Thinking of Others

This is the time of year that those who are economically and personally "ill" have difficulty coping with the customs and habits of our society. There is depression and despair among persons who feel inadequate in the Season of Giving to their families and friends. This is a time when we who have comfort and plenty can aid those who are less fortunate. We have, for some years now, recognized a quilter among us who plies her art/craft to try to supplement her disability income to make her life more comfortable in her aged years. She sells her handicraft to get "spending" money. We can bring into the shop her quilts, which include African-themed models, for you to purchase; or we can take donations at the shop to be delivered to her either at Christmas or at her 86th Birthday on December 27. She always has a need of some sort that her income does not cover and is always grateful for contributions. It is amazing how good you can feel about making this kind of donation.

It is always a sad time when a quilter friend passes away. Word has come of the passing of a wonderful quilter and friend, Lucille Kriegle. Lucille touched many lives in her 79 years. She made many beautiful quilts and passed them on to others who found comfort and cheer in their warmth. She will be missed by many of us across the upstate.

Sara

H&C Feature of the Week: 25% off One Item of your Choice
25% off One Item of your Choice this week at Heirlooms & Comforts
At Heirlooms & Comforts this week we will continue the 25% 0ff any one item of your choice.

Exemptions apply: Sewing machines, sergers, software suites, and cabinets. Tell your personal Santa to check us out for holiday savings on your wish list.

Special Financing Available
Designer Topaz 30, Designer Ruby, and Designer Diamond are available with special terms with the Home Design card from GE Money: 36 or 48 months no interest (special conditions apply).

This special will end on December 31, 2010. These machines are in stock and ready to go. Be among the first to commit for these! We can assist you with the application to GE Money if you don't already have a Home Design Card.

Winter Class Schedule is Posted
The Heirlooms & Comforts Winter Schedule for Classes is now posted on our web site ready for you to choose the classes you wish to take. Sign up and complete your registration/payment by January 8, 2011, and get 20% off class supplies listed by the instructor of your chosen class. This is a great saving for you when you complete your payment by January 8. We are ready for you.

Click here to see the class listing.

Heirlooms & Comforts Holiday Hours

* December 24: Close at 2:00PM
* December 27: Open at 10:00AM
* December 30: Close at 2:00PM
* January 2: Open at 10:AM.

How Do the Others Celebrate?

Not 24 hours before I am writing this letter, Bobby and I returned home from a trip to Hungary, Slovenia, Austria and Bavarian Germany. To see how the populations of those areas celebrate winter and the Christmas season as compared to what we do here is a study in contrasts. First, winter is just winter. It is darker earlier and longer. It is cold. It is one of the seasons that they live through. There are down-filled coats and buntings for the babies; there are hats of all descriptions especially with ear covers; there are gloves and mittens; and there are boots to keep out the cold snow and water. Then you just operate as usual. The strollers for the babies are equipped with sleeping-bag-like covers for the babies who are suited up mittens and all so that only the eyes and nose are visible under layers of blankets. The entire family is out-sometimes all six or seven members-in the dark at the Christmas Market shopping, eating and being neighborly with friends. Food is in abundance---cooked in full view on grills and wood-fired stoves and in woks too big to get onto one of our stoves. There are sausages of all varieties and BIG; sauerkraut; potatoes; and breads and pretzels you wouldn't believe! Hot mulled wine seems to be the drink of choice after beer in the markets. And to my surprise, the cups are ceramic, not Styrofoam. There are those whose job it is to collect and clean the cups and wheel them back to the stalls to be used again. How's that for being "green"? Family, from the youngest to the oldest, seems to be a theme in these cold countries.


Christmas is a religious holiday and the churches are central in this celebration. Then the theme of the nativity is carried out into the community. In Passau, Germany, there are 29 crèches or nativity scenes on public display in the city with a map of where you can find them. St. Nicholas Day is celebrated separately from the Christian celebration of the nativity in many places. St. Nicholas was a Bishop who delivered treats to the children; so, that is not totally an a-religious event. It was an impression that the religious event is far more emphatic than we hear in this country. I suppose that can be a personal choice for us who have the freedom to choose our traditional celebrations as we wish. This is not to say that persons in those countries can't choose how they celebrate. It is, to this tourist, a more general public dedication to the religion than I observe in the USA. Do you suppose that those who at some point in their history almost lost their religious freedom are more likely to punctuate it? I am grateful for where I am!

