Four Years Already!

First of all, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ALL OF US!

To all of our fabulous customers who have walked through the the doors of The Quilter's Inn in the past four years, a HUGE thank you! We couldn't have done it without you. Plus how much fun would it be if we were just hoarding all of this fabric, and you didn't come see us? We have the very best customers. Neenar.

And so we say, Let them eat cake! Starting tomorrow morning, please stop by and enjoy a piece of cake and a chat. AND a discount on your entire purchase. Our in-house guru, the wonderful Margaret Linderman (or Linderperson for a more neutral last name), came up with the idea of saving all our bolt end strips and rolling them into a ball. Well, the idea snowballed (pardon us, we just can't help ourselves), and we have a rather large Bolt-End Ball.

ARE YOU FEELING LUCKY? If you have been in lately and guessed The Ball's weight, good luck. We will be picking a winner and the prize is a $100 gift certificate. Woo hoo! So stay tuned for a photo of the final weigh-in (remember those technical difficulties we mentioned?). We think you'll be surprised. Kind of like, what's lighter than a watermelon but heavier than a hummingbird? Huh? The BIG BOLT-END BALL!

AND it gets better. You're all invited to join the Stripper Club. Everyone who walks in will be handed a strip from the ball with a percentage marked on it. That will be the discount for your entire purchase, and it will be more than the regular guild discount. :) So come on in and get happy. What makes you happier than fabric? OK, so after your cake you can go get ice cream to make it a perfect day.

Either before or after your stop here, make sure you take a drive down to Alden Lane Nursery for Quilting in the Garden. If you've never been, it is a great two-day event organized by the always wonderful Alex Anderson, whose special guests this year include Joen Wolfrom and Melinda Bula, and fellow teracher Cindy Needham. Check it out at www.aldenlane.com/stitch.html.

NEW FABRIC FLASH: Beautiful new collection from Westminster called Daisy Chain from Amy Butler; Moda Collection for a Cause by Howard Marcus, and Charisma Layer Cakes and Jelly Rolls that are just all gorgeous.

So y'all stop by to see us, hear? And by the way, welcome back to our blog. We apologize for the huge gap in time.

Field Trip

Jane and I have been having too much fun to blog. So sorry. We just got back from a week at Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar Conference Center. We ended up in class together with rockin' Rosemary Eichorn, collage artist, teacher, and lecturer extraordinaire. We learned a ton.

If you've never been, we highly recommend it. If you start putting aside about $50 every two weeks you can go next year, and it is totally worth it. Just think--no shopping, menu planning, cleaning, cooking for vie whole days. The beach is right across the street. And you are in the company of quilters and master teachers. It is almost too much fun.

For five glorious days we showed up for class at 9 a.m. and stayed until at least 4 p.m. Rosemary is a generous teacher, and introduced us to a huge variety of techniques to use on our unique quilts. We played with Angelina and Crystalline fibers, painted Tyvek and used heat to make it bubble and shrink, and foiled to our heart's content. Shiva Paintstiks, fabric paints, fusible film, you name it, we tried it. We bravely went where we had not been before, and had a blast in class. And while we worked Rosemary often read snippets from some of her favorite books about creativity.

I have to admit to being a bit cross-eyed today at work. Last night I woke up at 2 a.m. (it's a funny time of life, if you know what I mean), and started reading Writing Down the Bones. It's a book Natalie wrote about the process of writing, and I couldn't put it down. I read til 4:30 a.m., then woke up and couldn't wait to either write or quilt. I worked a bit more on the quilt I started in Rosemary's class. It's a "vision quilt" that will help me through the process of writing my first novel. Yes, it's about quilters. Among the photos is a shot of a cottage where my main characters meet for a romantic weekend. Stay tuned.

Jane finished her table runner, and it is gorgeous. Photo to come. Stop in to see it, OK? In the meantime, here are some scenes from the past week. Come see us and we'll tell you more.

Our UPS guy, Shane, has been busy bringing us boxes. Some of the newest attractions include Eric Carle's The Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar from Andover; new designs by Dena Fishbein; Budda Party by Free Spirit; Anna Griffin's Sierra; and we restocked on lots of our favorite Kaffe Fasset's. Stop by and we'll also tell you more about Asilomar.

