But, now there is an issue with the carpet.  Several issues.  I am only going to focus on one….after the seams were all matched together (some off by a bit) we noticed that the carpet was different shades of color.  One more brown and one more grey.  Really?  They swear it’s from the same dye lot.  The flooring place we are going through couldn’t believe it either.  They want to fix it and make it right, however this puts us weeks behind.  We are waiting for them to finish the install anyway, and then when they get the decision back from the carpet mill we’ll decide what to do from there.  So potentially, what we are looking at is moving everything in, setting up shop, then moving it all again while they replace the messed up carpet.  OH BOY!

So anyway, I know it will all work out eventually….won’t it?  I am however really, really excited about what I am about to show you!  Dad and Al built this amazing thread display!  We got the shipment of thread in and couldn’t wait for the dumb carpet to be done!  We just had to put it all out!   (thanks, Spenser for making it look so pretty!)

Isn't this amazing!!?! LOVE all this gorgeous thread!

Hello, rainbow of color!  So, so excited to announce we will be selling the entire line of Omni thread from Superior Threads!  We are also going to have every single color of King Tut variegated thread, too!

So excited and I just CAN HARDLY WAIT TO BE IN OUR NEW STORE!!!  I’m hoping it will be sooner than later!

The rest of the week we will be off to quilt Market!  Can you believe it’s that time already!?  I can’t!  I am so glad that Market is in Kansas City, this time!  (just an hour away!)

We are presenting a school-house for Moda.  To say that I am nervous would be an understatement!  I am SCARED silly!  Al and Mom, both aren’t nervous one bit.  Why did I have to inherit the ‘chicken gene’?  LOL.  Well, wish us luck!  Hope you have a great-amazing-fun filled-weekend!!

We’ll be back with snippets from Market!!

~Sarah

Last week was a week full of progress!  We got the walls painted, shelves painted, bathrooms painted, tile started, and even the awning painted!  We also got 60 tons of rock spread out on our parking lot and un-covered the old brick sidewalk!!  I KNOW!  BRICK!  So exciting!

Here are a few pictures to keep you up to speed on what is happening!

Adorable!!! Right!?

I chose this great turquoise color for the awning stripe, because I liked how it complimented the brick!  I was going to do a pink, but when I started ‘auditioning’ colors I just liked the turquoise better!  It’s a bit sloppy, though.  We were leaning over it (it is much bigger than you expect!) We even rigged up our own painting stick with duct tape!

Painting and painting! Mom and Dad working on the check-out area!

This was a really late night, trying to cram as much as we could get done.  Painting the center check-out island!  Trying to bust it all out before carpet install begins!

This week we are getting carpet,new doors and windows and the main light fixtures up!

So, here you go!  A little peak into what has been consuming us for the past two weeks!  Throw in Mom and Dad’s crash, and you’d be safe to say we are exhausted!

Life just keeps getting more interesting, no doubt!

I do know one thing though, and it’s that we all feel so blessed!

]]> http://blog.missouriquiltco.com/more-progress/feed/ 22 http://blog.missouriquiltco.com/mothers-day-dont-take-it-for-granted/ http://blog.missouriquiltco.com/mothers-day-dont-take-it-for-granted/#comments Sat, 12 May 2012 21:57:30 +0000 admin http://blog.missouriquiltco.com/?p=4316 Hey everyone, this is Al, Jenny’s son. I’m the computer guy here at the shop, so you may know me for good or for bad, depending on your experience with the site, but I wanted to stop by real quick and share my Mother’s Day thoughts, hope that’s okay.

As you all know, Mother’s Day is coming up, and I wanted to let you know that I am grateful for my Momma Doan. I think I’ve always been grateful for Mom and Dad, though I do sometimes take them for granted without realizing I am. It just happens, I don’t mean to, but it does.

It is in this spirit, the spirit of remembering how precious life and family are, that I’m writing today. We all had an experience this last week that kind of shook me up a bit, and made me realize I need to appreciate the wonderful people in my life more and not take them for granted, and at the very top of that list is Momma Doan.

