Notes from Nancy

Happy New Year to all you wonderful people. I am thawing out today as
yesterday the actual temperature in Charlotte was -16 degrees. I pulled
out my Artic Handknitted 100% Qiviut made in Alaska from a trip 10 years
ago and my Lands End coat and stayed toasty while out running errands. I
visited my Dad after Christmas and stopped to spend several nights with
friends in northern Indiana and managed to get nicely snowed in an
extra day. I have never been able to stitch and watch old movies all day
long. It was so much fun, thank you Jackie.
 
We are anxiously waiting for the Downton Abby boxes to come through the
door and Jo’s new “Woodlands” to arrive. I have been stitching the
alphabet in wool on an old stained feed sack from Maggie’s book “Another
Time, Another Place. I am very happy with the results. When it is all
done, Elise will post a picture on Facebook. I can’t believe all the
people who check that site as we certainly get results when something
new comes in!
 
Check out the January schedule for all our little clubs, get-togethers,
and Debby’s hand piecing classes. If you want to learn to tat or rug
hook please let us know. I hope to be putting some simple rug hooking
kits together this month.  I have Jo’s block of the month fabric and the
patterns. We have had a little glitch in how we are going to pursue
this but we will overcome and by February will be ready to roll somehow!
 
Keep Stitching and keep warm.         Nancy
 

Notes from Nancy

I felt bad when I read everyone’s newsletters last week with how they
appreciate our business and I never even wrote a pre-Thanksgiving note.
So–you all know that I really do appreciate your business and those who
participated in my Black Friday Sales and Small Business Saturday were
able to take advantage of the appreciation sales. I also thought how
nice it was to get two Saturday’s of Hand Cranking in November. Check
out these cool battery operated mini lights that come with a timer, on
sale at the shop for $10!

I am knee deep in trying to get my home-made gifts done and while trying
to get a few new items for the shop done too. I was able to get a
sample of Pam Buda’s American Gothic fabric line into the top for a
small table topper. Now, Elise thinks it needs some wool and I agree so
we will get our creative juices flowing! Here is a picture of what is
done.

The other top I have done is from the “Spell It With Fabric” booklet. I
see all kinds of possibilities with letters from this $8.00 item.
Speaking of books, Sue Spargo’s Creative Stitching is on back-order as
the printer is taking their sweet time on getting them re-printed. How
nice for Sue that the book is selling so well. Soon as we get more, the
orders will be shipped.

Small Quilts will meet on this Wednesday at 10:00 so if you are working
on a small project, bring your machine and your project and join us.
Needle Punch Club will meet the 13th and 27th at 1:00. Wednesday Woolies
will meet the 18th at 10:00 and Hexie Holics on the 19th also at 10:00.
Stitched by Hand is meeting the 10th and 17th at 9:30.

Keep in mind I will be closing at 1:00 on the 24th, and be closed of
course, on Christmas AND the day after Christmas. Watch for a follow up
newsletter later this month for the Specials on the 27th through the
31st. Check out the new items below (and make out your Christmas list if
you haven’t) and in the meantime, keep stitching.

                                             Nancy

Notes from Nancy

The BIG Party is over and the best part was that my ENTIRE family was
there so my cousins and classmates could meet the whole gang! The
weather was wonderful and Dad even sang the birthday Thank You song.

I will be a vendor at the Hook In in Bridgeman, MI. on the 12th of
October. I will be taking a lot of needle-punch, wool, and many
patterns. This is a one day event and then I will visit my Dad on
Sunday.

We have started a Needle Punch Club bi-monthly event at the shop so join
us on Friday afternoons the first and third Fridays at 1:00 in the
afternoon. If this is something you have never done, you may take a
class ($10.00 fee.)  If you already know how to punch, the club is free.
Any purchases you make on club days will be a 10% discount.

Since time flies by so quickly, I want to mention the Third Thursday
October evening event. Several of the shops in Charlotte including The
Hen House will be open till 8:00. From 5:00 to 8:00 I will discount all
books at 25% from the retail price. THIS IS ONLY THE THIRD THURSDAY FROM
5:00-8:00 P.M.
 
