Buttons, Buttons, Who's Got The Buttons?

If you sew, you've probably got alot!  We've been seeing buttons pop up on all sorts of fun things lately.  We saw these cute shoes on Pinterest, they were made by Sushma Bharadwaj.  Aren't they adorable?

(photo courtesy Sushma Bharadwaj) 

Our friends over at Blumenthal Lansing have lots of great ideas for using buttons too!  How about a pretty pin or a fun clock?

(photos courtesy Blumenthal Landing)

We're sure that all of you have lots of cool ideas too, and we want to see them, so we're having a Button Contest!  For this contest, you'll need to make a new project with the main design element being buttons!

The Rules:

1. Create a home decor item, fashion accessory, or whatever else strikes your fancy, but the main design element must be buttons.

2. This must be a new project made especially for this contest.

3. Take a picture of it, and email it to rebecca@arrowcabinets.com by Friday, May 11th at 5 pm Eastern time.

4. The entries will be posted in a slideshow on the Arrow blog, and the winner anounced on Tuesday, May 16th.

5. The projects will be voted on by Arrow staff, and the project with the most votes wins!

Remember, creativity counts!! Don't be afraid to go for it!   If you want more inspiration, be sure to visit Blumenthal Lansing's website, http://www.blumenthallansing.com/, and don't forget to like them on Facebook too!

Our First Book Nook - Modern Log Cabin Quilting

As you know, we are always striving to keep things fun and interesting around here, so today we're excited to introduce a new feature on the blog - Book Nook!  Every other Wednesday, we'll feature a sewing-related book that we love.  And, since we love prizes, we'll give away a copy of the book too!

For our first "Book Nook", we've chosen Modern Log Cabin Quilting by Susan Beal. 

Susan has authored or co-authored several books, and is currently the president of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild. 

Susan starts the book out with a little history lesson, then goes over all of the basics that you'll need to know before you get started - choosing and preparing fabric, the tools you'll need, and even tips on organizing your stash & choosing needles. The projects are coded as to degree of difficulty, which will make it easier  for you to choose one that you'll be successful at!  There's a cutting key and assembly diagram for each project, which we think is a nice feature.  The projects are gorgeous and include more than just quilts - there are instructions for bags, potholders, and pillows too.

We think you'll enjoy this book as much as we did, so Potter Craft is generously donating a copy for us to give away!  Leave a comment here telling us why you'd like to win it.  Make sure the comment also includes your first name, last name, city and state so we can find you.  Deadline is Wednesday,  May 2nd, 2012 at 5 pm Eastern time.

For more great books, be sure to check out Crafternews.com. 

Good luck everyone!

Friday 4/20 Winner!

Oh my, we were sew busy with the Friday Night Sew In, we completely forgot to announce who our Friday Giveaway winner was!  Time for us to shed a little light on that (just couldn't resist that one)!  WE'll be sending this awesome Vusion2 LED Craft Light from Mighty Bright

to Billy Hockman from Logan, OH!  Congratulations Billy, we sure hope we lit up your day! 

Don't forget everyone, we have less than two hundred Facebook likes to go before we give away another pair of Gidget sewing tables - one to a lucky fan and one to their favorite sewing/quilting store.  Visit our Facebook page to check our progress, and be sure to let all of your sewing friends know about it!

Friday Night Sew In!

Well, sort of!  :)  For this months Friday Night Sew In, I gave my rotary cutter a workout!   This week I spent a lot of time making pillowcases with the lovely ladies of ConKerr Cancer.  On Wednesday we travelled to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and sewed with the kids.  I was in the Day Hospital, Cindy was on the floor with the inpatients, and we had Irene and Katy holding down the fort with the kids in the Day Clinic.  It always brings a smile to our faces when we see how excited the kids get watching us unpack the sewing machines and fabrics.  It never ceases to amaze me how a thing as  simple as a pillowcase can create so much joy!

Then on Friday, we sewed pillowcases with the kids at Chester County Family Academy. This is always such a fun day for the volunteers and the kids.  The students each made two cases, one for a sick child, and one for themselves.  We sang songs, rolled around on the floor, and shared lots of laughs and giggles! 

After all of that sewing, I decided that instead of making more pillowcases on Friday night, what I really needed to do was wash and cut up fabric for kits, so that we have enough for more events like this!

I love trying to come up with fun combinations that the kids will enjoy picking out.  We hope that YOU enjoyed the Friday Night Sew In, and we want to thank everyone that participated!

