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Coast & Country Crafts and Quilts Newsletter

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Whatever do we do?

Good day. We hope that you have had a great week. As many of you are unable to visit us in person, we thought that this week we would show you a little bit of what goes on behind the scenes here in the shop, and meet some of our staff.

Contrary to what some people may think, especially those new to us, we are not a huge warehouse filled to the rafters with a big team picking and packing, nor do we get an opportunity to sit and sew each day. We are in fact a small independent shop nestled in the countryside in Cornwall. It is, however, definitely filled to the rafters. We pride ourselves on offering a personal service as we are a team of just ten women, mostly working part time, alongside shop owner Sally. We are good friends as well as colleagues. We socialise outside of work and sit and sew together and share food of an evening whenever we get an opportunity.

There are 3 or 4 staff in each day. Some concentrate on picking and packing orders while others serve in the shop, help with groups and classes, cut fat 1/4s, make fabric packs, add products online, meet with reps (there to tempt us with more delicious goods) and order stock. We all have our particular strengths that keep the shop running smoothly, mostly! Sally and Michelle also do some of their work from home.

The first thing we do in the morning is get all the orders printed. Mondays are our busiest day after the weekend and the newsletter with around 40+ orders, often up to 100 if we have a special offer in place. Other days are a little quieter but we always have more orders as the day progresses, as well as customers by email, on the phone and in the shop. We love helping choose the perfect fabric for a heartfelt project.

Once the orders are printed, the products are gathered together then checked by the packer. This is when we handwrite the little notes on the invoices. Whoever is in the hot seat that day then goes parcel by parcel weighing and adding the postage details online. Addresses are checked, international orders have each item weighed and coded for customs, and we find the most efficient way of sending your order.

We try to process and dispatch each order within 24 hours of receiving it but it is often within just an hour or two as we are constantly checking the website for new transactions. We take our post to our local village post office where they scan it ready to be taken to the sorting office and on its way to you. We know sometimes post can be delayed but we really do our best to get things to you asap. We hope that you like reading about, and seeing, a day in the life of Coast and Country Crafts and Quilts.

We have added some exciting new workshops to prepare you for the Christmas season, check out the dates below & book early to avoid disappointment.
Inspired by Michelle taking a Hannah Burbury kit on holiday with her, we take a look this week at our complete kits. The perfect gift for yourself or a fellow stitcher. We have readymade kits from Hannah Burbury, Corinne Lapierre, Nancy Nicholson, Beaks and Bobbins (more coming in a week or two), Louise Nichols and Alice Caroline. All beautifully presented. Why not gift one to yourself if you can't bear to part with it!

This week also sees the launch of Tilda's latest loveliness "Sanctuary", a gorgeous fabric range along with pre-cuts and buttons, which Sarah has found a new home for in the shop.

As always we hope you have a fabulous week ahead filled with happiness and sewing.
We look forward to helping you with all things sewing related, and having a chat too!
Best wishes
Sally and the Girls

Meet the
Coast & Country Crafts & Quilts Team!

