day one over

We got to westpoint this morning just after 8.30 and rushed around like mad things trying to get the stand looking half way decent.  Luckily Joan and I have set up stands before so can work together easily without getting in each others way.  We didn't even know what time the show opened, thankfully it was 10am so we did have enough time to get quite a bit done.  My lovely husband called in to give us a bit of support and to tell us, yet again, that we had not set up the stand properly.  When I explained why we had set up in our own way he told me that he had worked in marketing for years and knew better - we hope to prove him wrong.  We sent him off shopping for refreshments as he is very good at that.

Day started off slow which was a bit worrying but got better as the day went on and we met quite a few of our customes along with a lot of new ones.  Anne Baxter was shopping and if anyone sees her you should ask about the lovely tasteful fabric she was buying at the time. 

We also met the ladies from the Taunton shop along with other stall holders oh and before I finish I should just say that we are definitely not closing the shop.  Bizarrely some of our customers were telling us we were closing - this is news to us and is definitely not in our plan, unless Joan is already fed up with me and I know that if she was she would tell me in no uncertain terms.

Sorry no photos this time, I didn't take my camera and tried to take some on my phone but can't send them on which is really annoying (just another technical problem that I will have to overcome).

Tomorrow I am in the shop and Joan has a new partner (maybe she is fed up with me)! So go and say hello to her and Trish - who is much more polite than I am

Debby

Panic & depression

Realised how totally unready we are for the show.  Went to set up this afternoon with my lovely husband and realised that everybody else (who have obviously being doing shows for years) were much more organised with hanging things, shelving, twiddly bits etc.  Our two sad little tables and plug socket looked a bit rubbish and even our colourful fabric could not lift the mood.  We dashed back for an extra table (which Chris then decided to tell me that he had given away so we then went over to Joans house to pick up a shelving unit which I had forgotten to ask Chris to get on the way over, only to find that Joan's husband had been home and locked the garage which Joan had specifically left open so that we could get the shelf (would not like to be in his shoes later).  So we grabbed an old garden table from Joan's garden before the neighbours decided we might be burglars.
Chris then spent the rest of the day telling me how we needed to this and that and how we should have thought about it all earlier until all I could hear was blah blah blah. 

So if you see two stressed women in a bare corner of the show please come and talk to us.

Debby

Panic

Not written on the blog for a while - we have been running round like headless chickens getting ready for Westpoint show which starts on Friday. 

Joan thinks she has RSI from cutting and folding fabric for the last week and I arrived in the shop this morning to be confronted with a huge pile of new fabric to cut and fold which seemed to take all day so I think she is probably right.  Not as bad as last week when Joan was at a class and a delivery van arrived with a large package and said he had another three boxes in the van, I nearly fainted.  My plan was to get it cut before Joan got back, the lovely Ann Mclaren was in the shop so she offered to pick Joan up to give me more time but there was not a chance I could sort it out.  Luckily the fabric was so lovely it was not a problem and I am sure that we ordered the range together.  I think that I am getting paranoid!

Annoyingly we have another load of fabric on the way but it won't arrive until after the show - hopefully we will sell so much that we will need it to fill the shelves.

If you have any of the Musgrove squares don't forget to get them back to us by the end of April (not long to go) its lovely to see them all

Debby

Memory quilt update

We have given out loads of memory quilt packs and I thought it might  be really interesting for some of you to see what other people have done
                                               

I apologise as I am not sure who these squares belong to and I hope they don't mind us using them to help others.

These two squares depict the 60's and are completely different

These two squares are also completely different - one stitched and the other attaching a card of button thread

 Close up of stitching on 40's square

As soon as I saw this it reminded me of being a child racing up and down with my brother and sisters.


So for those of you that are not sure what to do the answer is anything that reminds you of the era you have chosen and it can be whatever you like.  I hope this helps but you are always welcome to ring us.

We have also been running our workshops for a while now and thought it would be nice to show what the Beginners group got up to







Elaine working away at her first quilt




Jeans log cabin - first of many




Nicky's Union Jack cushion - not quite completed



Another view of Elaine's quilt



Sarah's first cushion - she managed to make 2 on the day  



These are just a few examples of what everyone achieved. 











Our Beginner`s workshop last Saturday went well and everyone seemed pleased with what they produced.  Several people went home with more than one cushion, and several more came into the shop on Monday to buy fabric to make another one!  Elaine produced a quilt top which everyone was very impressed with - not bad for a beginner.  Jean and Jenny both went for log cabin, Sarah, Teresa, and  Denise a stripe with an appliqued flower, Ellen made a combination of squares and stripes - she got so carried away that she popped out at lunch time to buy more fabric for another one!
Nicky did her own thing and made a union jack which we all loved.

The next workshop is Cathedral Window, Debby is beavering away at the samples and muttering something about whose idea was this - it was hers!  Life is too short for cathedral window as far as I am concerned.

Our Thursday morning classes are going well.  We are making a sampler quilt using a variety of techniques - watch this space for progress.

Inundated

I think that we (I) may have had a few mad moments as fabric keeps being delivered and an emergency trip was needed to Ikea to get another Billy bookcase to put it in - Joan rang me when she was in the shop on her own saying that boxes were being delivered and what were we going to do with it, also asking what had I ordered now!!  Oops

Just got the shop sorted when another delivery arrived on the Friday. I  came in on Saturday to find more fabric still wrapped in plastic, which there is no room for on the shelves, so we now have decorative groupings leaning against the shelf units. 

In March we have yet more fabric arriving in time for the Quilt show in Exeter so you may not be able to get in the shop towards the end of the month.

Sunday I went to the NEC for the trade show - unfortunately Joan could not go so I took my husband.  Last year Joan and I went and I managed to spend the first hour wandering round the show with the zip of my trousers undone (mortifying -  I wondered why people were looking at me when we were walking towards the hall after calling into the loo) and only realised when talking to a young lad who worked for Panduro, anyway that poor lad, and indeed Panduro were not at the show this year so he/they are probably still recovering.  This year I was happily looking around the show with my husband in tow who half way through the visit told me to stop putting my glasses on my head as I was showing my roots!!!   I still managed to spend some money, and ordered 17 rolls of shot fabric, and about 15 rolls of ribbon, and oh yes some red, white and blue buttons for the royal wedding (haven`t told Joan yet!) 

This morning as we turned up to work and a Fedex man was loitering at the shop door waiting to deliver the 17 rolls of fabric, plus another 17 rolls which I didn`t order.  Unfortunately Joan was there, she refused to go to her class until she had seen who the delivery was from, the 17 rolls were okay but the others had to go back!

Sorry once again we have no photographs, so our new resolution is to take more photographs - we promise!

Picture

Worked out how to add picture - hooray.  I won't mention that I used to teach I.T. - I have not retained any information in my head from my old job and it is incredibly frustrating.  Anyway this is Peter's picture as mentioned in previous blog and no you are not seeing double I have just added it to the top of our page

Classes and workshops

We are now up and running with the classes and workshops.  Our first was log cabin with Anne Baxter which went really well, everybody was happy with what they achieved.  Joan is now running a class on Thursday morning and they all came back the following week so another success. I have held my first workshop which I think went well - I had a lovely group which consisted of Linda and Rose who sounded just like Les Dawson and Roy Barraclough (without the huge boobs) and were entertaining.  Everybody produced lovely work  - Julie a gorgeous patchwork cushion, Lyn finished her batteberg quilt, Linda a stunning cushion of her own design and Rose a chicken cushion with bags of character.   Next time I will take a camera as it would have been nice to have pictures of the day although I hope that everyone will bring their completed work into the shop.

We had had to get another shelf unit for the shop as we are running out of room, Joan rang today to say that we have had another two boxes delivered and wasn't sure what to do with it -not panicking at the moment as we need plenty of stock for the quilting show at Westpoint which is at the end of March.  So if you can't get into the shop next week you know why.




Just one of the pictures taken by Peter

Last Saturday Peter Duce and his wife visited the shop, Peter is a photographer and he has taken some really nice photos of the shop and is happy to work with us to take more which is brilliant.  We are also making his wife a quilt, our first commission so things just get better.  The picture of the shop is much clearer and he has also managed to get rid of the 'For Sale' sign leading to some cottages behind us so this should stop people thinking we are already selling up (hopefully).  Trying to put the photo on the blog but can't work out how to open it!!!!