Shiisa Quilts Staff Loves Visitors!!

This has been another very busy week, but we are FINALLY beginning to look like a shop!! I'll try to get some pictures up after Christmas...

Each day this week, we have had a visitor or two... and it's really fun to show them around! It also gives us an excuse to take a break from all the work we're doing!! :)

On Tuesday (at least I think it was Tuesday!), I got a call from my FEDEX driver telling me that they had a big delivery for us... I had gone in to the shop early that morning, so I called home to tell David and Nathan that I was coming home to get them -- I was going to need help!! Called Chris and Bonnie and Ashley, too... By the time I got back to the shop with the boys, the FEDEX truck was in the lot waiting for me. We unloaded about 25 boxes... and started unpacking them... lots of merchandise from Quilters' Resource and Oklahoma Embroidery Supply and Design... Unpacking those boxes, it felt like Christmas!! :)

A couple of hours later, a big truck pulled in.... our fixtures from Stewart Textiles had arrived... all 70 boxes of them!! Big boxes!! Now the shop was full of boxes... and we started unpacking the fixtures and deciding where to put them... We were down to the last 5 or 10 boxes, when another truck arrived!!! This time, it was the Bernina shipment!! About 35 boxes of sewing machines and sergers and software...

It has been so much fun unpacking all the boxes that it hardly seems like work -- except that we all go home pretty tired at the end of each day!! Sarah, our Bernina District Manager, came down on Thursday afternoon and helped us to get the Berninas set up -- and she'll be back in early January...

In the meantime, we had conference calls with the credit card processor and the gift card processor so that we could learn how to do all those processes.... and we started selling gift cards this week!! We even did our first credit card sale!! Thanks to all the folks who have come in and helped us to test our new skills!!

This afternoon we even had visitors from Martinsville!! They had heard about the shop and decided to come see for themselves!! And they found us even without a sign!! Quilters are just like that, aren't they?

Well... now it's almost Christmas, and all of us are planning to enjoy the holidays with our families -- and we hope you will enjoy your holidays!! And we hope to see you soon!!

New Books Coming in January!!

Brand new books are arriving in January!! You can reserve your copy by sending an email to janet@shiisaquilts.com

Each month, we will offer pre-sale reservations for new books!!

Do You Need a Gift for Your Favorite Quilter?

Just in time for Christmas!!

Shiisa Quilts has Gift Cards available!

Come by the shop between 10 and 4 on Friday December 21 or between 10 and 3 on Saturday December 22 and get a gift you KNOW she'll love!!

It Looks Better Every Day!!

Wow!! What a busy week this has been!!

Wednesday morning the Horn of America cabinets arrived... all 3+ tons (no kidding!!) of them... Early that morning, the driver called and asked if we had a forklift -- nope.... but we had Rick (the HoA rep) and the Shiisa Quilts staff ready to get that furniture off the truck and into the shop!!

So... the truck arrived and we started hefting boxes -- 66 of them!! Once they were in the shop, I looked at them and thought, "What was I thinking????" and "We will NEVER get these things assembled and on the floor!!"

But... we started in... Rick showed us how to "assemble" each of the different models.. and really, they come "fully assembled," so we were doing things like putting on casters and drawer hardware mostly.

Chris and David tackled the chairs -- 3 different styles... and they got that assembly process down to a rhythm that was pretty amazing!! Bonnie and I worked on the tables.... and we had the same process.... there's way more than 3 models of tables, but there were a LOT of one of the models because we'll be using them in the classroom... so we really got that one down!! And Rick provided guidance -- and assembled the "one of a kinds"....

Wait till you SEE them!! I'm in awe of the tables with the hydraulic lifts -- You can lower them for sewing... and then when it's time for cutting, you can lower your machine on the airlift platform... cover the hole... and push the button to activate the hydraulic lift to raise the table to your optimum cutting table height!!! WOW!!!

And, of course, we have the HoA Quilter's Dream.... which is really just that!! and the Craft Table... and... a whole bunch more!!

We finished getting everything together at about 5:30 on Wednesday and we all went home and slept REALLY well!! A HUGE thanks to Rick for all his help!!

On Thursday we had a virtual meeting with Micro-Solve for continued set-up of our point-of-sale system... and we printed the labels for all the fabric that we currently have in the store....

We also had a visit from one of my favorite fabric reps... Benartex... In the Beginning... Westminster...

On Friday, I got an early morning call from FEDEX (my FEDEX delivery folks are the BEST!!) to "warn" me about a shipment of "a lot of boxes"... I told him I'd be there... Twenty-two boxes of notions and books and other fun stuff from Quilters' Resource, Inc! Unpacking those boxes felt like Christmas!! Chris and Bonnie and I had a ball!!

Next week, Patricia will join us!! And we'll be pulling in the ready reserves -- our kids who are home from college for what they thought was going to be Christmas break -- to help assemble the fabric display fixtures that will be arriving this week...

We expect daily arrivals from QRI and OESD and Robert Kaufmann and Benartex and on and on...

AND... the Berninas should arrive on Monday!!

If you're in the neighborhood, stop in and see us! We love to show off our progress toward opening!! And... we can print you a gift certificate if you're looking for that perfect Christmas present for your favorite quilter!!