Be sure and check out Debby’s STITCHED BY HAND club. She has such a
wealth of knowledge to share about many techniques and tricks to make
your stitching easier when doing a project.

If you want to learn the lost art of tatting, Carolyn is the person to contact and she works on Thursdays. Give us a call.

If you haven’t joined the Hexie craze, come and let Elise inspire you!

Don’t forget our Rug Hooking every Friday evening and the second Monday
of the month. We also have our Wednesday Woollies the last Wednesday of
the month.

I am continuing to work on the new Block of the Month starting (for me)
in January called Hampton Ridge. You do four 5″ blocks per month. I love
this quilt because, again, it does not look like a Block of the Month.
Cost will be $24.00 per month.

We are loving Pam Buda’s new line called American Gothic. We have fat
quarter bundles, fat 1/8 bundles and yardage in the whole line.

Maggie’s new book is here along with about 5 other great books so make a trip to the shop and check everything out.

Looking forward to the Saturday Crankers meet on the 26th this month. If
you are interested in seeing hand crank sewing machines, stop in on
this date. I also have several lovely machines for sale.

 

Enjoy this beautiful October as it is my favorite month of the year and keep stitching.   Nancy

Notes from Nancy

Well I bet all of you just cannot wait for this newsletter to find out
what all I bought on my four day antiquing trip! We had a wonderful time
and I think all of us came home with treasures and empty money bags. I
bought some really nice crocks (Ohio is the best state to find a good
variety of them.) I also found wood mallets for paper towel holders-a
great one is in the bathroom at the shop as well as at the lake. And–do
you know a hog scraper works great to hold an extra roll of toilet
paper? We ended the trip at Sauder Village for the Rug Hooking show.
Life is good!

This week-end will be a relaxing one at the lake and then on Monday I
will walk the 5 miles across the Mackinac Bridge. This has become a
yearly event with friends. We drag ourselves out of bed at 2:30 A.M. and
get to Lansing by 3:00 to get a good seat on the bus. When the bus
takes off all the lights go off and we sleep for a couple of hours and
wake up as the sun is just coming up. It is a great opportunity to walk
this amazing suspension bridge.
 

I am trying to get the blocks together for Hampton Ridge. We have
pictures of the first four which will be the blocks for January. They
really were fun to put together.

Next weekend, Sept. 7th and 8th, I will be a vendor at the quilt show in
Marshall. It is always a wonderful show and I am excited to be a part
of it. I will have treasures in my booth!

The weekend of the 14th my family will all be in Winamac, Indiana to
celebrate my Dad’s 100th birthday party. (He will turn 100 on the 17th.)
We are all excited to see family and friends for this event. My Dad was
a farmer for many years and has always lived in the area. He is the
oldest man in Winamac.

Check out the schedule for our little events we have going in the shop.
Join us for Debby’s Stitched by Hand, day time or evening Rug Hooking,
Wednesday Woolies, or stitching Hexie’s . Carolyn will teach you how to
Tat which is becoming a lost art.

If you have been away for awhile, come and check out all the new fabrics
that have arrived durring the summer. You just can’t wait till November
to buy Christmas fabric anymore!

It is always fun to see Fall arrive as I love all the decorating that
can be done with pumpkins, gourds, and berries. I have been doing some
new samples of needle punch and it has been a nice change from making
hexie’s which I still do!

Keep Stitching, Nancy

Notes from Nancy

First I want to thank everyone who supported our Journey to the Past
weekend. Even though our ticket sales were down from last year, our
overall sales in the shop were great and my staff and I really
appreciate your support in this event. The winner of the fat quarter
pack goes to Mary Korgal and the gift certificate goes to Kati Bauer.

I cannot believe we are coming to the beginning of the end of our
summer. I do know there are still 3 months of good weather left and that
is a comfort. I will be visiting my Dad next week-end and then making a
trip to Eastern Ohio to antique with friends ending up at Sauder
Village for the Rug Hooking exhibit. Do not let the girls get lonely
while I am gone. I will give you a quick re-cap on our monthly events
for August.

