Inventory & Christmas Photos

Well today is inventory day.......let's just say at this point we are all seeing cross-eyed!! I ran away for a moment for a break and decided I'd post pictures and do an update. We re-open on Jan. 2nd and are very excited for the new year. We'll be visiting a lot of guilds in January so are busily getting ready for those. Here are a few pics from today and the Christmas gifts we made.



Can you tell we are getting a lot done from this pic?

There are piles everywhere!!

You never realize how many fat quarters you really have until this moment. They are ready to throw the scanner out the window!!

This is an apron I made for a friend. It says cupcakes.....

A penguin hat for my 2yr old nephew.

The scarf for my 5yr old nephew.

A crochet felted bowl.

This is the bug quilt that was promised 3 years ago!! Grandma finally finished it.

This is the queen size quilt I just made.......

This is her opening it!!

So inventory is done and I just got given the scanner to update the system so I better get to it!! Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year's!!

Inventory Reduction Sale!!

We hope all of you had a great holiday! We have thoroughly enjoyed our days off. Yesterday was filled with family......20 ppl to be exact. Along with the family came tons of food but definitely not your traditional Christmas dinner. We had a Christmas in July type dinner with grilled chicken, bar-b-que ribs, salads, baked beans, and such. Sounds crazy but man was it good. The night then dissolved into opening gifts and then challenging anyone and everyone to Guitar Hero duels. Let's just say I'm not that good and mom wouldn't even give it a try!! Today was then filled with a bunch of nothing. We enjoyed watching a movie, playing cards, and a board game. We can't remember the last time we had such an "unproductive" day!!

So now on to business:

Inventory Reduction Sale! Dec. 27th & 28th

On December 27th & 28th receive 20% off your purchase (excluding consignment and clearance items). This will be ONLINE as well as IN STORE!

Additional Specials ONLINE & IN STORE-Trims - Buy 1yd, Get 2nd FREEFoil Packs (not tubes) - Buy 2, Get 3rd FREE**This will not show automatically on your internet order but we will adjust it in shop. You'll receive an updated total with your shipping notice.**


Additional Specials- IN STORE ONLY At time of checkout draw for the chance to receive an additional percentage off. Instead of 20% off you could get up to 40% off!!
Fat Quarters- Buy 3, Get 4th FREEFat Quarter Packs - Buy 2, Get 3rd FREE

There is tons of stuff just marked down to clearance so come by and check it out. We need to make room for all the new stuff coming in for the new year.

Happy stitching!
PS....I'll post pics of the other Christmas gifts tomorrow.

Finishing of Gifts!!

Still working away at all the gifts I need to finish. Here are some photo album covers I just made yesterday. I even put in the scrapbook paper so that they can just keep adding photos!




Here is a sneak peak at another gift. Can't put it all out there as I know that friend reads the blog from time to time. I've been absolutely amazed at myself that some of the things I thought in my head are actually coming out on the fabric! Everyone knows those are the great days...... Have fun everyone.....now back to work!

Journal!!

Yeah!! The journal cover I wanted to make for a gift actually came out like I wanted it to. Had a couple of hiccups as I didn't cut with enough seam allowance for the top and bottom. They ended up getting satin stitched. I'm really into just tearing the fabrics right now as it just seems easier so these are all very much raw edge! I stamped the bird and then took a silver stamp pad to get the portion under the twig. The metal letters are out of the scrapbook section of the local Joann's. All in all this was not a very time consuming project so I could definitely see myself doing another.

Hope all of you are getting close to being done with all of your gifts whether by shopping or by making!

Holiday Gifts Progress and Visitor

Hello all,

The holidays are definitely upon us or just finishing up!! We have been madly stitching away in store trying to finish up those gifts. Mom is working on a quilt that she promised her grandson...mmmmm....let's see about 3 years ago. Looks like he just might be getting it!!!

I've been knitting and sewing away. I've been pushing my limits trying things I've never made before and have been having fun. Not going to give away too much info as I know some of those people will read the blog!! One of the projects though is a sewing one that is way bigger than anything I've ever done. I'm still hoping I can finish it by Christmas but we'll see. It might be given as an unfinished piece that I need back to finish! I'll try not to take the 3 years that mom did if that's the case!!!

Well the other day as we were sewing all of a sudden mom looked up and saw a visitor outside. I ran for the camera in order to catch a picture of it.


