What a deal!

Hey there all you cute birds!  Everything in the shop is now 50% off.  Get on in here!

Going Out of Business Sale Update

Yes, we're still closing, but believe it or not, we still have lots of great things for you to pick up- gorgeous high quality fabric, wools, notions, patterns, and more, are all here at 40% off.  You might even discover the perfect piece of furniture (old and new, but all with great character) or ready made quilt you've been looking for. Come on in and snap up the great deals!

We Still Have Plenty of Fabrics!

Thanks to everyone who has come to the shop in the past week!  Keep on coming! We've loads of great things for sale at 20% off the regular price.

• Jacquard ribbons
• Rick Rack of all Sizes
• Velvet ribbons and ric rack
• Rattail cords
• Lace
• Buttons, vintage & new
• Beads & sequins
• Art Girlz Charms
• Needle Felting Tools
• Wool Roving for Needle Felting
• Hand dyed wool in pre-cut sizes
• Sue Spargo Patterns and Books
• Weeks Hand Dyed Embroidery Floss
• Presencia Embroidery Floss
• Punch Needle Patterns
• Punch Needles & Hoops
• Embroidery Patterns Books
• Quilt Kits - samples are on the walls
• Moda pre-cut fabrics
• Lots & lots of Batiks!
• A full color wall of fine quilting cottons
• Lots of Lecien fabrics for quilts, garments, & kid's prints
• Lots of quilting & general sewing notions
• Retired Sample Quilts for Sale!
• Retired Handbag Samples for Sale!

If you can't come to the shop, but would like to make a purchase, call Amy at 563-538-4350.  She has been fillings lots of orders by phone during this sale!  And we DO ship - just about anywhere.

REMINDER:  NEW HOURS  Closed Sunday & Monday!  Open Tues, Weds, Fri & Sat 10-5.  Open Thurs 10-7.  

See you soon!

posted by Angela

Going Out of Business!

It has been a very difficult year at Yellow Bird Art.  Between the economy and the fierce competition for a limited customer base with other quilt shops in the area (there are 18 quilt shops in a 60 mile radius!), we finally decided that we just couldn't keep on.  We've heard from many customers who've owned a small business in the past, and they all said the same thing.  You just become weary after a while of trying to wait out the economy, or thinking up some new promotion or event that will bring customers in the front door - and then have them buy enough of what you're selling to keep the vendors, utilities and rent paid, the shelves stocked with inspirational goods, and the employees employed.  Please understand that we are not bitter or angry, just sad.  During challenging economic times, this is something that happens to some businesses, and we're certainly not the only quilt shop to go out of business right now.  Of course, hindsight always provides alternative endings if only you'd done this or that differently, but honestly Amy and I think we did the best we could.  There are so many people suffering in the world that we are always conscious of the multitude of blessings we've received during our four years of Yellow Bird Art.  Naturally a winning lottery ticket, or finding that danged missing trust fund might have made a huge difference!  

The thing that has been most difficult in making the decision to close is that we truly love running a quilt shop.  Being able to spend your day in such a lively collection of colors and patterns is absolutely a dream come true.  However the very best part of owning a quilt shop has been the opportunity to encourage, assist, and/or teach our patrons and then viewing the most amazing works of creativity that resulted.  Getting to know our customers personally has been the greatest gift of all.  It has been an honor to be your friends and cheering squad.  Amy and I both deeply believe that everyone of us has a beautiful gift of creativity and our mission in owning Yellow Bird Art has been to support you in your quest of finding your own gift and developing it!  When any of you came through the front door while we were occupied with normal shopkeeping tasks, you often apologized for "interrupting" our work.  I think we always told you that you were never interrupting - YOU were and still ARE the only reason we opened the store!  We know over the course of the 4 years that Yellow Bird Art has been open that we've occasionally made some incredibly dopey mistakes, but we've always aspired to make sure they were corrected to your satisfaction - at least that was our sincere intention.