Sara

H&C Feature of the Week: 25% off One Item of your Choice
At Heirlooms & Comforts this week we will feature a 25% discount on one item that you choose that is not already reduced in price, nor a machine or cabinet, nor an embroidery software suite. Now is the time to send your Santa in to purchase that larger ticket item that you have wished for. Let him know that machines and software are often priced specially and carry special financing through GEMoney and Home Design Card of 36 to 48 months not interest. Special terms of purchase apply to these financing options and we can explain those when you are in the shop - worth listening to! Special financing ends Dec. 31, 2010.

Reminders

• Visit the Heritage Museum House in Central on Church St. where the Second Graders decorated two trees.
• Visit the shop on Madden Bridge Rd to see how festive we can be!
• Look for the new Winter Class Schedule coming soon on www.heirloomsandcomforts.net
• Look for special deals coming with Winter Class sign-ups.

Got Hot Flashes?

We are rapidly moving toward the closing of the tenth year of this century; can you believe it? Do you remember how time just crept from one birthday to the other when you were seven or eight? Now a year passes at "mach" speed - so fast that you suddenly realize that this is the last page on this year's calendar. So much has gone down the track this year. Start thinking about all the wonderful ways you have been fortunate during 2010. Make a list of the good things you have seen, learned, and done. See if there is something left on your list of resolutions that you can still accomplish in these last few weeks of 2010. Then work at getting it done so you can look back to a completed list. That always feels good - a completed list. I'm working on mine!

Sara

H&C Feature of the Week: Fat Quarters at Show Special Prices
At Heirlooms & Comforts our Feature of the Week this week is Fat Quarters at Show Special Prices: $2.75 each; or 6 for $15; or 12 for $25; or 24 for $48. Make your selections for a beautiful scrap quilt or a fantastic Tuffet or a warm patchwork jacket. Fat quarters combine well with Jelly Rolls to make wonderful quilts, too.

Hot Flashes
At Heirlooms & Comforts our block-of-the-month quilt for the next year is called Hot Flashes and our sample is constructed using the Shades ombre fabrics. Come to see the sample hanging in the classroom that Kathy made using black as the background color. How gorgeous can a quilt be! You can use other colors for the background with equal success. The group that has already had one class has decided to do two blocks each month in order to not postpone the completion of the quilt for so long. You can still join in the class; just call to get details. Kathy is in the shop on Tuesdays and Fridays regularly. Other associates can also help you with details.

Special Financing Available
The 36 to 48 Months no-interest financing through GEMoney Home Design Card system ends with the end of the year. We have models to qualify for these special terms still in stock waiting just for you. Have you ever sewn with a Husqvarna Viking machine, any model? You will love the features that were designed by sewers for sewers. Come in for a demo to see which suits your needs better.

Leftovers? What Leftovers?

You have leftovers? Wow! There were none at my house after Thanksgiving dinner with 18, including three teenage boys. Oh, I had forgotten how the teenagers can consume food. Those guys can do a blitz on a heavily laden board. Well, you know that is why we cook all that food, for consumption, and the big, growing boys can put it away for you. It seems that our world at the Ballentine household is populated with boys in the next generation, and for us that is a great thing. Grandpa can have his ball teams now; Grandma will have to be the cheerleader since we seem not to be acquiring a girl in the group.

Hopefully you have this big event taken care of and are ready to work toward the next one on the calendar in December. Those 25 days will zip right past us and before we know it, we will be filling the table again for more gatherings that warm the heart. In the process of readying for the season of giving, don't lose sight of the less fortunate among us. Locate through your church or a community organization a person or family that could use some cheer and help with the holiday. Give to them something of yourself and your resources to make their lives better. Choose with consideration for best impact on the need in those lives when you are giving - make it count for the good, not just a handout.

Sara

H&C Feature of the Week: Clean Off the Bolt
At Heirlooms & Comforts this week our feature is Clean Off the Bolt. Buy all the fabric that remains on a bolt and get 25% off the original price. If you buy all the fabric remaining on a sale price bolt you get 10% off the last sale price. Shop early so you don't miss the pieces you have been watching.

Remember the Four Special Classes This Week
This is the week for the four special gift idea classes. The only change that we are aware of just now is the time for the class on Thursday. The new hour is 1:00 to 4:00. Because of Thimbleberries meeting in the morning we must make this change. This also gives us a chance to sew pillowcases and to embroider the Angel border design. Call for any other details after you look over the schedule on our web site. Go to this link to view the list.

