Wednesday, October 24, 2012

New Paint, Lights and Flooring!

Things are starting to come together.  After two long weeks of hard work, the store has a new look with a fresh coat of paint, new lighting and flooring.

New paint, lights and a floor!
Finishing the trim and moving in cabinets.
Cara assembling the cabinets 
Assembling shelves for stock
 In between final assembly and trim, and the upcoming Houston Quilt Market, we will soon be ready to start stocking the shelves.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Out of the House and on to Main Street!

Who said dreams don't come true?  For the longest time I have wanted to open a Quilt Store. Well it's finally happening.  Sometimes I just have to pinch myself!!

Last month after several months of site searches, planning and crossed fingers, things came together and we were able to sign a lease for a property on Main Street in Summerland!

Street view of the old Summerland dollar Store
Renovations started almost immediately with removal of old slat wall   Electrical and HVAC work is now done, painters are done, and flooring is scheduled for installation next week.

Interior looking to back of store

Interior view towards the street

10105-1 Main Street
There is still so much to do!  Over the last three weeks I have been meeting suppliers, ordered lots and lots of great fabric and am now lining up notions, books etc. Sam has helped coordinate the trades to prepare the space for business. I have ordered furniture and fixtures, been to Edmonton with Sam for training on the HandiQuilter  - YES!! - we are going to be carrying quilting machines. And, looking ahead, between setting up my booth at the local Penticton Quilters Guild Show (Oct 19th & 20th) and a trip to Houston for Market at the end of October to see the latest and greatest in quilts, fabrics, notions and everything else, we will be setting up the fixtures, receiving product and preparing for Grand Opening early November.

Cherry Tree Quilts (the store) will focus on Quilting, Fibre Art and Longarm sales and services.  We will be selling Quilting fabric and notions, Fil-Tec Thread and Bobbins, Fabric Art supplies and HandiQuilter Quilting Machines, with classes available on all themes.  I will still have my home studio for designing new projects and my own quilting.

Stay tuned for more information on store progress and news of our Grand Opening!  I can hardly wait to share all this with you.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Fall Studio Tour

There is a crisp coolness in the air in Summerland these days.  Daily highs of mid-20's are due to drop dramatically to mid-teens this week, just as we approach the Thanksgiving weekend!  Yet, all is well with the cooler weather as we head indoors into our studios and sewing rooms to get back to our love - Quilting!
For those of you out and about in the south Okanagan, we are again participating in the Summerland Art Trip Studio Tour, Oct 6th and 7th.

With the risk of changing weather I won't be able to hang my quilts around our yard as we could in the Spring Tour.  But, I have a quilt on my Long Arm and fabric art projects on my work table.  Drop by to see what exciting things are going on in our neck of the woods, and to chat about quilts, thread and fabric art.