of the month is always such a busy time for me! And of course January 31st is that "taxing" deadline time too. But....I am happy to report that all of my tax deadlines have been met; February bills paid; January payroll done; February newsletter and calendar done; flash drives ready for pick up; Shop Hop fabric order done; Paris in the Fall BOM first kit ready; and my Cool Tool all ready to put on the counter tomorrow! Whew. Still lots more deadlines to meet in the next few weeks, but at least those things are behind me now. I really want to "play" with a few things, but duty calls, so it's on with the birdhouse blocks for the Tri-County Quilt Tour in March. (Maybe I can sneak a little playing in if I'm good?)

This is a picture of Tracey's KT Klub sampler quilt that we worked on last year. She's letting us hang it for a while. I told her it would look great on my bed, but I don't think she heard me =) You'll have to take a look at it if you're in. She spent a whole week quilting it on her longarm and it definitely shows! This year's Klub starts next week and we're working from the Civil War Sewing Circle book. Members get a 30% discount on the book and 10% off all KT fabric for the year. Think there are just one or two spots open now. Meets every other month either 2nd Friday morning or Wednesday evening. It's LOTS of fun!

Diane and I got the BOM kits ready today and put some notions away. Tomorrow, I have a sales rep coming in the afternoon to show me Christmas fabric (no comment) and then we'll be setting up for our Tea Party on Wednesday. Jan and I worked on a tablerunner that was the EQ lesson last time and I almost have the binding on it. Velina is going to be proud of us! Picture soon!

Got to run....laundry needs its dryer. Have a super week!

Fun, fun, fun.....

We have really been having a fun week here at Fab-Etc! We've started getting things back in as good of order as they ever are around here. Diane had another Hunter's Star Workshop on Tuesday - everybody's blocks were wonderful! Jan and I played with a pattern that we did at the last EQ class and made it up into a tablerunner with our "Hugs and Kisses" fabric. I finished the borders last night and Tracey just picked it up on her way home and is going to quilt it for us! I had a picture, but decided to wait until it's quilted. Today, I had a sales rep come and show me some fabric....there is an outside chance we could run out, you know, and that just wouldn't do!! Izzie worked on rolling those Fat Tuesday fat quarters for March 8th (Mardi Gras * Fat Tuesday * 20 FQ's for $20 * 6 am to 6 pm). I know she'll be glad when we have those 33+ boxes all done! Harriet and I worked on some of the new fabrics, finding homes, getting them ready to scan, etc.

I put a picture of the Accuquilt Studio up here. Saturday, Tracey is filling in for Jan while she goes to a baby shower for her soon to be born first grandson. Sew....Tracey and I thought we should "play" with the Studio and get some samples all ready to show you of just what it will do. If you're interested, maybe stop by in the early afternoon and we could show you how she works. Hmmmmm.......maybe we should name her? or him? Any ideas out there?

Tomorrow - Linda and I will be trying to get things ready for the large 4-H group that meets in the afternoon and getting things squared away on the sales floor. Hope your week has been a good one!

The Monday after....

Okay....today was the Monday after the Anniversary Sale. Know what that means? Means Diane and I had a bit of a mess to clean up today! Alicia happened to pop in and get some fabric for the Hunter's Star Workshop tomorrow, so she lent a hand in helping us move and arrange the Clearance section back on the other side of the store. But by the end of the day, things were looking not so bad. Diane, bless her heart, took all of those fat quarters that had piled up under the counter and rolled, and rolled and rolled. Then, she started going through the bins and getting them back into order. Hallelujah!

This is a picture of our black and white log cabin quilt. We found some "leftover" black and white prints from it and used the Accuquilt Studio to cut strips and make some kits. A few were sold during the sale, but we do have a couple left, if you are interested!