Special Financing Available
Designer Topaz 30, Designer Ruby, and Designer Diamond are available with special terms with the Home Design card from GE Money: 36 or 48 months no interest (special conditions apply). This special will end on December 31, 2010. These machines are in stock and ready to go. Be among the first to commit for these! We can assist you with the application to GE Money if you don't already have a Home Design Card.

Pricing Specials
At Heirlooms & Comforts we are offering pricing specials on the Husqvarna Viking Sapphire machines and the Emerald machines. You must come into the shop to see these great deals awaiting your inquiry about them. Sew on one of these machines and you will be forever grateful for such wonderful operation and terrific features. You can read more about them on the Husqvarna Viking web site under Machines.

Pre-Thanksgiving Specials

A great deal of our Pre-Thanksgiving specials are the prayers of thanksgiving that life is so good and precious. Look around you and see all that is good - life, health, family, friends, memories and recollections, and the means to achieve the level of comfort we all wish for. Participating in a weekend of 50th high school class reunion has made all of this even more poignant for me. I look around at all my classmates who have survived the events that life hands us and have come through in flying colors to the age of ease and retirement. Very few of our 110+ numbers have passed to their reward as the count goes and very few of us are uncomfortable in our mature years when life slows to a snail's pace in comparison to the years of active work and production. To what do we attribute that much "success"? Is it the parenting that we received as youngsters, or the mentoring that was offered to us by those great (most of the time) teachers who stood before us in the classroom? Is it the genetics (ha!) or the environment (ha!) in which we grew up? Is it the inbred and/or learned determination to achieve? Who knows!! Therefore, for all that is good and comfortable in my life I give thanks and credit to the Divine, the genetic pool, and the wisdom of those who had the responsibility for raising me. And don't forget that I have a spouse who is perfect for me. My additional prayer is that I can somehow impart to those with whom I spend my time a large portion of what has been my good fortune for having achievement, great relationships, good health, great friends, and fantastic family. Today, tell someone close to you how important they are and that you are thankful for them.

Sara

H&C Feature of the Week: Three Days of Special Prices
At Heirlooms & Comforts this week our feature is Three Days of Special Prices:

• Husqvarna Viking machines:
• Sapphires from 32% to 36% off
• Emeralds from 27% to 38% off
• Designer Diamond, Ruby, & Topaz 30 - Sale prices on all three plus 36 Months to 48 Months no interest financing (qualifications apply).
• Sale Fabrics all $4 per yard (Minimum cut: 1 yard)
• Selected Children's patterns 75% off 
• All Heirloom laces and trims 75% off
• Selected Machine Accessories 75% off

• Selected Books $1 each

Holiday Hours

• Close at 2:00 PM, Wednesday, November 24
• Closed Thanksgiving Day, Friday and Saturday
• Re-open Monday November 29
• Close at 2:00 PM, Christmas Eve
• Re-open Monday, December 27
• Close at 2:00 PM, New Year's Eve
• Re-open Monday, January 3, 2011

Family time in very important to those of us at Heirlooms and Comforts and we feel that this schedule provides time for our associates to have good visits with their respective families without interruption. Our hope is for your happy hours and days of fun and fellowship with family and friends who are important to you.

Mark Your Calendar
Look at the list of special classes on the four days just after Thanksgiving when we are offering a different class each day for enhanced gift-making ideas. Sue, Cheryl and other members of our staff are going to guide you thru construction of wonderful special production projects that allow you to give that "made-just-for-you" gift. Go to this link to view the list; then call or come in to complete your registration because the class size will be limited to our space.

Autumn Again

This past week, four days were spent with colleagues and friends at a retreat in Toccoa, GA as they taught and learned various methods of quilting. Some of the group were sewing their unfinished projects instead of taking a new class. All were happy and delightful to be with in a setting that Mother Nature decorated with a lake and vibrant fall foliage. Maybe you wish to attend next year. This event is always a signal of the approach of the fall holidays and the Yuletide season. It always brings a feeling of nostalgia and a time to reminisce.

Sara

H&C Feature of the Week: 
Holiday & Christmas Fabrics
At Heirlooms and Comforts this week we are featuring Holiday and Christmas Fabrics at 50% off. Get a free holiday pattern (while supply lasts) with the purchase of holiday fabrics (one yard minimum cut please). There are still great Christmas selections available to spice up the home where your project goes. Now is the time before the rush begins with everyone else to get items completed. We have some great suggestions for what you can do to be creative. These are racked with the sale fabrics.

