TJ Maxx Signage Gets New Life And Some Quilts, Of Course!

I recently got a big shipment of some pretty amazing rulers. The problem was that I didn't have any place to display all these new fancy pants rulers. The answer? TJ Maxx! Well, not exactly the store- more like the remnants of a store. One of my local TJ Maxx stores was being liquidated and I saw an ad on Craigslist for fixtures. I ran over there and found a great display unit with the perfect amount of space to hang all of the new rulers on for the shop. The problem is that the display from TJ Maxx gives me the giggles.

Keep in mind that the front retail portion of my shop is roughly 900 square feet- about the size of a healthy family room. I have exactly one place to make your purchases and returns. No one could get lost in here. Well, at least now I'm guaranteed that no one could get lost in here. I was half tempted to turn the display around so the arrow was pointing at the wall just to see if I could confuse anyone. :) Every time I walk by at the enormously large sign with an arrow pointing towards the checkout stand I can't help but grin. It screams, "CHECKOUT THIS WAY!" Don't you love it? I think I'm going to have a sign made that I'll cover up the ginourmous announcement for the directionaly challenged. I'm not sure, though, what it should say. I'll have to think about that some more. In the mean time my absurdly tall and absurdly obvious signage has a new home in the showroom. This week we've had some new quilters learn how to use the longarms and they did great. Here's Carol with her lovely doggie quilt. I didn't get a photo of the backing but it was made up of a cute little dog bone fabric that was adorable.

Lois worked on a Christmas table runner. Don't worry, after I took this photo I turned up the heat for her. Can you tell she was cold? :)

Starla finished up this Wild West quilt for her son. She did it all freehand and even added little sheriff badges in the cornerstones.

Finally, Mary Ann made this two sided quilt. This is the front and she quilted it with a mixture of freehand meandering motifs she got from the Pocket Guide to Freemotion books.

This is the back. Don't you love it! Normally when you have a back with as much piecing as this has you run the risk of pleats or puckers forming unless it has been pieced with precision. Well.... she is definitely a skilled piecer. This sucker was SQUARE! She had even loaded it to her rental zippers at home so all she had to do was zip on her back and she was ready to go. She finished this quilt in 4 hours and it was a Queen sized quilt.

Way to go Mary Ann!