Stitchin’ Heaven Howdy

I feel like such a star! Last night I was the “featured guest” in the chat room of The Quilt Show and I am going to have to admit to you that I was a bit nervous! First of all, the time was set at “9:00 Eastern and 6:00 Pacific”. That meant I had to figure out what time the chat was scheduled for in my time zone, Central. I figured it out very quickly but there was this nagging in the back of my brain “What if you are wrong???” How embarrassing it would be to miss my own featured guest chat session!

Fortunately I did not miss it and I had a blast talking to some 25 guests about owning and running a quilt shop. These people were so, so neat. They showered me with compliments about Stitchin’ Heaven and asked some really darn good questions. Some of these included things like:

• So Deb, tell us how you came to own your shop?
• Is it something you should do because you love quilting or business?
• Can you make a decent living owing a shop? and how long might it take until you can pay yourself?
• Deb, on your website, it says something about “reserving the cabin” ? Tell me.
• Can you give us an idea of how much capital you need to open a shop?
• Is the $50 to start, or goal? I’ve heard start with $30 and work up to $50
• Deb, do you know what is the avg. sales/square foot for an indep. quilt shop? I have figures for chains like Joann & Hancock, but it’s hard to pin down for a LQS
• So how do you do your income projections for your business plan?
• Do you have a philosophy about how you choose what to stock it seems like some lqs follow a type of quilting style in their product line and you seem to have a wide variety?
• Do you find patterns to promote the sale of the fabric you want to get rid of?
• How is the internet for adding to the sale of store fabrics?
• Do you offer classes at your shop as well?
  
  

…and many other very good questions. The chat lasted an hour and at the end I told everyone how much I enjoyed visiting with them and gave each of them a coupon for $15 in merchandise from the store.

It was a real treat. If you have not yet heard about The Quilt Show you should check it out. Alex Anderson and Ricky Timms have joined together to bring us television on the Internet with some darn good quilting shows. There is a membership fee if you want to be able to view the episodes of only $24.95 per series (a series lasts several months). It is well worth it.

Until we meet again, may your days be pieceful!

deb

I stumbled across this while I was surfing around You Tube and just had to share it with all my sewing friends. Click here to start video clip… It is wonderful! Lyrics:

Ohhh the sewing machine, the sewing machine
A girl’s best friend
If I didn’t have my sewing machine
I’d a come to no good end
But a bobbin a bobbin and peddle a peddle
And wheel the wheel by day
So by night I feel so weary that I never get out to play

Ohhh the sewing machine, the sewing machine
A friend in need
If I didn’t having my sewing machine
A wicked life I’d lead
But a bobbin a bobbin and peddle a peddle
And dream about romance
So by night I feel so weary that I never get out to dance

Ohhh the sewing machine, the sewing machine
Me pride and joy
If I didn’t having me sewing machine
I’d a married James McCoy
But a bobbin a bobbin and peddle a peddle
And that’s the end of Jim
‘Cause by night I get so weary I don’t even look good to him

This was the opening scene from a 40s musical starring Betty Hutton who passed away in March at the age of 86. She is most remembered in “Annie Get Your Gun” and “The Greatest Show on Earth”.

Until we meet again, may your dayz be pieceful!

deb

(more)

Dear Deb,

I’m thinking about turning my garage into a sewing room. Any advice you have to offer would be greatly appreciated. Also, any web sites that may help would be great.

Sincerely,
Sewing Room Dilemma

Dear Dilemma,

This is certainly a topic I can help you with! A few years back I had a wonderful sewing studio in a barn. This barn was not connected to my home and I saw an opportunity for a sewing haven. I finished out a room (15 x 23′) in the back of the barn, installed a window air/heating unit and I was in business. You can see details of the finished product on the Stitchin’ Heaven website. You need to spend a good deal of time thinking about how you will be using your room. I suggest you design your room for stations. I have a computer station, for example. I also have an ironing (oops…I mean “pressing”) station, and a cutting station (36 x 48″) in addition to my sewing table (4 x 8′) that houses my sewing machine, embroidery machine, and serger. It also has a place for an additional machine for when I want to invite a friend to sew with me.