By the way, the variety of sale fabrics has changed since the trip to Toccoa. Many styles have been moved to the sale area since last week. Our Sale Corner is full and running over!

Pre-Holiday Sale
At Heirlooms and Comforts we do not observe "Black Friday" in the shop. Our Thanksgiving Sale is the three days before Thanksgiving. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, November 22, 23,and 24, we will enjoy our Sale Days with specials that will rival anything you can find in the malls. Specifics will be listed in next week's email. We announce it here so that you can plan some shopping time those three days and not miss this event. Notice our announcement of store hours for the holidays as well.

Holiday Hours

• Close at 2:00 PM, Wednesday, November 24
• Closed Thanksgiving Day, Friday and Saturday
• Re-open Monday November 29
• Close at 2:00 PM, Christmas Eve
• Re-open Monday, December 27
• Close at 2:00 PM, New Year's Eve
• Re-open Monday, January 3, 2011

Family time in very important to those of us at Heirlooms and Comforts and we feel that this schedule provides time for our associates to have good visits with their respective families without interruption. Our hope is for your happy hours and days of fun and fellowship with family and friends who are important to you.

Mark Your Calendar
Look at the list of special classes on the four days just after Thanksgiving when we are offering a different class each day for enhanced gift-making ideas. Sue, Cheryl and other members of our staff are going to guide you thru construction of wonderful special production projects that allow you to give that "made-just-for-you" gift. Go to this link to view the list; then call or come in to complete your registration because the class size will be limited to our space.

Tie Up Loose Ends

Now that the weather is colder and the leaves are almost off the trees (Ha!), it is time to tidy up loose ends and snuggle in for the indoor activities. At Heirlooms & Comforts we are doing that in several ways. The racks are being rearranged and the quilts are being changed and the class schedule is being polished to offer you some bright alternatives for a winter of fun with friends learning new patterns and techniques. Preparation time is in full swing. Tomorrow we go to Quilter's Rescue Mission Retreat in Taccoa - always a sign of the holiday season approaching. The shop will look funny with all we take away for four days, but it will look really good the next week when we have finished our "neaten-up" process. There's no way to know what kind of fun the ladies who are left behind to run the store might create while I'm out for four days. Check in to see.

Sara

H&C Feature of the Week: Clean Loose Ends
At Heirlooms & Comforts this week we will feature the Loose Ends:

1. Holiday fabrics remain at 40% off. There are still several groups that have some of almost all the included prints remaining. You can stock up for wonderful holiday sewing.
2. Several free-with-the-purchase-of-the-fabric patterns are remaining. Get your free copy of the pattern when you buy the fabric to make the project. Ask for specifics when you are in the shop.
3. Miscellaneous items.

Pajama Pants

Special Days Ahead
At Heirlooms & Comforts on Monday thru Thursday after Thanksgiving from 10:00 to 1:00 we have set aside time to have instruction for holiday preparation. Registration fee: $10/day.

Monday, Nov 29: Pajama Party. Buy your fabrics here and we will provide you with the pattern to make flannel (or not flannel) pants for anyone or everyone in the family. Susan Wainscott will lead you through learning how to quickly construct these wonderful "fashion fun" lounging/pajama pants.

Tuesday, Nov.30: Embroidered Tea Towels. How can an ordinary tea towel become a great hostess gift or fun addition to your own kitchen? Sign up for this class and Cheryl Keith will teach you to make dazzling, darling, and decorative tea towels. We have quite a few beautiful towels for you to choose from at a great price point. Bring your embroidery machine and your collection of embroidery thread to make these under Cheryl's watchful eye for perfect results. If you don't have an embroidery machine, talk to us!

Holiday Tea Towels

Wednesday, Dec. 1: Monogramming for Christmas. Learn the finer points of monogramming for that special Christmas gift. Cheryl will also spend some time reviewing the Monogram Wizard software that allows you to create unique monograms and borders. The software can handle multiple formats.

Thursday, Dec. 2: Hot Dog Pillowcases. Everybody loves something special just for them-especially kids. These pillowcases make wonderful gifts and are easy to make. The pattern is free when you purchase your fabric here and you can use our sergers to construct the pillowcases allowing you saved time to monogram or embroider the gift. Bring your machine and sewing supplies. To make it faster for you, we will have sergers set up for use.