Meghan's Material World

A Peek into My World...

Alright, I got the Dick and Jane fabrics onto the site, so now I can show you all around this little place we call Z&S.  It isn't the most glamorous place in the world, but I have yet to convince anyone to help me paint...Whenever I bring it up, everyone walks away....quickly.  So, for now, anyway, this is it. 

 

The first image is Mom's (Carol's) office.  The second image is my desk.  We both spend a lot of time in these spots....scanning images, adding products, reading and answering emails, printing up orders, and processing mail, and answering the phone. 

Now, let's move on to the warehouse....

I could have taken a ton more pictures of the aisles of fabric we have, but when you see one aisle of fabric, you have seen them all -especially since we store them with the bolt end out - it helps us to find the fabrics faster.  We really try to keep fabric sorted by manufacturer, but sometimes that isn't really possible without having to move everything!  We are going to have some major reorganization going in the next few weeks....we are expecting a lot of new collections in soon.  Sometimes it can be a real challenge to keep things efficient!

  Our warehouse is not the only place we store our fabric, we have shelves lining two of the walls of the cutting room, too.  From about October, the entire room was filled with Christmas fabrics!  The rest of the year, we keep our best sellers in there.  It helps to cut down on trips to the warehouse.

   

This last picture is an order being filled.  It could be yours! 

I hope you have enjoyed this little tour!  It was fun sharing with you all.   

A change of plans....

I had this wonderful post planned!  I was going to give you a "tour" of the Internet shop.  However, just as I started to type this, the UPS man (who, by the way, is my new best friend - what's his name, again?!) dropped off 7 HUGE boxes of fabric....and some other stuff, too.  Please note: I am currently dancing around in glee whilst I type this!  He brought our DICK AND JANE fabrics!  That means that instead of taking the time to write my planned post, I am going to begin the long job of scanning in all this fun fabric! 

Oh, and for all my friends in Oz.....Happy Australia Day!  It is somewhat ironic that Mom made ANZAC "biscuits" yesterday - don't they look yummy?! They are a new favorite around here!  Below, you will find the American-ized recipe.  Enjoy, everybody!

Anzac Biscuits

1 c. flour

1 c. oatmeal

1 c. coconut

1 c. sugar

2 tsp. golden syrup - since you can’t find this here, we use King syrup.

1 tsp. baking soda – dissolved in 1 Tbsp. boiling water

6 oz. melted butter

Directions:

Mix ingredients together.  Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. 

Bake at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes

Appliance love...

On Saturday, the Hubby and I drove into Philly for the Philadelphia Home Show at the convention center.  I was really disappointed.  I guess I had some unrealistic expectations of what it would be...I thought it would be design and decorating inspiration and ideas.  You know, like a bunch of model rooms set up.  Well, that wasn't what it was.  It was like PAYING to visit the telemarketers that are constantly calling to see if I have any interest in new doors and windows!  If I had any desire to add a sun-room, attach a retractable awning, or guard my gutters, I would have been in heaven....I did get a cute pair of earrings, though.  I am not sure how this little jewelry vendor made it into the HOME SHOW, but since it was the best thing there, I don't care! 

On the way home from Philly, we stopped at Sears to pick up a new tip for my soldering iron.  I was just going to run in and grab what I needed.  I promised the Hubby that I wouldn't wander around looking at everything - sometimes when we shop, I get sidetracked, and it drives him nuts!  Well, I didn't look at everything, I just wanted to check out what kind of closeouts and clearance items they had in the vacuum cleaner area.  Would you believe they had a floor-model dyson on sale for $249?!  Well, it took me approximately 2 seconds to decide that I needed it!  I ended up using my Christmas money to buy myself an appliance!  So much for getting myself a Blythe this year - which is what I was going to get.  Does this mean that I am an adult now?  Really, who uses gift money to purchase a freaking VACUUM CLEANER?!  Me, that's who!  So many thanks to Mom and Dad, Grandma, Aunt Carol and Aunt Barb....you all contributed to this very grown up purchase....

By the way, I did remember to purchase the tip for the soldering iron, and it was the WRONG SIZE! 

A Button Book & Birthday Wishes...

On January 5 my pal Meshell turned 21.  Can you remember being 21?  Gosh, sometimes it seems like a lifetime ago, and there are days it feels like it was last week!  But I digress…I was talking about Meshell having a birthday. 

