A winner and a SIGH of relief

If you follow me on twitter, you know that there has been drama these past few weeks. Quilt drama. Should a 24 year old have quilt drama?

Anyway... I just got back from Idaho, where I was for 2 days, where I quilted 4 quilts in 24 hours. Needless to say, I need a massage or a vacation or a present to recover from the stress I have been under. At least they are done. I will just sew on the bindings that I have already made after I post this, and then I might give you a little preview.

There are secrets that I have been keeping about Castle Peeps. Secret projects, secret quilts, secret patterns.

The contest is closed now, and I have picked a winner. If you haven't already, I would glance through the comments. Everyone said essentially the same thing with slight variations. Your answers are a wealth of information. Not only for myself, but for anyone who might want to open a store, improve their current business, or just likes to stay on top of the changes that are occurring in the industry.

Our dollars our are best voice, and you will continue to shop in places that hear and support you. So make sure that you truly support and buoy your LQS's that embrace you and the manufacturers and pattern designers you want to see, have, and create with.

SO, as promised I picked a winner using random.org. I have been trying to figure out the very best, most efficient, and fairest way to assign numbers and give the actual winner the prize. So in my gmail account I archived all the entries into a folder and I counted the oldest as #1 and the last as #177 (there were some double entries and gmail counts them as one!) and random.org picked...

Chatty Cricket!

"I'd say it would have to be a combo of cool modern fabrics and classes. They wouldn't need to do much to get me IN the door because I'm drawn to fabric stores like you wouldn't believe, but in order to get me to purchase and come back, they need to have a good selection of styles that appeal to me. ALSO, I love a shop that can accommodate classes or a stitch n bitch. I learned how to quilt at my closest fabric store (a little Mom and Pop in Salem, MA) and it was honestly the most fun I've ever had with my sewing machine."

Just email me your address and I will ship out your fabric!

So a big thank you to everyone who commented. I've really been pondering and praying about the very best way to deliver such a strong message. Hopefully it will spark a desire for change, not a desire to shoot the messenger... 

back to work... we leave wednesday morning!