Prepare to drool…

Posted by on June 26, 2011

Last Saturday I drove down to Opp, AL to spend a few hours at TJ’s Fabrics. We planned it so that my visit coincided with our family beach trip to Seagrove, FL so this was my 3 hour “pit stop”. If you’re going to the beach this summer, or fall, or winter, or anytime, or even if you are not going to the beach anytime soon and live in the area, or don’t live in the area, PLAN A VISIT TO TJ’S!! Mapquest it, GPS it, whatever! (While I was there a couple of girls came in from Montgomery who had made the trip the Saturday before, and loved it so much they came back). I mention the beach because it IS on your way to the beach if you’re traveling to the Destin area and if you travel Hwy 331. Find it!!

Not only do they have a store full of B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L fabric, it was just a fun time in general! Granted they had called in the troops for this special Saturday (not just for me, but they also had a big fabric sale). Everyone was so fun, everyone knew everyone, everyone knew what everyone else was working on (these shirts, that project…) and it was just a fun time spent there meeting people, looking at all the fabric and appreciating a small town and all it has to offer (great service and a fun shopping experience). A lot of the ladies there I felt like I had known for ages! I met a couple of first cousins and they get together and sew with their grandmother! How sweet is that!! They showed me how they used tulle on some of their raggy designs underneath the fabric (idea!!).

Here are the pictures I took and most speak for themselves…

CHRISTMAS:

ORGANIZED AND COLOR COORDINATED!

IS THIS NOT A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT????

LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THESE!

WHO DOESN’T LOVE PINK & GREEN?

I BELIEVE SOME OF THESE ON THE RIGHT ARE TY PENNINGTON FABRICS (and I got to see a picture of Teresa (aka TJ) and Ty at a Fabric Show!)

THIS WAS MY FAVORITE ROUNDER – THE STRIPE ON THE LEFT IS A MUST HAVE!! I love the pink & green Michael Miller Picnic “gingham” too!

THEY ALSO HAD AMY BUTLER ITEMS ON DISPLAY FOR YOU TO GET IDEAS! BEAUTIFUL BAGS AND THINGS for those of you who sew!

On the other side of TJ’s Fabrics is T & C Pharmacy (which is a real pharmacy). Teresa told me years ago she had the idea of maybe getting in to selling a little fabric. Not long after that (while she prayed about it), she got a postcard in the mail about a Fabric Show. A few bolts turned in to a few more, and as you can see now she has 1/2 the store! They also have tons of gift items, sewing supplies, embroidery supplies, vinyl, ribbon, trim and everything else you’d need!

They also have an excellent system of cutting your fabric while you shop! They put it in a little basket with your name on it while you shop some more!

CHRISTMAS AGAIN ~ IT’LL BE HERE SOON!

Thank you Teresa for inviting me to come spend some time in your store! I had a great time and will come again SOON! P.S. her cute apron came home with me!!

Here were the YUMMY cookies and I also left with a big bag of these. They didn’t last long at the beach! I believe they were made by “Sister Schubert’s” daughter who lives in Andalusia. They also came in hot pink and a pretty turquoise blue color.

I had to take a picture of the sign out front!

We had a great time at the beach! We got home yesterday and we move Wednesday and I have not packed the first thing! Operation cleaning is in motion later today and tomorrow so that the house will be ready to move in to. We have a hectic week ahead! I’m also sampling some new designs today to list. BTW, Patriotic designs are still 50% off and the rest are 30% off ~ stock up at Applique Cafe!

Have a great week! If you have any questions about TJ’s or how to get there, let me know! THEY ALSO SELL THE MAJORITY OF THEIR FABRIC ONLINE IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT DOWN TO OPP!!

Filed Under: Applique Cafe, Fabric, Shopping | Tagged: Tagged With:

Chocolate the Bear

Posted by on June 13, 2011

Friday after VBS I decided to take the kids to Costco for lunch (where else can you feed 4 people for $7?). The kids quickly spotted this gigantic stuffed Bear (after we ate and decided to meander through the store in search of dessert  ~ aka some sort of sweet sample). Price tag was $30 and I convinced Browder that I was NOT buying this huge bear, and he quickly asked if we could come back to Costco later so he could get his own money and pay for it. I agreed, and Friday evening we did indeed go back to Costco and purchased “the Bear” now known as Chocolate. Do you see the pure joy on all 3 faces?? While Browder paid for the bear, he had to agree to share it with the other 2, as our summer home just isn’t big enough for 3 of these! LOVE the big feet!!