Coincidentally, I chose the winners for the Freshcut fabric bundles on that day.  And surprise, surprise, Miss Meshell was one of the lucky winners!  Let me just be clear that she won legitimately – it wasn’t “fixed” because it was her b-day (or because she is my friend)!  Of course, because I was going to be shipping something to her anyway, I decided to add a few little bits in honor of her special day. 

I knew I was going to send her buttons – heck, she probably knew I was going to send her buttons – we share a common weakness for the little lovelies.  I decided to send her 21 of them, for obvious reasons.  Let me just say, that it was a long process deciding which of my collection were destined for a new home in Oz.  To make it easier on myself, I limited my selections to white, MOP, and clear buttons.  I thought that perhaps one or two of them may eventually end up as part of her big final Uni project (you can read about it on her blog).

I thought I should make something for her, too, so I whipped up what was intended to be a needle book.  When I finished it, I realized that it would be perfect for holding and presenting the buttons I had chosen for her.  So, the needle book became a Button Book.  I think I may have to make one of them for myself….for some of my very favorite and most loved buttons….It will have to be much larger than the one I sent to Meshell, though!

 

I also sent a couple of packages of Tastykakes – because what is more appropriate for a birthday than CAKE?  There were butterscotch crumpets and peanut butter kandy kakes – what I believe to be two of the most popular flavors/types they sell.  I also included some candy and a little rubber stamp set.  But the best part of all, other than the fat quarter bundle, was this postcard of my town’s library circa 1960 that I had found at a local antique store.  At least, it is the most ironic thing that I had sent.  You see, Meshell works at a library, and she collects postcards….what could be more perfect?!  And, it arrived at her door on the very same day she was given a promotion! 

You don’t know how happy I am that Meshell got her box of goodies yesterday!  I am still fighting this being sick thing, and I have yet to do, or make, or even see anything worth writing about.  But at least now I am feeling well enough to be planning some new projects!  I have a really big one that I am almost ready to commit to.  I am off to start gathering my supplies…..wish me luck!

Uneventful...

            

My goodness, I feel like I haven't posted here in forever!  Although, in all that time, not much has happened that has been worth posting.  In fact, I am sort of struggling to come up with something to write about now.  For the past several days I have been feeling pretty lousy.  My ears are clogged up, my nose won't stop running, and my throat feels like someone is trying to claw their way out (and they have really sharp fingernails!).  I have a constant headache that ranges from tolerable to a "please kill me, now" migraine!  Plus, I am exhausted.  I haven't even THOUGHT about any of my projects, and I certainly haven't worked on any of them....So, there are no new pretties from Meghan to share with you....unless you consider my teacup border to be pretty.  I quickly drew that up this morning so that there would be something to look at with this post!  I thought it made sense, since I have been drinking so much tea for the last few days!

Despite my lack of progress on my personal projects, I have been getting a surprising amount of actual work done.  I have been fitting it in between naps and tea breaks!  I have gotten quite a few new fabric collections onto the site.  There are a lot of "new" reproduction lines - everything from pre-Civil War to the 1930s.  Plus, we now carry Rowan Fabrics - they manufacture lines from Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler.  You will find all of these new goodies on the New Fabrics page of the shop.  There is still more great stuff to come in the next several days....So keep an eye on the New Fabrics page for updates!

Hopefully, I will have something  fun to show off to you soon!  Have a great one all!   

Scrap Happy...

I love fabric!  I guess you could say that I collect hoard it.  Despite being surrounded by thousands of yards everyday, I am compelled to keep even the smallest of scraps.  Somehow the bits we cut from the ends of our bows find their way into my pockets instead of the trashcan!  The picture shows a days worth of bow bits.  So, as you can imagine, these scraps accumulate rather quickly.  Now, I know that I am not the only one who squirrels away the scraps.  To the rest of you, I have some questions...

• Do you have scrap standards?
  How small is too small?  Do you keep them all, or just your favorite fabrics? 
• How do you sort your fabric scraps?
  By size? Color? Style? Or are they all mixed together?
• How do you store your scraps?
  In boxes? Bags? All over the floor?
• Do you use your scraps?  What have you made with yours?

Recently, I have used up a ton of mine on my mini-quilt ornament project.   I have discovered, though, that scraps, when trimmed, create even smaller bits!  Most are too small to use, and so they really need to get thrown away.  I found that the tiny trimmings were ending up all over my sewing table and the floor, so I whipped up a scrap bag to hang on my table.  I snip directly over it, and it has really helped to cut down on my mess!  Isn't it cute?  The main fabric is from Alexander Henry.  We have it, and several other fun prints on the site right now. 