I was fortunate to be able to have my cabinets custom built to match these stations. If you are able to do this, I would encourage you to do so. Yes, it costs a bit more but this room is a place you will spend a great deal of time and it is so nice when things work together smoothly. Spend some time thinking about what you want, sketch out your ideas, and save pictures you find in books to take to your cabinet person. Make sure to include dimensions so you don’t end up with drawers that are just a fraction too small. Some suggestions:

• Build a place for cutting mats and large rulers. This can either be under a cabinet to resemble what you would use for cookie sheets in the kitchen, or you might want to have an oversized drawer built just for this purpose. I have had both.
• A drawer for cutting tools – scissors, rotary blades, etc.
• Open shelves for projects – measure your project boxes and make sure these open areas are the right size.
• Open shelves for full bolts of fabric – for times when you find a good deal and can buy those backing fabrics for the future or maybe a bolt of to die for fabric that you have to have the whole bolt.
• A place to press…it is handy for this to be behind where you do most of your sewing so you can simply turn your chair around

If you cannot afford custom cabinets you can do well at IKEA. This is my best suggestion for good and affordable cabinets for a sewing space. I find these products to be well built and many of the things they offer seem to go well with what we are trying to do.

Deb’s Top Ten Suggestions for Sewing Room Layout:

1) Do your homework and be sure you put to writing your ideas as you start to develop them.
2) Buy or design cabinets that will work for you. Is this practical? …a good question to ask when you are putting in cabinets.
3) Have as much natural light in your room as possible in an effort to make it open and airy.
4) Design as much open shelf space as you can. You will never have too much! Closed shelves are limiting and cost more so don’t do them.
5) Lighting, lighting, lighting. Think about your work areas and have plenty of task lighting in them. See my article on sewing room lighting.
6) Have ample electric plugs. If you are pouring a slab, include some in the floor. Don’t forget to wire for a telephone and for high-speed internet so you can watch your favorite quilting shows on your computer.
7) Think about what I call “external entertainment”. Do you like to listen to music or watch movies while you sew? Be sure and provide for a television and CD player with speakers.
Consider your flooring. Carpet will catch threads and pins. I recommend dry flooring like vinyl or even concrete if you have it. You can put down ergonomic rugs where you need to stand to do cutting.
9) Hang your threads on a rack closest to the machine they will be used with. Ruler racks are also a must nearby your cutting station
10) Plan for the future. Consider not only your current needs but also what might be added in the future. You may not have an embroidery machine now but you might some day soon so leave some room for being flexible.

There are many places for you to draw ideas from. My favorite design books can be found on the website. Get these and just go through the pages one at a time dreaming about what YOUR space will be when it is finished. There are also some good websites out there. Probably the most comprehensive list can be found here.

Just for fun you really have to check this out…

Hope this helps you. If you have any questions as you go along, please let me know. Designing a new sewing space is always exciting and fun!

Until we meet again, may your dayz be pieceful!

deb

Don’t you just love all the Christmas in July stuff each year? Not only is it a great time to stock up on some usually pretty incredible deals but it is that mid-year reminder that we will
soon be needing to get out the holly and the tinsel because Santa’s coming! It means you don’t have a great deal of time left to do that sewing you want done for gift-giving and decorating at Christmas so you’d better get going! Here are just a few ideas from Stitchin’ Heaven:

OK…first of all these adorable fabrics have arrived from Moda by Sandy Gervais. They are the best. Holly Jolly. There are about 40 different prints. There is a wonderful panel with her funky kind of style and some great, hip colors for Christmas including a turquoise and a really cool green. There is a stripe that is printed on the bias so you can do some neat stuff with it. We have a few charm packs left too but hurry because they will soon be gone! If you truly do love this fabric and just want a quick put-together you will want to check out the kit we have. Easy, easy…perfect to throw over your sofa during the holidays or to give as a gift. You’ll have everything you need for the top and binding but don’t forget to order some of the yardage for the backing.

One more option for these delightful fabrics is for you to select your own pattern and have a ball being creative in your sewing room. We have a couple of patterns actually from Sandy herself or you might close your eyes really tight and see these fabrics made up some other wonderful way. In any event, you will have fun for sure. Isn’t this gift box pattern just too adorable? And the tablerunner (shown) is made from charm squares! Too cute! Anyway…you need to see more of this stuff. Click on any image to be directed direcly to the website!

We have many more Christmas in July ideas in our current e-newsletter “Hot Flashes”. Here is a link to the latest edition. While you are on our site feel free to register for Hot Flashes and you will have it delivered to your inbox every Friday. We do some amazing things from week to week that we communicate through this e-newsletter so you really don’t want to miss out!

Go sew and have a very merry Christmas! Until we meet again, may your dayz be pieceful!

deb

Stitchin’ Heaven has a wonderful staff. No, Stitchin’ Heaven has an incredible staff…the BEST in the business. Let me tell you about some of them:

This is Linda Vermillion, our store Manager. Linda has been with Stitchin’ Heaven almost from the beginning in one form or another. She started out in about 1997 teaching classes for us. Linda is tremendously talented. She sews and has a really good eye for color. In addition to making custom banners for churches, she handcrafts necklaces that are just beautiful! For more information on how to purchase her necklaces you can contact her at linda@stitchinheaven.com

Sandra Coffey is our Internet Manager – wow, is she ever good! Sandra organizes all of the Block of the Month programs we love so much and keeps everything running smoothly in our Internet Department. Sandra has worked at a quilt shop for a good many years. She came to work for Stitchin’ Heaven just a couple of years ago and we are so fortunate to have her expertise! She sews and enjoys life on the farm with her sweet hubby, Don.

