Welcome to Ma's Got'a Notion
Here at Ma's, we got your back...quilt back, that is!!!

YES, it has been TWENTY-TWO years and still counting. There have been some good times, some rough years, some good memories made, and some sad memories, too. Good friends have been made; I have seen quilt friends move away, and some have passed, while others have just moved on. I have made quilt friends from the county, those from other counties who actually drive from afar from nearby states, and some who have been known to fly in to visit the shop. We have had shoppers from near and far, including several other countries. We have hung in there through the good, the bad, and, yes, some truly ugly fabrics purchased by mistake, leaving me thinking... what in the world I was thinking when I bought them! LOL, I have been blessed to have some of the most beautiful fabrics that the talented designers have dreamed up. I have seen designers move from one vendor to another and back again. I have been fortunate to meet them in person and speak to them by phone, proving that they are there to help the small quilt shops they serve. That goes for fabric designers, pattern designers, and the owners of many fabric companies.
All in all, I am so glad that I opened all those many years ago. I have lived, eaten, and breathed this shop. I started with a few patterns, a few bolts, and my very first longarm machine (little did I know that I would own three Gammill quilting machines over the years; I only have two nowadays, and I have no plans of parting with either anytime soon).

Friends urged me to grow, and with their gentle nudging, I took baby steps. I am so thankful for the friendships formed in those early days; many have passed from this world, but I know they are sitting around a quilt frame somewhere with needles threaded, and visiting up a storm, and I'll bet there is some excellent food nearby too.

Some naysayers would come into the shop and make fun of my humble beginnings, and one gal actually told me I would never be a "real quilt shop"...But here I am, 22 years later, and I still am not sure what a "real quilt shop" should look like, but I sure get a lot of enjoyment from my quilt shop! I had family members tell me... You can't make a living from your hobby, but somehow I've managed to do so —with a bit of help from my friends!

I have enjoyed the people, the quilts I have quilted for customers, I love the fact that I have quilted for some customers their very first quilt and their 20th quilt and I have had the enjoyment and honor of watching their skills grow, that is what keeps me going, the improvements that bring joy to not only my customers, but makes my heart happy! I have heard their troubles and about their joys. I have also quilted the very last quilt made by a customer who became a friend to cover their casket; those are the sad memories. While I was honored to do it, the last goodbyes are hard ones. I do cherish each memory and those who helped me make them, and I will never forget those friendships.

This week, I want to thank my customers who have been customers from the beginning, and those who have just discovered my shop. Starting Tuesday, October 28, and continuing on Wednesday, the 29th, Thursday the 30th (Friday the 31st —watch for some special sales that day) from 10 am - 5 pm. AND, Saturday, November 1st, from 10 am - 4 pm, we will have a grand sale each day. 

Read the following sales bill:

All fabrics on the bolt — both regular-width fabrics and wide backing — will be 22% off, with a 1/2—yard minimum. The wide backings in the bags will also be 22% off.

All fabric in the sale room, on the bolt, will be $6.00 per yard, 1-yard minimum. The ones with the happy face at the top of the bolt will be $3.00 per yard, with a 1-yard minimum. The bagged-up sales fabric and the single yard folded in a triangle in the back room: you will get 22% off them. These fabrics are just the end of bolts or scrap bags from shop samples. They are fine fabrics; they are just orphans looking for a new home.

Any bolt of fabric that you deem a skinny bolt (regardless of the thickness of the bolt), as long as you buy all that is on the bolt, it will be 32% off. This is any bolt, if you think it's skinny, who am I to judge! LOL

I will have a "few" select kits on sale; you will find them listed when you come into the shop. I just ran out of time this week to pull them. (Life gets in the way more often than not these days.)

On Friday, Oct. 31st, that is the actual date of my anniversary, yes, I opened Halloween of 2003. Two weeks later, my dad passed away, and I closed for a couple of weeks or maybe three. Back then, there was no way to contact folks; you just had to hang a note on the door. Communicating with travelers heading to the shop about closures is much easier these days, with so many ways to do it—social media, email, websites, and texts. But that note on the door will still be posted no matter how far our communication advances over the next few years!

I still consider Halloween the day of my humble beginnings. So on Friday, October 31st, I will have all Halloween and Fall regular-width and wide backing 32% off—1/2-yard minimum.

To bring you up to date about my hubby, he is feeling much better. He was given the insurance of a defibrillator placed in his chest to give him a shock should his heart miss a beat or beat erratically. His heart only works around 35% and sadly, there is nothing that can improve that. He will be at the shop on Halloween, handing out candy to the kids who come down Main Street to trick-or-treat at the businesses. He has done this job even before his retirement. He loves kids, and kids love him. Our grands, who spent many days visiting us when they were young, have enjoyed working alongside him, learning to do a variety of jobs, from carpentry to plumbing. Jessie even helped him pour the concrete at the back of the shop and wrote her name in it, making it a rewarding memory and a time-worn bonding between her and her Pa; she could not have been much older than 5 or 6 at the time. He loves to tell stories about the grands, and they love hearing them, too! I tell him he's still as good as he once was, and still as good as he ever was! We will take our new normal for what it is, and are determined to enjoy it!

Debbys hubby is all mended and back to work full-time. Her mom is back up and driving, so life for her is settling back to normal, too.

I hope you all can come by this next week to say hello. There is candy in the dish, and what is life if we can't indulge ourselves with a sweet treat, and a fabric sale all in the same day!

The holidays are fast approaching, and I will have more on that topic in the coming days.

Halloween is the one day of the year that our dust and cobwebs become decorations, so you can take the day off without guilt to visit us here at Ma's to celebrate!