A few new fabrics came in, but I didn't get a chance to get them all checked in and out on the floor yet. There's three bolts of a really cute baby boy-type group, a bright kids group from Clothworks called "Beetle Boy" and "Habitat" from Benartex in wonderful colors. Not sure, but the plan tomorrow is to try and find homes for them while the Hunter's Star Workshop is going on.

Hope your evening is good. I just made a new cover for my Mom's old ironing board so we could have it set up tomorrow for the class. Was going to try to do some laundry, but I may just call it quits for the evening and do a few "bookwork" things and then head for my pillow! How about you?

Anniversary Sale 2011....

Anniversary Sale 2011 is but a fond memory. I had wanted to blog this last night, but I have this thing about using a picture each time. However, I forgot to take any pictures, so I looked for a cartoon picture of someone with their feet on a footstool....not to be found. So, today I remembered to get a quick picture in between some of the busy moments. Yes, we were having lots of fun! There were prize winners every time a star popped up on a receipt and a good time was being had by all. And the sun even came out for a while and we were graced with a dry day - hooray! And now the lights are off and most of the signs have been taken down. It will take Diane and I a bit of time Monday morning to drag Clearance back to the other side of the room again and get our class area put back together. And now, I need to go and find that footstool and put my feet up - okay? Thanks to everyone for making our Anniversary Sale a wonderful three day party!

"Poor reputation".....

"Poor reputation".....that's what nearly all of the e-mails I just sent to anyone with a shaw.ca e-mail provider came back with! SPAM is what the old Verizon addresses are calling me. I am trying not to have my feelings hurt over this current rejection! So.....hopefully some of the couple hundred of you who were to have gotten this e-mail yesterday and today are checking out our blog 'cause here is what I tried to send you before I was so rudely labeled as SPAM and someone with a poor reputation....of course, I guess Spam does have kind of a poor reputaion! :=)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US......
HAPPY SAVINGS FOR YOU!

Did you get your postcard yet? Fabric-Etc is having its...

Anniversary Sale
Thursday, January 20th thru Saturday, January 22nd!

Plus. we're open until 8:00 on Thursday the 20th (regular hours of 10-6 Friday and Saturday).
This is always the biggest sale of the year - the only time we put EVERYTHING on sale. Yup....

EVERYTHING 25% off

That means fabric, notions, batting, books, patterns, etc. The only exclusions are class fees, gift certificates, special orders and sale items. Plus, we've marked down lots of other fabrics to $3.99 and $4.99/yard. And there are patterns, books, samples, remnants at fantastic prices!
Hope you can make it!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Now, for "the rest of the story".....

JANUARY'S "COOL TOOL"
This year we'll be featuring a "cool tool" every month! My husband is famous for saying that having the right tool makes all the difference in completing the task. Sew, we thought we'd help you fill your toolbox with some awesome ones this year at great prices. Our first is the Rapid Fire Hunter's Star Ruler. You're right, that's a mouthful! You may have seen some of the samples we have around the shop. This ruler really is cool! It helps you make the stunning Hunter’s Star quilt without any “Y” seams. We’re having another workshop on Jan 25th if you're interested. Ruler comes in two sizes….regular price is $24.95, but Cool Tool price is just $16.95!

SEW EXPO TICKETS AND FLYERS
They're here! Sew Expo in Puyallup is March 3-6. Flyers came at the beginning of the month and the tickets arrived Saturday. Buying your ticket in advance is $10 ($12 at the door) and we'll try and have tickets available through the event. This is one of the biggest sewing expos in the country!

ACCUQUILT STUDIO RENTAL
Last month we took the plunge and bought an Accuquilt Studio die cutting machine. What is it? Well, it's a machine that uses dies with special steel blades that will cut up to ten layers of fabric! And the beauty of it is that they're super accurate. We've been "playing" with it and it's really great to get such accurate cuts and be able to cut that much fabric in so little time! We've just announced that we'll be renting the machine for you to bring in your own fabric and cut. We have a number of dies available right now, with more to come. Cost will be $10 for two hours and $5 for each additional hour. There's a "fact sheet" available at the shop if you're interested.

