holiday hours

my gps lied to me...

ok friends...here's the truth. a gps does not know everything. gosh darn it. right? just when we had gotten so comfortable with their directions, we threw our paper maps in the trash.

we continue to have customers relying on their electronic devices without checking the address and being sent to our old location. be sure you are going to 2171 S. (the south is important too) Green in University Heights, zip 44121.

we are only a few moments from our old shop, but we hate that you are loosing your valuable shopping time driving around.

illumination...

at last our sign is going up...

thankful for the movers...

donny & sean...the best moving crew in cleveland!!

we are forever indebted to them for their amazing help. the task of packing and moving two businesses in such a short amount of time would not have been possible without their expertise and friendly disposition. we are most grateful. thankful for the sunshine today too!

a most sincere thank you

with just a moment's notice of the necessity for a liquidation sale, i was not sure what to expect. to my shock, we had a parking lot full of friends waiting for the doors to open on friday...

 

with the lines continuing all weekend. your support has meant so much to us. thank you, thank you, thank you!! we are merely at a fork in the road. where we go from here is uncertain, yet i'm sure there is a plan much greater than i.  we will update with details as soon as we know them.  we sincerely appreciate your support, cards, flowers, goodies and words of encouragement. your friendship is extraordinary.

the time has come...

well folks, the end of our era at 5259 mayfield is upon us. at 16:05 thursday we received written communication that we must vacate the premises. therefore, we shall begin a fabric liquidation. please note the special hours sunday and monday. i have no further details of where, when or what our future looks like. i just know we have lots of fabulous new fabric that must go to good homes. please come help us make that happen.

 

no tears, just pure joy that we have had the time these past few years to share together in our combined love of fabric + fun + friendship! 

gift certificates

let's talk gift certificates...when we first received notice that our landlord filed bankruptcy in september, we suspended the sale of them until we knew more. we did this because we did not want anyone to think we were taking their money deceptively while being unsure of our future. we have utilized the last few months to engage in due diligence on our rights, looking for new space, tightening up our spending habits and preparing ourselves for whatever the future holds. today...at the extreme urging of our customers and the fact that we feel better about 2014...we are going to once again sell gift certificates!!

 

 

the only change we are making is to ask for a name and contact number just in case we need to reach the recipient. to thank you for your trust in us...for every $50 certificate sold...the purchaser may select a fat quarter bundle for free!!

shop small

we may be small...but we are ginormous when it comes to loving our customers. come spend small business saturday with us and for every $50 you spend you get to take home one of our fat quarter bundles (a $15. value) of your choice.

we are officially registered with american express, so you might be able to get $10 of your purchase returned on your next statement. our offer is valid on 11/30 only

"A Gathering Place for Creative Souls"

Sarah and I were all smiles as we opened the May issue of the American Quilt Retailer magazine to find us featured in the business profile.

 

 

 

 

 

A sincere thank you to freelance writer Ann Logue for capturing our story so perfectly and to Publisher Ranelle King and Editor Susan Fuquay for giving us this opportunity. It is an honor to be selected in our industry, but the real thrill is for all the families who have a person with Down syndrome living with them. For as Ann so beautifully wrote, "...we are spreading the joy of quilting and the capabilities of young adults with Down syndrome." 

what would you do...

have you ever watched the television show "what would you do" hosted by john quinones? they create real life situations utilizing actors and then film real life people in the scenario they created to see how people react. 

i felt like i could have recently been a part of that show...and i am still stumped by it...so maybe if i put it out here the real life people will come forward and let me know who they were. no hard feelings...i'd just like to know.

last thursday i arrived at the store at 10:00. there was a car in the parking lot. it had no occupants and there was no one in the lobby waiting for me, so i assumed my husband had a client visiting his business upstairs.  i sat in my car for a few minutes to write some notes in a folder related to a project i am working on. if any customers came, i would be able to see them pull in and i would then of course unlock the door.

after finishing my notes, i proceeded to the front door. it was now about 10:15. i put the key in and turned the lock like i always do.  i walked in and turned on the first group of lights. then proceeded to walk to the next room. out of the one side room a woman appears. i let out a slight gasp. i walked a bit farther toward the cutting counter and two more women appeared walking from the farthest back corner.