He caused quite a stir as it was around closing time so he was catching the eye of the rush hour travelers. They just stopped and stared. Let's just say we were very glad to be inside and not anywhere near his beak or talons as they looked sharp as all get out.

Happy stitching of any kind to all!

Hello All!!

Yes, we are still among the land of the living. We made it all the way through Houston and back. Then I took off for vacation for a couple of days. It seemed like the holidays snuck right up on us as soon as I got back.

Finally we are in for a somewhat slow month of December!!!! Lol.....I say that only because there are only 2 classes in the month. Still lots on the schedule but only 2 classes. Lots of holiday parties and then the dreaded day of inventory will arrive! That's still a long way off though so all of you that wish to help us have a little less to count are very much appreciated :)

Well since it has been such a long time since I've posted I'm just getting our journal quilts posted up online......so here they are.

"Fire & Brimstone" by Kristin Rodriguez

- Definitely a "left-turn" for me on this one. Tried out a few new techniques. Didn't quite turn out how I envisioned but isn't that what we all say.

"Riot of Color" by Janelle Girod

- Yes......that beaded fringe was added once it was discovered it was too short!!

I'll definitely work on better posting as we go into December!!

Houston Greetings Day 3 Just Beginning

Hey guys,

Hope all of you are doing well. Today is the start of Day 3 of Houston Festival and we are ready for it.....at least we think we are! Here are a few photos of the area where we are and our booth.




Our view of Make It University....just right across the aisle basically.

Working on the finishing touches of the booth the witch , Jan, is placing the extras under the table.

Happy Halloween!!!! We all dressed up for the opening day of festival....Kristin, Karla, and Jan.!!

Our Chaos!!!

We've been trying our best to get everything organized and ready to go to Houston in a week!! We're testing out all the new product we're getting in and trying to get models ready to show. Today has been a fun day of play!!


I made this the other day out of Joel Dewberry fabric and following an Indygo Junction pattern.

Look at our mess of boxes of inventory! Can't even get to the radio right now to listen to some music.

Look at all our lovely clutter!! Should have it out of the upstairs tomorrow!

Karla's been playing with the new Glimmer Mist that just came in. These are all the tags to show all the colors.

This was Jan's project. Mixing a whole bunch of beads.

Hopefully should have some more pics shortly. Will also try my best to take photos during Houston and post them daily!!

Help Support the Troops & Houston Update

We've been working like crazy preparing everything for Houston! We have 2 of the 3 workshop kits complete and are quite happy with them. Thanks to some generous donations the other one is almost complete as well. The show merchandise has been arriving at record pace as well so forgive us the clutter in the shop as we sort things out. Things are starting to come together nicely but we are starting to get nervous about leaving the end of next week.

Thanks to all the people that have helped out/are going to help out in the preparation for this. We never could've done this without you guys!!

also.....

**Help Support the Troops** With the holidays fast approaching many troops are away from their families. Any small token of our appreciation means a lot to them. A good friend of mine is a 2nd Lieutenant currently stationed in Iraq. Previous care packages I've sent are split amongst the platoon and affect many troops. If you would like to donate items for care packages or simply write a letter to be included with them please bring the items to Fiber on a Whim no later than Wednesday Oct. 24th. I'll ship off all items on the 25th which allows plenty of time for them to get there by Thanksgiving. If you need any ideas you can find them on this website: http://operationmilitarypride.org/packages.html Keep in mind that these packages will be split among men and women.

Houston Int'l Quilt Festival Updates!!

We are going to be located in booth #1256 in the heart of Make It University. We are working hard to make sure that we will have the best merchandise/models/demos/workshops to offer all of those who are going to be able to go. We have quite a few announcements about our time there:

Wednesday 10/31 - Preview Night - Since opening is on Halloween we decided to join Patricia Bolton, editor of Quilting Arts & Cloth Paper Scissors, by dressing up in costume. Come on by to see what ghoulish delights we'll have on hand.

Thursday 11/1 - Laura Cater-Woods will be doing an autograph signing of her new workbook Idea to Image from 3-4PM. Quantities Limited. Cost of workbook $17.50.

Friday 11/2 -
12-1PM - Janome Sew It & Take It workshop - Water Soluble Lace Pin w/Janelle Girod
3-4PM - Laura Cater-Woods will be doing an autograph signing of her workbook Idea to Image. Quantitites Limited. Cost of workbook $17.50.
4:30-5:30PM - Make It University Workshop - Grab Bag Fiber Collage

Saturday 11/3
10:15-11:15AM - Make It University Workshop - Fabric Bead & Found Object Bracelet.