CLASSES AND "STUFF"
We have a limited offering of classes right now. As mentioned above, Diane is holding another Hunter's Star Workshop Tuesday, January 25th. Betsy had her first Baltimore Halloween class Saturday, but if you'd like to join in, there are a couple of spots open and you can easily catch up! There are also just a few openings in our 2011 KT Klub. There are two sessions - Wednesday night or Friday morning. The Klub meets every other month and Tracey has us working from the Civil War Sewing Circle book this year. Our first Saturday of the month EQ classes are very popular and Velina explores a new aspect of the program each month. There are also a couple of spots open in the Spicy Spiral Runner class at the end of February. We're hoping to add some other classes, so watch the website for updates!

NEW BLOCK OF THE MONTH!
Beginning the first of February, we'll be starting a new BOM program - "Paris in the Fall" - made using Moda's French General "Maison de Garance". This is a gorgeous fabric line! I put a picture of the work in progress on my blog the other night, so you might check it out www.fabric-etc.com/blog.htm This will be a seven month program. There are six blocks in the quilt (two blocks are made from each pattern). Cost will be $20/month with a $20 start-up fee (applied to last month). Participation is limited, since fabric is no longer available.

FAT TUESDAY - MARCH 8th
Mark your calendars. Tuesday, March 8th is Mardi Gras, and around here Fat Tuesday means from 6am to 6pm we sell 20 fat quarters for $20.

NEW "STUFF"
Can you say "batiks"? We have LOTS of new batiks! What else? Well, here are the highlights. Daily Special is a very fun kitchen print that includes an apron panel. There are some new wools in a heavier weight. Knit prints - we have lots! Ty Pennington of Home Makeover fame has a great new home dec weight line out in greens and grays - gorgeous! Lots of you liked the SoftFuse fusible web, but wanted it in more than just sheets - we have it by the yard now. We get many requests for native American prints, so we brought back a group we previously had. We also have requests for dinosaurs - three prints are available right now. And we have princesses, knitting sheep and some martini prints. How many of us love Dr Suess? We have some of the new fabrics! There's a fun new camping line "Are We There Yet" that's been flying off the shelf. We've made a few kits of a dramatic black and white and red log cabin quilt we have on the wall. And speaking of kits...our current pillowcase kits are GREAT! The newest Mary Jane's Farm magazine is here. Our bookshelf overfloweth, too. There are new Valentine novelty buttons. We have quite a few new flannels. Diane has been playing with some new patterns by The Wooden Bear that are monthly seasonal projects - VERY cute! Lots more has come in, but enough for now!

CAROL'S COMMENTS
So, sew....a new year! Always feels kind of like a clean slate, doesn't it? I'm not much for New Year's resolutions - are you? Although, this year, there's a world-wide cotton shortage. Both China and Pakistan had major flooding in 2010 and there were droughts in India, both of which were unexpected. Also, the U.S. and Russia both under planted their cotton crops. Sew...what does that have to do with New Year's resolutions? Every time a sales rep comes to see me, it seems the prices have risen. Last time I ordered cotton thread, the price had gone up! We try hard here at Fab-Etc to keep our prices "reasonable" and I think you probably are aware of that. We only have one or two bolts of quilting cottons that are over $10/yard right now. Sew.....my resolution is to try and keep buying the fabrics I hope you'll like and keep it at a price you'll like too. Could be we'll all be building more quilts and projects from our "stash", but we here at Fab-Etc resolve to do our best to have that one more thing you need to "make it all work". We so appreciate your continued support. And for that, I am, as always....

Sew thankful -

Carol
Fabric-Etc
1633 Birchwood Ave.
Bellingham, WA 98225
360-671-5277
www.fabric-etc.com
www.fabric-etc.com/blog.htm

"Paris In The Fall".....

