Fireworks, Emma the Schnauzer & Serendipity Woods Shop Progress

Good Morning All,

Happy Monday-after-we’ve-terrified-our-pets-beyond-belief Day! I may have mentioned somewhere here that we’ve had miniature schnauzers for almost 30 years, and all have possessed some degree of apprehension when the 4th of July rolls around every year.  Now, however, we have the queen of Fireworks Terror, Emma:

Not to sound like a completely unpatriotic stick-in-the-mud, but as far as I’m concerned – I can sort of take fireworks or leave them. It’s probably, in part, because I feel like it’s awfully unfair to consciously embark upon an activity that only we humans above age 3 can fully appreciate and understand. It also probably has a bit to do with the fact that for about 13 years straight in the 90s and early 2000s, we had at least one child under 3!  Fireworks are cool; they are. It’s just that they’re so loud. Am I the only one that wonders why exactly most fireworks must also be accompanied by the rapport?

Anyhoo…Aside from fireworks we only actually saw from our yard (whilst attempting to get Emma to potty, to no avail), it’s been a busy, progress filled, shop entrenched weekend for me. It’s been about 2 weeks since we officially launched our Etsy shop, and we’ve had some great success! In the meantime, I’ve been working to build our actual web store on the side, which does take time!

I think I mentioned previously that we’d arrived at the decision to work with a local design firm to create our website, which seemed like a great idea at the time. Unfortunately, the firm we wanted to use was under some construction of their own, and could not really get going on our site until mid-to-late July. Well, I’d have waited, really I would have – but I’m just too excited to wait!

So, I’ve been building it myself and getting a pretty good groove on!  Mostly, these past weeks have been thoughtful ones to determine just how it is we intend to stand apart as a fabric store amongst a whole lot of other fabric stores. Making those determinations has required a good deal of surfing from one end of the web to the other. What’s been most revealing for me is in paying attention to the quilts I’ve seen that really grab me and create an opportunity for the tiny, joyful crafting voice inside me to exclaim out loud: “Oh! I just love that!” The trick, I’ve learned, is to pay attention to ones where that emotion is consistent and long-lasting.

There’s a good deal to be said about fabrics we love not only at the very the moment we first see them, but also for as long as they live amongst our fabric stash, and more still in the quilts we hope will last for generations.

So I think what I’ve learned in all this seeking and searching of how Serendipity Woods will fit into this world of quilt stores without getting lost among them, has a fair bit to do with the styles of fabrics we will ultimately sell, once we get moved over to our permanent site. The three words that come to mind as I think of them are: Refreshing, Cozy, and Timeless.

I’ll leave you to imagine that for a bit, until next time…

Cheers and Happy Quilting,

Pam