Sometimes customers come to New Pieces looking for dots…
Polka dots, and spots, and the usual “I’ll know it when I see it”…
Sometimes customers don’t tell staff what they’re looking for….
but, maybe they find something they love. As they get ready to leave…
they discover a few bolts of dots and spots they missed before…
Come in soon — we promise to have at least a few bolts of dotty fabric for you…
(Psssssst — They’re under the counter by the cash register!)
Let’s imagine you’re looking for the perfect Winter project.
It should have a real wow factor, but also be doable in small pieces. Maybe you’ll be working by the light of a single lantern in your sewing room…or maybe your Bernina will bask in Ott-Light bliss…. Whatever the circumstances, pre-printed muslin foundations are a really clever idea, and once your quilt is finished no one will know you used them — unless you tell them.
New Pieces has three new bolts of Benartex muslin foundation cloth right now. There is also a lovely quilt on display that was made using the fabric foundation method. (If it looks familiar it appeared in the last blog entry, too).
15 bolts of solid “sheeting” weight fabrics in vivid colors
Plus an adorable selection of “Robot” themed prints, made in the same vivid, low-impact dyes. All these organics are standard 44″ width, and yes they cost a little bit more than the equivalent. Come See!
New this week at New Pieces — more luscious prints from Marcia Derse which work with and expand the selection we already have from earlier this year. Marcia Derse fabrics are commercially printed from her hand painted textiles.
Also from Marcia Derse,
SOLIDS!
We also have received several bolts of her stunning, saturated, solid-like colors that work brilliantly with her prints and with those from the Kaffe Fassett line…. and almost any saturated colors or batiks you have in your stash, or were resisting adding to it…
At this rate Derse could become an adjective to describe intense, slightly edgy, modern quilting fabrics.
Among the bolts of new fabrics that arrived in the Store this week were sets of bolts that cheerfully strain the concept of “solid” color. While a picture is worth a thousand words — no picture can really do adequate service to these fabrics. We encourage you to look for them the next time you are in the Store. They may not be with us long.
There are eight bolts of this clear gem-toned cloth, each with the same, subtle, printed “texture” that lets them perform as slightly more than solid.
There are also 11 new bolts of an amazing fabric called “Lumiere Sateen”. Cotton sateen ombres that glow. We’re speechless.
If you have a project in the planning stage for which you needed “Solids +”, these may be the fabrics for which you were waiting.
The pictures can at least give you an idea…
Wow.
Only our regular customers will be confused, but Staff (and friendly customers) have been moving the fabric around the Store. The most noticeable change is documented below:
Where once a wall of black and white fabrics greeted you at the door, there is now an equally wonderful section of more modern prints, organized by designer.
Don’t panic! The black and whites have moved to a place slightly farther from the door. With more space they can exhale, and expand a little, too.
There is now also a bay of fabrics at 25% off 1/2 yard cuts, in addition to the 1/2 price bay. There are many more subtle changes, and we hope you’ll check in with us about the ones that work and the ones that don’t. Our goal is always to remain recognizably the New Pieces you know and love — but still to find ways we can improve what we do… you know that quilters love to hear “Oh, that works!”
Staff
P.S. For those of you less familiar with the New Pieces Quilt Store, there is a “tour” of the Store (in photos) on the New Pieces Quilt Store page on Facebook. Enjoy!
All 10 of your local quilt shops are offering a “Customer Appreciation” sale this Friday and Saturday:
Quilter’s Quest
Customer Appreciation Weekend
May 20-21, 2011
Friday & Saturday
Regular Store Hours
Ten shops in the San Francisco Bay Area have joined together to show you, our loyal customers, how
much we appreciate you!
Enjoy 20% off on-bolt fabric (half-yard cut minimum), And enter to win a $100 gift certificate at each
shop!
Mark your calendars for this fun-filled weekend
Cornerstone Quilt Shoppe (707) 438-2969
1001 W. Texas St. Ste. A
Fairfield, Ca. 94533
Cotton Patch (925) 284-1177
1025 Brown Avenue
Lafayette, Ca. 94549
Main Street Quilts (925) 372-3700
533 Main Street
Martinez, Ca 94553
New Pieces (510) 527-6779
766 Gilman & 4th St.
Berkeley, Ca. 94710
Picket Fence Quilts (415) 892-8380
6090 Redwood Blvd.
Novato, Ca. 94945
Queen B’s Quilt Shop (925) 9784587
720 W 2nd Street
Antioch, Ca. 94509
Quilt Fans (510) 749-6717
2205 Harbor Bay Pkwy
Alameda, Ca. 94502
Quilted Vine (707) 546-0750
1591 Farmers Lane
Santa Rosa, Ca. 95405
Quiltmaker (707) 252-6793
1275 Napa Town Center
Napa, Ca. 94559
ThimbleCreek (925) 676-5522
1150 Burnett Ave. #D
Concord, Ca. 94520
Last week I finished a jacket that was intended as a birthday present for my wonderful mother-in-law.
Caroline is a gardener and bird-watcher, living in the cold, cold Midwest. The jacket was meant to give her a warm hug on her February birthday – when we couldn’t be there to do it in person. I was thrilled with the fabrics I found — and, since I only have one jacket pattern, I was set! Having procrastinated far too effectively, I laid the jacket out and sewed it up over the course of two or three days. I made some truly creative fixes to my mistakes, a la Lisa’s quilt. I hemmed the jacket on birthday-minus-3 day; then affixed two silk frog fasteners and mailed it off.
No picture. Oops! I can show you the fabrics — and I can remind you to always take pictures before mailing gifts to your loved ones. Most of us stop short of carrying those little “brag” books in our purses, but I’ve yet to meet a quilter who doesn’t want to see what you’re working on!
See you at the Store. And please, bring pictures! — Heather
Many New Pieces customers and staff are originally from colder climes — and almost all of us are grateful not to be traveling anywhere east of Pleasant Hill this week. New Pieces has also had many wonderful and dynamic out-of-town visitors this week. They seem happy to be missing the weather they left behind, and to really enjoy the cool, clear February weather we earned after all last week’s foggy gray.
That said – We’ve been having a blizzard of sorts at New Pieces, too. Between the extra visitors and our usual, busy schedule, Staff has barely been able to keep up with the flow of bolts of new fabric coming in the door. Its been overwhelming and wonderful.
It’s hard to capture the excitement in words, or even pictures, but here’s a quick peek at this year’s February Blizzard.
There are Free Spirit fabrics, from Jane Sassaman and Jay McCarroll; there are amazing Asian prints including adorable lions, elephants and bears. There are more bunnies….
A huge order from Trans – Pacific included these bolts of lava cloth. Brilliant colors, 100% cotton – but with a slight texture.
Among the arrivals in “juvenile” fabrics were these few, including additions to our turtle, owl and bug offerings.
And finally…
To round out today’s peek at the “symphony of color”, there’s a jazz combo in blacks and white.
Stay tuned, or come in — there is more to show!