Last night I mentioned that I needed to take a picture of what I've been working on for the last month. Well, here it is....you'll have to look over my treadmill to see it, though! Today, I didn't use the treadmill, but I did get as far as I could on the rows of blocks and sashing. (Remember - I don't have the directions for Block #3.) There are 12 blocks in this project, but you make two of each one....hence the two "white spots" in my quilt! As you can see, there's also a really cool inner border of points that I've started at the top. The fabrics for this quilt are just gorgeous. Sure hope the directions for Block #3 arrive this week! Regardless of whether I get this totally done, we'll be starting the seven month series in February. That will include the six blocks and the seventh will be the sashing and borders. Cost will be $20/month with a $20 non-refundable start up fee which applies to the last month. (Cost will be $25 for anyone wanting us to ship.) My plan is to get a little more done on the outer border and then put it up on the design wall at Fab-Etc Wednesday so you can see it in person. We only have a limited number of spots available for this, as the fabrics are no longer available.

Hope your Sunday was good. Too bad about those Seahawks. And around here, we just now discovered we have a "water issue" under the house we thought we had previously remedied. But at least I got to play with some fabric while I was doing my laundry. Hoping you all have a super week!

No tricks....just treats....

Today, there were no tricks....just treats! The treat was the first class for the Baltimore Halloween quilt. Betsy and her students had a great time sewing and playing with the first couple of blocks. Many of you expressed an interest in this quilt and I wanted you to know that there's room for one or two more students and the first blocks were pretty easy. So....you could easily "catch up" if you wanted to join in the fun. The class will be meeting on the second Saturday of the month through September. Today's students were so thrilled to have a class to do this....they all said that way, they'd really get the project done!

Today we had a lot going on! The Applique Society met first thing this morning and then the Baltimore Halloween class. Linda and I kept busy waiting on customers and working some more on the job Harriet and I started yesterday - trying to get the fabrics off the floor and into a "home" in the racks. We got a bit closer, but Diane may have to help me finish up on Monday!

I'm pretty excited about my BOM project. I'm just about ready to show you a picture! I have the first row with the sashing put together and am working on the others. The fly in the ointment is that the patterns arrived with a glitch! The pattern for Block #3 was the wrong directions.....so, I am waiting for the correct ones to arrive. In the meantime I have all the other blocks done and the pieced sashing mostly together. I want you to know that I did this myself. I have some real "quilt experts" that work at the shop, but I do not consider myself to be one of them. So....if I can do this.....you could too! Okay, I HAVE to take a picture tomorrow and put up a small sample of how cool this quilt is!

Well, it's late and I need to find my pillow. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Go team.....

So....this is Seahawk Sunday - right? It's do or die for the Seattle football team as they play the Chicago Bears this Sunday in a playoff game. Sew....how fun would this be on your table Sunday to put the chips and dip, etc on? It's one of Jan's famous 60 degree runners made out of a great football stripe! The fabric came in Wednesday and she just sat right down and whipped this up. There's another one too that says "Celebrate" with balloons, etc on it. She even made that one too! Well, that's my "show and tell" for today. Listen....even if the Hawks don't make it, you could still use it for a Super Bowl party too.

Today was great. Harriet and I moved a few things around and tidied up some loose ends. I finally got a handle on my zig zag quilt and have all of the rows sewn together one way and am starting to sew them together the other way! It's going to be pretty darn cute and working with the fun, springy fabric colors has been nice. Got a bit of freight - notions, and a few pieces of fabric.

Tomorrow is 4-H and they've been having a really full house, so Harriet and I will be clearing the decks for that in the afternoon. Otherwise, it's continue the tidy up thing and start getting the bolts lined up for our block of the month in February.

Hope you are having a great evening. I'm headed for my sewing area to play some more with the sashing on the BOM quilt.....who knows, a miracle could happen and I might get it done by February after all!!

Brrrr......