Sunday 11/4
All 3 of us will be in booth all day long.

Here's the schedule with the entire list of Make It University workshops:
http://quiltingarts.com/cpsmag/HoustonMIU.html


We have jam packed our Houston trip with lots of fun and events. We want to make sure that our trip as well as yours is filled with fun and excitement!!!

Hope Show comes Down :( & Journal Quilts Shipped

Well the end of the month has arrived. The Hope Exhibit at The Art Place was taken down this morning. It was a huge success though. One piece sold that was absolutely gorgeous......Congrats to Hellenne. I think most of us are saddened though that it sold as we all would have loved to buy it!

Rebecca also made arrangements for another show to be held at The Art Place next year. So now will come the time to start thinking about that but first we'll all have to come up with a theme.

Mom and I mailed off our Journal Quilts a couple of days ago and they arrived safe and sound. We are very excited to be done with them as now we've started prepping for everything else Houston. Hopefully we'll get a moment to run over and check them out at some point during the festival. I'll post more about our trip for vending in a few days. We already have lots of info.....like where our booth is located......what we are going to be teaching/demoing........and maybe a few other things up our sleeves. Check back for all that.

Finally Back in Order!

Well....the shop is finally back in order. How come it seems like it takes so much longer to unpack from a show then it did to pack? Doesn't matter if you come back lighter than you left just seems like the unpacking lasts a long time. We are well under way with our prep work for the next show.....Houston. Orders are in and we have a few things that we decided to change from this last show so we have all those listed out. Now we are just trying to finish our Journal Quilts and prep for classes that are next week!

On an absolutely great note our new knitting/crocheting/needlework of any kind group starts tonight!!! It sounds like we are going to have a decent turn out and I'll try to snap a few pics and post them tomorrow.

ECQG Show Day #2 & #3

Well we made it through the show!!! Yeah......... We had a great time seeing all the quilts and meeting a whole bunch of new people. It can be surprising how many people haven't known about us until now but that is a great thing cause now they do. We are almost full on our new session of block of the month and excited to get all these new people hooked into surface design and embellishing. Here are a few more photos from the show.

Our shop hop quilt is the one in the center of the pic. We got to look at it all day as it was just below our booth!


Becca doing a demo of Shiva Paintstiks and Needlefelting on Day 2.

Jan doing a demo of puff paint and glitter paint on Day 3. I think Becca got a better draw!! Lol....

Here are some of Jan's examples for the puff paint!

Here is Vickie, Suzanne, and Becca......They swept the Wearable Art category in that order! Yeah for Fiber Art Fusion.....we really made a haul on the ribbons.

ECQG Show Day #1 & Ribbon!!!!!

Well we are through Day #1 of the East Cobb Quilt Guild Show. For those of you that aren't able to make it here is what our booth looks like!



Can you tell it had been a long day setting up?? Lol....This is Chrissy being funny about getting ready to start ringing people up today.

My quilt Mosaic Roses got an Honorable Mention ribbon in the Art Quilt Category. This was my first acceptance into a juried show and I got a ribbon!!!!! My mouth hit the floor and I was crying.......I think there's a picture of me crying floating somewhere if I can find it I'll post it later.....I guess it's only fair to show after the funny pic of Chrissy up there!

East Cobb Quilt Guild Show - Packing

Lol....I took photos so that you could all see the mess we're making as we're packing. Yes, there are a total of 3 quilts on the cutting table awaiting sleeves and binding stitching so that we may hang them in the booth. All the rest of the stuff is boxes full of merchandise or office related material waiting to go.




I'm bad and practically emptied a whole display case!!

This is only a portion of the merchandise......some of the rest is already in my car along with the gridwalls!

Set up is tomorrow with the preview night from 7-9:30 if you have a quilt in the show. Then open to the public starting Friday September 14th & 15th 10-6PM and Sunday September 16th 10-4PM. Stop by the Cobb County Civic Center to see this great show if you can. It's definitely worth it.....not to mention we'll be there in our booth and we have 2 quilts in the show!!

HOPE Show Opening

Well last night was the opening of the HOPE Exhibit for Fiber Art Fusion at The Art Place in Marietta. It was a pretty full house there last night.

Jan's piece "Hope Unfolding". This is only one side of the triptych with each side being different but all dealing with a tree.

