Olde Green Cupboard Christmas Party

OMG (oh my gosh) what a wonderful time we had at our Christmas Party. Denise Harkins was so super to host our great event in her home (mine is just too little for all of us - we're almost as big as a football team)!

The day couldn't have gone slower! Why is it when you have something fun to do after work the work day seems to be 20 hours long? I've never figured that out... anyway... back to our party. After the work day finally ended... we all drove to Denise's house. She had it decorated so lovely! It surely put is in the holiday spirit. Everyone was decked out in their holiday clothing and when I arrived.. they were already munching on the snacks. Then it was time to dig in to all of the food. I must say... when we all get together... we can turn out an awesome food spread!

It didn't take us long and we were all stuffed! Now it's time to open packages... this of course came after Heather and I told everyone how wonderful they were... how much we appreciate their hard work, and how much our customers love them. It is truly a gift from the Lord that led these gals to my front door! Thank you again girls.... you simply have no idea how much you all mean to me...sniffle....!

You see...at OGC we draw names and then it's kept a secret until our party. Then one at a time, we all take turns finding the gift we brought and then giving it to our person. Of course, it's great fun to tease everyone... we may walk up to them and hand them the package...they get all excited and then we pull it away and say... "no... it's not you". Aren't we bad?!

It's just amazing at the skills our group has... I've never seen so many wonderful gifts in my life... we had quilts, wool pictures, hand embroidery pillows, bags, antiques, a hand-stitched mohair bunny, snowmen... and even a doggie coat - handmade... along with a scarf and mittens for the owner to match the dog's coat... isn't that something?

When I can figure out how to take a picture and move it to the computer...I'll show you my gift(s). Susan Ache had my name.... !! Was I ever excited to open my gift. It is a queen size blue & white quilt !!! IT'S ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! You see I'm making a new studio in my home and it's colors are going to be blue & white! I can't wait to hang it off the door of my awesome primitive soft yellow cabinet that I found not to long ago. It will hold my fabric (well, some of it anyway) books and patterns! That too is my goal... to have photos of my finished studio sent to all of you! The girls all went together and presented me with a "signature quilt" ... filled with their signatures.. along with Barb and Alma - Blackbird Designs and Lynda Hill - Primitive Pieces by Lynda ! It was a tearful moment seeing all of their names hand stitched !! sniffle... It's going on the wall of my studio! It was so hard to say good-bye to everyone...we had such a good time I didn't want to go home! In case you can't tell... I love my staff... it's like having 30 sisters!!

Ok...on with some more exciting news !!! We are having visitors in 2009 ! January will bring us Elly Sienkiewicz - queen of the Baltimore Album quilts and hand applique. We're also working up a date for Paula Barnes - Bonnie Blue Quilts to return again! It was great having her... and if you've not heard of her company or seen any of her quilts, visit http://www.oldegreencupboard.com/ and take a look! She's a peach and I can't wait for her to return. If you are a lover of reproduction fabric and quilts... don't miss this opportunity!

Then in November - it's Jo Morton ! She too is a fabulous pattern and fabric designer. I know all of the gals in our "Jo Morton Club" are excited. I do believe she is going to teach some hand piecing and then another project. Her classes have not been finalized, but you'll find out as soon as it's finished.

Then the first weekend in December... we're off on a cruise! Yes, Olde Green Cupboard is sponsoring a "Jingle Bell Time" cruise! Soon, very soon, we will have all of the details completed and we will begin to advertise. It's a great deal... I'm so happy with the participant's cost... VERY REASONABLE!!!

So.. that's it for the great and wonderful news! I'm home today - Wednesday is my "creative" day at the house. I need to get hoppin' on it!

Chat with you soon! Gloria

Hi everyone!! I know...I know... it's been some time since I've "blogged"...you know... I must learn to manage my spare time better.... RIGHT!!! Recently I emailed everyone and asked if they would share some of their Christmas traditions with me... they are simply wonderful and I wanted to share them with you!

"One of our favorite Christmas traditions is the way we sign the "TO and FROM" little tags on the wrapped gifts. When our girls were young I started writing little hints on their tags as to the contents of the package. I'd write something like "To Kate From a Frosty Snowman" when the gift was a pair of jammies with snowmen on them. They loved rattling boxes and trying to guess what was inside. On Christmas morning they loved figuring out what the tag hint had to do with the gift inside. At first I did it on a whim and now my grown daughters do the same thing for me and their families. It makes the waiting a little more exciting and fun."

"Every year my mother would make a different Christmas ornament. We have everything from sequined balls, macrame angels, mini-quilt pillows, cross stitch, needlepoint, popsicle stick creations, clay, you name it. Then when we grew up and got our own trees, we got to take those ornaments with us. Each year would hold a memory from a past Christmas. Now I do the same thing for my boys. I do need a new tree to hold everything. My mother is still making ornaments and has added the grandboys into the mix. I've taken to decorating swags with the overflow!"