SO...... as of today all our fabrics, patterns, notions, books, kits, needle felting and embroidery supplies are 20% off regular price.  Fabrics require a 1/2 yard minimum cut.  (Consignment items like the fused glass jewelry and hand dyed silk scarves are not on sale.)  All our shop samples are for sale at prices much less than what it would cost to purchase the fabrics, batting and quilting - we did not include the cost of sewing labor - so these are a huge bargain.  Our BabyLock sewing machines are 30% off MSRP.  If you purchase one of our demonstration sewing machines, we'll add an additional discount which depends on the machine you purchase.  All of our shelving, display items, and antique or vintage furniture is on sale as well.  The marked  prices on those items are firm, and the items will be available when the shop closes or when we no longer need them.  Our Accucut Studio fabric die cutter and an extensive collection of dies are for sale.  The Accucut has been lightly used over the past year, and the majority of the dies have never been used.  This would be an awesome purchase for a guild.  Did you know that you can precision cut the fabric for three quilts in less than an hour using the Accucut?  You can call Amy at 563-538-4350 if you have questions about any of the items for sale.

Now, I know this may be an unusual request, but we hope many of you think of us as friends. If we've earned a place in your heart, and your budget allows, I'd like to ask you to visit Yellow Bird Art soon and bless us with your patronage.  Our goal is simply to get out of the business being able to honorably pay off all our financial obligations.  As a mom, I'd love to know that Amy could conclude her life at Yellow Bird with a modest fund that will enable her to make this difficult transition in her life. We know there are LOTS of quilt shop options available for you - many with great collections of all the newest fabrics available.  But we still have beautiful fabrics for quilts, bags and garments in stock at great prices and we really need your help - we just can't do this without YOU!  I know we all love finding the super shopping bargain.  Who doesn't love  buying something at 70% off the retail price?  But Yellow Bird Art is just a locally owned teensy business, not a natiional corporate entity with deep pockets, and every dollar that comes into the shop goes to other small businesses owned by real people who are depending on our ability to pay their bill so they can pay their bills and so on and on it goes.  This type of honesty is surely not a normal business practice, but then we've always been more interested in making real heartfelt contact with our customers, not just being interested in how much each sale brought in!

We would be remiss if we didn't mention all the wonderful women who have worked at Yellow Bird Art.  Each woman brought her unique talents, creativity, strengths and insights that enriched our working environment and made it a joy to come to work each day.  We've had so much fun at work with our "birds"!  We've missed each one who has moved on to other life interests, and will miss those we currently work with.  Our deepest thanks to Sue, Deb M., Deb B., Marsha, Kathy, Sandy, Barb, Eileen, Kristina, Carolyn, Peggy and Joan for sharing your lives with us and being a part of Yellow Bird Art.

We have NEW HOURS!  We are now closed Sunday and Monday (although you'll find us at the shop for the next 2 Mondays).  We are open 10 - 5 on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and 10 - 7pm on Thursday.  We are always glad to be open earlier or later if you have a group that would like to come at a time outside normal operating hours. 

We will be mailing only one postcard about our "Going out of Business" Sale.  To learn about sale updates, or new shop news, check our website, blog, or sign up for our E-newsletter at our website: http://www.yellowbirdart.com/,
We will be putting together some super fabric bundles and other specials for those of you who can't come into the shop, so please check our blog out soon again! 

P.S.  We don't know when we will be closing the shop yet - we're just working our way through this day by day!

Posted by Angela
   

Merry Christmas, dear friends!

We wish a wonderful holiday season to you all!

We will be closed December 24 & 25, and December 31 & January 1.

Well, of course, it makes all the sense in the world!

Yes, that's right - in the cherry linen closet in my bathroom.  Doesn't everyone stash their portable electronic devices in with their ace bandages, back braces, neck braces, wrist braces (I'm telling you, those old bumper stickers that said that getting old wasn't for the sissy in us, wasn't kidding!) and all the stuff to take long soaking whirlpool baths to ease all the body pains (the getting old part again)?  The tip for me was thinking about the last time I charged the camera - in the bathroom.  With water.  Brilliant, eh?