Among the sampling at Costco were these ~ YUMMY! You pop them in the oven or toaster oven for 2-3 minutes and SERVE! No syrup is even needed! My kids love pancakes and frozen waffles and I HATE SYRUP!! Perfect solution!

Jeff brought these (below) home the other day. We had our “walk through” tonight at the new house and we close tomorrow at 2. We will be homeowners again (YIKES) and frankly I am overwhelmed, to say the least. A) If we want to paint anything before we move in, then I need to pick out paint colors in the next day or two. B) What to paint? Mallory’s room and the boys room for sure (which is now PINK). THEN I got on Pinterest and decided that I needed to paint our future office/sewing room a fun color. I’m torn between painting it a fun color, or going with good ole WHITE and letting my fabric and thread (and other things in my head) accessorize. We are also planning to replace all of the cabinets in the entire house, but that is another stress in itself and furthermore, I’ve been told that ain’t happening anytime soon! Furniture arrangement, what goes where, what to do with the mystery room by the kitchen, etc. My head is spinning, and that’s why it’s 11:02 and I’m blogging.

Back to Chocolate, this was the scene Friday night and I could barely take this picture I was laughing so hard! Where is G? you might ask. G is on the floor on a sleeping bag. Chocolate appears to be snoring and is 6 times as big as Browder! Other than the few squabbles because the little ones were slobbering a little on Chocolate, this bear has been highly entertaining and well worth the 30 bucks (out of Browder’s pocket)!!

Have a great week! I have 4 cute new AC designs to sample and will try to get them done first thing in the morning!

Filed Under: Family, Shopping | Tagged:

A Cool Find!

Posted by on May 4, 2011

I came across a website recently after seeing several posts on the Facebook Applique This & That group page. It’s called Meringue Designs. I asked the owner, Cynthia, if I could do a post and borrow some of her photos to share what she has to offer, which are some super cool applique and embroidery designs. I love funky and modern and different (and VINTAGE too), and these are all of that and more!  Check her out! A lot of her embroidery designs are shown on pillows, which is a great way to give her customers ideas! I can’t sew much, but there may be a pillow in my future. I’m sure you could even buy blank pillows here & there and spruce them up!? LOVE the look of the linen pillows!

Here is the Scribbled Daisy and this is shown on a women’s adult tee. L.O.V.E IT!!! There is no telling how much this would cost in a store. $30? $40? Do it yourself!! She recommends using solid fabrics and I agree – I love the contrasting stitching too.

Next, Scribbled Vine. This one comes in applique and you can use fabric for the leaves, and also a stitched version which is thread only. This is shown on a little apron – cute!!!

Scribbled Roses ~ This one comes with 8 different designs including the middle “heavily scribbled” rose and the “lightly scribbled” roses on the ends as well as a variety of sizes. You could also just use 1 (or 2) of these on a pillow or shirt or whatever you’d like to put them on. My head is spinning with ideas for these designs!!

This one really caught my eye ~ Branches Monogram! This is the type thing I see in Pottery Barn and those type catalogs and drool over! Leotine Linens come to mind??

Drifter Alphabet ~ I see people ask all the time about raggy applique alphabets and this falls in to that category. The edges are meant to be raw so trim loosely and see what happens! I love the little dragonflies too ~ didn’t see them on her site but will ask about those! (I asked and she said the dragonflies were coming!)

Scriptina Alphabet ~ Love it! This appears to be on a stocking!

Bird on Branch ~ looks great on the pillow!

This is the design that originally caught my eye ~ I think it was Cynthia’s profile picture on Facebook and it’s so cool! Technicolor Vine – the smaller version comes in a fill stitch and the medium and large are applique.

Last photo ~ Paper Roses. Again, C-U-T-E!!

These are the designs that immediately caught my eye! She has many many more and I could go on and on. It’s unfortunate that we are in between houses and I can’t decorate anything! Making mental notes of what I can do in our next house…

There are gobs of embroidery and applique sites out there (ahemm… Applique Cafe), but I haven’t seen much of this type design and thought they were very cool!  BTW she is also on Facebook so click on over and LIKE her page!

AWARENESS RIBBON news ~ so far we’ve sold 35 designs, which means $35 will go to Tornado Relief! Thanks to the 35 of you who have added this design to your collection whether you already had an awareness ribbon design or not! We hope to sell many many many more! I have gotten some great suggestions as to where to send the donations when we reach $100. After that $100 we hope to sell 100 more and keep on donating!

Lastly, 30% off ends SUNDAY (aka Happy Mother’s Day)!! We’ve sold a few gift certificates this week and there may be still time to mail!

Filed Under: Applique Cafe, Design, Products, Shopping | Tagged:
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