"My mother started a tradition that I have carried down to my (grown) children. She made fudge, with lots of nuts, then she would fill a Christmas Card Box from the year before, with tin, fudge and glad wrap. My brothers would always eat theirs and try to find MINE! My mother, raised during the depressions, always put a navel orange in our stocking.... and I still find an orange in mine each Christmas. "

"You wanted to know the silly stuff, so here it goes... we do funny things! Everyone has a candy pacifier (to match our granddaughter's) and have a picture made with everyone from baby to grandparents enjoying their own pacifier. Next year, each of us found reindeer antlers in his/her stocking, and had pictures made with them. Last year was the year of Santa Hats. This year is still open for creation!! The memories are priceless and funny!!"

"We always have gold money in the toe of our stockings AND a chunk of coal for those who have misbehaved. My girls and I have always exchanged ornaments at Thanksgiving - it's so fun to have a new one each year. Our family also sits around in our jeans on Christmas night eating turkey sandwiches and play a Christmas trivia game - we choose teams - whoever loses CLEANS UP!! "

"We go to relatives on Christmas Eve and then to our church. We always love our candlelight Christmas Eve service because we all get to pick our gift out of the gift basket and then go up front and give it to the Lord. They are pieces of paper with different things written on them that our Pastor has prayed over.... such as ... gift of fellowship, gift of discipleship, gift of kindness, etc. P.S. Will a Pfaff sewing machine fit in a Christmas stocking??"

"We always got to open one present after chruch services on Christmas Eve before we went to bed. I was the animal lover in the family so I always hung a stocking up for whatever cat or dog we had at the time. I still have a cat and puppy stocking for our crew today. My mom always did a stocking for me even after I got married. She gave my new husband a note telling him what a spoiled brat I was at Christmas and a list of things to put in my stocking for our first Christmas together. I still do my 30 year old son's stocking to this day with the one thing he always said was cheating and that was putting fruit in the stocking to take up space. So the first year he had his own place I put canned goods in a BIG stocking just for him and we still laugh about that one!"

"When my boys were in kindergarten we went to the library to learn about a partridge. Sometime soon after, my oldest, drew on a piece of cardboard brown box his recollection of a partridge. (That was the beginning of his drawing talent). Each year since then I have always decorated my tree with only pears, and placed midway or higher is the partridge. Poor bird... it's had a lot of wear over the years, but that is my tradition and I'm sticking to it."

"One year I thought I would make it "easy" for my hubby to shop for me. This was at a time when catalog shopping was becoming the rage (early 80's). The L. L. Bean catalog arrived and I "shopped" and decided I would just fill out the form with all the items I wanted and presto... all he had to do was order them, have them shipped, and he was home free?? Now how easy is that??? NOT!!! I think that year I got a casserole dish and some other things... but nothing from L.L. Bean. Oh well... what can I say... he is a doll, I love him, been married 37 years... now that is a GREAT Christmas present... and YES.. I still have the casserole dish!!"

and the last two....

"We put up our tree with holiday cheer.... including music and myself and my daughter putting up the tree. My husband puts on the lights and my two girls and I decorate. We shop for one another and have decided that three gifts are good enough for Baby Jesus and it should be enough for us too! On Christmas Eve we have a church service where we are given a piece of paper with a gift written on it... service, discipleship or something that we should give to the Lord. We place it on the altar and light candles and have a candlelight service and sing Christmas carols. On Christmas day we have applesauce cake for breakfast and a holiday dinner together. We try to take in people with no family in town to our dinner. We like to invite children to the house because we do not have little children at this time. We have prayer and thank God for our many blessings."

"Each family member has their own stocking.. there are 4 of us in the family. We all fill each other's stockings with a $20 limit... everyone likes to get their own bag of favorite M&Ms and lots of little things, PEZ containters, socks, gloves, tea, hot chocolate, things like that. In the toe of each persons stocking I put a small wrapped gift in a certain paper. A different paper for each person. None of the presents under the tree have labels on them! So if the kids go snooping, they don't know who's is who's! When they get to the bottom of their stocking they know what gifts are theirs. On Christmas Eve everyone can open one gift... of course I pick them... and it's always a new pair of PJs. It has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. I started it on their first Christmas."

I love your Christmas tradtions... don't forget to make your own.... it's a memory that will be with you forever....

Merry Christmas to all of you !!

Gloria

Well, it's been sometime since I've had a chance to chat with everyone! What a busy time I've had lately...!!! I don't know which project to work on first... let's see.. I'm making some beautiful quilts for our shows... and for some reason I seem to pick out those quilts that have 15,000 pieces to them (that's a little more than what is really in the quilt... tee hee!), then... I'm working on some redwork designs... plus trying to stitch the samples... working on designing a fabric line... this has always been a fun desire of mine to accomplish!