Mary and Mandy busy picking and packing orders.
Mary knows all the customers it seems, and is the calm before the storm. Her knowledge of sewing techniques and her love of all things tiny is invaluable.
Mandy knows the postal system inside out and can pack like there's no tomorrow & is an oracle of dressmaking, crochet, art & many other crafts.
Sally with her stall at the recent Goosey Quilters Exhibition in Tavistock. Sally has the unenviable job of sorting bills, rotas and accounts and keeping us all in check but she is also the one who gets to go on the road, back to her roots, as a trader at shows, meeting more customers and getting inspired by the quilts.
Michelle does a lot of admin and writes the newsletter, she also loves to make kits for patterns and chat with the ladies in the workshop. She's also an expert in needle & wet felting, crazy patchwork & loves to hug so watch out!
June is another oracle of the Royal Mail online system and keeps us in envelopes and sellotape with her ordering of supplies. She adores all things Autumn. Even her cat is called Pumpkin!
Sarah is the queen of end of rolling and displays, making the shop look so well coordinated. Her skill of finding homes for everything is unsurpassed. Not sure she should be running off with the stock though!
Emma has gone from not sewing at all to being a whizz with a rotary cutter & has recently discovered embroidery, all whilst educating us in all things horticulture and foraging. Check out her Christmas wreath workshop 27th November.
Amanda is newly with us but is proving to be a valuable asset with a good eye for colour & is enjoying getting back into dressmaking.
Fiona always makes the shelves look full and inviting, we can always tell when she has waved her magic wand around the place.
She's recently finished making Corinne Lapierre's kit of Woodland Garland sample for the shop.
Jo is super organised and has great attention to detail. She's our very own Miss Marple discovering anomalies with stock codes, putting us straight with a smile and a sparkle.
Daisy is our Saturday girl and loves nothing more than tidying and creating labels and posters for us. She's also the queen of making scrap bags!
Michelle has grabbed some late September sun and has been sewing in the warmth of Greece. She decided to take along one of the new Hannah Burbury sewing kits as a holiday treat. It is so easy to transport as it contains all you need except scissors and toy stuffing for the hearts. The perfect portable project.

All of us have seen the finished samples in the shop but have never before opened the boxes to peep inside. We were all cooing over how delightful it was to open for the big reveal. So beautifully presented, all the threads neatly displayed on a thread card, the perfect ribbon to hang the heart, pre printed felt ready to stitch, an embroidery needle and a detailed instruction booklet full of colour photos of the step by step process and a stitch guide. Such a pleasure to use or to gift. It is sure to have impact.
Beaks and Bobbins Kits are also beautifully presented with all you need to complete a beautiful stitchery with thorough instructions and diagrams. All the threads, sequins, beads and needles that you need to embellish the preprinted panel. We're expecting another delivery from Becky within the next couple of weeks, so if the kit you'd like is out of stock, just add your name to the waitlist & you'll receive an email as soon as they arrive.
We are lucky to have Louise live close by and have her teach classes with us, including her Landscapes workshop & Robin workshop in the next few weeks. Her ideas for embellishments are inspiring. If you are too far away to join in a workshop then a kit is the next best thing. Louise has both full kits with embellishments ready to use, and also panels only for you to let your imagination run wild.
Corinne Lapierre Kits have been a popular staple for many years. Felt is such a wonderful material to work with. These kits even come with the stuffing so all you actually need are a pair of scissors and you have a complete project to make.
Lots of lovely workshops coming including our Birthday workshop & a few for Christmas. We have a Christmas Wreath workshop with Emma & a few multi-choice Christmas workshops with Sally & Mary, plus an adorable Slow Stitched Christmas Trees with Cat Rowe.

Caroline Michelle has two different workshops, one making Festive free motion images for decorations and cards, plus a fascinating workshop using different free motion techniques with wool and dissolvable fabric to create texture, Louise Nichols is in to help you make Embellished Landscapes & next week, Becky from Willow & Hare Stitching is teaching her beautiful Needlebook or Notions Purse.

If you want to join a workshop or a regular group then please call us so we can get you booked in.
New in this week, Tilda's Sanctuary... Where is your sanctuary? The woods, the sewing room, in bed with a good book? Or maybe your haven is not a specific place, but rather a more mindful escape. Tilda's sanctuary is first and foremost her home and the nature that surrounds it, and of course escaping into the world of sewing and crafts. This soft, muted autumn/winter collection along with it's Mira blenders, is all about feeling safe, cosy and grounded in your sanctuary.

Sanctuary is divided into warm and cold tones, with ornamental patterns combined with woodland scenes and florals to create a safe and homely look. For so many of us, the sewing room is our ultimate sanctuary. This beautiful collection also includes pre-cuts & coordinating button packs.