Friday, December 31, 2010

News In Killarney

Yesterday we had a great time in Killarney, County Kerry. We had a photoshoot and as usual, Terri and I pop in on the locals, find the craic and hear the news of our quilters around the country.

Nikki Foley, who teaches patchwork and owns The Sewing Shed in Keel (twenty minutes from Killarney) arrived to meet us and catch us up. If you can't get to Ireland, visit her at Patchwork Promises too!

Her first point of mission was to let me know that a few days ago she had seen a bunch of our magazines at a newsagent in the town centre. Every editor needs a good spy! E&M, our Irish distributor does a fairly good job of keep us here and there, so I was pleased to hear this.

Soon I realised that I had no few spare copies with us. Shame on me! I don't know, it must have been all the presents crowding my sleigh from the week before? I usually have a stash in my vehicle! So off we went to the newsagent.

Though I wanted to purchase IQ, I quickly found other quilt magazines of interest--this shop indeed had a large variety. Jackpot...until I saw no IQ. We are at the end of this issue and new one is due out, so I'm not entirely surprised they vanished from the shelf. However, I still continue to do what every small business owner should do--you seek out the man in charge and query as a customer, so, well, they know Irish Quilting is in demand! I approached the counter.

The man before me wore the "I'm the owner" look. (And he was.) As I purchased my other magazines, I asked, "Do you carry Irish Quilting?" He look around, asked me to repeat the question, thumbed through my purchases, and then looked me right in the eye, and said "Nah, I don't think it exists." Now, shame on him!

I gave him a grin, slid my business card across the counter and said,"Oh, but it does. I'm the publisher." He turned as red as Rudolf's nose and began stumbling for words. Nikki piped in that she had seen the magazine in his shop previously. The man was tripping over himself to apologise.

I said to him, "don't worry, I've been told worse at the counter before." Really? No, not true. But this poor man needed a little saving face. (We do have a list of retailers who stock IQ. Once, I was told by a young (lazy?) clerk that they don't stock it--when in fact I knew they did.) Mr. Owner came around the counter and soon we were chatting away.

One thing's for sure now, Killarney knows who we are!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Happy Holidays


Greetings from Irish Quilting!
(This picture taken in Blessington, County Wicklow. Brrrrr!)

Monday, December 27, 2010

Merry Christmas Kay!

In our recent post for Tallanstown County Louth, there was a giveaway of Jo Badley's Charmed Beginnnings. Kay has been through Tallanstown and we thank her for commenting! Kay, please send us your contact details and we'll post your book asap. Charmed Beginnings fo 2011! Email me at sherry@irishquilting.ie.

Happy Holidays to all!
Sherry

Friday, December 3, 2010

Corrections!

Janome Competition Entry is 31 December 2010. Send in your entry form this month and your block will be due in our office 31 January 2010.
Get your entry from on this page in Janome UK website.

Also, did read about Copyright Infringement in our recent issue? Interesting! There was one typo! Teaching techniques--techniques created by others--is legal.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Janome Jackpot

These days there is a repeating sigh in our office.

"Oh, but I can't win!"

Yes, we are sitting here drooling and dreaming. Janome is giving away two sewing machines and ten other prizes to our readers. All you have to do is make a 10 1/2" block. Janome asks that you provide two styles of stitches, and we ask that you include a floral element--as we hope to make a charity quilt with the entries.


Trust me, you want to win! The top prize is a Janome Horizon Memory Craft MC7700QCP. We have made several projects in the office using the same machine and it is a dream!
Download the entry form. Send the form to Janome by December 31. Send your block in by 31 January. Everybody has an orphan block that can quickly be transformed into a winning entry!

Both of our last two issues promote this competition. In September, we talked about great ways to improve your stitching; where to find good resources and whatnot. In November, I wrote about a stitching class I attended, where I brought the Horizon MC--it was my first spin using the machine, and well, I'm in love.

Unfortunately, employees can't win, so sighs us. But you can!

Enter today or let me know a good reason why you're not entering!