put on your guessing cap...

here we go...our favorite post-sale guessing game...how many bolts did we empty this week...closest guess without going over receives a $50.00 gift certificate...response may be left here or on facebook...just do it before midnight 12/31...count has been verified by the helpful and smiling kelsey and carol...

 

p.s. thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!!!! Your support of our shop and our community efforts means the world to us.  We have the best customers EVER!!!!!! 

at capacity...

so...it was probably the craziest day ever in the house of fabric today. never should there be that many people in one place at one time. forty two is the determined number of our capacity.

 just a fair warning we may need to limit access tomorrow. please do not take offense, just know it is for EVERYONE's safety. if we reach capacity we will need to ask for you to wait in the lobby or outside until others come out. we will have someone at the door directing this effort. thank you in advance for your understanding. 

please also know you may park in the lot next to our building - on the west side -or on the sidestreet.  please do not double park in the back lot. we had a car go over the edge today. the fall is over two feet and a tow truck was needed.

yikes!! who knew fabric could be so exciting!!!

it's the $5.00 sale...

in today's sun newspaper...

the 2012 blizzard...

...that wasn't on mayfield road.

12:30 p.m.

 

3:30 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

8:30 p.m.

a christmas miracle...

in living color!! so many of you know we support reece's rainbow, a down syndrome adoption ministry, in the store. 100% of our sample sales go directly to help families rescue children. a short while back we had a pretty sizable amount ready to donate and so sarah and i searched for a family close to their travel date. sarah fell in love with "curlie girlie" and it turns out they live not too far from us in pennsylvania. believe it or not, today, sofia's family has taken her out of the orphanage for the very last time...

 
you can read the story and see some of the most adorable pictures ever here. and please know that your support of our shop has helped make this possible. merry christmas!!

my favorite...

...story of the season...

we had a dad come into the store with his young children to buy something for his wife this week. he left his credit card behind. so i put it into a plain white envelope and asked my sixteen year old to deliver it to their house thinking the mom would not recognize him. matt calls me to tell me no one is home but they have a mailbox where the mail falls into the house so he could put it in there and it would be safe. i asked him first if he was absolutely sure that he was at the right house..."yes mom, there is a wreath on the front door in your fabric."

 

...and here he is stopping in again today for snacks (as evidenced by whatever is in his cheek) and money for food...

 

 

 which is how he knows our inventory so well:)  love you matt and thanks for just being you!

last call...

time is quickly ticking away. tonight is the last night we will be open before christmas...

and saturday is the very last day to purchase a gift certificate.

holiday hours:

thursday 12/20  10-8

friday 12/21  10-5

saturday 12/22  10-5

sunday 12/23 closed

monday 12/24 closed

tuesday 12/25 closed

meow, meow, meow...

i can't get that purina chow song out of my head. why you ask? because we finally have cats...

 

...in our colors thanks to ingrid slyder for moda! click here and you can sing that song all day too:) 

ten thousand...

i was almost certain it would happen today. sure enough. i rang out number 9,998 around 1:50pm. then a woman walked in. i recognized her. and then a man came in. i recognized him too. he does not quilt. a small panic set in. he must be here to purchase a gift certificate for his wife. oh no. i can't post that. it would ruin her surprise. the man stopped to look at something. the woman started to walk toward me. double oh no. my heart started racing. how does publishers clearinghouse make all those surprises happen, i wondered.  thankfully she walked past me and headed to the back corner. the man walked toward the counter. he checked out as 9,999. whew! then at 2:07 on 12.12.12 the register clicked open for the 10,000th time...

 

that is a one with lots of zeros. that is a one with a lot of heart. that is a one with many thanks.

 

congratulations to mary!! our $100.00 winner for being our 10,000th transaction.

the calm of color...

i do believe everything has been moved back in place...

and the marbles are once again lined up neatly. i feel such calm looking at the color.

chaotic yet clean...

the carpet is clean!! that's the good news. the not so good news...

 

...everything must be off the floor which makes for a somewhat chaotic mess. and the carpet needs to dry overnight. so...tuesday morning might not be the best time to come in for a browse. we should have everything back in it's place by noon or so.  thanks for understanding.

iguana who...

there are times i don't even have to think about what to post next...our customers just hand us news...like on a silver platter...
 

knock knock!
who's there?
iguana.
iguana who?
iguana hold your hand:) 

i'm not so sure sarah was as thrilled with the visitor as i thought she would be. maybe it's because he is sitting on her very first quilt and she's a little possessive of it:)

we're closing in...

on our 10,000th transaction...

 

and that means we are just a day or two away from awarding one lucky customer with a $100.00 gift certificate.  will it be you?

we're in the clubhouse...

the michael miller clubhouse by swirly girls design that is. and we are soooooo excited. it all began here...

 

sarah and i were walking around quilt market and all of a sudden she told me to stop. i looked up and there was my blogging and facebook friend, kelly ann of kelly ann's quilting in warrenton, va. she has been encourgaging me as a shop owner from our earliest days. soon i realized we are standing in front of the swirly girls booth. just where we needed to be.

 

sarah adores this quilt. she loves the colors and the pot of flowers in the center. i love that poppy love, is ready to go. all the planning has already been done by swirly girls design. 

 

christine, one of the swirly girls, came over to talk with us and i had such a great feeling about jellen's establishing a michael miller clubhouse in cleveland. 

