Monthly Archives: May 2021

Changes are Happening at Needle & Foot

I have some news for all of you so we will just cut to the chase! I have decided I do not want to have a fabric shop any longer! There, I said it – to all of you – in public – it is no longer just a plan in my head! Ah, that feels better!

Let’s talk about how all of this evolved. Last year, in 2020, I sold a LOT of fabric. Truly – tons and tons of fabric. I should have added up the yardage for you but I am feeling too lazy, so you will just have to take me at my word. When COVID hit and the quarantine was in place, online shopping went through the roof. My small shop went absolutely nuts. (I can’t even imagine how it was for bigger shops!) It took me by surprise, there was no way to plan for this. I scrambled to keep up with demand, bringing in fabric however I could. Of course the fabric manufacturers felt the same spike in demand and within a month or two, so many fabrics were out of stock. I rarely saw this, pre-COVID. There was always availability.

Keeping up with this was hectic but manageable. Basically my little online shop became a full-time gig. For the first time I got a taste of what this would be like if I were to keep it going on a full-time level. It was exciting and tiring at the same time.

Then fall rolled around and I had a momentous birthday – I turned 60! Yeah, I can’t believe it either. It is hard to wrap my head around that number! But when I turned 60, I soon realized I didn’t want to work anymore. It was almost an over-night decision. Actually my decision to open the fabric shop (at the end of 2016) was also a very quick decision. When something feels right, it just feels right.

By closing the shop, I will have more time for other things (obviously!) One thing I noticed after opening the shop was how little time I had for sewing! Kind of ironic, yes? I had thousands of yards downstairs and not a whole lot of time to use them! Once I decided to close the shop, I stopped the flow of new inventory coming in. I have not brought in new inventory since January. Let me say, cancelling all of the outstanding orders was quite freeing. Selecting fabrics, placing orders, keeping track of money spent, unboxing inventory and listing it online is time consuming. Reading about what companies are bringing in new fabric, which designers are coming out with new lines takes time. I had to be on the computer a lot! Like, a lot, a lot, a lot! So this has been the first change I have noticed. Less time on the computer leaves me more time for other things. I have been out in the garden more with Ray which is a total win!

As you know, I love traveling to see my grand children. Each time I do this, I have a wonderful friend, Sophia, who ships my orders. She says she likes doing it but I don’t feel like I can impose on her forever. I want to be able to go up to WA and stay without feeling a twinge of guilt for taking up Sophia’s time.

I suspect some of you have wondered what was going on. I have some very loyal reader/shoppers and my inventory has decreased with no new pieces being added. Well, now you know why! The existing inventory will be sold off (at great prices) and I will be moving on to new adventures.

I want to spend more time participating in QAL’s (like the upcoming Positivity QAL), more time making Mercyful Quilts, and more time making garments. Blogging is still in the mix and I hope to be more focused on it – both writing posts and reading your posts.

Having the shop was really a great experience. All of you were so supportive and I am so grateful for that. It has been fun to put together bundles, think about which lines you would enjoy, and learn about new kinds of fabric. (For example, I knew next to nothing about repros and nothing at all about the stunning William Morris fabrics.)

OK – this has become a long post and if you are still with me, thank you! To begin clearing out the inventory, I have opened a sale with everything in the shop marked down by 20%. This will be an open ended sale. If you are interested in yardage (eg a partial bolt of solids or a lot of a particular wide back) send me an email. I will work out a special price for you. Also, there are a couple of you who have a gift certificate that has not yet been used. Please take advantage and use it! I don’t want you to miss out on the opportunity!

As I said earlier, without all of you, this whole adventure would not have been nearly as successful. So thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support over the last 4 1/2 years!

Coin Quilt Finish

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Today I want to share the finish of this pretty coin quilt. This quilt started out on a whim one day a couple of months ago. I was cleaning my sewing room and attacked a pile of scraps, cutting them into rectangles measuring 2 1/2″ x 4 1/2″. I decided to concentrate on specific colors and then use the rectangles at a later date for a coin quilt. Green, yellow, pink and blue were the colors I selected.

