It's our birthday!

Come join us for our birthday party this weekend!
We have whistles, & cupcakes, & prizes, & lots of fun planned.
All fabric in the shop is at least 15% off!
Blow the whistle to see what your fabric discount will be.
Crave Bakery is bringing cupcakes, & you'll love all the door prizes!
This is our way of thanking you for a wonderful first year.
It's been a wild ride & we've loved meeting so many new friends along the way.
Everyone has been so helpful & supportive, & we just appreciate you all so very much!
So come out & enjoy the weekend with us.
Saturday 10-6
Sunday 1-5
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Springtime in the Valley Quilt Show

So now we're packing up for the San Joaquin Valley Quilt Guild Show in Fresno. I'll share something very personal...I'm not fond of packing. We just packed for the retreat last weekend, & now here we go again.
But it's so exciting to plan out what to take. We can't possibly take everything in the shop, so the decisions are tough. We're taking a lot of batiks, some new panels with their coordinates, some cute new kid prints, & several new collections with their free patterns. I'm even prepared for Fresno's new Modern Quilt Guild. I have some kits packed, some gorgeous batik rolls, & some sweet new 10" cuts & rolls.
It's hard to know what everyone will want, & try to guess what other vendors won't have. I don't want to take the same stuff everyone else takes. So I'm wandering the shop, filling boxes with a variety of stuff that may or may not be right. It's such a disappointment when a customer comes up at a show & asks for something that I left back at the shop. "Why, yes. I do have that. But it's back in Porterville."
Oh well. It will be fine. It will be lots of fun. Especially after the UNpacking & set up are finished. (And before the packing up to come home begins.)

The best part of vending at a quilt show is meeting so many new people. The other vendors are always very nice to us newbies. We learn a lot from watching them work. Some of them do this every week, & they have it down to a science. You can bet they aren't blogging tonight about how they don't know what to pack! They're very kind & helpful answering our dorky questions, too.
The folks who run the show are always so nice to us, & we really enjoy all the new friends we meet. So far, every show has brought us new friends who come to visit often. I love seeing them again at the shop.
If you're in the area, check out the show here: http://www.sjvqg.com/. And when you come by, be sure to say hello. We won't even make you help pack. ;)

You're invited to our First Birthday Party!

March 31 & April 1

Special Birthday Discounts - Door Prizes - Fun!

Saturday 10-6 Sunday 1-5

Thank you for a successful first year.

We appreciate all our quilty friends - old & new!

Retreat fun

We're having a great time at the retreat. Here are a few photos of our fabric in action!
It's so cool to see where our materials go & how much fun they have after they leave the shop.
These Peonies are all gone now - they've magically become pillowcases!Here is Sheri with our tea cups. I can't believe how many projects she finished this weekend!
This T shirt quilt needed just the perfect piece to border each block...
Here is the Camelot collection... it's just about gone now, but didn't it turn out nicely?
One of the last Avignon Layer Cakes has become a Twister.
And look at this pretty block!
This has been a lot of fun. Many of these retreat participants have been in our shop, but some haven't, so we're making new friends. We're enjoying getting to know them all better. There's so much creativity & talent here this weekend!

Retreating!

We're packing up & planning to go to a retreat this weekend. It's exciting to select the right tools & supplies to take for the retreaters. We're sneaking in some kits & patterns & fabric, just in case someone needs an emergency project.

Just a little Serenity ...

This pretty Serenity collection from red Rooster is one of my favorites this spring. And goodness knows, I need a little Serenity before the wild ride begins!

We have a retreat at Wonder Valley next weekend, then a booth at Springtime in the Valley on March 24 & 25. It will be our first time at the show, so come out & see us. I'm excited to see all the quilt inspiration.

After that, we'll be throwing ourselves our First Birthday Party! Watch for details & plan to join us March 31 & April 1. You know we never miss an opportunity to party! ;)
After Easter, we'll have a booth at Best of the Valley Quilt Show, too. It's always a fabulous show. You'll love it! We'll be giving out coupons to use in the shop all week.
It was our first show last year. We'd been open only a week, & everything was all new to us. McDermont Field House in Lindsay is a great place to have the show!
On Saturday, April 28, Downtown P'ville will be hosting the Iris Festival. Many of our customers are finishing up an Iris Challenge wall hanging for the Festival. If you weren't able to participate this year, come down anyway & check out the entries. I've had a sneak peek at some already, & they are truly fabulous! The Chamber of Commerce will be judging & the winner receives a $50 gift card to use at the Mermaid.

Then on May 4, 5, 6, we'll be joining Totally Tina's Fabrics in our own

After all that, I think a nap might be in order, but not until after some long-awaited family time.
It's crazy busy, but then that's the way we like it.

Feeling wimpy

As our one year anniversary sneaks up, I'm feeling a little wimpy ... it's been quite a wild ride, with an unbelievable learning curve. I mist up every time I think about how far we've come - that's just me.
But last year at this time, we had over 1000 bolts of fabric packed into our house in boxes. Almost every room was full of merchandise & supplies for the shop. The shelving was all in the garage, the boxes of books & patterns were in the spare bath, the batting in the spare bedroom. The mermaid was finished & presiding over the front living room. No one dared come to visit! There was no place to sleep except our bed, & no place to sit...just a path through the house.
My Spring Break last year was spent stickering stock & trying to get it all organized.

So many of our Mermaid Teachers were just acquaintances a year ago - some I hadn't even met yet. Their encouragement & talent just overwhelm me on a regular basis.
Our Mermaid Crew were just nervous visionaries - willing to take a job with inexperienced employers, at a shop with an uncertain future, & very little direction. We all just muddled through nicely, thank you very much. I so appreciate our girls taking a chance on us & helping us through all the rough spots. It was a learning experience for us all. Dion frequently calmed me by saying, "It's okay. We got this." Then they'd all just jump in & get everything done. They're amazing.
So that explains the misty eyes around here. I'm so grateful for all our new quilty friends. Everyone has been so supportive & helpful. I love having a place to come after school where everyone is busy, creative, & ready for a challenge.
It's better than I could have imagined a year ago.
sniff ... there I go again!
And, by the way...watch for our First Birthday Sale coming up soon!

Project Linus Workshop

Today we had a Project Linus Workshop. Volunteers, called "Blanketeers" worked on fleece, flannel, & quilts for children in local hospitals.
Our Mermaid Crew & Mermaid Teachers led the Blanketeers in their work, donating fabric & supplies.


Blanketeers found lots of work to be done. Some brought projects or supplies, others helped in the assembly line process. Some were cutting, sewing, tying or clipping.

Teresa presents a completed quilt to Michele from Project Linus.