We haven’t been blogging lately because we’ve been busy planning and moving to our new location at 1900 North 12th Street, Suite D in Murray KY. I hope if you are in the area visiting Paducah or the Kentucky Lake area, that you’ll stop by and visit us. We are planning some events for this Friday and Saturday to celebrate our move. Even if you can’t come to the store, you can participate. We are offering a $10 gift certificate FREE. All you have to do is order on Friday or Saturday (only one per customer please) and place your order using the promotion code CELEBRATION. That’s it! Our gift to you.
We would also like to invite you to become a fan of Batiks by Design on facebook. All you have to do is click on the link and click on the button to Become A Fan. We’ll be drawing for some prizes since we just reached 500 fans over the next few days.
Well, Patti is off to Houston to attend Quilt Market and vend at Quilt Festival. The show is at the George R Brown Convention Center from Oct 15-18th, and she will not be back until the 20th. While she is gone, Shirley and I have decided to have a big sale. You know what they say, “While the cat is away, the mice will play”, so we decided to have some FUN! Don’t miss out on a chance to save 15% on your order. Enter promotion code:  bossaway15% and save some money. Our ENTIRE inventory is available for this discount, but don’t tell Patti! Just one catch…Patti has taken most of our inventory with her, so if what you order is out on the road, we promise to pack it up and ship it out as soon as she gets back. Your order may not get to you as fast as usual, but hey isn’t that worth the 15% savings? I think it is!
I have to get back to catching up on my administrative duties, now. I got behind while preparing for Patti to head out to Houston. Take care and if you are heading to Houston, be safe and have fun! Tell Patti Shirley and I have everything under control here at the store.
Hello everyone! I am Cyndi, and I am still a little new at Batiks by Design. I am the new Administrative Assistant here. I just wanted to introduce myself to everyone. In addition to administrative duties, I will be answering the phone if you call, or filling your orders and shipping them out. I am also here in the shop during regular business hours (Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm) if you get a chance to drop in and see our beautiful fabrics in person. I will be glad to help you in any way I can.
Speaking of dropping in at the shop, last week a customer called me to place an order. Unfortunately some of the fabrics she had chosen were gone to the Quilt Show in Pennsylvania with Patti. After talking with her for a few minutes and discussing the options, we decided it would be best if she came by and looked at the fabrics here in the shop. I told her I would pull the fabrics she had chosen and have them ready, but I would not cut them in case she changed her mind. In preparation, I pulled not only the ones she had chosen, but another stack of coordinating fabrics as well. She came by the next day and brought a friend. After seeing the material in person, she did end up changing her mind on a few. She chose what she needed for the project she had had in mind when she called (the background of a quilt) and then ended up choosing more fabrics for birthday projects for people in her life as well. Next, she spotted our scrap bin and had fun filling a gallon size zip-lock bag full of scrap pieces for only $15. She said that it did make a difference seeing the fabrics in person and she was glad she came in. We had fun looking over the fabrics and deciding what to get. I was so glad I could help her, and her friend.
Beautiful colors, quality fabrics.
So bright and cheerful!
So, any time you are in our area, please come by and check out our shop. Pictures on the computer can never compare to how lovely these fabrics are in person. I looked over the website before I came to work here, and I was amazed when I actually saw the fabrics. I am learning more every day, about fabrics, quilting, patterns and more. If you have never worked with Batiks, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. If you have worked with Batiks, I am positive you will be impressed with the quality, selection, and price.
I am looking forward to working with all our customers. As I am learning, I will be taking you along on the journey. I will keep you updated on my projects, ideas, and anything else going on here. I hope you enjoy the ride and let me know what you think. I can’t wait to hear from you when you get a chance.
It’s that time of year when I need to start buying several new patterns for the store and get some samples made to show online and at the AQS Des Moines Quilt Show in October. I’ve been looking around and I’ve found a few, but I was wondering if you have any ideas about what might work with my traditional batik fabrics. I like to include at least one of those fabrics in most of the quilts we make and fill in with Bali fabrics. Send me your ideas. Remember, the patterns should show off the traditional batik designs. I’m looking forward to your input. Thanks!
Did you know that 95 percent of fabric shoppers make their purchases at chain stores? That’s right, only 5 percent shop independents. Let’s change that.
Welcome to Project 95
Project 95: Fabric Shoppers Unite—Shop Independents is a worldwide network of independent quilt and fabric shops, that have joined forces to promote shopping independents. By buying from Project 95 shops, you support this movement and join with consumers just like yourself to ensure that you will have access to specialized quilting and sewing supplies, no matter where you live.
Why Shop Independents?
There are three good reasons to choose independents over chain stores.
Excellent Service. At independents, you can expect caring attention to your needs.
Superior Knowledge. Independent shop staffs are quilters and sewers themselves, and have unsurpassed product knowledge that they pass on to you.