Yes, the quilt has a bit of an Easter egg vibe but who doesn’t love Easter eggs? I chose a mottled blue fabric from the shop as the background and a pretty green wide back (also from the shop) to finish it up. The binding is the same as the background. I might note I find myself really drawn to using a binding that matches the outer border when possible. I like the look of it. Maybe because it feels less busy to me.

With my trusty quilt holder, Julia, I was able to take a few photos of this pretty quilt in our yard. When I quilted it, I outlined the coin columns and then stippled the blue background. I have been using Glide thread and finding my machine loves it. I had very few hiccups and those I did have were due to bobbin winding issues. Glide is slippery thread and (for me anyway) it can be a challenge to wind the bobbin with it.

My husband always leaves a patch of California poppies go in the field, not mowing them down until they finish blooming. The poppies are such a pretty pop of color for us. Anyway, this quilt is destined to be a Mercyful quilt and is also my contribution to the 2021 Hands 2 Help event run each year by Sarah Craig, Confessions of a Fabric Addict. I also have a quilt in the works for her Hometown Hero idea but it won’t be finished by the deadline. I will post the story behind that quilt soon as it is finished.

Yesterday my husband and I took a day and hiked at the Gray Lodge Wildlife area. It is gorgeous out there. Usually it is a haven for waterfowl but this late in the season, there isn’t a whole lot of water so the number of birds out there is far less. We were lucky to be out there and enjoying ourselves before it gets too much hotter. This is in a fairly toasty area an hour or so from our house. We plan to go back during the winter months to see the birds.

There are tons of rice fields out in this area too. At this time of year the fields are heavily irrigated and bright, bright green. So gorgeous. Because the fields are so wet, there are lots of white heron out there. Try as I might, I didn’t get any pictures of these pretty birds.

At home we are busy picking, cooking and eating artichokes. This year is a bumper year for our artichoke plants. However, it is supposed to really heat up over the next week which should slow the plants down quite a bit. I haven’t counted how many are out there but I bet we have about twenty left to pick, after eating several and sharing some with my neighbor.

Ok – that is it for now. I have lots in the works! I am joining in with Sew Preeti Quilts Positivity Quilt Along which begins this coming week. I love the pattern for this quilt and look forward to sewing along with Preeti and many others. At the same time, I am making a quilt to celebrate the upcoming publication of Cheryl Brickey, of Meadow Mist Designs, new book, Just One Charm Pack. The book comes out toward the end of June and there will be a blog hop later in the summer to share the quilts several of us are making. I have the pieces cut and hope to start sewing tomorrow. Hope all of you enjoy the weekend!

Psst: Be sure to come back and read my next post. I have some big news to share!!

Linking up with Cheryl’s Favorite Finish as well as other favorites – check them out at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

Is It Really the End of May???

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Somehow May is just flying by! I haven’t posted since April but with good reason. Now that our family is vaccinated we have had lots and lots and LOTS of family time. Like many of you, we are making up for all of the lost time over the past year or so. It has been heavenly.

With all of the visiting going on, there has been very little action in the sewing room. Before I left for Washington, I did get my diamond blocks made for May. The RSC color this month is red and I have plenty of red scraps! I am quite pleased with the blocks for the month. Plus, to start increasing the total number of blocks, I made four instead of three!!

Another fun project was a set of pillowcases for my sister. A while ago she was doing some cleaning and came across a piece of fabric with the Stanford University logo on it. She had bought it years ago and tucked it away. (Her husband is a Stanford graduate.) She asked me to make something simple with it and of course I said sure. Some weeks after I got the Stanford fabric, I was in a thrift shop and saw a big piece of fabric with the UC Berkeley logo on it. This was quite the amazing find, as my sister is a UCB graduate!! I grabbed the fabric and decided to make them a matching set of pillowcases, his and hers.

They certainly do not match – the colors are basically awful together. But it was so cool to find that Berkeley fabric!! My sister loved them and was quite surprised to see her school included in the package.

