Our New Shop ~ A Little Before & After

So I'm waaaay overdue for a blog post, and I thought a little Before and After of our new shop location was a good time to wake up the Blog :)

At the end of 2015, as we were looking around for a new space that would give us some bigger work rooms, larger showroom, and a little elbow room, we found out that this double wide spot farther down in our same building had become available :)

In the beginning it looked like this ~ mostly one large space.  A (somewhat) clean slate to work with.

We knew we wanted some walls built to create our work spaces.

And we put up these French Doors so we can see out when we're quilting away in the Handi Quilter room.

Here the little kitchen area is being built that clients can use when they come rent the machines, or take a class.  This one is larger though than our last one, with a table in it and everything :)

If you haven't come in to visit us yet, we moved into our new space in suite G last Monday (Same building, just farther down to the right from where we were before ~ 9691 Gerwig Lane Suite G, Columbia MD 21046) 

Here are a couple of sneak peaks from around our showroom area.  Above is a simply stunning quilt made by Pat Brousil.  It's a sample for her upcoming Hand Piecing Class called Twisted Star.  Click Here for details about the class.

We have lots of space for quilt samples!  Here are a few...above left is a sample for our Sassy Quilt that we have a few kits for, and on the right hand side is  the Quilt As you Go Baby Quilt sample for Barbara Dahlberg's upcoming class on Thursday, April 21st.

We'll take a few more photos of more areas, including the workrooms as we get our quilts up that we brought back from the quilt show we also were vending at last week.  We still have things to get finished, and things are evolving.  Lots of new products are coming out each day, and we have plans for changes in the future for each of the areas of the shop ~ so stay tuned for more photos :)

Just this weekend our signage was installed ~ this time we have our whole name up!  Next week our logo decal will be installed on our front door too :)

Stay tuned for more photos, and stop in to see us in our new digs!
Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Plowing Through Some Snow Days

This new sign came into the shop this week, and I thought it was very appropriate with all the snow days that we've been having to deal with. Because of all these stay-in-and-sew-days, the shop has been pretty quiet ~ but on the bright side, that has lent itself to some work-on-the-classroom days for us.   

The warehouse space that we are turning into our new classroom already had some very funky plastic textured paneling up on the walls...

...with some funky kind of stains, including this one which we are hoping is from red paint...

So we debated about tearing out all the paneling and re-walling everything from scratch, but that would have set us back quite a bit on the timeline ~ so we've decided to embrace the funky walls with a good cleaning and paint over all.    

The space already has a lot of outlets, which is great for a classroom, but they are on the outside of the wall, so we're going with an "industrial" kind of look.  I decided to paint a light green that will look good with all the metal, and some light gray design walls that I'm going to put up.

The back wall of course Bob had to build.  This week we were able to bring that from just studs, to spackle, then...

...Painted!

  

And yesterday Bob was able to start on the sink area.  First he had to re-route a few things, and move the pipe to the corner, then he put the light up that will be over the sink.  Next we'll go and pick out a counter top and install the sink, finish painting, and the carpet will be installed on Wednesday!

 ...Almost there :) 

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn

Our HQ Room

I finally got some photos snapped of the second room in the shop.  This is our HandiQuiter Room!

 More products are on the way, and I'm adding to my thread collection...

And I'm pleased that we have plenty of room to hold our HQ Machine Quilting Club meetings and for renters to come in and use our machines. 

We've only been in a week now, and we've already held a couple of Rental Classes and an HQ Club Class ~ It's fun to see quilters learn to use the machines and get excited about getting their quilt tops finished!

 ...And this week, the first rental quilt has been finished in the new shop!  Janet brought a nice size batik quilt to use as her first practice piece.  (And because she booked her first rental time within two weeks of taking the class, she got her first two hours of rental time for free to practice!)

 ...And she did a great job trying out assorted quilting motifs in the different sections of the quilt!  Great practice, and a finished quilt :) 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

New Shop Photos

I want to thank everyone that stopped in on our first day open in the new shop ~ they all managed to find us in our little corner! We had a great day, and saw many old friends and made some new ones.  All the support and well wishes that I've been getting means more to me than I can say, and I appreciate everyone who has been spreading the word about us opening up over here :)

(And, did I think to take some photos of our busy first day? ...Of course not...So here are some photos of the new shop's front room taken yesterday morning before we opened for our second day.)

Right now in this corner we have Jo Morton's "Amelia", "Jo's Best Friends", and fabrics from other various Jo collections.  More Civil War era repros are coming in along with some yummy wool that I have on order.  (We're taking registrations for our Jo's Little Women Club now and already have a great group that will be starting on February 13th!)

I originally fell in love with this space because we're on the corner and have lots of windows.  With all the trees around us, it even looks good on a rainy day.

 ...And you can see out the window, we have lots of our very own parking...a nice improvement from my home studio! (We had our own parking, but not much of it.)

