Quiltin' Tia History - The last ten years

Hello again all my quilting lovelies out there.  Are you ready for some Quiltin' Tia history?  To understand where I am now, I think it is necessary.

Our San Diego house

Our house in Texas

Spring, 2005 - We move to Texas.  We had been slowly building our online website for five years.  We lived in a perfectly small (874 sq ft) 2 bedroom house, but our now teenage boys and growing business were making it impossible.  We knew moving was necessary!  The timing was perfect.  Addison would be a junior and would attend high school for the two years needed to be a resident for college (cha-ching).  We found a house online, mom checked it out, and we bought it sight unseen.  It had the needed storage/workroom for the business.  We still live in that house!

The Store - a bit of whimsy on the porch

Fall, 2005 - Michael and I start brainstorming about opening a storefront.  We researched, planned, and discussed.  We found a building down the street from our house (although we did look all around the area) and opened our little shop.  Many of you remember our store.  We made it a beautiful place that was an extension of our home.  We wanted our guests to feel welcomed and enjoy their time in our "fabricland."  We met wonderful people and loved what we were doing.

Spring, 2008 - The financial crisis is real.  The economy began slowing and cutbacks had to be made.  We made the difficult decision to close the storefront but continue online.  As many of you know, those were some scary times.  We made changes.  We found outside jobs and went back to school.

Me!

2008-2013 - These were lean, difficult years.  In 2013, Michael and I graduated and found jobs in our fields.  Michael is a respiratory therapist and I became a special education teacher.  I also continued on and earned my Masters degree.  I now work as a diagnostician.  We love what we do, truly.  But we always missed the shop.  It was a creative outlet for us both.

March 28, 2014 - I die.  Yes, die.  I suffered cardiac arrest in my classroom and by the swift and excellent skills of our crisis team on campus I am here now to tell about it.  AEDs save lives people.  Nothing could be found as a cause, but a defibrillator was "installed."  I was ordered to rest and recover.  Now, you know me, I am not a good patient.  I am not skilled at this thing called "rest," and my mind is in constant motion.

The five yard formula is born

Summer 2014 - Back in 2008 or 2009 while vending at market, a fellow vending friend made the comment, "You should come up with a line of patterns for five yard quilts!"  I thought it was a fabulous idea.  But, my life was crazy and it was on the back burner, really the deep freeze.  Now with no work or school I had time.  The project was exactly what I needed to occupy my brain.  A-OK was born.  My mind shifted to five yard bundles and their flexibility.  I was having a blast.

Super pumped to be bringing fabric back!

Today - Who is still reading this?  Wow.  Okay, so here we are today.  A-OK is now 21 patterns and 9 baby patterns.  And we have begun to grow our store again.  We are purchasing fabric groups.  We are planning on doing some quilt shows, guest speaking and workshops.  We are again having a blast.  Yes, we are keeping our day jobs, we love them.  But we also plan to continue to build Quiltin' Tia.  Attending events gives us what we were missing - YOU!  Connecting with quilters, planning projects, sharing stories - all the things we lost when we closed the shop and downsized online.

So, are you with us?  Are you ready?  If you have a quilt show and need a vendor, we would love to hear about it.  Does your quilt group or guild need a speaker/teacher for a workshop?  We would love to come meet you!  Also, expect some new fabric groupings and patterns as we continue to grow and share.  I have a few new ideas up my sleeve too... our creative outlet is back.

Email for workshops, presentations or vending opportunities - tia@quiltintia.com