Connecting People with the Joy of Quilting

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

Hello, my Quilters in Paradise!

Can you believe today marks the halfway point in 2010? If you've been following the news recently, there's sure been plenty about the economy including all kinds of statistics. I don't know about you, but I often find them confusing and wondering what it all means. However, there is a metric that I think our government should pay more attention to and that's the Quilters' Confidence Index, or QCI. I'm very pleased to say that with the increased number of runners we saw in the 2010 Southern California Quilt Run compared to last year, the QCI is up! Since quilters provide a broad representation of the population in general (and, more importantly, are a strong indicator of shopping patterns, tendencies and attitudes), this is certainly good news for the economy!

But it's important to keep the momentum going and, as you might imagine, this became a topic of conversation between my husband, Mark, and I a few days ago at the conference table in the shop. As President of Quilter's Paradise, I wanted and needed to get advice from my top-ranking economic and business advisor. It's a little-known fact, but in addition to his regular duties, he has a role similar to his counterpart at the Federal Reserve Board in that he's Chairman of the Fabric Reserve Board. His advice, which I wholeheartily agreed with and approved, was short and sweet: "We need to extend the benefits of last month's coupon through July." Just add up the total yardage of all your 1+ yard cuts of non-sale fabric and get the following discount off those cuts:

1 yard		10% off
2 yards		20% off
3+ yards		30% off!

Next, I am very pleased to let you know that we are now a distributor of premier Legacy batting, some of the finest, high-quality batting available. Their product line is very comprehensive including cotton, polyester, wool, soy and bamboo battings on rolls, in packages and on boards! For those of you who are professional Longarm quilters with a business license, you can purchase this batting from us at wholesale prices!

We continue to be very busy in "Laser Land" with more laser-cut kits now available including Jeri Kelly's July Every Month table runner

along with two of her other charming designs:

Reindeer Magic

Sunflower Swirl

If you look closely at the picture for Reindeer Magic, you'll see a table stand being used to display it. This simple, yet elegant, 12" x 14" stand is perfect for displaying many of your projects ... in fact, those of you who have delighted in making the Garden Patch Cat blocks, will find this stand well-suited for displaying them.

Our calendar has been updated through August and continues to have many fun and interesting classes to choose from. To start off, we have had many requests about learning to use the Electric Quilt (EQ) software. For me, I've found it indispensible and very handy in designing many of my quilts as well as helping customers. So, we are starting an EQ club which will meet once/month on the fourth Sunday from 10-11:30 starting July 25th. In addition to learning EQ in a relaxed and lesson-oriented manner, admission is free! But you will need to sign up either online or by giving us a call at 760-738-9677. And, you will need to bring a laptop/PC with EQ already installed. Of course, we do carry the latest version of EQ, EQ7 , which just came out, at the shop.

Attention shoppers ... We do have 1 copy of EQ6 and 1 copy of EQ6 Upgrade (which is for upgrading from EQ5 to EQ6) left which we will sell at steeply discounted prices. EQ6 will sell for $99.95 (regular price is $149.95) and EQ6 Upgrade will sell for $49.95 (regular price is $74.95). To order, please reply to this email and state whether you want EQ6 or EQ6 Upgrade. Please also give us a phone number where we can reach you to complete the sales transaction. First email received for an item gets the software at the special price!

Other classes include:

Lyn Postulka is teaching a really cute dress called Annie's Sundress each Tuesday.

Carol Kaplan is teaching a mini-series of very simple-to-make quilts called ... you guessed it ... Keep It Sew Simple (KISS).

Grace Errea is returning with her ever popular Beginning an Art Quilt Top.

Karen Cunagin has several fun project-oriented classes including Sail Away, Simple Gifts, Pillow Angel, and Freeform String Quilting Extraordinaire!.

Mary Lou Rankin has scheduled several informative and hands-on garment making classes including Right Pattern - Wrong Fabric, Why'd She Do That & How'd She Make It Work, Casual & Comfortable Without Being Frumpy, Dress the Spirit As Well As the Body, The White Shirt, and A Jacket for All Seasons.

Sharon Wilhite is teaching her unique and original designs in Chained Stars, and Prairie Queen.