Well, I have a day off, and I am going to go start enjoying it now!  I have way lots of plans (enough for a whole week), so I am going to see what I can actually squeeze into today!  Have a great one all! 

Drumroll, Please....

I know you are all anxiously awaiting the winners of the Freshcut fat quarter bundles....and the winners are....Tracy & MissMeshell!  Congratulations, ladies!  I will be sending your fabrics off to you on Monday. 

Thank you all for leaving such nice comments about the shop and my blog!  I can guarantee this won't be the last time I have some fabric up for grabs, so just keep watching this space for more chances to win!

As much as I would like to write more, right now I am fighting a nasty headache, and can't really stand to look at the monitor any longer.  So, more from me at another time.  I hope you all are having a nice weekend!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

I am so surprised at how much our little online venture has grown in the past few years.  Originally, Z&S was started by Herb's (the store owner's) son to sell overstock items and remnants, etc.  While he did a great job researching and starting the original site, he lost interest in the whole business rather quickly (fabric wasn't really his thing).  So, somehow, Mom ended up taking over the site.  Eventually, since I was helping mom figure out a lot of the computer issues, I started being PAID to do work on the site.  That was about 3 and 1/2 years ago, now.   I remember that back then, there were WEEKS that we could count the number of orders on one hand!  Today, on average, we sell more in one day, than we did the entire first 2 months I worked on the site!  How is that for growth?

2006 was an outstanding year for us, as we once again surpassed our annual sales goal.  While Carol and I have put in countless hours to make Z&S what it is today, the store would certainly be nothing without you, our customers.  For that, we thank you.  Quilters certainly are a loyal bunch, often checking with us first when looking for a fabric. We have come to know many of you as more than just customers - you have become our friends.  We love to see what you all are working on, and we get excited about special events (a new baby in the family, a prize-winning quilt, etc.) in your lives.  We appreciate each and every one of you more than you can know.  You make it possible for us to do something we love.  Every yard of fabric you buy means we can continue to do it a little bit longer.  Thank you!

I have spent (and continue to spend) much of my "free" time working on small thank you gifts for some of our more regular customers.  As much as I would love to make and send everyone a thank you gift, I don't think I could make it through with my sanity!  That said, our 75 top customers will each be receiving a small token of thanks, which has been lovingly handcrafted by yours truly.  I have been having a wonderful time putting these gifts together.  As you can see, here are some of them all wrapped up and ready to go.  I am crossing my fingers in the hopes that the packaging that I have devised will be adequate to protect the goodness held inside. 

Do you see the fabric on which my little lovelies are being displayed?  Do you know what it is?  It is my long-awaited, much-anticipated, sure to be everyone's favorite new collection - Fresh Cut by Heather Bailey for Free Spirit!  Hooray for beautiful new fabric collections!  Isn't it stunning?  I can't get over how delicious the prints are.  Can you tell I like this collection a little bit?  Now, if you were feeling bummed because you won't be getting a thank you present, I am going to try to make you feel a little bit better.  Because I do love you all, and because I want to do my part to make this a more beautiful world, I am going to give you an opportunity to win a 12 piece fat quarter bundle from this collection!  All you have to do is leave me a comment!  On Friday afternoon (1/5/07), I will randomly select TWO of you to receive bundles.  Please make sure that there is some way for me to contact you in case you win!

Alright, now I have to actually get the Fresh Cut onto the site so that other people can BUY it!  Thanks again, everyone! 

Happy New Year!

I hope you have had an enjoyable holiday.  The hubby and I went shopping today.  We replaced the toaster oven I had destroyed the other week.  The new one is pretty fancy - it is a convection oven/toaster oven.  I had to promise that I wouldn't bake polymer clay in it - Geesh, you have one little fire and they lose all faith in you!  I was also very excited to find a new watch band at the Fossil outlet, since I have needed a new one for awhile now.  I went into the store expecting to buy a new watch, but I got out of there after spending only $7.00!  I also picked up a couple of new sketch books, a bunch of ribbon, and some wire at the craft shop (hooray for gift cards!).

We are currently participating in a shop hop at the site.  I just checked our orders, and we have had over 70 orders since Saturday morning!  We are going to be working a lot of long hours to get everyone's stuff shipped out in a timely manner.  I guess I'll be cooking dinner at the store tomorrow night! Of course, it is worth it. What a great start to the new year!  Thank you all!