About a week ago, Mom and Dad left Hamilton to drive down to Kansas City to get some supplies for the new shop, it’s about an hour drive, and we do it several times a week for the last 17 years. It was raining pretty good, but it’s Missouri, nothing was out of the ordinary, seriously, we do this all the time. Well about 20 minutes after they left, I got a call that went something like this – “Son, we’ve been in an accident, we’re on the highway, come quickly, we’re okay, just come as fast as you can”

Mom wrote the following excerpt sent in an email to us kids after this which tells it better than I (she said I could share it with you all) -

“First let me say that we are OK, but we were in a car wreck today. We had borrowed Grandpa’s truck to go to the city to pick up vanities for the new shop. It was raining really hard, the kind of rain that soaks you when you walk from the house to the car…Dad was going slower, about 60, as visibility wasn’t very good. A semi truck blew past us washing us with water and we started to fish tail … Dad was worried that we were going to hit the semi. But we headed for the ditch and he was relieved as he thought we would be able to drive out of that, but we hit the other side and rolled. The ditch was swollen with water about 10 feet wide and 4 feet deep. When the truck stopped, we landed on the top of the truck upside down.

We were hanging upside down and some how Dads cell phone was still in his shirt pocket. He grabbed it and called 911. I asked him if he was ok and he asked me. We were both surprised that we were alright. I wanted out of my seat belt but I couldn’t get it unbuckled so I asked Dad if he could unbuckle me and he reached over and did it. All this time he is talking to 911 and trying to describe where we are. When he unbuckled me I fell straight down on my head and somehow managed to get turned around and sat Indian style on the roof of the car. I zipped up my purse and tucked it up into the floor board above me head.

All the sudden i noticed that Dad’s voice was sounding panicky. He tried the door and it wouldn’t open…He yelled at me not to open my door and for the first time I looked around and noticed that the water was over the window on my side and the cab was filling with water. I looked at Dad he is still talking to 911 and the water was at his forehead. The Door wouldn’t open so he started to roll down his window. He got it about half way down and unbuckled himself held his breath and pulled himself out the window. He reached his arm back in and rolled the window down the rest of the way and pulled me out. We were glad to be out of the cab and able to breath.

Then Dad yelled Run Jenny and the water started to roll the truck. Dad was trying to hold the truck to keep it from rolling on me and I was trying to stand up in 4 feet of rushing water and suddenly I just let go and the water carried me down the ditch. I knew I was in trouble as I couldn’t stop and started grabbing at the grass along the sides of the ditch. A car stopped and I yelled “help me” They came down into the dtich and pulled me out of the water. I looked back at the truck and the water had rolled it on it’s side and Dad was up on the bank. He came running to me and we just held each other. We are still amazed that other than a sore neck and back we are are OK. By this time we climbed up out of the ditch and a van stopped and I sat in his car. Our clothes were soaked and Dad and I were shaking badly. I was also covered with debris from the water in the ditch. Shortly after that the ambulance, firemen and highway patrol came. Dad’s phone that we just got yesterday was toast so we called Alan on a phone that belonged to the man in the van…he didn’t answer the first time but the second time he picked up and came right away to get us.

We feel very blessed to be alive…there are so many things that could have happened and it could have gotten really bad really fast. If the window hadn’t opened Dad could have drowned, if the water hadn’t carried me away, the truck could have rolled on top of me. But we were watched over and protected.

We just want all of you to know that we love you and you just never know from one day to the next how things can change. So hug each other and and your children.

We love you! Mom and Dad”

Pretty crazy stuff. Right after I got the call and was heading down there, my mind was racing with all the things that I hadn’t done yet in my life that I wanted them to see and know about, everything from marriage to kids, to talents and hobbies that I’ve developed but not shared.  So much of who we are revolves around our family and most of that starts and ends with Mom and Dad, and out of the blue I just got a call that both of them were very close to not being here like I was used to.

A lot of people get this wake up call with much more serious circumstances, things like cancer, other life threatening diseases, and death are all wake up calls. I’m extremely grateful our wake up call was in the end, nothing more than a totalled pickup truck and some wet clothes, but it was enough to wake me up, one more broken window or the car sliding a different direction and this could have been an absolute tragedy.