Fabric Musings

Hello all you wonderful quilters!

The fabric seems to be coming in faster than a a home run king sliding onto home plate. Yes, the start of baseball season is quickly approaching, and many people we know and love are knee-deep in fantasy baseball league drafts. If you have no idea to what we are referring, that's a good thing. All I know is that there is a feeling of frenzied anticipation amongst the males in my house. And I am not going to reveal who our favorite team is; you might track us all down and do a drive-by egging. All I know is that I can't wait to go to a game and eat! Hot dogs and peanuts and cotton candy, oh my!

Kudos to you if you are right there with him on the couch cheering on your favorite team. But if you want to escape the drone of the TV you know The Quilter's Inn is the perfect place to get away. Bring your machine and stay a spell.

On to some of the new fabrics--and patterns! Under the heading Just Too Cute is Moda's Backyard Safari collection. Orange, and of course lime green, are the new hot colors, and combined with bugs and more bugs this line is a sure to be a hit. Spring pillowcases!

How much do we love Jelly Rolls? We have a new debut--Wee Play--from one of our local favorite quilters, Sandy Klop. There are Jelly Rolls and charm square packs.

When the Za Za rolls from Moda came in we knew they would go fast. Think dusty purples, olive greens, butterscotch/caramel, and rusty reds. Nice allover large floral with cream accents, medium scale paisleys, dots, and a geometric print. Very fun.

Other new arrivals include patterns from local designer Lori Lott's Uptown Girl Quilts company. We have Bursting Buds, Thymes Square, and Sunday Picnic. Lori was kind enough to leave a few of her quilts here; stop in and see them soon.

And, for as long as they last (the ink is barely dry before they're gone) there is a small pile of the newest Quilter's Home magazine right up front. And there was a great surprise! Right there on page 77, just three pages after a recipe for Mark's Grandma's Potato Gnocchi (YUM!, one of my favorite things), is a review of my (Cyndy's) newest book written with Lynn Koolish, Innovative Fabric Imagery for Quilts. Thanks Mark! And he doesn't even know yet that he's a pin-up boy here in the store. Come in and find him (excluding the obvious one shown above) for a 10% discount on one item.

Glorius Spring

Has the weather been fantastic or what? Every year I forget how much sooner spring arrive here on the West coast. We moved here from Massachusetts ten years ago, and on April Fools Day that year it snowed 36"! So I fully appreciate the fact that the birds are singing, there are buds on many trees, and the daffodils are opening.

Today my friend Sheryl and I went for a walk up behind Westminster House off Hemme Ave in Alamo. There is a little parking area; check it out. If you have a dog, you can let him off leash. Today Ruby, Sheryl's dog, looked like she was just having a ball. The brook is gurgling again after having been "turned off", and there are buds everywhere. It was just what I personally needed to renew my spirits after that long rainy season.

Sheryl let me borrow her camera. I took a lot of shots, but these are my favorites.

I'm not so great at what I used to refer to as the "A" word, but which I now think is pretty wonderful. Our fabulous applique artists and friends Verna Mosquera and Laura Fraga are so inspiring. Laura has given me many tips, and I am getting bolder as a result. The branch of white and yellow flowers shown here may just have to be a quilt.

Stop in and see us soon. New fabric arrives just about every day. In the meantime, try a walk on the Iron Horse Trail. It's just too beautiful to be inside.

Most of all, have fun!

Road to California

We realize it's been a few weeks since Road to California took place down south in Ontario, but figured you might be interested in seeing some photos. If you've never been, it is well worth the trip. What road trip that is quilt-centered isn't worth it? A change of scene does a body good.

It was huge, like Pacific International huge. There were almost as many vendors as there were quilts, and it was packed. Your intrepid reporters stayed from about 11 a.m. til it closed at 6 p.m. and had a blast. Funny how I ended up with a cast on my left wrist after the show. It would have come in so handy while fighting our way through the crowds.

You'll see from the photos that I was attracted to bright quilts. Next year I'll be more careful about taking photos of a greater variety of quilts.

