5th Anniversary celebration at Quilter's Destination

I can not believe that the shop has been open for five years. I remember hearing about a shop opening in my neighborhood at a guild meeting. I was so excited to be getting a shop 5 minutes from home.  A little less than two years later I was offered a part time job at the shop. I have made so many wonderful friends because of this job. My co-workers of course because we all get along. I belong to a bee because of one of my coworkers and I love it. Last but not least many many customers that I now call friends because of working in the shop.  It really has been my lifeline through all my Dad's illnesses and recoveries and more recently through the loss of my Mom. Thank you to all my wonderful Quilter's Destination friends.

To celebrate the big anniversary, there was a three day sale. 20% off everything!!! Batiks, brand new bolts, tools, books, everything. In addition to the sale, on Saturday we also had food. The owners hubby, her sister and BIL set up a canopy and a grill and made hot dogs and burgers. A hot dog, chips and soda was $1. A burger, chips and a soda $1. We also had cookies, a huge sheet cake, and many other yummy goodies.  I wish we could have gotten pictures, but I swear we were sooo busy, it was all we could do to keep up with the cutting and re shelving fabric. Non-stop. Lots of fun. I did get some pictures not long before the sale so here is the shop:

Patti ( the owner) was also signing magazines on the page where her runner was pictured. Troy fabrics is local (Chicago) and Patti was asked to design a project for a fabric line they were going to launch. She did the table runner. She also did 2 more projects using the next two lines by the same designer. At market Troy used her samples and Quilting Arts saw them and wanted to publish them. The current issue has the first one. It was exciting for all of us to have Patti in the magazine.

There was a private after hours party to celebrate too. Music, more food, wine and tons of fun. We (the shop girls ) ended up doing an impromptu roast that had everyone in tears.

Sunday was the last day of the celebration and for some reason Patti didn't think it would be as busy. I thought they might still be getting lots of business so I went to the shop. My plan was to buy some fabric ( imagine that) and if it was quiet go home. Wellll.... it was not. I stayed and worked the rest of the day.  It was still lots of fun. We usually have the best times when things get hectic. Our customers are the kind that will put bolts back after we cut. They will often say 'you cut, I'll fold'. Makes it so much more fun when we all work together.