W e still have wonderful fabric arriving >>>> LOOK :) >>>

Heather Bailey!!!

These are just a sample of the wonderful prints from Heather! She is a fabulous designer and the colors she uses are awesome!!! Oh by the way... I put in an order for Amy Butler's new line of fabric... 41 bolts!! We'll be sure and let you know when they arrive... she's always a favorite!!

I'm still working on the "Weight Watchers" deal... man... I hate to diet...!!! Although...if you haven't tried their fudge bars... you must... they are the best! My husband is hooked on them!!

Make sure you visit our web site and shop until you drop.. we have beautiful kits that we've added www.oldegreencupboard.com/kits.html We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

I'm off to put the binding on a quilt... aaahhhh work is never done...

See you soon!!

Gloria

The weekend is almost over....

Hi All! Well, this was a wonderful weekend for everyone! We got to spend the holiday weekend with our families.... or sewing !!! Our employee holiday sewing weekend is wonderful... (it's now Sunday morning..) I woke up early and was eager to get my day started. Threw some clothes in the washer, made my coffee, let the cat out to play in the garage (she's an inside kitty), read my email... and now chatting with each of you!

I've been a busy girl working on "Plantation Road" a Bonnie Blue pattern... it's absolutely wonderful... and VERY, VERY, VERY BIG! I'm adding the large 8 1/2" borders this morning and it will be ready for quilting! Then I'll wash it... dry it... and it will be all scrunchy...which is how we love our quilts to look!! We always get comments at our shows... "why do your quilts look so much warmer and attractive?" We try to have them all washed prior to a show... it gives them a proven GREAT look that customers LOVE!

The girls have been piecing quilt tops, hand embroidery, locker rug hooking, traditional wool rug hooking, long-arm quilting... you name it... we've worked on it this weekend! It's so much fun with us all together... what a bunch of sweet, lovable, funny, talented kooks I have working with me! It just doesn't get any better !!!

I'm really excited about a new venture.... I'm working on designing some embroidery patterns.. either red work or multi-color threads!! I've found a digitizing program that I need to order and learn how to use (in my spare time... hah!). Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer that this old mind can grasp this new technology... scary isn't it? HA!!

Have a marvelous Sunday on the last day of this holiday season... I will... I'm going to the store to sew ALL DAY!!! YIPPEE!!!!

Hugs to all!

Gloria

Hi there!!! Well, once again we received some fabulous fabric... JO MORTON - Andover Fabrics... her new line called Meg's Bouquet. Here is the link to Andover Fabric...then search in the Designer area and move to Jo Morton's fabrics... then you'll see Meg's Bouquet!

If you're one of Jo's Little Women, we've cut you fat quarter bundles... pick them up the next time you're in to visit! I also wanted to let you gals know that I'm working on getting Jo to come to Jacksonville and teach! Wouldn't that be fun? I'll keep you posted on my progress.... http://andoverfabrics.com

I'm off to work on some embroidery... we're working on our own patterns to publish ... we can't wait until they're ready and you can all see them!

Hugs to all.......Gloria

Sneak Peak was FUN!!!

What a great time we had Saturday at Sneak Peak! I just love seeing everyone together having fun, shopping, laughing.... it's so uplifting! Our new schedule is now out...Heather is working to get it all on the website for you. Plus, you can come and visit the shop and pick up your printed copy, look at the samples, pick out your favorite fabrics, and sign up for classes. We have some wonderful projects and quilts for you this summer! Don't miss the opportunity to make one for yourself, a friend, or a gift!

SURPRISE.... Since the end of this week (sale week) falls on the July 4th weekend, I am extending the sale for you! Yesssssiiirrreee.... we will have our fabric sale (25% off) run up to July 12 !!!!!!!!!!!!! YIPPEE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So many of you like to sign up and then pick out your fabric during the week or the following weekend and I don't want you to run short of time.

I'm off to breakfast with my hubby.... chat with you soon! Pass on the news of our BLOG!!

Hugs to all.......Gloria

Cutting, cutting, cutting.....

Hi all... what a fun day we had... ! We've been busy getting ready for Sneak Peak this Saturday... finishing our quilts, making our copies for your supply lists... AND.. we're also working on getting new fabric out for you !! Whooooeeee... is it ever wonderful... Free Spirit... great colors... I'm not telling you any more... you'll have to come in and see for yourself. Fabric will be 25% off through next Saturday... yippee!!! Ya gotta love a great sale!