Feel free to come and rug hook on Monday, the 12th at 10:00 even through
I will be in Ohio. Stitched by Hand will meet on  Tuesdays, the 13th
and 27th at 9:30. The Hexi-Holics will meet on the 22nd at 10:00.
 The Wednesday Woolies will meet on Wednesday the 28th also at 10:00. We
also hook every Friday night. Check with Linda at B’s Floral to see if
she will be here to oversee the Friday night hooking while I am gone.

I am looking forward to being the speaker at the Jackson Quilt Guild on the 26th of this month. 

Jo’s Block of the Month fabric was ordered last week. I am not sure if I
am going to do the block of the month as I am doing Paula Barnes
Hampton Ridge but not starting till January of 2014. I love the blocks
and think it does not look like the traditional block of the month.

Debby and Dave Kenney would like to express their thanks and gratitude
for the thoughts, prayers, and cards. Dave is recovering and back to
work part time.

Please check out all new items. You will find the numbers for ordering
any of the new items when you go to the website. Again thank you for
supporting the shop and keep stitching.    

Notes from Nancy

Another beautiful day outside. Hopefully the weather will stay as nice
as it has been this week. Dick will be leaving with 5 kids under 12 for
Rainbow Lake in the morning. I will have one wonderful evening before I
leave after work on Saturday. Monday and Tuesday we move Sarah
(granddaughter) to a new apartment and then back to the lake for the
rest of the week and hopefully some fun. The girls will be at the shop
to help you with your sewing needs. Please visit them so they won’t be
lonely. Elise will probably have her NEW hexi project done by then. Her
1/4″ hexi project is all done and framed here at the shop. If you cannot
make it in, be sure and view it on line.

Since the last newsletter we have lots of new books and the 29 bolts of
Jo’s Savannah. The fat quarters and the fat eighths are bundled and
ready and several of you have them already. The whole collection of Pin
Money came a couple of weeks ago and we can take care of you with the
quarter and eighth bundles also. Check out the pictures at the bottom of
the newsletter. I have been busy on the machine making Carol Hopkins
Blue and Grey Trail. The kit is $45.00 and includes the pattern.

Journey to the Past is coming up the 26th and 27th of July. The ticket
to special deals in 4 shops, Jennifer’s, Everlasting Stitches, Creative
Quilting, and The Hen House will be worth the $5.00 Journey ticket. Here
is the picture of my quilt. The finishing kit is $40.00 and the three
block packet is $10.00 at each shop. I also have the pictures of each of
the quilts from the shops.

The first part of August I will have some more hand crank sewing
machines for sale. I am excited about that and will talk more about them
in the August newsletter. Our July Saturday Crankers will be meeting on
Wednesday, July 17 at Rainbow Lake and having a potluck. Bring your
hand crank machine, project, food and join us. Call me for directions.

Keep Stitching

Nancy

Notes from Nancy

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day week-end and perhaps got some
stitching done. We had a wonderful day of hand cranking here in the shop
on Saturday. I do have a machine for sale if you are interested.

I had a fun week-end but got no stitching done! Six of my family went to
the Lake House on Saturday and after a couple of remarks from my
husband about sewing, I thought it best to open a book. While sitting in
the shade, I read all about the President’s wives. I have been hooked
on C-Span on Monday nights at 9:00 for the same subject and they go into
depth and tell all kinds of interesting tidbits on the Ladies.

Here it is almost June and I already have a full calendar. The first
thing is to finish this month by heading to Indiana for a short trip on
Friday to visit my Dad. He is doing well.