 

soon we had katrina hooked too. she spent some time learning about the program. she then attended the schoolhouse session to get all the needed info to lead the class. 

 

 

susan, the other swirly girl, came over and had sarah draw a lucky packet of seeds.  she won a charm pack that includes fabric from each of the two color ways...

 

 

...vintage on the left, and vibrant on the right. seriously, doesn't this set up just look like it belongs in our happy little cottage in the city.  and look how excited katrina, our official clubhouse leader, looks standing front row and center.  ok now to the details...

 

this is a block-of-the-month program. here is how this will work...

 

 

first you will pick which colorway you want to make. we will have 12 slots of vintage (black, red, green, gray) and 12 slots of vibrant (blues, yellow, green). 

 

 

each month you will receive a kit with your fabric and the full color instruction sheet. each sheet also has a bonus project to inspire additional skills.

 

 

 

then you just need to decide if you wish to join one of our classes offered on the fourth thursday from 7-9 or the fourth saturday from 10-12. they will begin in january 2013 and will be lead by katrina and a few guests...who knows...we might even be able to convince the swirly girls to come for a visit.  the level is in the advanced beginner range...meaning you have some general knowlege and experience with piecing. each session will be limited to six stitchers.

 

or if you would prefer, you will be able to just pick up your kit each month and not attend class. either way, being a clubgirl will be just plain fun. 

 

registration will begin on tuesday, december 4th.  you will pay for the first month and the last month at the time of securing your commitment.  we will have additional fabric available only for clubgirls should you wish to create the bonus projects.

so very thankful...

today we will begin to break down the november window display...

before we do though, i wish to take a moment to express our thankfulness to all of you. our readers, our customers, our friends.  we truly appreciate your support.  i am humbled to think that just a little more than two years ago we opened this little shop not really sure where we were headed, and today it thrives as a full service quilt store. in that short amount of time we have gained so very much. the most important, your friendship. we are most grateful.

sew lazy interfacing

gotta love that lazy girl. she has come up with an interfacing fairy tale come true...

 

as she decribes it...snow white had grumpy, dopey and sleepy and lazy girl has stiff stuff, slicker and dreamy. and now they are all in stock in our house of fabric. they are newly designed to make selecting what you need for the inside of your bags easy peasy.  for much greater details hop on over to this blogpost on the lazy girls site.

bigger than yesterday

yes i am referring to black friday. and just what could be bigger you ask? why it's small business saturday. of course we take american express. i wouldn't leave home without it.

but even bigger than that...it's the day us buckeyes live for all year...the day ohio state beats *ichigan aka that school up north. and to help us celebrate...

...all scarlet and gray fabric will be just $5.00 per yard. today only. offer does not apply to previous purchases and is limited to stock on hand.  yes, i might just be sitting in one of those seats. it all depends on the weather and miss sarah's breathing capacity.  no matter what...we will be rooting for our team...go bucks!!! p.s. we really do need to thank those ladies over at sweetwater. they really did us ohio staters proud with mama said sew!

it's black friday

it's here. the craziest shopping day of the year...

and the day when all fabric with black in it will be on sale for just $5.00 per yard.  all black trims and notions are 50% off marked price.  we will be open regular business hours of 10 - 5.  be safe out there!

to market, to market...

it already seems so long ago. i love market. that is a fact. sorting through the hundreds of pics i take. not as much. here is a sampling chosen strictly by the order in which i took them. their posting here may also have something to do with what shall be arriving in the distant future...

 

ticklish by me and my sister for moda

 

spring house by stephanie ryan for moda

 

p b & j by basicgray for moda

 

cruzin' by barbara jones of quilt soup for henry glass

happy tones by michael miller

 

textured basics by patty young for michael miller

 

Avalon by Fig Tree & Co. for Moda

 

 

Fok Tale by Natalie Lymer for Lecien

 

more Michael Miller

Sweet Things by Holly Holderman of LakeHouse Dry Goods

 

 

Create Kids couture by Shannon & Tiffany

 

Les Amis by Patty Sloniger for Michael Miller

 

Love this white couch with all the colored pillows.

 

something new for us...a high quality fleece by Timeless Treasures  

 

Avignon by Emily Taylor for Riley Blake Designs

 

Sew Serendipity Studio by Kay Whitt

 

Oh how sweet are these little charms. I just love them.

 

To see much, much more of Quilt Market 2012 and see our very own Sarah in action hop on over to her blog by clicking here.

hugging a friend...

there is something magical about this laptop i type into late every night. i connect with like minded people. we converse back and forth, we follow each others blogs and facebook pages. we share creativity on sites like etsy. somehow we become friends without ever meeting. and then life serendipitously brings us together in a hotel hallway...

 

...and it's like we've known each other since birth. this is crystal and her very handsome little man. sarah loved him!

 

she is also the brains behind frivolous necessity and the creator of many of the quilts hanging in our store. i do not believe i have every shared ahead of time the fabric that we have ordered. yet somehow, crystal just knows. she gives the extra special touch to our walls and displays.

 

katrina too was so happy to get to meet her. they share the same compulsion for perfectly matched corners and spot on color coordination.

 

we decided to walk over to guadalajara for lunch. it's been a long time since sarah and i have dined with a toddler and how fun it was.  

 

 

meeting crystal and kayson made our trip to houston all the more perfect.  so thankful for the sweet memories.