Quilter's Paradise - Newsletter 03/17/10

Hi <%[First]%> <%[Last]%>,

Hello, my Quilters in Paradise!

I want to thank all of you who came out for the 2010 Cruisin' Quilters Quilt Run last week! Turnout was great and everyone seemed to have a great time! After the run was over - and I was feeling both high and a bit tired - I sat down with my husband, Mark, at the conference table in our shop to review the run and look ahead to the rest of the month. So, picking up from our last newsletter, here is "March Madness (Part 2)".

Propping my weary feet up and taking a deep breath, I started, "I think the run went very well. We had lots of people come and they all seemed to be in high spirits."

"Yup," he replied. "Sure was a lot of March Madness going on."

"So why not let the good times roll?" I inquired.

He rolled his eyes with that "Here we go again" look that quickly faded into a blank stare.

Unperturbed, I continued, "You know the savings that people got during the run, right? Well, this month's coupon provides the exact same savings."

"Oh, you mean where you take the total yardage of all 1-yard or more cuts of non-sale fabric and you get 10% off if the total is 1-2 yards, 20% off if the total is 2-3 yards, and 30% off if the total is 3 or more yards?"

"That's it!"

"Sounds good ... but I still think that with the March Madness theme, we oughta do something associated with the college basketball tournaments starting this week. Remember, these tournaments have been called March Madness for years."

"I don't think most of our customers are into that," I replied trying to be firm but not in a way that would shut down his creative juices.

"Well, all right," he grudgingly replied with a sigh. But I could see the wheels turning in his head and a moment later inspiration struck. "You know that new movie starring Johnny Depp?"

"You mean Alice in Wonderland?" I asked wondering where this was going.

"Yes! Well, the book sequel was called Through the Looking Glass and it occurred to me that we should extend the special price of $4.95 for our new CutRite Charm Maker Template through the end of March."

Talk about madness ... "Where does he come up with this stuff?" I silently asked myself.

As if reading my mind, he said, "I can see you're wondering where I got this idea ... Well, here we are, as we often are, talking about March Madness and it just occurred to me that we're like the March Hare and Mad Hatter. Of course, they were always having tea and we're sipping wine."

"Huh?" I grunted. Was there something in the wine?

As if it was obvious to all, he slowly explained, "Where else could you come up with two fictional characters from the same story that when you take one word out of each of their names you get March Mad(ness)?"

Groan ..........

Next time, if there was a next time, I was going to need something stronger than wine. But for now, I figured that sometimes you gotta go with the flow and not worry about what drummer your partner is marching to. "Ok, ok. You win. I don't know how we got to this point any more, but I have to admit your idea makes sense. You know I've made a lot of things using 5-inch charm squares and many times I've cut them out of fabric in my stash," I began.

He nearly gagged taking a sip of wine, surely conjuring up memories of my rather, shall we say, ample stash. I remembered how I often had difficulty fussy cutting the exact 5-inch square that I wanted because it was hard to see through the ruler I was using. And, sometimes I measured incorrectly. But, I was puzzled, "What's the Charm Maker got to do with a Looking Glass?"

"Well, although a Looking Glass is technically a mirror, Alice could see through it. And, the Charm Maker is clear so you can see through it."

Whatever ... go with the flow ... go with the flow, I kept telling myself.

He continued, "And with the crosshairs etched into it, I saw how easy it was for you to position the Charm Maker exactly where you wanted to cut and how every square you cut was a perfect 5-inch square." He beamed triumphantly as in "case closed".

"Can you do me a favor, though?" I softly pleaded. "This March Madness stuff is driving me crazy. Just let me be for a while and let me take my cure."

I think he thought that I was going to have another glass of wine, but instead he asked, "Cure? There's a cure for madness?"

"Sure, silly," I replied as if he was the only one who didn't already know what every quilter knows. "It's called quilting."