Small Business Saturday

Remember when Black Friday happened after Thanksgiving?

This year it seems that nervous big box retailers are doing everything they can to jump the gun and offer Black Friday deals as early as possible. Is that really necessary? Is it really a deal? I've never been one to get out of bed at some ridiculous hour to stand in line in the freezing cold to push and shove my way to a "deal". For years our family made the trip to the downtown department stores on the day after Thanksgiving. Not really for the deals, more to support our downtown shopping district, enjoy lunch out with the kids and check out the decorations.

I like to shop local and being an independent shop owner I am acutely aware of what it takes to support an independent business. In the past two years there has been a growing movement to dedicate the Saturday after Thanksgiving to small business. The movement is called Shop Small. The idea is that small, local business contribute far more to your local economy than big box retailers. We tend to support other local business as our suppliers, we employ your neighbors and more of the money you spend with us stays in the local community.

Added to those efforts this year is the idea that you can and should shop local for those on your holiday gift list. For example, instead of the hot new toy that was most likely made in China, why not purchase an enrollment in one of our museums programs for kids? Instead of a shirt and tie that was stitched in some third world country why not get Dad a gift certificate for some lawn work from the guy around the corner? You get the idea.

If you live in my neighborhood and you are shipping packages to friends and family I recommend that you use Barry at The Shipping Depot in Shoppers Plaza on Rt 8. Barry and his staff are the friendliest people I know and they always go above and beyond to satisfy their customers. http://www.theshippingdepotonline.com/

The Hartwood Restaurant and Whispers Pub have been a favorite place to send our customers for lunch for years. My daughter worked there through high school and although the kitchen staff has changed the owners are still dedicated to providing a unique place to eat with excellent food. Located on Harts Run Road in Glenshaw, I know anyone on my gift list would love a gift certificate for a meal there. http://www.hartwoodrestaurant.com/

Another excellent lunch spot is the B&Z Deli at the corner of Harts Run and Saxonburg Blvd. Casual dining with sandwiches made to order and take-out available. I'm not really sure if they offer gift cards, but a ready made meal is always welcome over the busy holiday season. http://www.bzdeli.com/

Speaking of ready made meals, pop into A Fare To Remember in Shoppers Plaza, right next to The Shipping Depot when you are visiting Barry. You can stock your frig or freezer with delicious, gift worthy, meals to share with family and friends. http://fareathome.com/

I absolutely love Sarah that cuts (and colors) my hair at Super Cuts in Gibsonia. Unless they are bald, everyone on your gift list gets their hair cut. While the salon may have a name that seems like a national chain, most are franchise stores that are locally owned.

Obviously I also want to recommend that you purchase gift cards from local specialty shops, like your local quilt shop, that would be of interest to people on your list, but I also want to use this space to allow you to make additional suggestions of independent business that you recommend. Make a suggestion by leaving a comment. None of the business I've mentioned here ask me to advertise for them, I'm just a satisfied customer.

For our part in Small Business Saturday we will be offering free demonstrations in the shop from 10:00 - 4:00 featuring all American made products. If you are in the area, stop by, bring a friend, and shop small!

What is Karen up to now?

Busy, busy, busy. When you own your own business there is always a laundry list of things that you need to do. If you are working on controlling expenses, you think you should be working on advertising. If you are working on advertising someone has probably called off sick and you have to cover... well, you get the idea.

This week I am working on FUN. Nothing but FUN and I am having a blast! Last week I was in Houston attending International Quilt Market. To be honest, I can't remember the last time I came home feeling so totally jazzed about what I found. Fabrics, yes. There are always tons of fabrics to choose from and this season there are about a dozen new companies from which to choose them. Some years there is an obvious "hot" new item that everyone is excited about. Not so this year and I like it better that way!

When there isn't that special "one thing" that everyone gravitates to, you have to be more creative in your buying. You have to dig a little deeper to find the gems that you can polish and make sparkle in your own store. This Market I went out of my way to attend workshops and demonstrations that I normally wouldn't have time for. WOW! Talk about inspiration! I packed my overweight suitcase with fun stuff that I couldn't wait to get home to try.

This week is where the rubber meets the road for those new products. Sure they look good under the sparkly lights of the convention center, but before we offer them to customers I have to test them myself. Can I make them perform their tricks here at home? More importantly are they well designed enough that my customers will want to play with them too? Here in the "test lab" where I am creating new projects for our upcoming Handmade for the Holidays event I am happy to say that all of the new products have passed the test with flying colors!

