A Tadd More

More Anniversary....!

Hey everyone! We had a fabulous weekend here at TTD! Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who came out and showed us your PINK and GREEN! We offered coupon books for our customers that they can use in the store for the rest of the year, and all the sales of those books will be donated to the American Cancer Society. Thanks again ladies for helping us to raise money for a great cause and have "fun" too!  I have been getting requests for more pictures of the store, so here are a few more shots of our new space. This is Jenny hard at work!  We cut a lot of fabric this weekend.

   

I just love our new book display that "Bob the Builder" made for us. You can see our book selection has gotten depleted from the weekend. The girls are working feverishly to re-order! Everyone of us here at the store, gets so excited when we get new shipments. It's like "Christmas" and everyone stops whatever they are doing to come and see what's in the boxes that get delivered. Although, it's a little disappointing when it's only Xerox supplies....

Our fat quarter corner is fabulous! And we still have room for a ton more fat quarters! The display to the right of the fat quarters, is our Taddles. We sell 11" squares in our store and we call them "Taddles". That way if you only need a little bit, of ALOT of different fabrics, you don't have to invest a lot of bucks. You know what I mean? And you can get 4 - charm squares out of each Taddle. So they are very handy, and ladies love 'em. Once in a while, we have "buy one get one free" on our Taddles and you know anytime we "fabric-aholics" can get free fabric.... well, what can I say.... it can create a shopping FRENZY!

Hope you enjoyed seeing a little more of the store. You know how I keep saying "spring is just around the corner?.... well our weathermen are predicting a big snowstorm for tonight and tomorrow again!  I'm getting more than a little "sick" of the snow, just like everyone else here. We are supposed to be getting 6-9 inches between 6 pm and noon tomorrow. My kids are hoping for a snow day again. I keep telling them, that will just mean they have to go longer in June, but that's not reality yet.

Little do they know that if we DO have a snow day tomorrow, they are going to clean their rooms thoroughly! Dresser drawers, closets, every nook and cranny! I think I'll wait to "spring" that on them tomorrow. Besides, by tomorrow, I may decide I don't want to do that at all! We'll just have to see about that.

          ****Thought for the day****
"The nicest thing about the promise of spring is that sooner or later she'll have to keep it." 
                                                                                  Mark Beltaire

Yeah! Spring is just around the corner, spring is just around the corner, spring is .........

God Bless everybody! Have a wonderful week!
Tammy

Look who's one year old!

WOW! Has this year gone fast!! Believe it or not we have been open for an entire year already! I know it hardly seems possible. The past year is kind of a blur, but in a good sort of way. Kind of like riding your favorite roller coaster over and over again. Without even getting sick, you know what I mean (hint: Sherry)? 

So what do you do when your "baby" turns one year old? Why, you have a party, silly! That's what we are doing this weekend. We are having our big anniversary sale here at TTD. Here is a shot from the new addition area to the front of the store that I took this morning when we opened.

We are having so much fun this weekend! And besides all of the "specials" we are offering, if any of our customers come in wearing "pink and green" the official Tammy Tadd colors, they get to draw for an extra discount when they check out. Anywhere between 10% to 100% off their purchase. How would you like to win that 100% discount! Wouldn't that be FABULOUS!  Here is a shot of our new cash register station. It would have been nice to have this second station ready for this weekend, but it didn't quite work out that way. Still waiting on computer stuff.... could have used a second check out that's for sure!

This "cute little lady" is Kathy Pool; one of our instructors here at TTD. She made this beautiful quilt as a gift for her neighbors wedding anniversary. This is our Les Femmes Rouge, from our Family Favorites book and features the beautiful LakeHouse Dry Goods fabric line; Hydrangea Garden in Heron. Lucky neighbors, I say. I wish she was my neighbor! I told her she could make one just like it for me, although this fabric line also comes in Petal (pink), I bet it would be "smashing" in pink and green!

 

Anyway, hopefully more pictures will be taken tomorrow, and I'll have more to show you next week!

           ****Thought for the day**** 
Here's a funny little story:
     When the store manager returned from lunch, she noticed her clerk's hand was bandaged, but before she could ask about the bandage, the clerk spoke up, "Guess what! I finally sold that terrible, ugly bolt of fabric that we've had for so long!"
     "You mean that repulsive pink-and-blue with the green cows one?"
     "That's the one!"
     "Great!" cried the manager. "But why is your hand bandaged?"
     "Oh," the clerk replied, "after I sold that guy the bolt of fabric, his guide dog bit me."