So on this Mother’s Day, I hope you’ll look around and give one more hug to people that matter to you, be kind, let them know you love them, because honestly, you just never know what will happen, so make the most of it while we can.

Mom and Dad, love you both!

Al

Al, Mom, Dad, Cousin Spenser two weeks ago

Mother’s Day is just around the corner – and if you are like me – you want to surprise the special Moms in your life with a unique gift.  And we’ve got the perfect solution!  Gift a seat on our 2^nd annual Quilters’ bus trip, June 8-9.  You’ll get to shop at seven “All Star” quilt shops plus the Kalona Quilt Museum.  Price of the 2 day trip including transportation, lodging and meals is only $139!

And if you feel you are too far from Missouri Star Quilt Company, you can catch a ride in Brookfield or Jamesport in Missouri or in Iowa at Mt Pleasant, Kalona or Williamsburg.  Contact Carolyn@quiltersdailydeal.com and she’ll help you get connected!

Lots and lots of things are happening!!

This weekend is going to be a INSANE!  But, we are ready.  (our minds maybe…just hoping our bodies are with us on this one!)

You all have a wonderful-amazing weekend!!

I’ll be back with HUGE improvements and excitement and craziness, all from this weekend to share!

For the love of quilting, PLEASE sew at least a few stitches for us!  :)

See you Monday!

Here you go:

From Sharon, she says-   Jacob’s Ladder variation.
Our quilting bee decided to make a variation of Jacob’s Ladder to send to Joplin, MO for the tornado victims. We replaced the 4 patch blocks with 9 patch blocks. When we started to lay out the blocks, there were too many 9 patch blocks and it was distracting. So, we replaced all the 9 patch blocks except the center 9 patch block with plain patches to make 1 block and kept all the 9 patch blocks in the alternating blocks. I hope you can tell where the blocks are in the pictures. The size we made fit either a queen or king size bed. We made 240 9 patch blocks and a total of 80 Jacob’s Ladder blocks. We purchased about 6 yards of each of the background fabrics and had some left over.

Love this variation, Sharon! It's beautiful!!

This quilt was sent in from Lisa, and she said she was inspired also by the ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ tutorial.  WOW, take a look at this beauty.

Love the scrappiness!! Major stash-buster, for sure!

Oh MY GOODNESS!! You are gonna die when you see this one.  Absolutely gorgeous!  Leanne sent us the picture of the quilt she made for her daughter.

This is what she had about it: ‘It is called “Jen’s NOLA” and was made for my daughter. She went to New Orleans shortly after hurricane Katrina to “help” and has lived there ever since. She chose the fabrics. They represent New Orleans to her. This Snail Trail pattern reminded her of a hurricane. She loved it because even though Katrina was a horrible horrible event, it has brought her to where her heart lives. ‘

Breathtaking....right?!? I just love it!

Here is a beautiful quilt made by Annika from Sweden.  What a beautiful job on this X and O’s variation!  Those batiks are stunning.

Annika, it is beautiful!!

I got this sweet email from Lisa:

‘Just wanted to say hi & thank you so much for your wonderful on-line
tutorials. I am very new to quilting (started a class in January) and have
been inspired to try some new things by your website. I have just completed
my first bed size quilt (the first I made was lap quilt size) and I followed
your Garden of Eden idea. Anyway I thought you might like to see it.
I have also started a Jacobs ladder pattern, still ongoing…
Thanks again & I look forward to more of your tutorials coming up soon!
Best wishes
Lisa’

So fun and cute!! Can you believe this is her first bed sized quilt!? Awesome!

I am so amazed by all of you!  Your stories, your talents and your kind hearts always making something to benefit others!  What a GREAT group of people to be surrounded by!

I love getting your emails!  Thank you all for sharing in this fun quilting world with us!  Hope you enjoy this fun little ‘Show and Tell’!

Have a great day!!

ps. I have lots more shop updates, coming at you!

A few weeks ago (yes, I am sorry. i’m a bit behind.) we had a wonderful visit from 3 friends!  They road tripped together all the way from Tennessee!  They got to Hamilton Thursday before we closed, and we were able to visit and meet them.  Then they were off for dinner and a good nights sleep!

They brought sewing machines and projects to work on, so Friday morning they hauled it all in and set up camp!  We had such a blast with them.  Any questions they had were answered, and they had live tutorials all day long!

All of us girls together! Having a blast at the Quilt Shop!

One of them even started and finished a jelly roll race quilt!

By the time they left Saturday evening we were sad to see them go!  We just fell in love with those girls!  I felt like we had known them forever.  We just laughed and laughed.

We really can’t wait for them to visit again!  And if you are thinking of coming for a visit, please do!  We’d love to have you!  And when we are in our new space we’ll have more room for you to bring your machines and sew the day away with us!

So, even though most of our time is made up running the shop, answering emails and cutting fabric…we just need to get our hands dirty too!  Mom and I (and Katie) worked on our soon-to-be classroom and office area.  Getting things prepped and ready for paint and carpet.  Pulled nails, scraped old tile off the floor, re-organized stuff, and moved a lot of things around!

What is it about the last bit that can be so overwhelming?  Really, we have gotten a TON done.  (and fast, too) But then you list out the rest of what needs to happen and you get overwhelmed again.  We are still getting things done at a fast pace and still hope to be in there in a few short weeks…Here is a bit of the progress we’ve made this week.

Look at all that lumber! Just imagine these as awesome shelves for all the bolts of fabric we have!!

Working together gets the job done much faster!!

Multi-talented! This girl gets stuff DONE!

This is the view I've seen most of my husband lately. I'd know him anywhere by those legs! (and boots) Haha!

Here is a look at the sheet rock! Even the kids are excited!!

Lots more happening!  I got the carpet picked out on Saturday. (super excited about that!) And the sheet-rock is looking amazing!!!  I really can hardly wait to see it all painted and done!!  Man alive, it’s going to be beautiful!!

Now we have to get plumbing together for the bathrooms (Dad will be busy with that.) and get all the fixtures and cabinets for the bathrooms and break room.  Dad has been the go-to over there, just running the show!   Did I tell you he is making a built in display for thread?  That is going to be awesome!

And Bob and Bernice have already started on the display shelves!  Worked their buns off Saturday, and made huge progress!!  (Deloris and James….if they are keeping score (and it’s very possible Bernice is they are, you better get over there and help!)  hahah, kidding of course!

You guys have a great week!! Can’t wait to show you more!  Everyday it looks better, and gets closer to being done!  We sure appreciate all of your kind comments and to all our local friends who have helped us.  THANK YOU!  We wouldn’t be here with out you all!  (and we know that!!)

~Sarah

Here, take a  look:

Lovely. Right?

Here is a better shot of the ceiling…

I can’t wait to see it this weekend!!  Rumor has it they are done hanging the rock and are mudding and taping!!

One more week and we should be ready to paint!!  OH MY!!  This is really picking up steam now!!!

I’ll try to get you better updated pictures this weekend!

Monday, I took a rare moment and started a sewing project!  I did the ‘double sliced layer cake’ tutorial, and it went so fast!!

I just wanted to show you all a picture of my progress.  I am waiting for the weekend to get it all together. (darn, time.  I sure wish I had more of it!)

Here it is laid out and waiting for borders.  I used the new line Vintage Modern, and I LOVE it!!

Hope you have a great day!

]]> http://blog.missouriquiltco.com/coming-together/feed/ 37 http://blog.missouriquiltco.com/delivery-sheetrock-its-coming-together/ http://blog.missouriquiltco.com/delivery-sheetrock-its-coming-together/#comments Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:59:02 +0000 sarah http://blog.missouriquiltco.com/?p=4256

I just had to pop in here quick like and let you know the Sheetrock is being delivered today!!!  OH MY!  I can’t believe it!  You know,  once that goes up, it’s going to look like more of a store and less like a disaster!!  (also, the roofers came Tuesday and Wednesday, so if it rains this weekend we should be good!)  Thank Heaven!

I am so excited, I can hardly wait!!

Yay-for progress!!

~Sarah