In addition to new products I also gather a ton of ideas for projects that I create and write instructions for here at home. We have a huge button bin that we use on a regular basis but somehow it never seems to get any smaller. I saw some great dyed button projects at Market. Instead of purchasing the dyed buttons I decided to come home and dye our white and clear ones. How hard could it be? Hard. I sorted for about an hour, dumped the white and clear buttons into Kelly Green Rit Dye and waited... swished, stirred and waited. Then I waited. 36 hours later I had the buttons in the photo. These were all in the same dye bath for the same length of time.

Why some are light blue and some are lime green and absolutely NONE of them are Kelly Green is a total mystery to me. Frank Panion, my beloved high school chemistry teacher always said I made more chemistry in the hall than I made in class. My husband wondered why I thought I could dye buttons. My staff wondered why there was a strainer of buttons in their lunch sink! Easy fix. I ordered the already dyed buttons from our distributor!

So the button dying didn't work. Big deal. They are cool colors and I will find a use for them... eventually. I still enjoyed the thrill of seeing what would happen. Meanwhile I stitched up some batik rayon samples that are going in the wash tonight. I played with the new spritz dyes until I absolutely had to stop myself or there wouldn't be any left for customers. I steamed, fused, gathered, clipped and stitched. I've made the mistakes, learned some lessons and now I absolutely can not wait to share the success stories with my customers so that they can roll up their sleeves and have some fun! Sometimes the best thing you can get is permission to play for awhile.

Fun!

I had every intention of creating a new post last week, but there just wasn't time! The kick-off of our newest edition of BlockWatchers Club was on Monday evening. Tuesday was spent with the North Pittsburgh Quilt Guild teaching a class and then presenting at their meeting in the evening. Wednesday I met with a group of young people to talk about owning your own business and Thursday and Friday were spent here in the store with BERNINA educator Paula Harmon. Whew!

If you missed attending Sewing Celebration or Celebrate 8 here in the store, you missed a really good time - and great goodie bag if I do say so myself! Paula had projects to inspire everyone from beginning sewers to experienced embroidery pros. Several customers were inspired right into a new machine and they will be spending the next few weeks exploring the possibilities with their "new baby" - Congratulations! You are going to love it! Unlike bringing a real new baby home, we are always here to support you and you can stop by and ask us as many questions or get help on as many techniques as needed. I can't guarantee that your "new baby" won't keep you up at night, but at least this one has an on/off switch!

What better way to unwind after a busy week than to spend the whole day sewing? That is exactly what I did on Sunday. Our Quilts of Valor group was hosting a sewing day in the classroom here at the store, so I had to be here to keep an eye on things. We aren't open on Sunday, so I had the whole BERNINA area to myself. One 820 to sew on and one 830 to stitch out embroidery. The ultimate spoiled sewer!

While the 830 stitched out these adorable elephants for a Timeless project for Market, I assembled the hand print quilt for my sister. Leslie's kids, my niece and nephew, attend a private school - in Illinois, and she is in charge of the Fall Fundraiser this year. That means I am in charge of helping her by making a quilt. All quilters understand this issue. You are a quilter and you love what you do, therefore you must be willing to make your Mother/ Sister/ Friend/ Neighbor/ Old High School Teacher/ Co-worker/ Person that sits next to you on the bus/ Etc a quilt. Especially if it is for a very worthy cause.

I don't actually mind doing this for Leslie. She did all the hard work. She worked with the kids, did the hand prints, mixed the textile medium in and heat set the blocks. I only had to do the parts that I love and with 2 sewing machines it was easy to multi task! Boy did it feel good to sew and accomplish something! Now I am going to use her as an excuse to spend another day at the sewing machine while I get the quilting done.

Sneaky huh?

Back In The Swing Of Things

Home is a good place to be.
We have been back from our shortened cruise adventure for about 10 days now and I consider myself older and wiser with the lessons I have learned. I can share this much with you:

#1. Never book a cruise that leaves port the weekend of a Monday holiday.

#2. If you are traveling during hurricane season, buy travel insurance*.

#3. If you are sailing on Norwegian Cruise Lines, don't expect a straight answer from anyone on board the ship or on the phone.
*I reserve the right to amened that statement after we settle the claim with the insurance company!

