REUNION! 5-7-21

What a wonderful day it has been – our big sale day! Our many customers/friends showed up and it was like a reunion – old home week – a meeting of friends! We just loved this day – reconnecting with so so many of you who we haven’t seen since the store closed in 2014. Yes, you bought fabric, antiques, birdhouses, project bags, quilts, kits and baskets and greeted us like old friends!

Amy and Anita handled the check out so we could talk to you – catching up with your lives, families and of course your dogs! Remember Angel?

This is the luckiest little dog in the world!!

Quite a few years ago I attended an auction in a neighboring town and had to leave before the wheelbarrow sold. I asked my friend Joyce if she would bid on it for me – she did and to my surprise the wheelbarrow became mine! I’ve had it in my garden all these years , Rick rebuilt it and I decided to sell it. Guess who bought it? JOYCE! Haha! What goes around comes around! Isn’t that a great story?

During a lull this afternoon I cut out the start of a new quilt – red and white.

This is what Rick built for me today – I had an old footstool from the ‘50’s that was just worn out except for the great cast iron legs. Now they have new life!

When sitting with Rick having a beer I kept hearing two distinct birds singing so I tried to get their picture. As I looked up into the trees the color was just so spectacular – dense and saturated with shades of green against that crystal blue sky.

Our thanks to Amy and Anita for being such great help, to God for such great weather and to our customers and friends who we were delighted to see again. We open at 9 tomorrow morning – hope to see you there if you are local. More pictures tomorrow night!

33 thoughts on “REUNION! 5-7-21

  1. Linda of Estherville

    I had a reunion of sorts with you this afternoon. My embroidery machine was working away on a big order of Rembrance shirts, so I worked on some of my shelves. Inside that folded creamy piece of fabric you show in a photo was several more pretty pieces of fabric, and two Emory boards stamped Country Threads, a folder for a quilt show in Ft. Dodge and a seed packet of some of Mary’s Mallow seeds. I might have that seed name wrong. 2013…0h, yes a quilt book with patterns of yours. And the announcement that the Goat Register would be going online under a new name. It was always fun reading about Rosie the goat. BTW that little gal who came with her Mommy to leave Rosie with you graduates this year. Ha…that was the last of the sorting today. How fun checking the treasures.

    1. Mary Etherington Post author

      Linda of Estherville – oh how fun to think back about those treasures! And Rosie is the alpha in my little herd!!

  2. Jo in Wyoming

    You must be exhausted! What a fun story about Joyce. And, yes, the clear blue skies.
    Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms..even those who have dogs, cats, goats and chickens.
    I’m invited to brunch, then shopping at a greenhouse. I’m getting lottery tickets and winning the lottery this weekend. What are you all doing?

  3. Carolyn Boutilier

    Glad you were blessed with wonderful weather. Wish I could have been there for your sale. Hope tomorrow is another great day of the sale. Thanks for sharing the pictures.
    Carolyn b Shenandoah Valley VA

  4. Diane Bauer

    What a fun event and so many connections!!
    I will stitch with my favorite local group, the Sassy Squirrels, tomorrow. Mother’s Day brunch with friends where I am Grandma 2.0. Connections are so important!!!

  5. Gloria Frerichs

    Thank you Mary and Connie for hosting such a great garage sale. Brought back some wonderful memories of shopping at Country Threads. We didn’t get back home until last night but I made time to pet all my material purchases before I went to bed. Angel was happy to see Mary again (the one who made it all possible) and meeting Connie for the first time. Happy Mother’s Day!

  6. Joanne

    Wish I lived closer ! Saw plenty of items in the pictures I would of bought. 😄

  7. Angie from Baltimore

    I so wish I lived closer. I bet you guys are exhausted but made so many people happy.
    Hope your Saturday goes well and your Sunday after church will really be a day of rest.

  8. Brenda in SC

    I, so wished I lived closer!! I, too saw so much I have bought! Would love to meet you both, Mary and Connie. Love the wheel barrow story. go to a lot of auctions here in SC.
    Wishing all the mothers a wonderful Mother’s Day. We are going on a dinner cruise on Lake Norman over in NC. Hope the weather stays warm on the water.
    Blessings from SC.

  9. Kathy in western NY

    What a fun group of shoppers this would have been assembled together!!! I can just see the happiness in everyone’s faces. I am so glad you had good weather to enjoy the day and a beer back at home. What a clever use of the legs with what Rick built. I love repurposing.
    Everyone have a nice weekend and thank you Mary for being such a wonderful loving nurturing mother to all your beloved fur babies and for keeping us all connected.

  10. Sandy in Indiana

    So glad that you had a wonderful day for your sale…..really enjoyed the pictures & stories 🙂 Your Rick is one talented guy 🙂
    Hope today goes well 🙂

  11. Mary Hawk

    Glad it went well, Mary! It was a beautiful day. I was in charge of our huge church garage sale and it went really well too. Otherwise I might have had to come visit you. I love the table Rick made.
    I still enjoy pieces I got @ your last sale. Tell Connie hi.

