SSQS Journal
Issue 45 May, 2021
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Hello Everyone,
We hope this newsletter finds you well and enjoying the Spring weather, no matter what the weather happens to be on any given day - oh the joys of living in NWI. As some of you may have noticed, I planted flowers in the pots outside the shop a couple of Sundays ago, a beautiful warm day perfect planting weather. What happens the next day? Of course it snows for the next two days! We made sure to cover them up and thankfully they made it, they are growing and look to be happy now. I tried to plant lots of different colors this year, at a Quilt shop you can never have too many colors!
I was looking back at my May newsletter from 2020 before I sat down to write this newsletter today. My overall theme back then was “adapting”, adapting to our new way of life with covid. We had just opened the shop back up, we were only open for curbside, we tried our hand at the very first Demo Day Video and we were basically just trying to figure out how we keep going. I can tell you that adapting is what we had to do, it's what we all had to do and it worked. You kept us going, supporting us and our business. So much has changed over the past year but it's good to know our friends and customers are still the same, that they still want to create and connect with the quilting community. We are going to keep adapting and growing with a brand new home for Sweet Stitches and we are happy to hear your excitement for us. We appreciate your friendship and support as we continue to grow this year and the years to come.
Over the past two weeks I have been working on my First Friday Demonstration Day Projects and they are coming along and most of them will be ready to share with you next Friday. The theme will be “Quilter’s Grab Bags”- different bag projects filled with surprise projects, patterns, tools and techniques. You never know what you are going to end up with when it comes to Grab Bags but there is sure to be lots of Quilty stuff in the bag on Demo Day.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!
May All your Stitches be Sweet,
Joan
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Sweet Stitches Migrates Newsletter to Constant Contact |
Beginning with this issue of the Sweet Stitches Quilt Shop Journal, our monthly newsletter will be produced and released using Constant Contact. "As our newsletter and other mailing lists have continued to grow we needed a service that would provide additional capabilities, allow us to better manage the process and ensure our emails were reaching our customers inbox", explains Rob Crookston, co-owner.
Sweet Stitches was aware that a number of customers were having issues receiving our newsletter, it is our hope that with this change, not only will they receive our newsletter but hopefully find the layout and formatting easier to read and view on any devise they happen to use. ENJOY!
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Our New Building is Under Construction
Our new building is officially under construction. Our building permit was granted and work began during the week of April 19. After many months of planning and behind the scenes effort, the real work of creating our new shop is under way. Below are just a few images of the "before" and early days of construction. We look forward to sharing this journey with you and to the day we can welcome you to a new Sweet Stitches Quilt Shop.
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Now you see the office walls... |
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And now the office walls are gone! |
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Our theme for First Friday Demo Day is "Quilter's Grab Bag". We will have all different kinds of Quilted Bags each filled with a different surprise item inside like patterns, books, tools, tips and fun projects for you to make.
Friday Demo Days are a little different now but we don't want you to miss out on what's new in the shop so we produce a monthly video that you can watch at home. Be sure to stop by the shop to see the projects in person and pick up items to make your own projects.
A link to the Demo Day Video will be provided by email on the morning of Friday May 7.
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The May Go! Play Day! theme is "Patriotic Place Mats & Table Decor". Darla has some fun, useful and easy patterns to make place mats and table decor to celebrate the Red, White and Blue all Summer long from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
AccuQuilt Go Play Day Videos are sent out to those in our AccuQuilt Owners Club. Fabric Kits and AccuQuilt dies will be available for order, at the shop, after the video is released.
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Sweet Stitches offers a variety of classroom instruction for beginners through advanced students. We continue to add new project classes to the calendar along with many of our favorites. If you are interested to explore our classes, click the link below that will take you to our calendar or you can find the calendar and a list of classes on our website by clicking Classes in the top banner.
Please note that for the foreseeable future our Covid rules will remain in place so we all stay safe. We will have a maximum number of Three people in our classes and masks will be required for class participants and instructors.
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Progressive 5 Month Block of the Month Coffee House
The Third block sets are now available for those that have signed up for the Coffee House Block of the Month. Joan has created a new video with explanations, tips and tricks to complete this months block. The video was emailed to the participants on April 30. If you are signed up for the BOM and did not receive your video link, please let us know.
Future blocks will be available on the fourth Friday of each month along with an email and a tutorial video from Joan to help guide your progress.
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Sweet Stitches COVID - 19 UPDATE
Please note that Sweet Stitches Quilt Shop will continue to require the use of masks by employees, instructors and visitors while inside the shop.
This requirement will extend for the foreseeable future.
While we are pleased to see the growing number of vaccinated persons, not everyone has had that opportunity. Until we have a greater number fully vaccinated, we will require masks inside our store to enhance safety for everyone.
We thank you for your understanding and adherence to this policy.
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General Maintenance and proper technique are critical for optimum performance of your sewing machine and project outcome.
All 50wt threads are the same, No?
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Last month we talked about thread weight and the fact that thread is not measured by it thickness (diameter) but rather by the amount of thread required to obtain the specific weight of One Kilogram. Due to a lack of labeling standards among manufacturers, not all threads are in fact equal. Most likely you have noticed this yourself if you have used different brands of thread.
Cotton sewing machine threads will be either 2 or 3 ply, meaning that there are either two or three plies that are twisted together to form the thread you sew with. Most likely you have looked at a thread label and saw 50/2 or 50/3. The first number is the weight and the second value is the number of plies that comprise the thread. Unfortunately, in the current state of the thread industry, both a 50/2 and 50/3 will be labeled as 50 Weight even though the 50/3 is 50% heavier than the 50/2. Generally, the wt value for a thread will be consistent for most any manufacturer among the threads they produce, yet this is why it is difficult to directly compare weight labels between different manufacturers.
When it comes to thread, the manufacturers declared weight should only be used a guide when comparing threads leaving you to use your eyes, feel and the performance of the thread as the final judge.
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Quilters of all skill levels can find encouragement, inspiration and creativity at Sweet Stitches Quilt Shop. Located in Chesterton, Indiana just a few miles from the natural beauty of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Sweet Stitches Quilt Shop is your destination for fabrics, notions and all things quilting. We carry a wide variety of brights and batik fabrics as well as notions, patterns, books and Elna/Janome sewing machines. Our large classroom offers students everything they need to learn and grow their quilting talents. From fabric selection to project advice to training on your new machine, our friendly, knowledgeable staff is ready to assist. Stop by the store or click the "Shop Online" link to view our wide variety of products ready to ship direct to your door.
Sweet Stitches Quilt Shop
Chesterton, Indiana 46304
219.250.5942
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