To make a long story short. Our cruise that was scheduled to leave port on Sunday didn't leave until Tuesday. According to NCL this was the result of dangerously high seas. That's odd, because the marine report called for 4-6 foot seas on Monday. Labor Day. A national holiday here in the U.S. One of those holidays where union port workers would have to be paid holiday overtime pay. I have a feeling that the "safety of their passengers and crew" was less a determining factor than their bottom line.

This is a photo of the Music Park that I took while we were waiting for out ship to come in - doesn't that look like a nasty day for sailing? Note the ominous skies and wicked winds.

NCL graciously granted us a "refund" for the two days and two ports that we missed. They decided the best course of action was to apply that credit to our shipboard account. We didn't use the entire credit so now we have to wait 3 weeks or more for a refund. We were told that our pre-paid dive trips in the ports that were skipped would be refunded to our credit card. We were also told they would be credited to our shipboard account and that they would be refunded via check. I am quite sure that if I asked 6 more people I would have six different answers. It is going to take weeks, possibly months to straighten everything out.

We did finally get to dive in Costa Maya and Cozumel. We saw sharks (not the dangerous kind) lots of Lion Fish, my first eel - a huge 5' long green eel, lobster and beautiful tropical fish. The best part of the vacation. Although I have to admit that the beniges at Cafe DuMonde were pretty good too.

Oh, one more thing to share on the list of things I have learned:

#4. If you get sunburned on the first day out wearing a tank suit and all of the evening wear you brought with you has a V neck, you are going to look ridiculous at dinner!

Now I am going to enjoy the rest of National Sewing Month by doing a little sewing. Until Friday, when we have to leave for Quilting Around Chautauqua at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, New York. Are you going to be there? Stop by and say "hello". I am giving a lecture on Sunday Morning and my husband and I will be manning a booth in the ballroom of the Anthenaeum Hotel. It is a fun weekend and well worth the trip!

Caution: Vacation Ahead

Some days I wonder why I even make plans to leave my house.

I've already decided that my tombstone should read "It was a good idea at the time". I've been stranded in Washington DC because my seat was given away, had my luggage lost in Philadelphia (numerous times), been grounded by hail in Denver, sat on the tarmac in New Jersey for hours, driven home instead of flying because of ice in Florida. I've been searched, patted and swabbed in the best and the worst airports in our country and abroad. Why won't I learn to just stay home?

Earlier this summer I was pouting because we hadn't made plans for a "real" vacation. Not the visit the kids, kiss the grand babies, give a lecture while you are their kind of trip, a REAL vacation. The kind where you go for nothing but relaxation and enjoyment. My husband had pretty much told me to put my big girl panties on and deal with it when I received a very enticing offer in my email box. Oh that wicked email. Norwegian Cruise Lines was offering a ridiculously low rate on a cruise out of New Orleans starting on Labor Day weekend. It would have been an absolute sin to pass up the balcony rate. Seven days, 4 ports and 3 dive sites that we have never been to.

My husband is an avid scuba diver and he talked me into joining him about 10 years ago. I really do love to dive, but the absolute best part is that all I have to do is suggest a diving trip and he is immediately agreeable. I found some cheap flights, booked a balcony and relaxed knowing that I had a "real" vacation to look forward to.

Then Lee showed up.

We lived in Florida for almost 8 years. I know when hurricane season starts and I know when it ends. I also know that cruise lines make adjustments to their itinerary when necessary to avoid storms. I'm OK with that. I honestly have to say that when Lee showed up, much earlier this week, I thought we had dodged a bullet. Then it was as if Lee realized that moving at the pace it was it would blow through New Orleans before Saturday and that wouldn't interrupt my plans. The travel gods couldn't have that, so Lee immediately SLOWED DOWN. It has been pummeling those poor people in southern Louisiana with rain for days.

This map shows the current conditions in New Orleans. 24 hours before our ship is set to sail. NCL decided not too long ago and notified their future passengers that it is too dangerous to bring the ship into port so those passengers currently on the ship get an extra day at sea, well south of the storm. Those of us that are set to board the ship.... we loose a day. Oh, and they suggest that we change our travel plans to arrive at the port no earlier than Monday evening. WHAT? Change travel plans to fly into a tropical storm a day later? Are they kidding? Setting aside the fact that making a change with the airlines weeks or months, let alone hours before your planned flight requires a credit line and willingness to strap yourself to the wing, what makes them think those planes won't be grounded? I realize they make their living on the water, but do they not know that they gauge these storms by SUSTAINED WINDS?

