Simple Pleasures

Simple pleasures are amazing! Bobby and I were talking this week (like senior citizens do) about how his Granddaddy loved raisin bread. From there we went to "how far I had to walk to school", etc. Growing up in the South we had many simple pleasures and unbelievable treats. Remember Nehi Grape Sodas? Or 6oz Coca Colas? Or Orange Crush? And when Pepsi was the new big rival? Remember a small bag of salted peanuts, and you poured them into your cola for a fun treat? My Granddaddy called those Cokes "a dope" because the original formula was thought to have an opiate in it. Simple pleasures: local women processing foods together like canning beans and tomatoes or preserving peaches and blackberries that had been picked on the side of the creek or the road. Women making fruit cakes in the fall and early winter so that they could "cure" until holiday time - never cut the fruit cake the day you make it! Those were gatherings to make chores more bearable. Women visiting over a quilting frame set up in the dinning room or spare bedroom (if you had one) made more pleasurable a time which could have been very solitary without the benefit of TV or iPods. That's when they shared happy times and sad times and became a community. People helped people and became neighbors and friends. Simple pleasures.

We can get some of that "community" again by trusting our "neighbors" and by becoming participants in guilds and bees and other organizations of those with common interests and goals. Do you know your neighbors? Have you found a "community of similar interests" with whom you can share ideas and situations? That is part of what Heirlooms & Comforts offers you with our classes and the Free Sew Days that are scheduled for the shop. Do you know the saying "Joy shared is doubled; sorrow shared is halved"? Try it.
Sara

H&C Feature of the Week: Batiks
At Heirlooms & Comforts this week we will feature double punches on the Fabric Club Cards for the purchase of Batik fabrics with a ½ yd minimum cut. We have recently received a number of great batik fabrics from several companies. The batiks are brilliant - gorgeous! This week get double punches for the purchase of batiks!

Save and Save...
Right now at Heirlooms & Comforts you can save $600 off the price of a new Designer Topaz 30 or a Designer Topaz 20 AND get a free 5D Embroidery suite. Wow and Wow! The number of units available at this special is limited; so don't wait too long to make your move. Also, there is one only Designer Ruby remaining that qualifies for the big savings of $1250 off and then get a rebate of $250 from Husqvarna Viking. These are super prices and the offer holds only until September 30. At these prices you can get high end machines for prices near what is being paid for machines of lesser value. Come in now! Time flies.

We've Done It Again

The staff of Heirlooms & Comforts has done it again! They have successfully kept the refreshments fresh and drawn for in-shop prizes and made a beautiful setting for the Fall'n Stars quilt and cut yards and yards of fabrics you wanted and located book titles you were searching for and given out directions to the next shop in the "hop", etc. Thank you ladies for arranging a beautiful shop interior and to Bobby for cleaning windows and painting trim to make the shop look clean and happy. And if you hadn't been by since last fall when the Town of Central and the SC Highway Dept. re-scaped the front where the street and the sidewalk were crumbling, don't you love the sidewalk improvements and the parking improvements along with the added safety of the stop sign? Thanks to all our old friends and new customers who participated in another successful Carolina Shop Hop!! You make this an unforgettable time in the lives of those who serve you at Heirlooms & Comforts.
Sara

H&C Feature of the Week: Christmas Motif Fabrics
At Heirlooms & Comforts this week we will feature Christmas motif fabrics which are being shipped now for planning holiday sewing. Be among those who get first choice on yardage as it comes in. Among the groups that have arrived already are Sentiments from Moda and Christmas Spirit from Moda. When you purchase holiday motif fabrics this week get DOUBLE PUNCHES on your fabric card. You don't have a Fabric Card from Heirlooms & Comforts??? Ask for one on your next visit - they are a free perk from us to you.