Spring Quilt Market was in Portland, Oregon a couple of weeks ago and of
coarse it rained every day. Sue from Sew Unique Threads and I flew and
roomed together. We had a great fun time. I have no idea who her
favorite designers are nor does she know mine! We would looks at each
others purchase of patterns and have never seen them before! I came back
with many stuffed animal and fruit patterns to be made from velvet or
wool from Blackberry Primitives. I have ordered some of the samples and
will get them on the website soon. I actually went out of my box and
bought two of Edita’s block of the month designs and came home and “Hen
House-ed” the borders for little mini quilts. Debby is putting the Fall
one together as I write this newsletter. Another favorite designer is
Stacy West. I came back with a good many of her new patterns as well.

I have ordered Paula Barnes new block of the month and I think they are
five or six inch blocks. I really like the fabrics as well as the blocks
but have not received my shop kit yet to start the quilt.

I have already received a new Christmas fabric line by Anni Downs who is
from Australia. We will work on that quilt one of these hot days when
we want to cool off. (That certainly has not happened yet.)

The book My Name is Lidya came but at Market I found out it had
many mistakes so they are re-printing the whole book and I should have
new copies in a few weeks. Another new book from Market  which will be
coming soon is from Polly Minick and Lori Simpson. This book is being
published by Quilt Mania and what an awesome job they have done! The
girls were passing out free patterns for scarves to be made from
homespun fabrics. We have one from my homespuns and Elise added an
adorable flower pin to the scarf which she made from wool. Check out the
picture and if you would like a class on this let us know.

Jo’s new line of fabric should be here by the middle of June and is
called Savannah.  Pam Buda’s “Pin Money” should be coming any day. We
actually spent last Wednesday re-vamping the fabrics and now can you
believe we have room for them!

There are also new patterns from Carol Hopkins and she even designed one
of the patterns for a dear friend of mine. The title is  Cyrus Young
and he was a relative of Sheila’s and an abolitionist during the Civil
War.

The June Road Trip mini-quilt is done and we are thrilled with the
outcome after many trials at making a bunting. In the long run, it was
very easy! (I will get busy on the directions tomorrow!)

Below is the Journey to the Past Quilt which just got finished
yesterday.It is now on the list to be quilted and Linda will make it so
beautiful. Join us for the Journey Friday and Saturday, July 26th and
27th.

Thank you for your continued business and for reading this very long letter.

Keep Stitching

Nancy

Notes from Nancy

I really feel that Spring is on the way. I spent over an hour ironing
some Spring shirts over the week-end. I put all my turtle-necks away but
still have my wool socks and cords. Saturday was my oldest
grand-daughter’s college graduation from Grand Valley. I don’t know
where the four years have gone. I do know I have spent lots of money on
books and keeping her in dining dollars. Doesn’t every Nana do that? At
least I don’t have to do the dining dollars for the Masters Degree as
the classes are all at night. When that is done, she will start her new
job and can send me dining dollars!

Lets talk shop! I just finished the directions for the May mini quilt
for the Road Trip. You can see the pretty flower basket in wools and one
velvet flower! Just clothespin the new one and set aside the Sheep for
another time. Remember you can stop for discounts in May and June with
your punch card.

Ronda has been working hard on the blocks for the Journey to the Past in
July. We will get that finished and get a picture on the website. It is
a fun event with only 3 other shops and lots of great discounts. The
cost is the same as last year, $5.00 and takes place July 26, and 27.
You will be registering to win a variety of great door prizes!

Several new books and magazines have come in the last couple of weeks. Our favorite, Primitive Quilts and Other Projects for Summer, is here and we have each picked our favorite project for our “to do” list. The June/July issue of Mary Jane’s Farm
came a few days ago with lots of great articles. My favorite was on the
Pearl Button Museum in Muscatine, Iowa  (I think this might be a road
trip!) As I am finishing this newsletter, the Summer issue of A Simple Live has
arrived. Elise has sat down to check out the articles. She says they
are great! We are back in stock with JoAnn Mullaly’s books Wool Crazy, Crazy at Home, and Folk Branches. She is retiring so these will be her last books and they will make a nice addition to your collection of wool patterns.

Next month I will send you a picture of my Lake House on Rainbow. Until then keep stitching!     

Nancy

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