Dancing Horses

Attention all Laurel Burch fans!

Today we received this new line - Dancing Horses

This is the first collection of hers that I had seen in these beautiful earth tones, and it is gorgeous.

Click here to check out the rest of them on our website. They're a sure cure for the winter blues. :)
-Claire

Redecorating Our Web Page

Did you notice that the hearts are gone from our home page? They have been replaced with the quilt block house in keeping with our new image at the store. We have that house on our lighted sign on the north side of our building also. Well the weather is above freezing but raining, so we still do not have Patchwork Place on the front of the store. It may be shop hop time before it is repaired. Shop Hop this year is June 17, 18 and 19 in case you were wondering. We are starting to work on the quilts which will be fluttering with butterflies and hearts this year. Keep you fingers crossed that the fabric I have selected arrives in time to do the shop hop quilt I have in mind.
Classes are on the up-swing at the new shop, it is so pleasing to have full classes, so watch us for more offerings in the near future.

Quilt Samples in the Shop

I heard from several quilters (yes, everyone is still coming by to check out the new shop) that I have not updated my blog in a few days. I am impressed that you are checking it out, so now I have a little incentive to get to the computer more.
We are hanging quilt samples in the shop. Looks more like a quilt shop now. The classroom does not look as round now that a few quilts are displayed on the walls. The Southern Star is a king size and the ceilings here are lower than the old shop, so we had to pin up the bottom. But now we have a sample up for Barbara's class which is coming soon - Thursday, March 25th.
We are wondering why we paid to have this shop painted before we moved in, because now the walls will be either covered by shelves or quilts.

101 Quilting Class

I am sending this blog while sitting uncomfortably on a high stool and trying to use my keyboard which is desk high. See this is what happens when we inadvertently overbook a class. They took all the chairs in the shop and most of the tables. But they seem to be having a high ol' time, lots of laughter between new friends even if they are elbow to elbow. This is the 101 Quilting class, it meets from 6 to 9 pm on Wednesdays. Anne will have to start another soon as we have a waiting list. That's Kelli in the top left picture with her perfect blocks.

Sign Update and Cat Fabric

You know, I actually don't mind cold weather, not even snow. I actually like the challenges weather brings to my life especially after spending five winters in Alaska. But enough is enough. We need some warm days. They need 3 days of warm weather before attempting to replace our Patchwork Place letters on the front of the shop. The snow today did not amount to much, but it is way too cold to warm up the store front. We did get the electric sign on the north side turned on tonight. I would take a picture of the lighted sign but it is way to cold for that.

I have really enjoyed everyone's reaction as they come to the store for the first time. Keep coming we certainly need your encouragement. The fabric shelves are becoming somewhat organized, good thing, new fabrics are arriving. If you are a cat lover them you will want some the of the RJR Caterwauling that arrived today. Tom had to go to the city to pick it up, somedays the UPS driver can find us, and somedays he just takes it back to the city. Claire should get Caterwauling on the web soon for our on-line shoppers. I can just hear Claudia now, she will not believe I actually ordered cat fabric. This is how much I love my customers, not how much I love cats. So these cats are for you, Claudia.

Inaugural Retreat

Along with the opening of our noew store is the opening of the new retreat house in Norman.

It is still a mystery as to exact location, except for the 12 quilters now attending the very first retreat. I stopped by last night and they were quilting and partying hard with food everywhere.

They generously shared a bowl of homemade soup with me and it was super delicious. Wilma is taking some pictures and I will post them on the blog as soon as I get them. This is a shot of them loading up outside the store yesterday morning.

The store is slowly taking shape and the quilters are really flocking in and say they love it, give me time to get most everything in place, then I will love it.

New Store Pictures

Here is the first peek inside the new store for those who have not yet been here. See those windows, they are plenty of them and they do not look out at a brick wall but our parking lot with plenty of room for everyone. The only thing not subject to being moved again, are the shelves nailed to the wall. Carol and Claire have most of the color wall fabrics in place there. The walls are masonry or something like that instead of just sheet rock so we will need to actually install hangars before we can hang our quilts.

Our days are getting shorter now that our computer system (after tons of help from Deborah) is almost completely set up. Thoughts of a grand opening are starting to form so stay tuned.

Still Moving

Many of you have come to check out the new shop and made little exaggerations like how great the store is. Well we will get there but still have a ways to go. If you thought I rearranged the store a lot before, these past three days have been absolutely the limit in rearrangements., not only fabrics but the fabric shelves and our cutting tables too. When we get a floor plan that we like, I'll post a picture of inside the shop on the blog, and when I really like it, I'll change our front page picture. Tom is still saying only one more load from the old store, maybe tomorrow, everything will be here. Maybe tomorrow, our feet will feel better.
The parking is now clear of snow and ice, and we still marvel about how many "dedicated" spaces we have here. We can fill the classroom and still have lots of parking for drop in customers.

Moving Days

Yes, moving DAYS. With this winter wonderland we now live in, our move in taking a few days but we are here. And as with most moves, we are here, but we don't know where all our stuff is. Tom put the slat wall up for the patterns, but where are the patterns? The Monday Strippers patches did meet here bright and early this morning, and loved the new classrom, even with all the boxes sitting around. The classroom has a window, big improvement.

One of our customers Donna braved the icy streets to come say good bye to the old store and was one of the first to come in today to say hello to the new store. It really touched me that others love this store like we do.

And now, the saga of our new sign I was so proud of. It was the victim of the ice and snow. Seems like our letters had not had time to "bond" and with the snow and top and icicles dripping off the bottom, off they fell from the building. Now we have to wait for better weather. so they can replace them. I would put a picture on the blog, but who wants to see a snaggle tooth sign?

It will take awhile before we are "company" ready, but stop by and say hello, we could use the break.
Billie