Count on Quality. Fabrics, notions and tools available at independents are the highest quality.
Tell your quilting and sewing friends to unite, and shop independents!
Project 95 is brought to you by The Fabric Shop Network, Inc.—the trade association for independent quilt and fabric retailers.
Last Tuesday, the quilt guild from Jackson, TN came to visit me at my shop. The visit was initiated at the Paducah Quilt Show in April when Judy, a member of the group, mentioned that she was bringing her guild to a shop not too far from me in June. I suggested that they stop here while they were “in the neighborhood” and she agreed! My shop has only recently moved into a space where I can have customers come and visit. I started Batiks by Design in my basement, but outgrew that space so we built a building in our backyard. The shop is finally looking somewhat like a quilt shop, I just need to get my new cutting table setup and put some quilts on the walls! I’m hoping to offer some classes in the other side of my building where I now have my office, cutting table, and sewing machine.
Back to the topic on hand, the ladies began arriving after their lunch in Murray. As true fabric lovers will do, they couldn’t wait to explore the shop. They browsed at my quilt samples that I had laid on 2 tables pushed together for a quick trunk show, started pulling bolts off the shelves, and browsing patterns, fat quarters, and their favorite, my scrap tote where they could purchase a gallon sized bag of their choice of scraps for $15, as long as the bag zipped! I think I have about a third of the scraps I had before they came. Everyone enjoyed the store and our trunk show, even though the air conditioning didn’t keep up with the 30+ bodies in the shop. I’ll have to work on that! Enjoy the pictures! Thanks ladies for stopping by to shop. Come again. If you are interested in visiting us, give me a call and we’ll setup a time.
My mother’s birthday is just around the corner and I’m getting ready to make her the Towne Purse that I sell on my site. This is one of the purses that I’ve been meaning to make for a while, but just haven’t gotten around to it. It’s the pattern that most seems to fit my mom’s needs as well. She doesn’t like to carry a shoulder bag anymore and has to have lots of pockets. This pattern says there are 9 pockets. I hope that is enough! It even has a zipper, a must with my mom. My dilemma is what fabrics to use . . . she’s not into the Vera Bradley look since her purse has to match her outfit! I just use a purse until I get tired of it or it falls apart, whether it matches my outfit or not. I’m thinking black and white, which is a nice look for summer. If I make the main part of the bag in fabrics with black as the background, then it won’t get so dirty and I can use the white fabrics for the trim/accents. Two of my possible selections are to the right. I’ve also considered some of the fabrics that are black and white with a little bit of brown as shown to the left. If you have any suggestions, let me know.
My daughter’s birthday was on Wednesday, June 10th. She just turned 15. Today she is having her party with 3 of her friends. I’m so glad she decided to have one, since I was afraid she might think she is too old for one – you do know that 15 is a wise old age! They seem to be having fun. So far they’ve had a water balloon fight, played Guitar Hero, opened presents, and ate a lot of pizza from a great place in Murray called Matt B’s Main Street Pizza. He makes his pizza just like they do in New Jersey! Yum!! Anyway, I would like her to know that I love her very much and as frustrating as she is sometimes as she tries to grow up, I want her to always be herself. She’s frustrating, cute, funny, outgoing at times and shy at others, loves with all of her heart and is also very soft hearted, brilliant when she thinks no one is looking, and the sweetest daughter a mother could ask for. Happy Birthday!
It’s been more than a month since Paducah’s quilt show and I’ve sat down several times to write in my blog, but it obviously didn’t get done. Where does the time go? Paducah was WONDERFUL and I want to thank all of you that stopped by to see our beautiful fabrics! We love meeting each and every one of you and apologize if we were so busy we didn’t get a chance to really talk to you. We sold a lot of fabrics, including a lot of our Bali batiks and have replaced some and ordered some new fabrics! Shopping for the fabrics is half of the fun of running a quilt store . . . all those fabrics to choose from . . . !
One of the reasons I haven’t been more in touch with you, is that I started a temporary job at Wal-Mart working on the remodeling team. I felt that this would give me some extra money to put into my store for advertising. It has helped and I’ll be advertising in both Quilter’s Newsletter and McCall’s Quilting for the next 3 issues! Please look for the ads and show them to your friends. I have now gone to part-time with Wal-Mart working in Ladies Wear, which now gives me some extra income and the time to work with Batiks by Design.
Jelly Bags
If you check our home page, you will find some wonderful purse patterns that are perfect for those rainy summer days when you want something quick and easy to do. I wish I had taken pictures of all of the wonderful bags and purse we saw at the Paducah quilt show. Wow is all I can say! We made 2 versions of Jelly Bags pattern. What do you think? We sold kits for the strips to make them both.  They went very well and I was wondering if you thought that they would sell online just as well? Give me your feedback.