Prizes from Shop Hop
Carolina Shop Hop shopkeepers will meet next week to sort through all the passports that were turned in at various shops as you completed your tour of the shops. The passports will be separated into those with 14 stamps, those with 13 stamps, those with whatever #of stamps are on them and then the drawings will begin. The Grand Prizes will come from those with the most stamps and the $value baskets will be drawn. The winners will be notified and the winners' names will be listed on the Carolina Shop Hop web site. Winners will go to the shop where the baskets are on display to pick up their prizes. Good luck to all of you who turned in passports. If you have further questions about the prizes, look at the Rules posted on the Carolina Shop Hop web site.

Not So Sappy, Girl

Let's see if I can say what I wish to express without getting too sappy here. Mother's Day. This is a good time to reflect on the mothers who have preceded us and how they sacrificed and made do for themselves so that they could provide their families with the best possible situation for growing up. They worked at home and away from home for long hours to make life easier for their offspring. They nurtured their little one (and big ones) with TLC and with discipline in order to raise good citizens. We are forever grateful to them for all they did for us. We love to recall the stories of their life's works that made all possible. Some stories are funny, some are sad, some are just nostalgic, but all are dear.

So how are those mothers and their stories different from the ones we can see around us today? Not very. Mothers have different situations now than they did 20, 30, 40 years ago. Home appliances are different. Interruptions and obligations for work and for recreation are different. Opportunities for achievement and for failure are different. I see young mothers who work long hours and still provide the opportunities that the youngsters need for social development and physical development. It just is not the same world that our mothers dealt with in many, many ways.

I give "hat's off" to mothers of all ages! For the physical pain and sacrifice, for the emotional expenditure, and for the love that is shown in so many ways, I salute those who choose to raise a family!! Happy Mother's Day.

Sara

H&C Feature of the Week: Double Punches for Batiks
At Heirlooms & Comforts this week we will feature double punches on your H&C Fabric Card for every $5 increment of Batik fabrics that you purchase. If you buy $15 worth of batik regular price fabric you will have your card punched for 30 points. Think how fast your card will fill this week with the purchase of the beautiful batiks that we have in stock and how fast you can qualify for a $20 redemption using your Fabric Card.

Reminders
Summer schedule reminders:

• Memorial Day, May 28 - Closed
• Independence Day, July 4 - Closed July 4, 5, 6, and 7.
• Carolina Shop Hop - July 13-21.
• Sewing Camp for Kids - July 23-26

Itchy Back!

There are many metaphors that can be used to say the same idea. One that I'll use today is the one that says, "If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." We at Heirlooms & Comforts like very much to recognize/reward those people who frequent our shop. One way we do that is with our peach-colored punch cards. For every $5 worth of regular price fabrics that you buy we will punch your card. When all the numbers on the card have been punched you can redeem the cad for $20 worth of any merchandise in the shop. This is a reward system for loyal customers. That is why we want you to sign the card and bring it with you each time you shop. We date the card so that we have an idea of how much we should appreciate you. Also, when you sign the card, it is for sure yours and if you should happen to drop it, it still belongs to you when we find it. Each time we punch you are gaining "escrow" toward your reward! You scratch our back; we'll scratch yours!

Sara

H&C Feature of the Week:Double Punches on Batiks
At Heirlooms & Comforts this week we will feature our peach-colored punch card: double punches for the purchase of batik fabrics. For every $5 purchase of regular price batik we will punch as if you bought $10 worth. What a punch!

A Word of Appreciation
Thanks to all who patiently made allowances for Grandpa and Grandma to be out of the shop for the time they have spent with us in Texas. My name is Miles and this is my dad's dog Jeb with me. Jeb is almost 10 years old and my twin and I are almost 1 year old. Big brother is 2 ½ years old. On Grandma's watch she missed me and came to the playroom to find me and Jeb on the sofa trying to let her know where we were. For some reason she felt she should photograph us. Grandmas sometimes do funny things! Anyway, thanks for letting them off the hook long enough to visit us.