i was startled. i wanted to say something, but nothing would come out of my mouth.  i wanted to move, but my feet would not budge. finally my brain slightly engaged and i asked if they thought the store was open. one of the women responded that they thought i was at the loading dock unpacking fabric.

the loading dock?  this is clearly a former bungalow type house turned commercial. there is no loading dock here. now i was frightened. my heart started pounding. fast. i felt sweat beading up on my forehead. i wasn't sure what they were going to do next. i started frantically turning all the lights on. i quickly opened the side doors in case i needed to make a quick exit.

then i started mumbling. i just kept saying i must have left the front door unlocked the night before. i tried to focus on their faces. i definitely had never seen them before. then one asked me about a pattern. i tried listening to what she was saying but was not hearing so well. so i just started mumbling again. i could not think coherently. then they just took to the front door and left.

the next customer in asked me what was wrong with the ladies who just left because they nearly knocked over her granddaughter. i am stumped. i just don't know what to believe.

if you entered a small boutique type of store and clearly all the lights were off and there was no sign of life yet in the shop, what would you do?

i would like to think they were quilters, visiting for the first time. but i would have thought they might have offered an apology for scaring the living daylights out of me, been a little nicer leaving and maybe even stuck around to buy something.

one thing that has come out of this...adt...the alarm people now have a presence.  and soon you will see some cameras mounted. darn it. i hate this feeling of insecurity. but better safe than sorry i suppose.

i am most thankful for this...sarah was not with me. i don't know if she would have been frightened by the situation, but she definately would have felt my panic and likely responded accordingly. and that would have been greatly confusing to her.

shame on you dns services.....

i just don't understand. if you've got talent. use it. humbly. truthfully. ethically. this post is not pretty. sorry. but hopefully it might help a fellow small business owner...

 

i received this professional piece of mail this week. it looks real. so i opened it.

 

 

very authentic looking invoice. so i put it into the "to be paid file" for later.  it is a $65 charge for hosting our store's website. so i started to write the check. wait just a minute. i pay another service on a monthly basis to host the website. so i looked a little closer. sure enough. see that bottom sentence. it's a solicitation. pretty deceitful i'd say. i wonder just how many checks they cash for $65.00?  many, i'm afraid.

from the heart...

when i walked away from a long and rewarding career three years ago to take care of our sweet sarah as her health was deteriorating before our eyes, i had no idea what the future held. today i have a small glimpse...our second year in the quilt business has come and gone.  a super quick twelve months filled with bright and beautiful fabric, appreciative and returning customers, new friendships, and happiness galore.  we are sincerely grateful.

as with any new venture, there is a certain amount of uncertainty. will it survive? maybe even thrive?  i'd like to think we have passed the infancy stage, chugged into the toddler phase and there we sit in the midst of the sandbox. observing, learning, and anticipating our next steps.  it has not all been easy. we have certainly had our share of growing pains. we've identified somes obstacles. questioned the intent of a few. had our hearts broken a time or two. 

we've had our vision questioned.  our mission doubted.  there have been temper tantrums, by both us and a visitor. we've had checks bounce and products stolen. we've been lied to and had untrue rumors spread. 

but in the end, the challenges do not come close to the fun we've had and the laughter we've shared. the greatest gift of all...sarah is still by my side...alive...which i am grateful for each and every day.

thank you so very much for helping to make our dream come true.  thank you for sticking with us. we look forward to the excitement of a new year!

squelching rumors...

honesty is always the best policy, i do believe.  i know a few customers today heard a discussion that has already lead to a few questions. so before the rumors go any further, let me just clarify a few things...

yes, our landlord did come into the shop today to inform me that he wants to put the building up for sale.  by a broker.  that is all i know at this moment.  are we interested in buying it? possibly. there are many questions and details that need to be discussed. and some praying that needs to occur. have we talked to the bank. yes we have. sba applications are lengthy. and complicated. anyone who tells you otherwise has either no experience with them or is not being factual. 

