January 2010 Happy New Year!!! I hope everyone is ready to face 2010 with optimism. I realize that the economy has made it tough on a lot of families and I hope that the new year will be better for all. One thing that has remained a constant in this time of economic uncertainty is quilting. You may not be shopping for items that are not a necessity, you may eat more meals at home than you use to and buying that new cashmere sweater will just have to wait a little longer. But quilter’s still have to have quilting supplies and fabric. Quilting has long been a comfort to many. There is something to be said for making a quilt that will wrap a loved one or friend in warmth. A quilt is an expression of yourself and comes from the heart. No matter the economic conditions of the world, quilters still quilt. I want to say thank you to all of you for your continued business and support. We are trying to make the shop one that will fill all your quilting needs as well as a place you enjoy coming to just to chat and get inspiration. I personally enjoy seeing all of you and sharing your “Sew and Tells”. We all take a personal interest in your projects and love to see the finished results. Some of our plans for 2010 include a better class area. Jeff and I are working on different floor plans to make it easier and more com-fortable for you to take classes. I would like to see the classroom a little more private. We have several ideas that we’re tossing around… I’m sure one of them will be the perfect one. We are expanding our Civil War and Wool sections. These are two of the areas that many of you have expressed the most interest in. Starting in January, we will be receiving Civil War fabrics weekly. Becky is also starting a fantastic Block of the Month again. Kim has designed several new class projects for our winter schedule. Stop in and check out her samples. Because of the demand, she will be offering her sweatshirt jacket class again. Lola is offering her “never-ending” Locker Rug Hooking class. We are all amazed at how many times this class has been offered and it continues to fill each time. We will also still offer Appliqué, Crochet Rug, Binding, and Machine Quilting classes. The new classes will be posted on our website (www.fabrictown.com) soon. Once again, thank you and may this year be a healthy - happy one for all. Patti Quilt "Sewcial" V Our 5th Quilt "Sewcial" was held on Saturday, February 13th at Old Chicago Conference Center. We had 33 "Sewcialites" in attendance. All through the day you could hear the hum of the machines as quilt tops, wall hangings and more were being created. As in the past, Old Chicago catered our meals and they did a wonderful job. Our gift to our attendees this time were pincushions made from teacups and saucers - most, of which, were vintage. (You can now purchase one of these beautiful pincushions in our shop if you like them.) Steve ("Stevie Wonderhands") arrived at noon and gave massages until 8:30 p.m. Steve is fantastic and we've already booked him for Quilt Sewcial VI! From the comments made on our survey sheets, a good time was had by all and we already have several gals signed up for Quilt "Sewcial" VI (Saturday, September 11th). If you are interested in joining us in September be sure to sign up soon as this event fills fast! As always, thank you for your continued support of this event and our shop. Click here to see a slide show of the "sewcial". You can also view a slide show of our previous "sewcials" by visiting our Photo Gallery.