Life

Life has definitely got in the way of blogging the last year and a half.

Hubby and I purchased a small local quilt shop in April 2012.  It was a dream for both of us.  Something for Ed to do in his retirement as he also likes to sew, repairs vintage sewing machines etc.   Every quilters has a dream of owning a quilt shop where you can order and play with all the newest fabrics all day long and it also gave me something interesting to do when our daughter went off to college.

Reality of course is never like your dream.  I have enjoyed sewing with and ordering all the latest fabrics.  I love to help customers pick out just the right fabric for a border or to make their colors pop and I have loved visiting with quilters on a daily basis.

The reality was that running a small business is WAY more expensive than we thought.  Everything you need to do is another tax or another fee and it sure adds up.  Add that to 3 other quilt shops within an hours drive, a JoAnn fabrics nearby and many people shopping on-line in their PJs and we decided a few months ago that we just couldn't continue with the shop.  When you are working 5 or 6 days a week at the shop and doing additional at home and not even breaking even it is time to call it quits.

Some days I am really sad that it didn't work out, that there was not enough business in our part of the county and other days I am ready for it to be over and get on with other things.

I am definitely looking forward to having time to have lunch with a friend, go to my sewing groups and just sit and relax on occasion.   Also looking forward to getting back to blogging and the design wall monday and stash report days I used to do.   I will definitely have lots of stash to start using again and shouldn't have to buy any fabric for a long while.

Kathie