Archive for 2014
Our Goals for 2015
So… in our last post in this series, we discussed some of the things that worked well for us in 2014, as well as some of the things that didn’t quite go as we had hoped. And so now, with our 2014 assessment completed, I’m ready to detail our goals for 2015. 1) Our Show…
Read More2014: What Worked and What Didn’t
So… as 2014 draws to a close, it’s time for us to sit down and do a long, hard assessment of what we did right over the course of the last 12 months, as well at what didn’t work out quite as good as we had hoped. You know what they say, those who do…
Read MoreEight Reasons to Make Your own Bias Tape
(I get so many questions about bias tape… how do I make it, how do I get such a smooth finish etc. etc., so I thought it was LONG PAST time that I did a series devoted to bias-taping so…here’s the 1st in a three-post mini-series.) I can’t remember the last time I used store-bought…
Read MoreJoAnn’s Revisited
Way back in March of 2011, I wrote what has turned out to be a VERY popular post, SO popular in fact that not only did it receive the most views AND the most comments in 2011, it has continued to get the most views and the most comments every year since!!! And not only…
Read MoreHelp! There’s a Gorilla in My Booth!
So… Years ago, Samsonite had an ad campaign involving a gorilla. The ad implied that airport luggage attendants were extremely rough on luggage (imagine that!) and that the only luggage that would in fact hold up to this deliberate mistreatment was Samsonite luggage. Enter the aforementioned gorilla, playing the role of the luggage attendant in…
Read MoreEleven CRAZY Days in October- The Setup
So… seems like we’ve done nothing but get ready for, and then recover from Road trips and shows this year. It’s been fun, exciting, exhausting and we’ve REALLY enjoyed mixing & mingling with our customers! But you know what else? It turns out that doing two big retail shows in advance of the International Quilt…
Read MoreIn or OUT… That’s the Question
So… I’ve received a couple of complaints comments of late concerning the notches on our patterns… you know, those little triangles (sometimes diamonds on older patterns) placed along the edges of sewing patterns to help align pattern pieces correctly along the seams (circled in red at left). Here’s the latest one received by email a…
Read MoreWhy Does it Take SO Long to Publish a New Pattern?
So…here’s the way it usually goes… I’ve been working on a new bag design for few weeks. I’ve tweeked the design here, and adjusted the fit there, and at last all the pieces are going together just the way I want them to. And the best part is, I FINALLY have a completed sample which…
Read MoreAQS Quiltweek Chattanooga- A Banner Day
So… I’ve made a new thing for our booth display in Chattanooga! And I’m pretty excited about it! I noticed during AQS QuiltWeek in Charlotte that several vendors had banners in their booth displaying the show pins they had collected from the many retail shows they had vended at over the years. And this got…
Read MoreSo You Wanna Be a Tester?
So… in a recent post we showed you the bags that our testers created in the process of “test-driving” our new design, the Wrapsody. And just in case I haven’t said it in a while, you need to know that our testers play a totally vital and oft underestimated role in our design process. So I’m constantly amazed at how often folks…
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