Okay....it's been downright cold lately. And now, more snow? None falling yet at our house - how about yours? Kind of wish it would have snowed while it was still a little light, so we could see it. Anyway, the cold weather reminded me that I don't think I ever put up this picture of the darling fur coat and muff that Harriet made for one of her granddaughters. (Actually, I think she made two of them before the holidays!) How adorable is it? She says it went together just ever so easily. And it would be toasty to wear right about now, too! And guess what? Looks like we're going to welcome a granddaughter in May and Harriet has "willed" the coat like this she made a few years ago to the newest member of the Stewart clan! Isn't she just the best friend ever!?! We do have a couple of these patterns left (it's discontinued from Kwik Sew) and of course, more of the fabulous white fur!

Well, this has been an interesting week so far, hasn't it? I told Diane not to attempt the steep driveway at her house yesterday. Then, I had Jan leave while it was still light today and told her I doubted I would be seeing her in the morning if the weather report was right, since she has to drive in from the north county! But we did get a few things done today. She helped me finish moving the Christmas section and then we got a few pieces of freight - a very fun camping theme print called "Are We There Yet?". I'm still playing with a few things - the BOM project (looks like we'll start in February, whether I finish the sample or not!) and a fun bright zig zag baby quilt. Then, I've been trying to get all of my ducks in a row to announce the rental of our Accuquilt Studio - looks like I'll have it ready by the beginning of next week.

Hope your week is going well and that you all stay safe in the upcoming "snow event" as the forecasters have been calling it. Hey - it's great sewing weather! Tomorrow I'll definitely be at the shop in case anyone needs anything...if not.....I'll be cleaning and sewing! Night all.

"How did it get so late so soon?"

"How did it get so late so soon?" That's a quote from Dr. Suess. And it is getting late....so soon....and I haven't blogged in a few days! This is a picture of one of the boxes of fabric that arrived today - yup, it's Dr. Suess fabric! I just had fun looking up some quotes from Dr. Suess. Aren't these great?
"Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!"
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."
"A person's a person, no matter how small."
"I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny, but we can have lots of good fun that is funny."
Okay, that last one is for today - not sunny and very wet. But we did have lots of good fun that was funny at Fab-Etc! We got flannel today and 24 - yes 24 - bolts of batik fabric. I see lots of scanning for my "virtual fabric" flash drives in my future!

Hope your week has been good. I've been trying to play catch up around the shop and get things straightened up a bit. Finally felt I was making some progress until the freight arrived today! And then, I found this fun project on line for a zig zag quilt with no inset seams and just HAD to try it with some 2" strips I cut with the Accuquilt Studio in bright colors!

Tomorrow Tracey and I will attempt to get some more straightening up done. Plus, Saturday will be our two EQ classes, so we'll be setting up for those. Should be a fun couple of days around here! Hope your week has been a good one too!

Here's your thought for tomorrow!
"Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you."
"And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed."

Happy New Year.....

Happy New Year to all of you! And I put this block up because I am believing that this is going to be a star studded year! Well, that and I just had to show you what I did with our Accuquilt Studio die - Triangle in a Square. I don't know if you've ever tried to make any of these "interesting" angles, but they can be a challenge. I ran these two batiks through the Studio before I left Friday night and sewed them together in nothing flat! The die makes a 9" finished block and they went together beautifully. How cool is that? I have been working a little bit on the information you'll need as far as rental of the Studio goes, so look for that to come out next week in our e-mail update. We've got two more dies (Drunkards Path and Tumbler) set to arrive this week, plus some more circle dies coming in a couple of weeks. We're working on increasing the selection we have for you to choose from as the year progresses, so watch for that too.

Hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season....around here, we are just getting ready to celebrate! Tomorrow, John and I are headed to Kenmore to get together with the whole family. We have much to be thankful for and it should be a grand day. I'll try and get a few pics to show you of the Three Amigos (that's what I call our three grandsons/cousins). Have a wonderful Sunday!