BQ2
We’ve also add a few new patterns that are easily made in a weekend – or less! Check out Afternoon Delight, a truly delightful quilt that is quick, easy, and oh so beautiful! Another one we had a lot of fun with is Love That Print. This is a great pattern to play around with some of those fabrics that are hard to cut and need larger pieces to really show off the fabrics. Stir Crazy (right in greens and purple) from Strip Therapy 2was made in a weekend using the KiwiBerry Bali Pop strips and an added background and border fabric. I’m very pleased with it. Another quick and easy quilt that is perfect for showing off your favorite fabric or fabrics is BQ2 (far right) by Maple Island. I made one using a variety of Asian fabrics for my daughter and we made one with a wonderful Bali fabric for Batiks by Design. It is pictured to the right. Isn’t it pretty?!
Join us for the Quilt Dash starting on June 15th and you could possibly win a kit to make the blue and white version of the Jelly Bag. On our home page is a link for you to join the Dash. It’s a lot of fun with great prizes and a limited number of shops to visit.Â
Two more weeks and we’ll be setting up for the AQS Paducah Quilt Show! For those of you that are used to seeing me at the Kentucky Oaks Mall, I’ll be in a new location. I will be located at the Finkle Building, which is the “pink” building on 2nd and Kentucky, which is also where AQS sells their books. My booth number is 6211-13, but there aren’t a lot of vendors located there so I’m sure you’ll be able to find me. From the Quilt Museum, go through the parking lots to the alley that takes you to Kerchaf’s Bakery. After having a wonderful lunch at the bakery, keep going down the alley and you’ll run into Kentucky Ave. Turn left and you’ll see the Finkle Building on your right. If you haven’t been to my booth before or have seen Batiks by Design at other shows, be sure to look us up.  We’ve recently received more new Indonesian Batik motif fabrics and can’t wait to show them off at the quilt show. We have made new samples (show here, but much better in person), have many new patterns, and hope that our shipment of Hoffman Bali Pops will come in in time.
We haven’t been blogging lately because we’ve been busy planning and moving to our new location at 1900 North 12th Street, Suite D in Murray KY. I hope if you are in the area visiting Paducah or the Kentucky Lake area, that you’ll stop by and visit us. We are planning some events for this Friday and Saturday to celebrate our move. Even if you can’t come to the store, you can participate. We are offering a $10 gift certificate FREE. All you have to do is order on Friday or Saturday (only one per customer please) and place your order using the promotion code CELEBRATION. That’s it! Our gift to you.
It’s that time of year when I need to start buying several new patterns for the store and get some samples made to show online and at the AQS Des Moines Quilt Show in October. I’ve been looking around and I’ve found a few, but I was wondering if you have any ideas about what might work with my traditional batik fabrics. I like to include at least one of those fabrics in most of the quilts we make and fill in with Bali fabrics. Send me your ideas. Remember, the patterns should show off the traditional batik designs. I’m looking forward to your input. Thanks!
Did you know that 95 percent of fabric shoppers make their purchases at chain stores? That’s right, only 5 percent shop independents. Let’s change that.
Last Tuesday, the quilt guild from Jackson, TN came to visit me at my shop. The visit was initiated at the
Paducah Quilt Show in April when Judy, a member of the group, mentioned that she was bringing her guild to a shop not too far from me in June. I suggested that they stop here while they were “in the neighborhood” and she agreed! My shop has only recently moved into a space where I can have customers come and visit. I started Batiks by Design in my basement, but outgrew that space so we built a building in our backyard. The shop is finally looking somewhat like a quilt shop, I just need to get my new cutting table setup and put some quilts on the walls! I’m hoping to offer some classes in the other side of my building where I now have my office, cutting table, and sewing 
machine.
bodies in the shop. I’ll have to work on that! Enjoy the pictures! Thanks ladies for stopping by to shop. Come again. If you are interested in visiting us, give me a call and we’ll setup a time.
was made in a weekend using the KiwiBerry Bali Pop strips and an added background and border fabric. I’m very pleased with it. Another quick and easy quilt that is perfect for showing off your favorite fabric or fabrics is 
Two more weeks and we’ll be setting up for the AQS Paducah Quilt Show! For those of you that are used to seeing me at the Kentucky 
Oaks Mall, I’ll be in a new location. I will be located at the Finkle Building, which is the “pink” building on 2nd and Kentucky, which is also where AQS sells their books. My booth number is 6211-13, but there aren’t a lot of vendors located there so I’m sure you’ll be able to find me. From the Quilt Museum, go through the parking lots to the alley that takes you to Kerchaf’s Bakery. After having a wonderful lunch at the bakery, keep going down the alley and you’ll run into Kentucky Ave. Turn left and you’ll see the Finkle Building on your right. If you haven’t been to my booth before or have seen 