Kristin's piece "Brighter Days"

These are both photos of "Nature's Prayer" by Kristin Rodriguez and Jan Girod. This 3D tree stands about 42" tall. It was created by wetfelting and needlefelting techniques. This was a total experiment by both of us and ending up being quite the experience!!

This photo was taken before the opening.

New Knitting Group to Start Sept. 20th

We have been asked many times to start a knitting group and finally we have gotten it on the books!! Starting Thursday Sept. 20th "The Cast Offs" will meet here at Fiber on a Whim between 5-8PM. This will be every Thursday night so feel free to drop in whenever you'd like. Bring knitting, crocheting, or any type of hand stitching you'd like to work on. So far the response has been very positive so we might just have to meet in the basement where there's lots of room to spread out. We'll just have to wait and see!

HOPE show has been hung!!

The HOPE show/exhibit has been hung. The opening will be Thursday Sept. 6th from 7-9 at The Art Place. Located at 3330 Sandy Plains Rd. Marietta, GA 30066. Many great artists are involved in this exhibit so come check it out if you live nearby.

Will be posting more here in a little bit....sorry bout the lapse. We both have been a little sick and are trying to shake these pesky summertime colds.

MyFOXAtlanta Hot List

A customer nominated us in the category of Best Arts & Crafts in Atlanta on MyFOXAtlanta's Hot List. It is all determined by customer voting........so go vote for us! You don't have to live here to vote simply be a customer or supporter of us. The link for voting is below:

http://myfoxatlanta.cityvoter.com/Details.aspx?business=50604

The winner of each category might have the opportunity to go on Good Day Atlanta the local morning show to promote their business!!

Thanks for all the support,
Kristin and Jan

Art by the Half Dozen with Pamela Allen

Here is what the basement looks like today. We keep joking upstairs that it looks like a bomb exploded!! They seem to be having an absolute blast down there.

Multiple Happy Dances

We've got many things to be happy dancing about!!



First, We finished our HOPE project. Yeah......it is done and looks great if I do say so myself. We are not going to be posting a photo until the opening of the exhibition which is Sept. 6th.



Second, Both of our pieces submitted to the East Cobb Quilt Guild Show got accepted. Mosaic Roses and April Showers Bring Mayflowers. You can see the pics back on May 30th of the two pieces.



Third, Pamela Allen arrives today. I go to pick her up later at the airport and she is here for the weekend. She is teaching two classes here and both are plum full! We've been looking forward to her being here for months.



I'll try and get up some pics as if I can get them over the next few days.

HOPE piece 99% done!!!

Now that this piece is almost done we'll have to move on to our Journal Quilts!! Here are the last few pics of us working on it this weekend. I'll post a completed picture only after I get the okay from Becca.....the curator of the exhibit!




You can tell it was getting the better of us......yup those are Taco Bell cups! Once again this project was a complete first for both of us.


I had to do all the stitching on this part......man did that take a while. Mom had a pic of me working on it but it ended up being so blurry it'll make you dizzy!

We can't wait to show it to everybody tomorrow night at the Fiber Art Fusion meeting! Just needs a few more things and it'll be done. Yippeeeeeeeeeee

Weekend Progress of HOPE Pieces

Well yesterday was certainly different than most of our Sundays. We spent it trying to work on our joint piece for the HOPE show. Here's a few pics from that "follies" show.


Here's our helper Rocket. He just kept looking at us like we were losing our minds!!


We ran out of dowels so yes.....that's a #2 pencil sticking out of the top!!!

Missed out on all the early stage photos but this is the best I could do.

Lol....we do know we are going crazy!! We still are hoping that this actually gets us what we want.

Progress on HOPE Pieces

Here are some pics of the work we've been doing for our HOPE pieces. Guess we work great under pressure with a deadline looming. I think I've mentioned before that our deadline is Aug. 14th. I just finished my individual piece and there is a pic of one panel below. Mom just has to assemble her individual piece and she will be done.

Though both of us seem to be taken with this joint project we are working on. We have no idea of how the ultimate piece will turn out but our logic will hopefully see us through.


Here mom is hard at work on one panel of the piece. Lol......we're positive some of you are just shaking your heads wondering what hairbrain idea we got ourselves into.


A close up of the piece.

Top panel of my individual piece. There are two panels that hang below this one.

Hopefully Monday I'll have some more pics of the progress of our joint piece which we've finally agreed to name Nature's Prayer.