no, this does not come as a complete surprise. we have been wrestling with the possibility of the need to move for years. my husband has had location b, c, & d in his hip pocket for sometime. just in case. 

i too have been thinking ahead. from the very beginning. that is why nothing is nailed to the walls or the floor. the white furniture can be moved anywhere. even the cutting island and counter top was designed so it can be picked up and relocated in a moments notice. 

drive up and down mayfield right now and you will observe for lease signs everywhere.  i am not worried. did i mention i am praying though? for guidance with the possibility of a pot of money falling from the sky.

jellen's will not disappear overnight. i promise you that.    

sign, sign everywhere...

a sign. except for us. if we have had the pleasure of your company in our shop, the credit is all yours.  we know we have not been an easy find.  if you follow this blog from a distance, let us show you what we are talking about...

this is it. the sign in front of our store. last august, we taped the temporary sign to the bottom open slot thinking it would be there for one week, two tops. mostly because we feared the city would make us take it down.

this is sarah. today.  yes, it is going on nearly twenty months later and we still do not have a permanent sign.  and as of early this morning, we were no closer to getting one. i won't cry, moan, complain, or even bore you with the details. rather say, it has been a learning experience. our last veto came on monday. it was a no go. again.

so today, i trotted sarah up to the building department. with options two, three and four in our hands. a few hours later...

we are at the sign shop, picking colors. sarah chose #116. we had to make a few concessions, but at least we get some color, our names, and a big "house of fabric" and "sewcial lounge" in separate frames that will hopefully be visible from a distance.

ohio in shock...

actually, i am a little in shock. but i promised myself there would be no all nighters this year. no panic attacks in the eleventh hour as the deadline approached...

yes my friends, our state of ohio sales tax report is filed and paid. early in fact. so early, i received a $44.16 discount.  woo hoo!! 

the tax man cometh...

thought you might like to see the fun i have been having these past two sundays:) ugh...paperwork. this is the behind the scenes footage of the not so exciting side of owning a fabric store.

now it's not like i didn't know it was coming. afterall, i have owned another business for nearly twenty years. back in the mid-90's i even facilitated seminars for the professional needle guild and the ohio arts council cleverly titled...creating synergy between your right and left hemispheres...yes indeed you can train the two sides of your brain to communicate. the sole purpose was helping artist types be more organized with the business side of things. guess i didn't listen too well.

for many of us right brainers, it just takes a few more prompts. some clever separating tools and a little music... btw, great cd. with many of the old favorites...

so classic. not just the songs but a creative type trying to avoid the task at hand. the paperwork. ok. so after making a significant amount of progress, i decided i deserved a break.

love that panera down the street. now i'm ready to tackle the next issue...

this box of register receipts. they go back to august. august 9th to be exact, the very day we opened.

first step is sorting. by month, seems like the right idea. good thing i saved those empty water bottle trays.

done. now i need to just get them entered into the computer. maybe i'll take a little nap first...

i'm in love with another man...

...please let me introduce you to pete. he has been our ups driver for the entire thirteen years we have been in this building. for our business upstairs, he delivers a single envelope twice a month which contains our payroll. that could be reason enough to like him. every now and then he brings a box of office supplies. a little heavier, still he always has a smile on his face. then...

...i opened this fabric store. and soon the boxes weighed seventy to eighty pounds. and they usually arrive in multiples. still, pete always has a smile on his face. today, i asked him if i could take his picture. he was not so sure. he's a pretty humble guy. then i told him i wanted to have a picture of the happiest guy i know. ahh sucks...he said...ok. thanks pete. we really do appreciate your hard work and sunny disposition.

a weekend of firsts...

it has been one month...just 31 days with our doors open to the public...and this weekend we celebrate with...

...our first ad in the cleveland plain dealer

...our first empty bolt of fabric

...the first tree falling...we're celebrating the missing the parking lot by inches...not the tree down part

sarah cutting fabric for the first time with a rotary blade

our first payment to moda from store receipts...we're off to a good start...thank you to all our supporters for helping to make it happen