A huge round of applause for Linda Schmidt of Dublin, whose waterfall quilt won a third place ribbon. Her work is exquisite in it's detail and use of materials. Congratulations Linda!

Uh oh, time to go. So I'll let these photos tell the rest of the story.

Until next time, as always thanks for your support.

Love (of fabric) is in the air!

My how time flies. How can it possibly be February? No matter, because there is a lot to look forward to this month. The fabrics that we ordered at fall Quilt Market are beginning to roll in, with lots more to come. Coming to your favorite quilt store are organic cottons, and some really cute fabric based on the story The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

Check out a beautiful new collection from Benartex called City Girl. Think contemporary, chic big flowers with peach, rose, green, blue-green, and brown mixed in. These would work well in quilts that feature some larger pieces. Come in and we can brainstorm with you.

As you walk in the door look to your left at our Valentine's Corner. Make some pillowcases, or try one of our kits. We also have some adorable retro tea towels from Moda--Better Than Sliced Bread, as the tag says. Moda also offers a Charm Square pack designed by Deb Strain called "All You Need Is Love"--whip up a Borsa bag with these. Don't know what a Borsa bag is? Come find out. It's an easy purse you'll want to make many times over.

Love batiks? At least ten new bolts just walked in the door (and are they tired--all the way from Bali); these include a couple of really great reds (one with cream polka dots), and a nice light blue for sky if you are into landscape quilts.

In the "Why Didn't I think of That?" category is a cool new tool called the Side Winder. Wind bobbins without having to use your machine. And it's portable! I want one, don't you?

And before you leave don't forget to check out our Odds and Ends corner where you'll find deeply discounted patterns, books, kits, quilts, etc.

Did you see the truly wonderful article about Jane and the Quilter's Inn in the Contra Costa Times Danville section this week? Many thanks to writer Elaine Schmitz and photographer Jim Stevens.

Cyndy Rymer, who works here on Fridays and is often the author of this blog, has a new website. Check her out at cyndyrymer.com.

Oops, gotta go, Kim needs the computer. Hopefully it won't be so long til we chat again.

Brand New Year

Thought you caught us napping, did you? C'mon now, you know us all better than that! It's just all those fabulous holidays, plus reorganizing the shop, a new puppy, and before we knew it it was January 15th! How did that happen? I'm sure you can all relate... right?

So there are a couple of really great things to blog about. Drum roll, please! If you don't already know, The Quilter's Inn was chosen by Better Homes and Gardens to be one of the top ten quilt stores for the Spring Quilt Sampler! Whoooo hooo!!!

And now you have to be very impressed with how long we were able to keep this a secret! We had a visit in October from Nancy and Elizabeth and two photographers (sorry guys, can't remember your names) from Better Homes and Gardens. They spent most of an entire day with us, and were absolutely delightful. So stay tuned for the release in May. You can pre-order your copy now by calling or emailing us. How fun is that?

Then right around Christmas Jane went online to a site for long-haired dachsunds, and fell instantly in love. And she wasn't the only one, but some of us already have a dog, or cats, or...Anyway, it wasn't long before Dash arrived. He is just adorable, as his photos will show. He isn't exactly a store dog, but he does make frequent visits. One day you might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of him. He gives great kisses!

So we can't do a blog without mentioning fabric. So many new deliveries! Our UPS guy, Shane, never complains about all of the boxes he has been bringing us, and always greets us with a smile. We chuckle over the fact that he always wears shorts, even in the last huge rainfall. He's extremely good natured.

So the newest beauties include lots of Kaffes, Valori Wells' Sole Flannel bright flannels (think quilt backs, pajama bottoms, nightgowns), and the Laurel line from Moda. Just gorgeous!

Bonnie Roach was just here and bought pieces of the new Party line from Makower UK. She's planning to make Diana and Laura's Party Time Table Runner (From Me to You patterns) to use whenever her grandchildren visit for their birthdays.

One last thing, and then we'll save some info for the next blog. And hopefully it won't be so long til the next one. Stay tuned, and check out our newsletter and classes on our website.

Cheers, and thanks for your support during the holidays, and always. We appreciate every one of you--yes, you know who you are.