Every year's Quilt for a Cause event is a very special time for our quilters to work together as a team for a greater cause. Last year's was a great cause, and a great success. This year some of our quilters came together again in our large classroom and worked dilligently to finish six whole quilt tops to benefit patients associated with the ALS Association: Fighting Lou Gehrig's Disease. The donated quilts will be given to an ALS patient or used to raise awareness and research money for ALS by being photographed, displayed, auctioned, or raffled. The project, Hopes & Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS, is sponsored by Quilters Dream Batting, and their website shows the complete list of sponsors.
We snapped a few pictures of our quilters in action. Not only did these gals enjoy a relaxing afternoon of quilting with their fellow friends, but they also quilted for a great cause. And to top it all off, all quilts that are sent in will be displayed on the Quilter's Dream Facebook page! So, get ready ladies: if you were here to help us quilt for this great cause, your work will be displayed on Facebook! :) Thanks again to all of you generous ladies for donating your time and efforts for this great cause!
(Disclaimer: Yes, we realize that Shirley's hair appears to be purple in the above photo. And, no, this is not a doctored photograph! She did, indeed, quilt for a cause wearing purple hair. Doesn't she just brighten your day?)
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On the second Saturday of every month, Suzanne's Quilt Shop hosts what we call Saturday Sampler. This month's meeting was on November 14th. It's a fun, busy, exciting morning filled with the reveals of our newest fabrics, kits, notions, and other goodies as well as a bit of Show-and-Tell by quilters who come. Perhaps the biggest perk to being a member of our Saturday Sampler club is the quilt you get to make, and Suzannes hands-on tutorial on how to do it! To join, all you need to do is sign up and pay your $6 membership fee. Each month a new block is introduced, and if you show up with last month's block finished, this month's block is free! During the gathering each month, Suzanne sits at her sewing machine as quilters look on and learn Suzanne's techniques for finishing the next block.
Saturday Sampler was so popular in the past, we had to plan for two separate groups! Our first shift comes tumbling through the doors at 9:30am while the second shift starts at 10:30. We always begin with Show-and Tell.
After everyone has had the chance to show off finished quilts, it's time for the ever-exciting new reveals. Suzanne loves the reveal of our newest products. Here, we got a snapshot of Suzanne showing off one of our newest fabric collections, Covey Toile. Just look at the captivated quilters!
Now it's time to get down to business: making this month's block. This month, the quilters also got their fair share of triangles on a roll to be sure all the pieces of this block come together perfectly. This is Suzanne explaining the triangles on a roll to those quilters in the group who had never used them before. You're always learning new quilting techniques at Suzanne's!
Next month's Saturday Sampler will obviously be the last one of the year, since it'll be December. :) We will be meeting at 9:30am and 10:30am on December 12th. The 2010 (!!!) year of Saturday Sampler is planned to start in February. For event details and class information, you can always visit the calendar on our site at suzannesquilts.com!
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We have officially survived our Second Annual Quilt Escape! For a second year, the retreat was held in Norman Park, Georgia at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center. It's a beautiful facility with plenty of space for all 50 participating ladies to spread out and quilt their hearts out. We were fed well (lots and lots of good Southern cooking), many ladies made new friends, and everyone enjoyed the felowship.
Suzanne and Shirley were the two representatives from Suzanne's Quilt Shop just like last year, and they both had a great time presenting this year's participants with their mystery quilt kits. The theme this time around was: Making a Quilt is Easy as Pie! The girls back at the shop had a great time packaging the kits into an extra special package for each lady this year. The mystery quilt kits were kept secret from retreat participants until the grand reveal on the weekend of the retreat, so to be sure each quilter would be elated with her finished quilt, we asked: "Do you prefer Cherry Pie, Caramel Chocolate Pie, Key Lime Pie, or Pumpkin Spice Pie?" This had the retreat-goers wiggling for months in anticipation of the retreat weekend's project. (Suzanne loves to be sneaky!) Final presentation of the "pies" had the quilters elated and ready to sew, especially when Suzanne and Shirley presented the pie themed quilt kits while wearing Chef's hats and aprons!
Of course, the weekend started with a warm and friendly meet-and-greet in the grand entryway of the facility. But not too much time was spent just sitting around and chatting--these ladies came to sew for the weekend, so everyone got settled in pretty quickly:
There were a few opportunities to be distracted from "making pie" and everyone loved each chance to appreciate another quilter's work. First there was a Show-and-Tell of past projects. Quilters brought their finished projects from last year's Retreat, some brought projects they had worked on throughout the year, and one quilter even showed off a beautiful Christmas tree skirt.
Other than breaks for delicious meals made by the spectacular Convention Center Kitchen Staff, the next distraction to stop the quilters' machines from buzzing was a block contest. Each lady brought a block, and three winners were selected from the whole lineup. Everyone did a beautiful job on their Autumn-inspired blocks, and they were all so festive lined up next to each other.
After more quilting, chatting, and having an over-all good time, another contest began: APRONS! The quilters were encouraged to bring an apron they had made and model it for the contest. There were many very distinct and pretty aprons sewn--such a creative bunch of ladies! In the end, three aprons were selected as winners. What better sewing project to judge than aprons for a pie-themed weekend?
The 2009 Fall Quilt Escape was such a hit, we already have quilters signed up for the retreat coming in the Spring of 2010. With only 50 spots to fill, this 2009 Fall Quilt Escape list was overflowing before we knew it and many quilters were lined up on a waiting list. Don't miss your chance to be in on the fun when Spring comes around! Come into the shop or call us to reserve your spot now.
Cherry Pie: Pumpkin Spice Pie:
Key Lime Pie: Caramel Chocolate Pie:
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Our Customer Appreciation Auction went really well this year! We had an impressive turn-out and everyone had a fun time bidding on items they wanted. The process was simple: starting August 1st, for every $10 a customer spent in the store, he or she received $100 in our Auction Bucks. On September 19th everyone gathered together at Suzanne's Quilt Shop and used those Auction Bucks to bid on the items they just had to have!
There were plenty of quilts to bid on, from crib size quilt tops to queen size finished quilts and everything in between. There were countless goody bags filled with threads, batting, books, patterns, notions, and even soothing hand lotions. There was even a prize handmade doll, and everyone oooo'd and aaaaaah'd over her. Just take a look at all of our excited patrons: "Hey, everybody! Hold up your Auction Bucks for the camera!" And look at all the goody bags in front of them, ready to go home and be made into something beautiful.
Our very own Shirley played Auctioneer for the event, and Suzanne was surprised and amused at Shirley's exhuberant dedication to the job.
By the end of the event, we made sure to get a photo of the happy auction winners with their fresh goodies.
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Our first quilt retreat was held October 31 - November 2, 2008 in Norman Park, Georgia at the Georgia Baptist Convention Center. Cotton was being harvested in the surrounding country side and the leaves were changingIt was a huge success!!! Retreaters came from as far away as South Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina to join our Georgia and North Florida customers. Everyone enjoyed making new friends.
We had a pumpkin block challege and there were 4 winners selected for prizes. Four other retreaters won 12 blocks each to take home and complete into a quilt.
The retreat project was a mystery quilt featuring the Mexican Star. There were 3 color choices of fabric (blue/white, plum/cream and bright batinks on black). You can see some of the fantastic quilts as they developed.
Lots of prizes were given away and everyone is hoping they will meet again next time at the next retreat. Thank you to all for being such wonderful guest!
Suzanne
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The logo for Suzanne's Quilt shop was designed by Beth Dix of Primrose Lane. Beth is a designer of clothing patterns for dolls and children. You can see her designs at www.primroselane.com In addition she is great resource for heirloom sewing supplies. Beth is a quilter and once worked at our shop in Royal Palm Beach. I told her back then that I wanted a new version of a Sunbonnet Sue that would represent a woman heading off to go quilting. She came back a day later with a wonderful sketch.
Since we are celebrating out 20th Anniversary in business and our 10th Anniversary online, I recently had our website revamped. The web designer added colors to the original sketch to give her a new look.
We have an Anniversary Quilt in the making and the logo is going to be an embroided design in the center. Tunie, another former employee, quickly stitched the embroidery design for our quilt. Shirley Thomas, current employee, designed our 20th Anniversary Quilt which is in the process of being made. We will have the pattern and kits available at the Anniversary Celebration coming us soon!
Hope you will be able to attend our 20th Anniversary Celebration. Our official opening date was June 1, 1988. Do to graduations and vacations, we delayed the 20th Anniversary Celebration to Saturday, Sept. 6th. We will be giving away 20 quilts at 3 p.m. You must be in attendance to win. From August 1 - September 6 we are giving a ticket to the drawing for every $10.00 purchase. Starting Saturday, September 30 - September 5 we will be having daily specials in store.
Now where is that girl going? She's going to Suzanne's for the best in quilting supplies!
Happy Quitling,
Suzanne
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