Our Friday the 13th Winner!

Who says Friday the 13th is unlucky?  I'm sure Cindy Fockler from Croswell, MI will tell you that it's a lucky day for her, because she's the winner of our Friday Facebook Giveaway!  Congrats Cindy!  She won all of this:

an Arrow T-shirt, a green Arrow bag, an Arrow lanyard and a copy of American Patchwork and Quilting (and no, that's not fabric, we just shot the photo on top of a sample seat we had laying around)!

We'll be doing another giveaway on Friday of course, and don't forget that every time we add 500 fans on Facebook, we're giving away not one but TWO Gidget sewing tables - one to a lucky fan and one to their favorite sewing/quilting store!  We're less than two hundred fans way, so be sure to share!

Our A+ Students

Yesterday we had a little pop quiz, and the grades are in!  Our three A+ students are:

Mary Ellen Futch
Robbie Myers
Maryellen McAuliffe (isn't that funny, random.org must have been on a Mary Ellen streak yesterday)

Congratulations on being such well-prepared scholars! 

For those of you that are curious, the answers are:

1. Who is our Customer of The Month?  Mary Wilbanks
2. What era are her favorite fabrics from? Civil War Era
3. Who is our Dealer of The Month?  CompuSew
4. What special are they offering if you mention them on Facebook? 10% off
5. Which of our cabinets just became available in Pistachio Green?  Suzi
6. Who makes the fabulous orange iron that we're giving away? Reliable

Thanks to all of you for taking the quiz.  We'll be doing it again, so make sure you study!

Pop Quiz Time?

Have you been a good student and visited the Arrow Facebook page and blog everyday?  It's time to find out!  We're having a little quiz to determine who our best students are!  Before we hand out the quiz, let's go over the rules:

1.  Answer all of the questions correctly - the answers can be found on our Facebook page, blog, and website

2. EMAIL the answers to rebecca@arrowcabinets.com by 5 pm Eastern.  Don't post them here on the blog or on Facebook

3.  We will choose three random winners from all of the correct answers received

4.  Winners will be announced tomorrow

5.  Winners will receive a green Arrow bag, an Arrow lanyard, and our Kangaroo Kabinets mascot, Pockets!


Are you ready?  Here are the questions:

1.  Who is our Customer of The Month?
2.  What era are her favorite fabrics from?
3.  Who is our Dealer of The Month?
4.  What special are they offering if you mention them on Facebook?
5.  Which of our cabinets just became available in Pistachio Green?
6.  Who makes the fabulous orange iron that we're giving away?

Good luck everyone, and remember, no looking at someone else's paper!

Our Friday Winner!

We hope all of you had a lovely Easter weekend!  We're ready to jump back in this week and have some more fun with you on Facebook!  Do you realize we're only a little over 200 likes away from giving away another pair of Gidget II sewing tables?  One lucky Facebook friend will win one, and they'll get to chose their favorite sewing/quilting store to receive one too!  Be sure to share with all of your sewing friends, maybe we'll hit 8000 likes by the end of the week!

Now, our other announcement - the winner of this cute tote bag!

We think  Brenda Taylor from Flat Rock, IN will look awfully stylish toting this around!  Congratulations Brenda!  We'll be in touch shortly!

Remember, you still have until 5 pm Eastern time today to enter our "Zap Those Wrinkles" contest!

Sewing Machine Cover Contest Entries

A few weeks ago we challenged all of you to a sewing machine cover contest.  All of the entries we received were great, and once again we had a tough time choosing!  After much debate, we've chosen Katie as our winner!  We loved the cute "indie-craft" feel of it.  Check out the slideshow of all the entries (click full screen and show options to see the names)




Congratulations Katie! We'll be in touch so we can get that awesome Kangaroo rolling tote out to you! Thanks so much to everyone that entered.

Don't forget, there's still time to enter the "Zap Those Wrinkles!" Contest.http://blog.arrowcabinets.com/2012/03/zap-those-wrinkles-contest.html

Friday's Swag Bag Winner!

Hope you're all having a nice start to the week!  We picked a winner for this awesome swag bag:

And it's going to Helen Osbourne in Ooltewah, TN!  Congratulations Helen!  We've got lots of fun stuff happening this week, so be sure to check our Facebook page regularly.  And don't forget, there's still time to enter our "Zap Those Wrinkles" contest we're sponsoring with our friends at Reliable Corporation.   You could win one of four irons, so be sure to check it out!