Ok, I know it's a stupid joke, but it made me laugh. And the truth of the matter is, every quilt shop has fabric, where you go.... "what was she thinking when she ordered that?". I know my girls think that at times! They keep joking that the next time I'm gone for a show, they're going to have a "the boss got carried away sale", and mark everything down! I don't think some of them are joking either!

Have a great weekend everbody! God Bless,
Tammy

Paisley's on Parade....!

So I'm hearing that our new fabric line is doing well. I know I have been ordering it for kits coming out in magazines and have had trouble getting all of it! That's "bitter sweet" isn't it? It's great that it's doing well but also a little un-nerving when even I can't get some of the coordinates! I finally managed to get what I needed after a few phone calls and a lot of BEGGING!  Here is a display in the store of the entire line and our Market Apron in the child's size.

This little quilt, appropriately named Paisley's On Parade, was designed by Lucy Fazely and Michael Burn, and is featured in the most recent issue of Quilt magazine, out on newsstands right now. It's a fun little crib sized project. I really like the way the stars look angled, and lots of white area for some fancy quilting.

 

Anyway, if you get a chance, pick up a copy and see what you think? It might be just the quick little project you are looking for to make the winter blahs fade away. Spring is just around the corner! We have to keep telling ourselves that! It has been a long winter! I told my girlfriend MaryLynn yesterday that come March 21st (the first day of spring) we are getting pedicures and wearing sandals by golly! I don't care if there is snow on the ground or not!!!  She laughed like she thought I was kidding but I am VERY SERIOUS!

              ****Thought for the day****
Here's a cute story I found....
A guy came home one day and said to his wife, "Guess what! I've found a great job. A 10:00 a.m. start, 2:00 finish, no overtime, no weekends, and it pays $800.00 a week!"  "That's great", his wife said. "Yeah, I thought so, too," he agreed. "You start Monday."

We laugh, but I can just hear some knuckleheaded man out there saying "what's so funny about that"!
Have a great day everybody!

God Bless,
Tammy

A long cold winter....

Ah yes, it is still winter here in the Chicago area. It seems like it's been winter for ever. A lack of sunshine here is starting to take it's toll. This is what we look at every day. We have a lot more snow than this now, but we didn't get the 12 inches of snow they were predicting for yesterday and today. Yeah!!

Many of you have called and e-mailed about the events here on the NIU campus recently. Our community is experiencing many emotions right now as all of you can imagine. Shock, fear, sadness, and mostly just numbness at the thought of how these kinds of tragedies are happening more and more frequently in our society. I know as a parent (but not having gone through anything like this myself), I can only imagine the grief and devastion that these families are experiencing right now. Our natural response is to try to make sense of it all, and the truth of the matter is, we can't.

Please join us in praying for these families, students, faculty, and the many volunteers that have come here to DeKalb to offer help in any way that they can. We are thankful for all of your help, prayers and support.  And remember that in spite of the evil in this world, God is still here, He loves us, and He is GOOD all the time.

                       ****Thought for the day****
"God will take every broken piece of our lives and use them for good.... if we let Him".  Be Your Best by Joyce Meyer
"To all who mourn...he will give: Beauty for ashes; Joy instead of mourning; Praise instead of heaviness."  Isaiah 61:3 TLB

God Bless,
Tammy

Loving and being loved....

"Is what makes life worth living! Love can melt the hardest heart, heal the wounds of a broken heart, and quiet the fears of an anxious heart. It is a universal language everyone understands. You and I need to learn to love people and use things instead of loving things and using people to get them. " Be Your Best by Joyce Meyer. Isn't that so true?

The "love of my life", my husband Gary. He is not only my biggest fan and supporter, he is my best friend! He still makes me laugh after nearly 13 years of marriage. Sometimes I just laugh when I look at him! I'm crazy about him! Even when he "makes me crazy" I still can't think of anyone I'd rather spend my time with. I am a "lucky girl"!

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day everyone! Hope you get to spend it with someone you love!

               ****Thought for the day****
"Any home is a castle when the king and queen are in love".   author unknown

Happy Heart Day!
Tammy

A little r & r....