Moving on to more wonderful news! Preeti Harris (of Sew Preeti Quilts) is hosting her first Quilt Along! Even better, is she has designed the The Positivity QAL to be in support of Mercyful Quilts. I think most of you are familiar with the Mercyful Quilts program I coordinate for Mercy Hospital in Sacramento, CA. If you are not, please read a few prior blog posts about this truly valuable program. I have them available for you at the top of this page, under Mercyful Quilts.

Preeti generously asked me if she could coordinate this effort. Now, mind you, Preeti has already donated SIX gorgeous quilts to the program and here she is asking to do more. Amazing!!

Last week I received two quilts from her. Let’s take a look at them.

Mercyful Quilts was selected to receive both of these gorgeous quilts. If you would like to read Preeti’s blog posts about them, here you go: Serenity and then Positivity Plus. If you haven’t yet read Preeti’s blog, please check it out. Her writing is just as creative as her quilting.

I have a couple of things to share with regard to this quilt along. One is this – quilting is an expensive hobby. We all know that when it comes to donating quilts, sometimes the expense is more than our budget allows. I have a couple of generous donors who would like to make this a bit easier on those quilters who choose to donate to Mercyful Quilts and are feeling a budget pinch. (This year has been especially tough on many people financially.) If you are feeling the pinch and would like to be reimbursed for your postage expenses, please sent me a note so we can help. There are limited funds to do this but enough to help a number of you if needed. Remember this is anonymous – your name won’t be announced. If you would like to take advantage of this, use the ‘contact me’ button at the top of the page.

Another way to reduce the expense a bit is this. If you choose to have your quilt done by a long arm quilter, I have an idea that will slightly reduce your expense. You might choose to send your quilt to your long arm quilter and ask her to send it directly to me for Mercy Hospital. If you would include the binding, I am happy to bind the quilt for you. This would eliminate one shipping expense (because the long arm quilter wouldn’t route the quilt to you, and then you would have to send it to me). If you want to discuss doing this, let me know. I am all about figuring out how to be economical. Again, just use that handy ‘contact me’ button at the top of the page.

The schedule for Preeti’s QAL is very relaxed, for which I am grateful. I am not a speedy quilter! If you would like to join in, we would love to have you. Below is a copy of the schedule, taken from Preeti’s blog.

Here is a suggested schedule for the QAL so that you can pace yourself and stay on track. There will be three linky parties, shown in red below.
1. May 30, 2021 – QAL Launch – Block Tutorials, Layout Options and Fabric Requirements
2. June 6, 2021 – Finalize your fabric picks, block and layout etc.
3. June 13, 2021 – Cut fabrics
4. June 20, 2021 – Complete Blocks 1-25.
5. June 27, 2021 – Complete Blocks 13 – 24. Linky Party to share your progress
6. July 4, 2021 – Complete Blocks 25 – 36
7. July 11, 2021 – Complete Blocks 37 – 48
8. July 18, 2021 – Share Finished Flimsy. Linky Party Participation Required for Prizes
9. July 25, 2021 – Level 1 Prizes Announced. Make Binding
10. August 1, 2021 – Piece Backing. Baste your quilt tops.
11. August 8, 2021 – Quilting
12. August 15, 2021 – Complete Quilting and Attach Binding
13. August 22, 2021 – Share Finished Quilts. Mail Finished Quilts to Bernie. Linky Party Participation Required for Prizes
14. August 29, 2021 – We rest and wait for quilts to reach Bernie.
15. September 5, 2021 – Level 2 Prizes Announced.

OK – this has been a long post but it has been a while so there was lots to chat about! I will leave you with some sweet pictures of my adorable family!

Making bird feeders with toilet paper rolls, peanut butter and birdseed. So much fun!

This week I plan to quilt and bind my Coin Quilt. I want it to be my donation for this year’s Hands2Help. I have started it but my machine was giving my fits with the thread breaking. So irritating! I will clean and re-thread everything which should correct the issue. Wishing all of you a wonderfully creative week!!

Linking to some of my favorites. Please check out the list at the top of the page, under Link Ups.