We also worked all day on cutting fabric for more kits that we'll be taking to Nashville in August. It's the last year for the AQS show in Nashville... it will then move to Knoxville in 2009. I guess the Opryland was just getting to expensive and we're movin' on to a new venue! I've never been to Knoxville so it should be fun!!

Here's a picture of our new Block-of-the-Month that we will begin around September....! It's simply gorgeous! The backgrounds you will pick out yourself... we will supply the wool for each block. You will purchase your pattern up front... then you will have the ability to work on collecting your backgrounds for the entire quilt. Primitive Gatherings will be giving me the cost per month soon... I've emailed Lisa and she's calculating the cost for us. I thought it would be easier to have a set price each month than to have it change from month to month due to the amount of wool that is in each block. We'll talk to you more about it at Sneak Peak!

And still... one more block of the month that will be coming to the Olde Green Cupboard. We have chosen a new line of fabric from Moda... Portebello by 3 Sisters. http://unitednotions.com It's absolutely gorgeous and we know you'll love it!! Go to the Moda (United Notions) website and take a peak!! You're gonna love it!

For those of you that live outside the Jacksonville area... make sure you visit our website for you shopping! Heather (my daughter) has been working very hard in adding lots of patterns for you. Soon we'll be adding kits!!! You too can have one of OGC's beautiful quilts!

Check back soon.... we'll keep you posted on all that's happen' at the OGC!!

Happy sewing... Gloria

It's Sneak Peak Time!!

Hi gang.... this Saturday is our Sneak Peak! We will show you samples of our new classes.... projects.... and talk about fun new events that will happen from July - September. This is a busy time for everyone... school just ended - graduations are over, summer vacation for all of you... then before you know it the kids are back in school again! Then it's QuiltFest time here in Jacksonville! Are you a quilter? Have you ever thought about entering a quilt in OUR show!! Yes gals and guys... this is OUR SHOW... all seven guilds here in town work on the show for an entire year!! It's a never ending process and they do a superior job. We travel all over the United States attending shows as a vendor... and the Jacksonville show is as wonderful as the great big ones! So...think about entering a quilt this year! The more the better! It's such fun looking at the quilts and recognizing one that has been entered by someone you know!

This is my youngest granddaughter.... Alexis (Lexie)! She's growing to be a big girl...too fast! Mommy (Heather) and Lexie are trying the "potting training"...! Somedays really good... some days a not so good!! Hang in there Heather... soon she'll catch on!!

We just returned from a wonderful show in Columbus, Ohio... the National Quilting Association show. It was wonderful...what a great show!!!! The convention center was HUGE and let me tell you...we walked the entire length of it several times....! It must have been 2-3 football fields long. We were so lucky... our booth was located near Bonnie Blue Quilts and we had a good time together. Cathy dazzled her audience with her famous "Locker Rug Hooking" ! Jill traveled with us this trip and she showed everyone how to Needlepunch. Once again the beautiful patterns that Jan Vaine and Lynn Rogers have designed were a great hit! http://www.oldegreencupboard.com/lpnpage.html and http://www.oldegreencupboard.com/gccpage.html

Our BLOG is something new for us... we're hoping to keep you all informed of what's happening at the OGC in another method... We now have our "emails", BLOG, and Newsletter to keep you in touch!!! Let us know what you think....

Hugs to all... Gloria

Christmas is coming...the goose is getting fat...

Yes gals... we are officially receiving fall and Christmas merchandise as I type! It's such great fun... it's like Christmas morning each time "Mr. Brown" comes to visit.

We have received the most wonderful hand embroidery patterns for the holidays you have ever seen! Did you know that hand embroidery is making a comeback? Yes it is...and we are lovin' it!

New Friends

I wanted to let each of you see some of our new friends that have joined the staff at OGC. These little creatures are hand-stitched by my daughter, Heather... I think they are wonderful! If you're interested in having a friend live with permantely.... http://www.oldegreencupboard.com/mohair_bears.html click on this site and you'll get to see more... and purchase!

Wow....I've made MY blog!

Wow...this is new for me. I've decided to make a blog for Olde Green Cupboard. I really think this will help me keep in touch with all of my customers that are all over the US!

This will be a huge learning experience for me...that's for sure. Please be patient and I promise to get better at this new technology!

All of us at the OGC are working on preparing new quilting kits! We take tons of them to our shows and we also want to have more on our website for purchase. That's another goal Heather is working on... to help us receive more action on our website.

So... we have lots of new goals set for the rest of the year... and FUN! I love change... I know, I know... I'm not the normal human being... most people hate change! I LOVE IT!

We've already received fall and Christmas merchandise...soon we will see beautiful fall wreaths, pumpkins, scarecrows, and more in the store. Hey... it just became summer and I'm already thinking about fall!! (I love the fall season...it's my favorite...)

So... keep checking on my blog and see what's new!!

Hugs to all.... Gloria