What could be better in the dead of winter than to go somewhere warm and sunny for a little rest and relaxation? Only if you get to go with a bunch of really good friends and their kids too! My husband (aka; Gary, the Captain, Mr. Tammy Tadd, Mr. Hunkalicious, or Lampchop) and I took our 2 youngest kids; Haley and Garrison to Disney World along with our friends John and Mary Lynn and their kids Ashley and Miles. It's been an annual event for us the past 4 years. This year our friends Mike and Sherry came and brought their grandson Gideon too. Let me tell you, it is so much more fun when you take little kids! We had a great time just watching Gideon! He squealed with excitement on more than one occasion and made us all laugh.  Here we are about to go in to see Nemo! He loved it!

What I love the most is the green grass, flowers and trees! I am always so excited to see roses and all of the flowers blooming in FEBRUARY! It never ceases to amaze me. It's like a whole other world! How can this be? We just left Chicago where everything is shades of gray, brown, and white! There is no color anywhere. Two hours later we get off a plane and it's like paradise! I know you girls in California that are reading this don't appreciate my wonder at all of this, but just come visit us in Chicago right now and you'll know why I'm so excited about this! Not that the midwest isn't a great place, but this is my least favorite time of the year here. I'm tired of winter! It's snowing today and they're predicting snow off and on for the rest of the week. I'm really ready to go back to Florida already! 

This was my world on Sunday. Sitting by the pool sipping a cold drink and soaking up the sun while the kids all swam. Aaaaaagh...... I might have to put this picture on my screen saver for awhile. 

 

Anyway, back to reality! It's cold and wintery here but I am back to work in the studio and trying to catch up on everything I missed while I was gone. Back to work on the new book we are releasing this spring! Over the next couple of months I will start giving you sneak peaks at the projects that will be in the book, and I will be having some of the girls here at TTD sharing projects and tips on my blog. Thought you might like to hear from someone other than just me! They all have some really great ideas, and a lot of creativity to tap into among this group of women. And let me say how thankful I am to have such a great group of ladies that I get to work with everyday, that can take care of anything and everything while I am gone and I didn't have to worry about a thing! That is truly a blessing! Thanks girls, I appreciate all of you and your committment to our business.

                                   ****Thought for the day****
"I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, til it overflows)." John 10:10

May you enjoy abundant life, with God first, then family, and friends! 

That's all for now!
Tammy

We are "growing".....

In more ways than one! Although this is not really a growing tree, it looks very real! What do you think about the newest addition to our store. Our goal is to give the new space a feeling of being outdoors in a park, so we thought a tree was in order. I will be putting white lites on it before I'm done. Mood lighting don't ya know! Now you may ask "what does all of this have to do with fabric and quilting?" The answer is this.... my plan is to create a fun, bright and UNIQUE quilt shop experience. I think it's working, our customers are raving about it, so that is a good sign I think. You can see the guys here assembling the tree. See one of the trunks is not potted yet.

Here we have all of the trunks in place and you can see the guys (they work for my husband) are doing a great job putting it all together. I think they must really wonder sometimes what "crazy thing" the bosses wife is going to ask them to do next. Fortunately they are good sports about it all. The same day they moved my big Gammil long arm quilting machine over to the studio and reassembled it as well. So it was an interesting day for them! Probably more interesting than roofing for a change of pace!

 

And here it is in it's new home! I will have to show you a picture later of the finished project with all of the plants around the top of the pot. It is really a beautiful tree!

Hope you are enjoying the pictures, and are getting a "feel" for how the store looks with this new addition. We are getting ready here at the store for our 1st Anniversary Celebration! Can you believe we have been open a year already! It's true, time really does "fly" when you're having fun!

And speaking of fun; I am taking a little vacation with family and friends to Disney World for a few days, so I will post when I get back. That is if we can get out of Chicago! We are getting hit with a big winter storm here right now and we are leaving for the airport in about an hour.  Luckily our flight doesn't leave until tomorrow morning so hopefully by then the airport will be all cleaned up and our flight won't be canceled!

     *****Thought for the day*****

"Friendship," said Christopher Robin, "is a very comforting sort of thing to have."  A.A. Milne

Amen to that! That's all for now!
Tammy