So lanadunk, e-mail me with your snail address and I'll get your little collection of Amy Butler fabrics out to you before Christmas!  And, because I'm a total softie, and there were only 4 of you who left comments, I'm going to send a little something special to you three from my private stash.  Ask Amy - she loves going through my fabrics at home - there's some really good stuff there!  Please e-mail me with your addresses at: angela@yellowbirdart.com

Hugs to all the birds out there!
Angela and Amy

The Dog Ate my Camera!

Well, the dogs (that's Oliver to the left and Tillie to the right) didn't eat the camera, but it has been AWOL for months.  I mean months!  As age, and I know this is very sad, has impared my ability to immediately recall where I put anthing at home, I've attempted to keep items in the same place, and to always, always put things away where they belong when I'm done with them.  Well, this plan ungloriously crashed and burned when it came to the camera.  After wandering through the house looking and looking until I thought I was going a bit bonkers, I came up with a plan. 

I cleaned my desktop off  - the camera could have been buried under a pile of papers.  I moved into the dining room and looked through the drawers of the small commode where we keep table runners and flower vases.  I searched the small cabinet where I normally store decorative seasonal items, the large cabinet where we display our teapot collection...... 

We've had a number of open houses - our house is for sale - so I was racking my poor brain trying to figure out where I might have tucked the camera away in a last minute fly through the house!

I checked out the oak cabinet in the living room, my little drop front secretary in the corner of the living room....

Keep in mind that I had already done surface searches throughout the  house.  I pulled up all the cushions on chairs and couches, looked under beds and all the furniture.  I think I crawled throughout the entire house before I conducted the cabinet searches.  When I opened up any of the cabinets, I had to pull all the contents out, go through them and reorganize everything.  Just to make sure I hadn't accidently covered up the camera with a stack of other junk.

My last two stops were the red bedside cabinet in our bedroom, and the cherry linen closet in my bathroom.

Good news .... I found the camera!  But which cabinet? 

Be the first reader of our sad little neglected blog to correctly guess which cabinet the camera was hiding in (only one guess per reader) and win a little four pack of Amy Butler fat quarters!  I'll be posting the winner on Sunday (the 20th of Dec) morning.

And the Winners Are!

The winners of our e-mail sign up contest are:
Diane K (butler-bremer.com)
and
Sara (whimwinkle)
You both have a $25.00 gift certificate coming!
Please e-mail angela@yellowbirdart.com with your snail mail address and we'll get those gift certificates in the mail to you!
Thanks for helping enlarge our e-mail address base!

Angela, Amy and the Birds

Laura Wasilowski Visits Yellow Bird Art

Just look at those happy faces! We took two photos outside after our workshop with Laura - one so you can see everyone who attended, and the other so you could see the art quilts. They were all marvelous..

We had such a fabulous time when Laura Wasilowski of ArtFabrik came to visit in June. Laura hand dyes the most amazing cotton fabrics and threads, as well as designing imaginative and whimsical patterns. We had a class of 13 students, one of whom was a lovely young lady who accompanied her mother. The photos below show the gals making the parts of their wallhanging quilts.

Although everyone used the same pattern, the individual art quilts ended up being very different because each person had her own vision for what her quilt should look like. Isn't that exactly what's supposed to happen in a great workshop??

Laura was a wonderful teacher, and we all had such a great time. Be sure to take classes where ever your local quilt shop is located. You'll learn new skills, meet lovely new friends, and help support your local shop! One of our goals as a shop is to bring in great national teachers. You'll find the information at our blog or check our website - www.yellowbirdart.com

You can also sign up for our e-mail newsletter at the website. We don't hammer you with constant e-mails (we've heard complaints about some e-retailers), but only when there's important news to share! That's a birdy promise.

Birdy hearts to you all!

Angela

The Birds are Back!

Where have we been? Well, since our sale, we had a terrific workshop with Laura Wasilowski (more on this tomorrow), then we closed for a week of frantic painting, redecorating, rearranging, opened for business the following Monday, then got ready for an auction of fabrics and things that needed to find new homes, held the auction last Wednesday evening, and then I think we passed out! Reactions to the new shop layout have been very positive - there's so much room now. And we have incredible lighting in the shop now! I'll post photos later this week.

