The Big News of the Day

Big News!
Periwinkle Quilting has been around now for just over 15 years!

and the time has come for it to get a new owner! I have enjoyed so many aspects of this business -- most of all the creativity and joy that quilting adds to one's life. I experience it with every project I tackle, and am inspired by every photo I see, and each project that customers share. The second major blessing from this 15 year project has been interacting with both customers and the staff. Some of each have been around since the very beginning!

It is with real pleasure that I am handing over the store to Patti Erikson-Reynolds, who has recently had a bit if a break from being in the shop, but has over ten years working at the store. However, her real talent has been shopping for fabric, and she has over 20 years experience with that! she has had a longarm for the past several years, and has quilted a large numbers of the samples that you might have seen in the shop.
I am pretty excited to see what she has planned! I am sure that we will see her personality shine through in the fabrics and kits she will choose to stock in the future.
I am also happy to report that the current staff will largely stay the same, so you will be assured of their continued excellent service.

Which brings us to the topic of my "departure"...... I will be holding on to one aspect of the business-- Longarm Lucey! I am currently looking at various locations to set up a studio for her in Saskatoon. It will be a longarm rental service, and I might even venture into doing a bit of quilting for customers too! If you have any prepaid hours, they will just be applicable to Lucey wherever she is in Saskatoon. If you have any concerns or questions about the new location, just let me know, and I can give you more information. I have twisted Nancy's arm to come and help me in this new venture, too! Hooray!

which brings us to the topic of some Sales!
From now until the switcheroo, which should be around mid to late December, I will be offering some sales with two goals in mind. First, I want to celebrate that it's been pretty great to have the customers that we have walk through the door, and try to thank you by offering some great deals. Secondly, I want to get the inventory slimmed down a bit so that Patti has more leeway to bring in a whole whack of fresh stuff that will reflect her outlook.

It has been a great adventure! Now it's time to go on another journey.

Milagros embroidery and New Classes

Yesterday I started an embroidery that is all in backstitch, (with just a few french knots). 

 I was inspired by the work of Yumiko Higuchi,

you can see lots of her stuff on her Pinterest boards, here

She seems to cover a whole piece of fabric with motifs, like this:

and then either frame it or use the fabric to make another item: such as these bags:

So, I drew out some motifs onto one of my fat quarters of Essex Linen, using a blue ink pen that disappears when it gets wet.  

  

 I had about 4 hours yesterday to stitch, so I was able to get a pretty good start on it.

 

Sometimes in redwork embroidery you use backstitch for more detailed pictures, and stem stitch when you want a heavier line, 

Anyway, the way of having the motifs randomly spread out over the surface reminded me of Milagros, the little motifs that many south americans use for prayer.  they sometimes fix them to a cross or a heart, as reminders of what to pray for,

The back of the piece, for whoever is interested......

 CLASSES!

As I was stitiching, I started to  think that it would be lots of fun to have a class at the store based on embroidery stitches!  (My mind is in overdrive right now as I am thinking of our new store space).  

It's been about 4 years since we had a whole variety of classes, since we just haven't had a dedicated space for a classroom.  However, in our new space there is a full basement (2000sq.ft!) and surely we will carve out a large sewing room.  So, now my brain is churning about what sort of classes we might offer.....  If there is something you've been hankering to take a class in, let me know!!

Planning!

Well this is me in a hotel in Chicago, we're here for a few days for Richard to attend a conference

It is pretty overcast and dreary and slushy

Yesterday I went in several stores, not to shop for stuff, but to look at their displays and fixtures!  Yes, my brain is accumulating a bulliten board of ideas for our new store space!

I am looking forward to picking up the keys when I get back to Saskatoon and just spending some time in the space, getting a feel for the size and the possibilities! 

One thing is for sure, those rows of lights have got to go!

Planning the new store space

I mentioned in an email to the mailing list and on the store web-site that we will be moving in February, but I realize that I haven't mentioned it here on the blog. 

We are coming to the end of our lease at Grosvenor and have found a new spot on Broadway Avenue!

It is right between the Nutana Bakery (!!!) and Extra Foods.  Most recently it housed a computer place, but before that it was a Credit Union.

It has some parking out front, but a really great twelve space parking lot at the rear of the building just for us!

These are the before photos , we will be doing some pretty big changes to the space.  It is very exciting, 

The area is a bit larger than we have now, but there is also a full basement where we hope to have a great big sewing room!

There is lots to do-- lighting, signage, taking out some walls, but it will be a lot of fun to re-vamp our look,