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Removing the Guilt

10/28/2015

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I can tell her a mile off.  She glances at the sewing machines and quickly looks away hoping no one sees her.  If someone asks her if she has a question she replies "No.  Just looking."  A few minutes later she strolls close to the sewing machines again.  A gracious lady in a purple Prairie Quilt shirt invites her to sit down and see what makes a Pfaff machine so different than all the rest.  She hesitates, looks around, then sits down beside the purple shirt.  There is visible tension  in the back of her shoulders and neck.  As the lady in front of her begins showing her features she has never seen in a sewing machine before, her eyes light up.  She wants to know more.
The purple shirt asks her what machine she is currently sewing with and the flood gates open.  With her head hung down, she admits she has four machines at home, so she shouldn't be considering a new machine.  She begins to list them off like a shopping list; there is her first machine, a Singer, given to her as a Christmas gift from her grandfather at 16.  Her husband bought her a machine when they got married in 1968.  When Aunt Gladys passed away she was given her machine, it was a Pfaff made in 1940 and of course the one her husband bought at a garage sale for $10.  Her husband didn't know why she needed so many sewing machines when she hardly ever sewed.  She didn't sew because none of them worked well, if at all.  She managed to use Aunt Gladys' old machine if she was hemming jeans but it did not seem to turn well and made a grinding sound.  She had owned it 50 years and had never had it cleaned. 
So with four machines at home she probably shouldn't be looking at sewing machines.  Yes, the new ones had wonderful features that would make sewing fun again.  She knew her grandchildren would love what she would sew for them.  But she couldn't see getting rid of those old machines because they were good machines once, even if it was over 40 years ago.  No, she would stay at home and watch her sewing machines rust.  I have seen her before, so many just like her.  Addicted to rust. 
I understand the concept so much more than she could ever guess.  My husband's rust addiction is in tractors and I have the pictures to prove it, seven in all.  He has turned all the fields into pasture land so why do we need seven tractors?  As you can see from the pictures, some have not moved for years and a few haven't moved in decades.  Oh yes, dear lady, I get the rust addiction.  
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I recently read the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.  I have to admit I have a hard time giving up things myself because of what I think of as heartstrings that connect these objects to myself.  Marie's book gives a positive energy to "tidying up" and helps understand that maybe all this rust just isn't necessary.
If your belongings inspire feelings of guilt, isn't it time to unburden yourself from them?  Change your relationship with what you own.   Savor the memory of when you received  Aunt Gladys ' machine or the Christmas day you received your first machine.   Thank the machine for all the good work it has done for you.  Then throw it in the trash and replace it with a new sewing machine.  The memories are still with you, the only thing gone is the rust.

​Randa
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Patchwork Party 2015

10/14/2015

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Our finishing kit was designed by BJ McIntosh, a talented team member of Prairie Quilt.
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Prairie Quilt's Patchwork Party Block
f you are looking for a gorgeous quilt that you will enjoy for decades to come, then look no further than the Patchwork Party's website.  The line of fabric used was designed by Maywood, one of our favorite fabric manufacturers that specializes in timeless prints.  This one is no exception, the Graceful Moments collection lives up to their reputation.  

We were delighted when we received an invitation to participate in the Patchwork Party this year.  Think of a Shop Hop where you can attend in your pajamas, ran completely from the world wide web.

Visit the Patchwork Party website by clicking on either of the pictures to the right. You will find twelve lovely blocks to collect from shops across the country.   

My absolute favorite fabric piece in this line was the border print shown below. Although we didn't use it in this quilt, you can be sure you will see a quilt design coming from us very soon using this lovely print.  Can you see a quilt made from this print?  What would you do with it?
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Halloween Fun

10/12/2015

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I love the fall season with mums blooming and leaves swirling in the cool air. Another favorite thing is the comforting feel of a nice wool sweater and wool socks, nothing is better than wool socks when the weather starts turning.  
Halloween is part of that lovely picture, not the scary part but the fun part of it.  I just can't get enough of it so this banner was a perfect way for me to exhibit the fun of Halloween in a very short time.  If you feel like ordering it for yourself, do so soon before they are all snatched up. Oh, and Happy Halloween!


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Christmas All Year Long?

10/5/2015

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Cardinal Fabric

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Are you aware that fabrics ordered at spring market usually don’t get to the shops until September/October?  And when we go to fall market the fabric we will order will not be arriving until after the new year and even spring?  It was really hard for me to wrap my mind around this when I first became a quilt shop owner. 
 
Imagine yourself as a quilt shop owner.  It is December and you are trying hard to move that Christmas fabric off the shelves so you don’t have to take it into the new year.  A fabric representative comes by and wants to show you their Christmas line.  Really?  That is certainly not the time to approach you about that kind of line, you are concerned about the fabric that you currently have because you know the week after Christmas you will have to discount it. 
 
The purchase date of fabric is getting pushed further and further ahead.  When I first began Prairie Quilt my Christmas fabric would arrive in September, now if it doesn’t arrive by June it is considered late.  Customers expect to see fabric by early summer now. Will we be seeing Christmas goods arriving in spring within the next few years?  Sometimes I feel retail has displayed Christmas so early that the holly and garland have lost their appeal. 
 
And where is the little baby Jesus in all this commercialism?  Sorry, I am really on a tangent about this today.
 
I will be ordering Christmas fabric soon because I don’t want to disappoint my customers in 2016.  But sometimes I just want to say to the fabric vendors “give it a rest!”
 
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    Randa Parrish

    Hi, I am the owner of Prairie Quilt shop in Hennessey, Oklahoma, where I am fortunate to share my passion with other sewists! 

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