I have some more modern and bright prints coming in too, along with a bunch of jelly rolls, charms and pre-cuts. 

...And that's our first empty bolt that you see at the end of the cutting table.  ~ I'm looking forward to fun quilting times with friends in 2014, and many more empty bolts to come :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

...Stay tuned for photos of our middle room with our HQ Studio, and progress pictures on our big classroom build out!

Signs are Up!

The signs went up on the new shop digs yesterday ~ and the weather wasn't so brutal so I could get outside and take some photos :)

  

Fabric has been coming in (I already need to add more shelves before I expected to), and I've been busy moving everything over from my home studio and getting it put away.  Today I'm hanging some quilts, and hopefully getting land lines installed. 

Doors open to customers on Monday ~ and we're holding two classes here next week!  (By the way, there's still a space in our Long Arm Rental class on Monday, contact me to jump in on it ~ much more room than in the home studio...and there's better parking!)

We'll be spending a lot of time here, so stop by and see us :)

Spring Water Designs Quilting

9691A Gerwig Lane

Columbia  MD  21046
(410)381-0695

Mon, Wed, Fri 10:00 am - 6:00 pm                                                       

Thurs 10:00 am - 9:00 pm                                                                                 

Sat 10:00 am - 5:00 pm                                                                                

Tue & Sun closed (open by appointment only)

 Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn

Moving In...

So we've been busy, busy here with with cleaning, more painting, and a bit of building...at least Bob has been building ~ he's made this great check out counter for me.  The back side has great storage, and there's a second part to it that will go on the left of it for me to have a sewing station.

And he's painted it with this great crackle effect to age it :)

This morning I took these photos of the empty rooms (nicely painted if I do say so myself, but pretty much empty). 

...Since these photos were taken, we spent the day moving stuff in.  There's more to move tomorrow, and then much to be arranged and put away this week...I'll keep you posted!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Spackle, Spackle, Sand & Paint...

Whole lot of this going on in the last week here...We'll keep you posted on the progress for the new shop! 

In the meantime, there's still space in this Saturday's Long Arm Rental Class.  Contact me to sign up ~ in case you want to avoid the malls :)

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn

Big Happenings At Spring Water Designs!

So this is what's moved into my re-arranged studio from This Blog Post (as you see, we're still in process, but almost there!)

 We still have the original Avante set up

 ...and My Sweet Sixteen.  So why all the machines you ask?

Our Long Arm Rental Program is Starting Now!

Don’t have room to fit a 12 foot long arm frame in your home, or think you might want to try long arm quilting before purchasing?  Then try our Long Arm Rental Program!
First ~ Take the Training Class…
The Beginning Long Arm Classes are $60 per person** and have only two people on each machine, in a hands-on, four-hour class. Payment is required at registration.
          Upcoming class dates are:
                    Tuesday, December 17 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
                    Saturday, December 21 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
                    Monday, December 30 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
                    Monday, January 13 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

** Limited Time Special ~ Receive Discounted Prices for upcoming 2014 reservations if pre-paid in December 2013 ~ So call us and get registered now!

(Experienced long arm quilters can take a Certification class in lieu of the full Basic class.  Certification fee is $35, and classes are set up by appointment.  You will learn the policies for renting our machines, and be asked to demonstrate that you know how to use them.)

Then ~ Rent a Long Arm & Get Those Quilt Tops Finished!
Once you’ve taken the Beginning Long Arm Class, we invite you to rent a long arm machine by the hour and get those quilt tops made into quilts! The machines rent for $15/hour with a 4 hour minimum rental period. The fee includes thread and use of our edge-to-edge pantograph patterns. Machine rental is by appointment and the hours are flexible.

Let us help you make the quilt yours from start to finish!

 …And Because we are Growing…This little guy and I are going way out on a limb…

I’m excited to announce that Spring Water Designs will be moving in the New Year!  

We’ve signed a lease to move out of my home studio into a retail space in Columbia Maryland!  We’ll have more room for lots of fabric, notions, batting & supplies, a room for machine rentals, tons of Machine Quilting Gadgets and Accessories, and a great classroom space!  We have some painting to do, and a little build out, but I’ll do some blogging to keep everyone posted on our progress as we get the space ready and have a firm move in date. 

Here's a little sneak peek at one of the rooms in the new shop :)

…But in the meantime, while we’re still in the Home Studio, we’re excited to invite you to a Studio Holiday Open House & Pre-Moving Sale! 
Take a break from your holiday preparations on Saturday, Dec. 14^th to come on by and bring a friend!  We’ll have demos, treats to eat, and lots of products on sale ~ 20% Off HQ Gadgets, other notions, and selected fabrics & kits!  Bring your Christmas Wishlist and treat yourself!

And we still have some spaces available in our HQ Club Classes ~ Check out our current Newsletter for upcoming dates and details!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn