Three times a year for the past three years, Amann-Mettler Group has conducted a drawing for stores who carry the Mettler line of thread to enter a drawing to have me come to their store and do a two day class for their customers. We make a big deal of this! Mettler sends in free thread and door prizes, dealers provide lunch, lots of space and customers who want to learn how to machine quilt. It's a ton of fun for all of us!
Ann's Fabrics was drawn at Quilt Market in Houston last year and so -- here I am! It's a great shop, I'm just loving the customers and 3 BabyLock machines found new homes today. So we're all happy!
Now to the good stuff:
There's a lot of wall space in the classroom with some great quilts. The one above was probably my favorite....
...and I love the way it was kitted! I said something to the manager (or as Andy, the owner, says "the first in charge"; I think he told me he was third...) and Cheryl said that she really doesn't like ZipLocks. That made me laugh because I bought 600 yards of purple grosgrain ribbon printed with my Batts in the Attic logo for that very same reason! So Cheryl and staff of seven are always thinking of fun ways to package kits other than in a plastic bag.
For instance, their rows in the row-by-row experience are presented differently:
Above are their last two rows.
This is the way the top one with the beachy theme was presented; on the back it says, "Contents; 100% cotton fabric, 0% water" -- Andy said that one sentence was his contribution to the whole project!
And do we love the packaging for the snail trail row? How fun is that! Again the red lettering is Andy's work....
Cheryl has been in the fabric and quilting world for a long time and we know a lot of people in common, but one person that she knows well that I'm a great admirer of is not in the sewing world at all -- Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander books. I haven't watched the series, but am a huge fan of the books, practically jumping up and down waiting for a new one to be delivered to my local Barnes & Noble. It's the kind of book that I don't want to read on my Kindle; I want to hold it in my hands and savor every single word!
Ann's has three Outlander panels.
And a whole other fixture devoted to quilt making with an Outlander theme.
I liked this panel so much I had to get a bigger better picture -- the emotion on Claire's face as she is torn between Frank and Jamie. Ah, a romance story for the ages! Can't wait for the next book!
So if you need an Outlander fix (or some other fun things to work on!) and are in the Boston area, be sure to stop by Ann's Fabrics, 235 Turnpike St., Canton MA 02021 (781-828-2201).
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