These two crazy girls are our Internet Specialists, Trish and Nichole. Trish is responsible for the weekly Hot Flash. Yep, she’s the one that brings you Weekly Wowzies and “…on the lighter side” every week. She is self-taught when it comes to her Internet saavy and she is quite good at it. Nichole is the oil that keeps the Internet running around Stitchin’ Heaven. She is the one that pulls your orders every morning and makes sure they are packaged in a way sure to please you. Nichole puts together those special touches in your packages that make them so much fun to open.

Mandy processes payments for all our Block of the Month charges as well as Internet orders. Boy, oh boy…is she ever fast! You may not be aware of this but Stitchin’ Heaven processes over 1800 BOM packets each month! That does not incude all of the regular orders that have to be processed. Mandy pays attention to detail and takes great care to be sure your order is charged to your card correctly. And, she has a GREAT meatloaf recipe!

This is Gloria and Mrs. Rosa. They are responsible for packaging all the fabrics in the Block of the Month programs. Gloria also cleans the Bunkhouse for us. And, guess what…Gloria is Mrs. Rosa’s daughter-in-law. Mrs. Rosa does not speak English so she and Gloria have some interesting conversations. Mrs. Rosa is truly one of the mos delightful people you will ever want to meet and she loves Stitchin’ Heaven and takes her job very seriously.

We have others at Stitchin’ Heaven that are so important to our success. I’ll share their photos and details about them another time! Until we meet again, may your days be pieceful!

deb

Clover is one of my very most favorite companies because the sewing tools produced by this Japan-based company are always wonderful. Their flat head pins are unbeatable, the Clover needle threader is a must (especially if you have 40+ eyes!), and the Chaco-liners have become a sewing room staple.

The greatest and newest thing from Clover are the yo-yo makers. A few weeks back my Lazy friend, Joan Hawley – Queen of Lazy Girl Designs wrote this post on this fabulous new tool from Clover:

Here is what Lazy Queen Joan says:

Dear Deb,
What do you suggest – we marked a quilt with the blue water erasable pens – two Fine Point Mark B-Gone Pens. Now some of the marking comes off very easily but some is very difficult. It seems that one pen was different somehow. Hope someone has a suggestion as we do not want to scrub too hard and damage the material.

Thanks,
Too Blue

Dear Too Blue,
Is it possible that you heat set your work by accident? If you did, your markings are now permanent, unfortunately. But, assuming you did not heat set your markings here is what I suggest:

1). Wash the top in clear warm water. It is likely this will remove the blue residue. Fill up your washing machine with tepid (room temperature) or cold water, toss the quilt in, leave the lid up (so it won’t agitate), and let the quilt soak for several hours. Go see a movie. Drain the water and, if you need to wash the quilt, re-fill the washer with clean water and a mild soap. Swish the water if you must, but don’t agitate. That’s too rough a treatment for a hand-made quilt.
2). Be very careful with the detergent you use when you wash a quilt that has been marked with these pens. The pens are wonderful but if you are not careful you will end up with brown marks where the blue ones used to be. The laundry detergent has sodium carbonate in it, that is the ‘fixer’ for the color in the dye. This sodium carbonate, otherwise known as soda ash, can be found in its purest form in Arm & Hammer or any other detergent with whiteners and brighteners. Mountain Mist Ensure (not the vitamin supplement) or Orvis (you don’t need to buy a horse to go along with it) are nice choices.
3). In the future, be sure and keep a spritz bottle of plain water beside your workspace and dampen your project right away so you don’t take the chance of pressing it prematurely! Another good idea is to keep a small bowl of water nearby and use a small, soft watercolor brush to go over the lines as you finish wit them
4). Also, be sure and check the back of the block to be sure the ink has not migrated with the water and shows up on the back!

Scrubbing hard will most likely not impact how much of this ink will come out. Hopefully, a gentle wash in the machine will solve your problems!

Till we meet again, may your days be pieceful!
Deb

**Do you have a question about quilting? If you do, there are other quilters who have the same question! Simply email it to deb@stitchinheaven.com and she will answer it for you!

Dear Deb,
I want to start quilting! A friend of mine quilts and has been doing so for years but she’s not very good at teaching. Can you point me in the right direction please?

Thank you in advance
Just Starting Out

Dear Starting Out,
Thanks for writing in – I’m sure we’ll get loads of answers from happy quilters out there! The first thing I would say is – start small! Don’t try a Double Wedding Ring for your first attempt. What about a lap quilt, a small pillow, or even one of the great purses we are seeing everywhere?
The next thing I would say is – use the best quality fabrics you can afford when you start off, and make sure they’re 100% cotton. You will be putting a great deal of time and effort into your quilts so be sure they are going to withstand the test of time by using good quality fabric. The better fabrics are just more beautiful as well.
The other thing to think about is which pattern you’re going to be using. I started with the Log Cabin, which features strips of fabric placed around a center square. In times gone by, the center square used to be red as a reminder that the hearth is the center of the home. I would recommend Eleanor Burns “Log Cabin in a Day” book. No, you will not make this quilt in a day as the name implies but it is an excellent resource when you first start.
One last suggestion is for you to get acquainted with the gals at your local quilt shop. These ladies will become your best friend and can be a valuable asset when you get in a jam and need some help. They will surely become the support group you need and will offer you encouragement and an eager audience when you finish your projects! Sign up right away for the next beginning quilting class so you will learn the right way to do it from the start. While there are not many rules in quilting, there are a few that need to be followed very closely when you start out. A quilting class will give you the foundation you need in the beginning.
Try to remember that quilting started as a way of recycling fabric, including grain sacks! Our quilting ancestors didn’t color co-ordinate or spend ages deciding on what fabrics went well together – they used what they had. When you think of quilting in this way, it sort of takes the pressure off!

Till we meet again, may your days be pieceful!
Deb

**Do you have a question about quilting? If you do, there are other quilters who have the same question! Simply email it to deb@stitchinheaven.com and she will answer it for you!

As many of you already know, Stitchin’ Heaven is the proud sponsor of The Quilt Show, an on-line community hosted by Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson. The Quilt Show is like Simply Quilts with just one tiny difference: it is television on the Internet. Currently, you can join as a Basic Member (free) or there is a Gold Member ($24.95 per series) that will allow you to view the 1-hour movie. It is great fun and I encourage you to check it out and join! You’ll love it. 

A couple of months ago I was notified that the taping of the new series had been set. It was to be filmed in LeVeta, Colorado (pictured here) and I knew instantly that I wanted to go to see how all of this is done. So, I loaded up with the 3 managers in the shop (Linda, Sandra, and Carol) and we headed to LeVeta via Colorado Springs. We arrived Thursday evening and stayed in Pueblo – about an hour or so from LeVeta. This is a very small but beautiful town full of art and craft shops so it is no wonder that Ricky chose it for a place to live.

Seeing the taping of this very unusual show was educational and fun. The first segment was with a very special lady, Mary Fisher. She is an ambassador to Africa and works with women there. You may have seen the bracelets the women there make with Mary’s guidance featured on Oprah or in Macy’s. They are constructed of beads and this effort brings many jobs to the people there and helps with the economy.

One of the most amazing discoveries I made during this trip is: Ricky and Alex do not use a teleprompter! I was shocked because the dialog they have is so smooth and flawless. I really assumed they wrote out their script before the shows and had it available in front of them at all times. Not so! Alex told me she has an index card with a few cryptic notes on it. Throughout the day I noticed Ricky in the corner pouring over the material and reciting what he was going to say silently to himself.

The crew at The Quilt Show is wonderful as well – very professional with a director and all kinds of camera-type-people (they all have fancy titles but I cannot remember any of them). If you EVER have the opportunity to go to this, I encourage you to do so. Go to the Main Street Diner and have a salad at lunch…yummy!

One of the side trips we took while we were on our trip was to Cripple Creek – a gold mining town with fun, fun stuff to do.  When we drove into town there was this neat little antique shop with an old sewing machine in the window and a sign that said “Antiqued Photos Taken Here.” That was all I needed and we whooped into a parking space, I unloaded the gals and said “Come on…let’s have some fun!”.  We went into the shop and our real personalities came to life.  We had a ball and this was the result. 

Now…about the FREE fabric. The entire month of July we are celebrating the “Home of the Free” with…FREE fabric! If you purchase 3 yards of fabric from us, we will give you a 4th yard FREE. We ask you choose minimum 1 yard cuts but you can feel free to mix and match your purchase. Or, you might want to use this opportunity to stock up on large yardage cuts for your backings and borders. The free fabric won’t be reflected on your invoice when you check out – we will adjust it when we charge your card. This is a great deal so shop early to be sure and get the best fabrics we have available. There are over 125 different collections so we are sure you will find something you like! Visit us on-line today!