Youthful Exuberance

How is it that children just know how to stroke your ego and make you feel like the most wonderful individual on the planet? Wyatt (5 years old) is playing around me as I write my weekly missive. He asked for some fabric, paper, thread, hole punch, ruler, and whatever. I reached into the pie safe/fabric cabinet and pulled out a crooked rejected strip of red fabric. Then I spotted a section of narrow grosgrain ribbon for him. The exclamation was spontaneous: "Grandma! What a beautiful fabric! Oh, my. It is so pretty. Look at the really beautiful red roses all over it. Thank you, Grandma. Thank you, thank you." So now he is totally immersed in creative play and making who knows what from his supplies and with his tools. Space travel is his passion right now so he is probably imagining some sort of rocketry with the component parts. Just a little bit of fabric can make a person really happy, right? It just sparks the imagination and the creative skills.

Maybe you should come in to H&C for a new selection and see what happens to you!! Maybe it could make you feel younger.

Sara

H&C Feature of the Week: Double Punch on Batiks
At Heirlooms & Comforts this week we will feature double punch on batik fabrics. For every $5 worth of batik fabric that you purchase we will punch your Fabric Card for $10. We just received a new shipment of Hoffman batiks this past week. Oh, my; they are beautiful. Before you know it you will ready to redeem your card to help purchase something you have been wishing for. A full punch card is worth $20 on anything you want to use it for.

Special Program
Just a reminder here that Barbara Moore is coming to Heirlooms & Comforts on Wednesday to present her demonstrations of all the new ideas from Husqvarna Viking Convention. You will be entertained and inspired for sure!

Want a Second Machine?
Have you wished for a second machine? One that has the Selective Sensor System? One that does a beautiful job of your workshop needs? We have one - one only. Get a great Designer II at an unheard price of $499. Really, I do need to check on Bobby's deals, but for your sake I will wait until you have bought this machine. This could be a clue for those who want the new top of the line Designer, too. If he is offering such good deals, you might need to ask about others.

Honor Mother

Remember well and with a smile your mother or a mother who is special to you. Express how special she is and make your gratitude known by telling others about her. For those of you who are mothers, remember the great responsibility you have for raising a good citizen who will become a contributing adult in the world in which we will live. This sounds quite a bit like a sermon with all the admonitions. However, it is true. Motherhood is a great sorority and I am proud to be a member of this group. My children and grandchildren bring me joy constantly. That is not to say that we have not had "growth experiences" along the way and even to this day. We are a family of mutual experiences.

Today I again pay tribute to my own mother who taught me so many lessons in life about how to live it for the benefit of myself and others around me. Her axioms to live by resonate in my life daily: Do unto others as you would have them do to you. Have a leg to stand on and stand your ground. Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. Be willing to say you were wrong when it is true. Don't tell me you "will try to do" something; just do it.

I could continue to quote, but you get the idea. Even my children use quotes from their Mema in management meetings in their jobs. These are imposing when they come out in a formal setting and are apropos. Our sons say people stop in their tracks to consider when they hear the "Mema-isms". My essays regarding Mema are many and long, too long for this venue. Let it suffice to say that living in her house and feeling her spirit around me has been an inspiration and motivation many times for "standing" and for caring for others. Maybe I said, "I love you, and thanks"; but was it often enough?

Sara

H&C Feature of the Week: Double Punches
At Heirlooms & Comforts this week we will feature DOUBLE PUNCHES when you purchase batiks fabrics. That means when you purchase $5 worth of batik yardage we will punch your Fabric Card for a $10 purchase. That means filling in the entire card much faster. That means getting your $20 value redemption sooner. This week only, get double punches on the purchase of batik fabrics.

Orphaned Class
There is a class scheduled for May 12 (this Thursday) that missed the summer schedule list. Paper Piecing in the Hoop will be held on Thursday, May 12 at Heirlooms & Comforts from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Click here to get a list of supplies that you will need for this class. You will love the accuracy of this method - never loose a point in piecing New York Beauty this way. Call now to complete registration for Paper Piecing in the Hoop!

Last Day to Qualify for 20% Off
As announced last week, if you complete class registration (sign up and pay up tuition) by May 14 you are eligible for 20% off the purchase of supplies listed by the instructor for the class you are taking. Don't let this slip past you; last day to qualify for 20% off listed class supplies is Saturday, May 14. The discount then ends with the first session of the class you are taking.
View our Class Schedule Online