What this post is really about is Virginia Robertson. She's coming for three days this week, and on Friday, July 10, she is giving a FREE lecture and trunk show at Lansing Community Center at 10 am. The lecture is "If Monet Were A Quilter", and Virginia will discuss how color can be used mostly effectively in quilts, and how color can influence the "feeling" of a quilt. Don't miss this opportunity to meet an amazing quilter who's been influential in the world of American quilting for 29 years. Virginia's quilts for the lecture and trunk show arrived last Friday, and all I can tell you is that it will be worth the drive to come on over to Lansing for this event!

Friday afternoon (12 - 5pm) Virginia is teaching the class "Grandma's Button Jars". We still have room in this class! The cost is $25.00 for the class and a kit fee of $22.50 to Virginia for the fabrics, ribbons, trims and buttons for the jar lids. The kit will make about 6 jars - find some cute ones and give us a call to sign up!

Saturday, Virginia will be teaching "New Twist on an Old Favorite - Wedding Ring". Don't think about the old way of making a Wedding Ring quilt - many customers have told us either they only made one, and never again - or that it was just too difficult of a quilt pattern to even consider making. Don't worry, Virginia has taken the technical part of this quilt and simplified it for us all. Just look at these beautiful samples she sent us. She will teach several different quilt techniques and you'll be on your way to a fabulous new quilt. We have a couple of places open in the class, and we'd love to fill it up! The class is Saturday, July 11 from 10 - 5 and costs $48.00.On Sunday, Virginia teaches "Strip Club", although there won't be any partially clad men running around the shop! We'll be using 2 1/2" strips to make one of five different quilts. The quilts are all absolutely charming, and again Virginia will be demonstrating shortcuts for the techniques needed. She says that most folks leave the class with their small quilt top completed or well on its way. Please don't feel that these classes are too difficult for you as Virginia teaches to all levels of quilters. One of the great thing about taking classes is having the opportunity to learn from a great teacher, and also learning and sharing from the new quilting friends you'll meet in class. There are a few spots left in the "Strip Club" that we'd like to see filled. It isn't everyday that you get the opportunity to take classes from a really great teacher!

Last, but not least..... if you won a gift from us, but it hasn't come, please, please let us know! Sometimes things don't get where they are supposed to go, and if your gift didn't make it to your house, we want to fix that!

Birdy hearts to you all -

posted by Angela

Phew!

We had a HUGE sale last week. We're not sure at this point just how many bolts of fabric went out of the shop, but we can tell you that it was a lot! There are stacks and stacks and stacks of empty bolts outside the back door. Getting inside the shop is sort of like going through an obstacle course. Thank you to all our wonderful customers who came and shopped, then shopped some more, and then came back yet another day to shop more.
That's Deb with our customer who won the "most repeat visits during the sale" prize, and perhaps "spent the most $$$ during the sale" prize. Speaking of prizes..... Today, yes today, we're getting the prizes in the mail to everyone who won at our last drawing. We didn't forget! We've been overwhelmed the past weeks, and today was truly the first day we have had to address getting your goodies out to you. If there are no interruptions, our big plan is to get them to the post office today. Thanks for hanging in there!

This is us on Saturday after the last customer had left the shop. We were exhausted, fried, crispy, toast, whipped, our dogs were screaming and our backs out after 3 + weeks of non-stop work getting ready for our shop re-do.

Please note, we are closed throughout this week to have time to change over the shop. We know we told many of you that, "yes, of course, we'll remain open after the sale". We seemed to have the idea that we could do a gazillion things at once and still deliver the customer service you deserve. Then we realized that birds do not preen their feathers while in flight, and they most certainly don't moult during flight! So we're taking a week to re-feather the nest and we'll re-open next Monday, June 22 at 10 am.

Birdy hearts to you all,
Angela

Our Web Site!

We're Sorry! Silly to not have a link to the web site.
Here it is:
www.YellowBirdArt.com
Come on over and do a little shopping!

Birdy Hearts to you all -
Angela