We are sticking to our original travel plans. Our flight on Sunday is from Pittsburgh to Houston and Houston to New Orleans. There is an excellent chance that the Houston to New Orleans segment will be canceled. No problem. I know Houston well. I attend Quilt Market there every year. Better yet, this month is the Texas Shop Hop. Almost every shop in Texas is participating. With 24 + hours to kill we will rent a car and hit as many Houston area shops as possible. I guess this vacation just turned into a business trip.

I Heart Ohio

I spent the better part of last week traveling the Ohio countryside with my husband. If you ever feel that the whole world has gone "you know where" in a hand basket, pack your bag and head for rural Ohio on a summer day. It will do wonders for your outlook on life.
This was not a vacation trip, it was work related. We probably would never have found our way to Greenville Ohio unless I had been invited to speak, but it was well worth the trip. We began the week in Maumee, Ohio, home of Checker Distributors and Creative Grids Rulers. I was one of the featured speakers for their annual Open House - my absolute favorite summer event. This is a wholesale show for shop owners, long armers and quilting professionals. The event is fabulous and the dinners each evening where the vendors and demonstrators have the chance to catch up with friends and network with other people in the industry are an absolute highlight. It was at this event last year that I learned from Sue Hausmann that my husbands official position in our company is as CEO. Which really stands for Carry Everything Out. I'm sure that he agrees because that is what he did for most of the week!

Finishing up after the Creative Grids designer meeting on Tuesday and having to be in Greenville, near Dayton on Thursday made the trip home to Pittsburgh silly, so we headed south to visit the grandbabies! Wednesday also happened to be my birthday and I don't think that I could have found a better way to celebrate than holding, hugging, snuggling, feeding and changing these two, especially when it was capped of with an all you could eat crab leg dinner on the kids deck!
Thursday we headed for Greenville and the Great Darke County Fair. I was the featured speaker on Friday afternoon and offered a class on Saturday morning at Smiths Merchants in nearby Arcanum. That left plenty of time to explore Greenville and the Great Darke County Fair. This isn't your average county fair, this is the largest county fair in the country and they have everything you think they should and more.

There were chickens - beautiful chickens - an entire barn full of rabbits, a swine barn and a Cow Palace. The Domestic Arts building was filled with quilting, crocheting, cross stitch and needlepoint. I was wondering why cooking wasn't represented in the Domestic Arts category until we found an entire room full of entries for the best pies, cakes and cookies, jellies, jams, etc. in a different building with flowers and vegetables.

My husband found his own way of enjoying the fair offerings.

This is him enjoying Greek food:

Sweet Potato Fries

Rootbeer Float

Bourbon Chicken

Fried Ice Cream

Hot Sausage

Fruit on a Stick

Foot Long Hot Dog

Burger

Pie

And then he picked out the tractor of his dreams.

I had to break the bad news to him that he couldn't bring it home. But the fair was so much fun that we might just go back and visit it again next year.

Isn't this a great looking quilt?

You can see it in person if you stop by the shop. The 60" by 80" sample is on loan from the pattern designer, Blue Underground. The name of the pattern is "A Bit Askew". I was immediately drawn to it the first time I saw it at Quilt Market and I'm thrilled that my customers will have the opportunity to see it in person.

I think everyone that looks at this type of quilt sees something different. Some people take one look and all they see is a hot mess. Others see creative possibilities. What if I used that pattern and all of my blue scraps with only red accents? What if I made it larger by adding solid black sashing between the blocks? Hmmm. Imagine the possibilities.

Do you want to know what I thought the first time I saw the quilt?

Remember the old commercial with the cracked egg in the frying pan? "This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs" immediately came to mind. I thought "This is your brain, this is your brain in a quilt"!

Follow me here. To me, all of the black and white areas represent the mundane things I have to remember that clutter my brain everyday, grocery lists, when to pick up the dry cleaning, what size underwear my husband wears, etc. Those bright colored strips are the bursts of creativity! They are the fun, the excitement, the new quilts, fabric shopping trips, new patterns and new designs - the things that make you happy! I know for a fact that all of the stuff in my head is "A Bit Askew" and I love that there are "bursts of creativity" in every square.

I wonder what would happen if I made my own version of this quilt and reverse the fabrics? Every strip would be exciting, bold and beautiful with a few black and whites tossed in for accent. I would not straighten the strips, because to be honest, I like my life "A Bit Askew". With a brighter more exciting pallet and room for fewer mundane things, I wonder if it would be overwhelming? One thing is for sure, my husband would have to buy his own underwear.