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Category: Blog
Blog Category
Rain, Rain, Go Away
The rain needs to stop. It hasn’t let up for the past 2 days. I don’t say any of this too loud. After all, if you complain about the rain in Georgia, what you may get back is…but…we need the rain. Rain is good for the plants and good for the animals that lap rainwater; and, don’t you remember the drought when we couldn’t water our plants ?
Dark, gloominess, the cloud hovers. So much for southern optimism. And while it’s not super cold, after awhile the deep darkness, sound of rain and wind, branches scraping the window on their way down gets depressing. My head cloud is not lifting. The cloud is dark. If it lifts, it just lifts higher into darkness. Work helps. So I cut. I cut up t-shirts. Sharp razor, pressure, slice the fabric. Productive stress relief.
Could be worse. I could still be in Chicago. Instead of rain, it would be snow. Everything frozen. Me frozen in my driveway cause I can’t get the car defrosted. Me freezing at the top of a sled hill, trying to be a good Mom. Retreating to my now defrosted car with a mug of something hot. Me the next morning easing from the confines of the house into the brutality of the cold. I didn’t have a dog to walk. I just need to…go, get out.
Rain. The rain is beating on the roof as if it’s cold out and it wants to come in.
A tanning bed? I’ve thought of it. Wait. I don’t need that. How do those even work?
Following that mental road trip, I self-diagnosed myself with a bout of seasonal affective disorder. Light therapy helps. So off I went to Home Depot, looking for light. I already have a bright light, but maybe I really need 2 . I get another and take it home.
Let there be light. Click. Lights on. All of them. Each one has 6 squiggly bulbs. In the manufactured sunshine fairly quickly my mood improves. The music gets a little happier. I think of the song “Happy”. I think of swimming in the Mediterranean in July. It’s working. I now also feel the warmth from the ‘sunshine’ as if it’s summer. In my mind, it is; and, for now, that and my quilts are all that matter in my head.
When things look dark, look for light. It gets better. Really.
T-Shirts From Germany
If you have any travel t-shirts, consider including those in your t-shirt quilt. These were seen in Germany during Karneval – Fasching. It was a fun week of parties and parades! If you’re on Facebook more pics were added in the Just-Tshirt Quilts Facebook gallery.
Give the Gift of Different
Graduation is right around the corner. Never fear if you’ve waited until the last minute. With a gift certificate, it’s never too late. You’ll have something to give on that special day AND be remembered for giving “the gift of different”.
Now with a recent feature change, the dollar amount is no longer is printed on the gift certificate so that the money you’re spending is kept a secret from the recipient unless you choose to reveal it. Give the gift of different! More here http://www.justtshirtquilts.com/gift-certificates/
Bugs and Fixes
There is a glitch in the order form with a required field. Because it’s required you have to make a choice from the menu even if you’ve found something else and want to post a url. This is on cue to be fixed. Will post back here when it’s done. Thanks Rhonda for pointing it out. <update (3/20/14) – this was corrected awhile back and is working as it should!>
All portfolio pictures have been resized for better viewing. There is less load time now which lets you scroll and move through the pictures more quickly.
Real Time Layouts
I very much want to thank those of you that have shown confidence and selected Just T-Shirt Quilts to craft your special t-shirt quilts. The holidays were gloriously busy; and, going into 2014, I am honored to now be the beneficiary of orders received from referrals and repeat orders from satisfied customers. Several of these you can read about in the Portfolio.
As my business is slowly, but steadily growing I hunkered down this weekend and made a simple but needed change in order to accelerate the layout approval process. Today I finished installing a design wall. This can accommodate a king-sized quilt and is instrumental in doing accurate real time Blocky layouts after the mock up is approved.
Up on the wall now is Brooke’s graduation tennis t-shirt quilt in the making. A “real” bed as pictured below serves to finalize the layouts for Freestyle quilts. Carole’s sports quilt at the bottom is also coming along just fine to be done in time for graduation.
At least one more wall will be going up. This will make it easier to craft layouts for more than one quilt simultaneously, await feedback, and prepare them for your approval following your specifications. Onward….can’t forget the “ho” as customer Kathy reminded me it’s “onward ho”. Peace!
Winter Shows? Not this year
I decided to not do any winter shows this year. It’s an extremely busy time of year during which we’ll be working hard to complete t-shirt quilts in time for the holidays. I will post here for any shows entered in 2014.
It’s Fall !
Hope you had a great summer. Here in Georgia, fall is upon us. The leaves are dropping. It just dawned on me how different everything looks once they all fall and the trees are leaf-less. The ground is slowly becoming orange with leaves. When you look up you can now see more sky. It’s pretty noticeable here, I guess because there ARE so many trees everywhere!
If you’re in Atlanta – the last Alive After 5 for the year will be Thursday, Oct. 19. Come out if you can! This has been a fun endeavor and great meeting new people and friends. They have some food trucks, too, pretty handy when you want to eat and stroll or if you’re like me and don’t have a lot of time to actually sit down and dine . Enjoyed trying the cuisine and libations: awesome Sangria and margaritas, now what did I eat? Can’t remember. LOL. More on previous post below.
Thanks for the Holiday orders. They are much appreciated and will be completed on time for you. Can possibly squeeze in 1-2 more so don’t hesitate to ask, just make it SOON!
Holiday Deadline
This year there is a cut off for getting holiday orders. If you are considering having a t-shirt quilt made to give as a gift, please get your t-shirts to us by us September 20, 2013. This allows sufficient time to complete a blocky quilt for you to have by the holidays. Other styles may take longer. Please inquire. As of today there are 114 days left until Christmas. http://www.xmasclock.com/
Alive After 5
The little town of Roswell, GA, comes alive the 3rd Thursday of the month with what’s like an extended Happy Hour called “Alive After 5”. People congregate in the downtown Historic District after work from 5 – 9. The shops stay open, music and vendors are there. It’s really helped to revitalize this little town and seems to have spurred on development. We’ll be there every third Thursday through October.