    1. Mary Etherington Post author

      Mary Hawk – oh, so that’s why we didn’t see you? Garage sales are lots of work so I know you had your hands full.

  12. Cathy D

    I made the hour drive from Humboldt to Garner and was thrilled to see both Mary and Connie in the garage chatting it up with everyone! I bought some great fabric and several primitive stitch kits ❤. Thanks ladies, it was fun seeing you again!!

  13. Launa

    What fun you two had, Mary!
    We have a serious snow storm ongoing up here in Idaho! Hanging on trees, all over the property, but our road n driveway are clear. Upper deck and railing need to be blown off, too! And we thought winter was behind us!!!
    Enjoyed the pictures this morning!

  14. Kathy Hanson

    I would have loved to be there! What fun it must have been, such great stuff and you and Connie as well!
    Angel is so darling – and obviously very loved. Rick did a fantastic job on the footstool and what a treasure it will be for you! You are both so talented. Can’t wait to see your red and white creation! I am trying to do a little sewing with Penny with me in the sewing room. Sometimes I get something done and sometimes not! lol I am making a GE designs pattern and I am going to have to get my daughter to help me figure out how it goes together. I should know that those patterns are a bit above my level!!!
    Hope that you have just as good a time today!!!

  15. Sue in Oregon

    Thank you, Mary, for posting the wonderful photos of your sale. Gosh, I would have loved being there. You and Connie did a great job of putting things together. Hope you have great success today, too.

    Happy Mother’s Day to all. I will be riding around in our boat at the lake and then I will be treated to a nice lunch at the marina. Mother’s Day seems so early this year, doesn’t it? Planting my tomato starts today, which always go in around Mother’s Day.

  16. MARVIN HRUBES

    neat to see all the pictures of the many things that were available. Rick looks pretty comfortable in his spot.

    1. Mary Etherington Post author

      Marvin Hrubes – 40 years of accumulated quilting supplies – we’ve only just scratched the surface! Haha!

  17. Diane and Squeak in Central Ohio

    You and Connie must have had a great, long day😺. I, too, wish I could have been there.; I know I would have bought something! I think I saw Longaberger baskets. I live in the city where the Bg Basket is.
    Isn’t it nice to have a handy man in the house? I love the little table. The last pictures are gorgeous.
    It is still cool here and below average. 52* today.

  18. Susan K in Texas

    It looks like a great sale. I’m sure it was as much fun to visit with everyone as it was work to get everything together for the sale. Your setup looks like a fun quilt shop.
    I love the wheelbarrow story and Rick’s table redo.
    We took my mother in law out to eat for lunch on Friday. It’s her second time to leave her assisted living facility in over 14 months! We took her to Red Lobster and she was just so excited. It’s been a long lonely year for her – we done porch visits so we have seen her but the time was very limited. Three months after the death of my FIL, she was put in covid lockdown at her facility.

    1. Mary Etherington Post author

      Susan K in Texas – I am going to see my 96 year old aunt on Monday – it’s been over a year that visitors have been allowed at the care center.

      1. Susan K in Texas

        It has been a hard time for our elderly and their families. I know your aunt will be so happy to see you. We’ve kept in touch via emails (she is deaf so no phone calls) and the porch visits but it’s not the same as an in person visit.

        1. Mary Etherington Post author

          Susan K in Texas – I just got home from visiting Blanche – haven’t seen her since her birthday in February 2020 – she’s 96 years old and yet she greeted me by name!!! It was a great visit!

          1. Susan K in Texas

            I’m so glad you got to see her and that she remembered your name. That’s pretty good at 96! Hopefully now you’ll get to visit her on a regular basis.

            Thursday I’m headed to see my mom and visit inside her house. One of my sisters and I are putting a quilt together using state bird embroideries she started when she was in her early teens. We were almost finished when the lockdown occurred. If we finish Thursday we can bring it to a long armer for finishing.

  19. Judy Larson

    Hi Mary. In one of your recent posts, you said you were going to have something reupholstered. Who do you use, if I may ask? Judy

    1. Mary Etherington Post author

      Judy Larson – haven’t found anyone yet. Somebody said Algona but I havent had a chance to look!

  20. Marlene P Armbrecht

    Mary, after you posted about the Christmas Pickle, I researched and found that Lynda Milligan had taught the class at a shop in CO fairly recently. I contacted the shop and they were able to get me a reprint of the original booklet. Last week I found the original booklet at an estate sale.
    I would be glad to send you the copy I received from CO for what I paid $9.99 – I will pay the shipping.

    Let me know if you want this. thanks.

    1. Mary Etherington Post author

      Thank you, Marlene! But I already bought two copies – should we start together????

      1. Marlene P Armbrecht

        Not ready to start. Just finished a large 95×108″ Judy Niemeyer pattern! So not ready right now for more FPP. I did finish my Dear Jane late last year. It had been put away since 2003! SO proud of it! Beautiful!

        If someone else needs/wants the Christmas Pickle pattern I would be happy to sell it!

Comments are closed.