Super Bolt Sale

I'm mentally gearing up for our Super Bolt Sale this coming weekend. Since nothing goes into the sale room (which for this sale is the classroom) until the night before the sale, I tend to think about what I'm going to do and change my mind at least 9 dozen times between now and Friday.

When we first started this sale about 9 years ago, it was always done on Super Bowl weekend and we called it the Super Bowl Sale. Back then the Super Bowl was the last weekend in January & this was before the NFL started enforcing their trademarked term Super Bowl. Ok, maybe we started more than 9 years ago . . . time flies!

When we wanted to advertise the sale on our TV ad a few years ago, the ad guy shook his head and said, you can't use the term Super Bowl. So Jim came up with Super Bolt Sale instead.

This year we will be holding the sale a week early since Jim and I will be away the last weekend of the month. All bolts in the classroom will be on sale for $4.95 per yard. Only two rules - minimum cuts are one yard and you must take the remaining amount if it's under a yard. Our aim is to MOVE THESE BOLTS OUT - basically so I can buy new ones!

If you're going to be in Jersey Jan 24th and 25th - stop by and take a peek at the approximately 400 bolts we will have in our Super Bolt Sale!

Paperwork - ugh

One of the dirty little secrets of the quilt shop world is the amount of paperwork that must be dealt with. Paper comes in catalogs, sale sheets, monthly info from sewing machine companies, BILLS, notices of changes, notices of meetings, notices of this, notices of that . . .

I have papers EVERYWHERE - the break room, my office, my home office, in my tote/briefcase, the kitchen counter, everywhere. One of my resolutions for the month of January is to somehow regain control of all this paper and get rid of the piles laying almost everywhere.

Remember when computers came into vogue? How they were going to make us a paperless society? HA! Now I have tons of information in the computer and still have tons of paper everywhere else - who trusts the computer enough to throw all the paper away????

Like you, I watch all those organization shows, I read the articles in the magazines and I try to follow what they say. I stand over the recycling bin while looking at the mail - just how much junk mail does one person really need to get? - and bills go into the Jim pile (oops, that's how piles start!), stuff I need to look at goes in the Debbie file and another pile is for the shredder. Then I'm bored with that and I walk away, leaving the piles to be dealt with later. There's mistake number one.

The problem is, most of this stuff can't be thrown away. It's stuff that needs to be held onto so it can be referred back to, or paid, or a phone call is needed, or something and then your office ends up looking like this.

So last week I took the tiger by the horns (that saying can't be right) and tackled the office at the store. Papers, papers everywhere - some went into the recycling but most were sorted and put into one HUGE pile to be filed - there's that mistake number one again!

Yesterday I did better at the home office. I kicked Jim out of one of the drawers in the file cabinet at home and started sorting. Most of the four piles I had spread around my computer went into file folders & kept.

I still have to tackle piles on the kitchen counter and in the sewing room. Jim's piles? They are definitely JIM'S problem!

No butler dang it.

If you've been following the http://www.myquiltvillage.com/ blog, you'll know that I wanted a butler for Christmas. No butler was under my tree, nor has one shown up yet. I've given up & resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to have to organize my sewing room myself. UGH!

But think about it for just a minute. A butler sounds like a way out, crazy idea but - do you really like organizing your kitchen cabinets? Can you REALLY find that piece of paper that absolutely has to be mailed today? Do you really like cooking EVERY night? Is your sewing space as organized as possible? Just looking at Karen Snyder's pictures on her Anna Lena Land blog is enough to make me lock the door to my sewing space and throw away the key. And it WAS really that neat when I visited her last spring. I'm thinking Karen has a butler . . .

I've been psyching myself up to tackle my sewing "studio" and I use that term VERY loosely! - by telling everyone who reads my weekly shop emails how to do theirs. Am I following my own advice, ummmm, NO. I did clean off my cutting table, well cleared a bigger space anyway.

No, I won't be showing you pictures (read the last blog about why would anyone show their messy house on designed to sell) until I shoveled out the junk that I've accumulated. I do like Karen Snyder's organization idea of 30 minutes every day. I just have to force myself to do it.

There are organized sewers who have a place for everything and everything is in it's place. They are far and few between mind you but they're out there somewhere. My new year's resolution is to get the sewing room at least presentable for the furnace guy & the sprinkler system guy who have to wade through it every year to get to the furnace & the electric box.

And I really want to be able to sit down and sew without having to clean something off the sewing table first. Maybe the thought of Lurch from the Adams Family as a butler isn't so bad after all . . . .

Calling Lisa LaPorta!

Why is that when you get the Christmas decorations out, you end up redecorating most of the house? Suddenly curtains that have worked for longer than you want to think about - don't, chairs don't fit where they're supposed to and things that HAVE to be displayed to make it really Christmas, need more room than you have???? How can that be?

Jim & I enjoy watching Designed to Sell on HGTV & like Lisa LaPorta & "Clivey's" shows the best. And would someone tell me WHY ANYONE would let their homes be shown on TV in the state some of those are???? My mother would die of embarassment! And I'd never want anyone to see the state of my sewing room - Lisa would spend her $2,000 budget without ever leaving that space!

I was wishing Lisa & Clive would show up at my house for the past few months and tell me just how to get a TV, love seat, couch, end tables & a treadmill into my family room. The problem with the room is the fireplace - one whole wall is bricked, it's gorgeous, we love it but it makes getting everything into the space not an easy task. Double windows take up a huge hunk of the second wall, the third "wall" is a huge opening into the kitchen - leaving one full wall to put furniture on. Of course that wall is directly across from the double windows meaning the light reflects off the TV . . . .

Of course Lisa would just take out the TV, arrange the furniture with the fireplace being the focal point and spent $400 on accessories - but Jim would have a meltdown over the no TV. So for two years we've been looking for a corner TV unit. Have we found one that would fit into the 46" we have? NO!!!!

This all came to a head this year as my Santa collection sat in boxes waiting for the mess we've ignored in the family room to be resolved & an "inherited" (meaning a piece of furniture one of the kids no longer had room for but didn't want to get rid of) ended up in our family room while I was in TX. This entertainment unit is huge and DID NOT fit in the 46". I lived with it for a month, then said it's got to go. We moved it down to Sara's bedroom where it is still HUGE but thankfull out of my sight for the moment!

Back to the stores looking for a corner TV unit. No luck. We tried bureaus, tables - nothing worked. Finally last night Jim took the old TV unit that was too big down to his workshop, cut some of it off, put the side back on & it fits perfectly.

The Nativty & my Santas are displayed, Christmas can come now.

Christmas Shopping for Myself

I grew up in Massachusetts. My Dad watched baseball , which meant the Sox and Yaz, and football when the Pats still played in Boston. Soccer hadn't take the US by storm back them, the Celtics I don't remember much and we didn't start watching hockey until Bobby Orr arrived at the Boston Garden - how's THAT for dating yourself!

Yesterday was the first day you could buy Red Sox tickets. I've been saying for years now that I wanted to go back to Boston to watch a Red Sox game. Yup, I am a life long Red Sox fan living in Yankee country. It makes for some interesting conversations during baseball season! I can't quote you statistics, but I know if they've won or lost and let me tell you, until the last six or seven years, they lost more than they won. I can name most of the players, but not all and I can't tell you who is pitching when.

BUT I love to go to Fenway. I've been to other stadiums and there very nice but the seats I can afford are so far away from the field, watching on TV is better. Fenway Park is the oldest baseball park in the US. It's small, crowded and yes, there are poles in the way of a bunch of seats. But it has something not many other ball parks have anymore - character and history. Here's some Fenway trivia for you - the first official game played in Fenway Park was April 20, 1912 - the Sox beat the Yankees (back then called the Highlanders!)

We did make it to a game this September. Our boys bought us tickets and we talked my older brother & sister-in-law into going with us. (Didn't take much talking, Laurel said yes and Sooky had no choice!) This is Laurel with Tim Wakefield in Yawkey Way before the game. We had a great time and I decided then & there, no more excuses, at least one game every year from now on.

So that's how one computer at the store was tied up yesterday trying to get chosen randomly to buy tickets to see the Twins (Jim is from Minnesota) play in April. Jim kept on long after our boys had given up and was rewarded! Four tickets are ours! I am sure Sooky complained about how cold it will be in Fenway in April - but we skipped over him and went straight to Laurel - who said "We're In!" He'll grump, but he'll go and give us a running commentary on stats and players & we'll eat ice cream even though it's freezing - cuz we're from New England & ice cream is a way of life. We'll just drink cocoa with it!

So that was all the Christmas shopping I did yesterday. Cards aren't written, all the gifts aren't made but I have Red Sox tickets, the kids are all coming home for Christmas - it will be a good one!

Till next time.

Gifts & There's Still Time

I am convinced there is still time to make things for gifts. Now some people call this a state of denial but I prefer to think of it as optimism!

I have the kids' significant others to think about this year. Sara's Brian is easy and done, can't say what we're giving him since Sara just may read this and she'll blab. The two others, Stephanie and Stefanie, will take a little more thought but I will be making them each a Teeny Tiny Tote and probably putting in a gift certificate to somewhere for them. These are the perfect size to hold a cell phone, license, a credit card or two and a bit of cash. My friend Sandy made mine & I use it when shopping, going to baseball games (I didn't take my phone into Fenway!) and any time I want my hands free.

I made my Mom some kitchen towels with fabric cuffs - every kitchen can always use new dish towels! Her wish was no clothes this year - so what the heck do you get then???? I'm probably also going to make her a Teeny Tiny Tote and stick a Barnes & Noble gift certificate in it since she loves to read.

The nephews always get new pillowcases of the weirdest, whackiest fabrics I can find. I fill the slot of crazy aunt very well there! Pillowcases are a great gift for teenagers who seem to want things you've never heard of . . . Pillowcases also make great wrapping for larger, bulkier packages. We have some great kits on the website.

I'm going to make some Potato Chip Bags for friends. It's another pattern from my friend Sandy Brawner. It's not too big, not too small & has two pockets inside so you can actually find things when you want them.

My boys are the quandry. Self supporting & no longer in need of Mom and Dad to fill in gaps of things they need & can't afford - ok there are some things they want & can't afford but neither can their parents! - it's hard to find things they haven't gone out & bought for themselves. And since they live in PA, it's easier for them to "forget" my rule of no buying personal stuff in December! When they left after family pictures yesterday, it was with the sound of their mother's voice ringing in their ears that she'd better have a Christmas list in the next couple of days or they were getting coal. We'll see how effective that threat was.

There is plenty of time to still make gifts. The making of the gifts is the easy part - the carving out of the time to do it is harder!

Till next time.

A Date with 8

No, that isn't the same thing as my friend Kris at Cozy Cottage wrote about in her blog last week! Jim & I went to Hartford CT for a Bernina training on the new 830 sewing machine - Kris had a little more excitement with her date with 8, but I think that's excitement I can do without! You can find a link to Kris' blog on the left.


Hartford is about 4 hours from us & we could have gone there or to Baltimore - BUT by going to CT, I got a chance to spend the day with my friend from grade school, Betsey. In Baltimore I would have been in the hotel room working on samples - absolutely no thinking time needed for that destination decision! (I bought shoes and Betsey & I had our make-up done - what a hoot!)

This is the room full of anxious Bernina dealers waiting for Jill, the Bernina trainer, to tell us we could touch the machines. We were lucky, when we earned the incentive trip to Switzerland, we were given an 830 early, so we've had the machine in the shop for a month or so & have been able to play. Some in the room were seeing the machine for the first time.

(I like to sit up the back at these things, but I think when Jill saw our name tages, she assigned us seats up front where she could keep an eye on Jim, who loves to tease her.)

The training team & education departments have been hard at work making samples & had displays across the front of the room.

The tempation to take that birth announcement home with me, was almost too much to resist! It was really cute & I have all good intentions of making one for the shop . . . .

This is a piece of the tote bag we were supposed to be making at training. As usual, I came home with pieces of something & not a finished project. I have good intentions of actually finishing the tote bag but it will probably be pieces of it displayed for awhile!

We also started a computer cozy - yes, started. Another project that will be pieces . . . .

The whole purpose of the trainings - besides getting to see friends that you usually don't see! - is to get familiar with the machine, have a district meeting & go over new promotions, new marketing, etc, etc, etc. We are really supposed to go home & actually make the sample pieces into the project . . . .

The 830 is an AWESOME machine. It's big, with tons of room between the needle & the side of the machine, it's FAST & really easy to use. I was very sad when Roger, our district manager, said that our Swiss trip machines would have to go back to be updated and they would replace it with a new one. I don't want a new one!

Jim spent Thurs in sales training with me, then on Friday and Saturday, went to tech training where he was FINALLY able to take the machine apart and see what made it tick. The tech room is a frightening place to a non techie - lots of naked machines with people hooked to them by tiny wires attached to their wrists. Quite frankly, I don't want to know how or why it works, I just want it work!

That's Ernie hiding behind a machine on the left.

And this is Jim with Tom from Patchworks Plus in NY. Tom bragged while we were in Switzerland about flour from a local mill & how wonderful it was. He brought 5 pounds to training for me so I could try it. I'll let you know on Monday how it compares to my favorite King Arthur flour.

Till next time.