. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Today, I bring you a giveaway from SouleMama Sponsor Alewives Fabrics. In Rhea's words:
"Alewives Fabrics in Midcoast Maine has been in business for over 35 years, but for the last 6 years has been owned by the mother/daughter team of Barbara Neeson and Rhea Butler. The two of us carefully select each fabric in the shop to reflect our styles and tastes. About two years ago we launched our new webstore at alewivesfabrics.com and have been shipping fabric to all corners of the globe ever since!
Alewives Fabrics is all-over the internet! We keep a blog, we have a Twitter page and we also have a facebook page for Alewives Fabrics."
SouleMama: Tell us about your background. What path led you to the work you do today?
Rhea: This is such a great story and it is 100% true, so stick with me, readers, and I will tell you all how I came to own Alewives Fabrics.
A long time ago, when I was 19 years old, I wandered into Alewives Fabrics with my best friend Amy. Amy and I had big plans to make our own hand bags. Now, it should be said that neither Amy nor I had any idea what we were doing, but we weren't about to let a little thing like that stop us. We were determined to make our very own bags and they were going to be fabulous and we would shortly thereafter make our first million and establish a hand-bag empire and move to Paris and marry Christian Slater. Well, that was my plan anyhow. I'm pretty sure that Amy wanted to marry Christian Bale. She always did have better taste than me...
As we walked into the shop, I zeroed in on a red bolt of fabric that had "$7.95" written across the top. I brought it up to the counter and asked the lady who was working if $7.95 was the price for the entire bolt.
"No, dear," she said. "That's the price for one yard."
"Oh," I said, and we were both a little embarrassed so we smiled at each other.
Well, talk about an ice-breaker! We began chatting and introduced ourselves. Her name was Maia and she was the owner of the shop. She told both Amy and I how nice it was to see two young ladies buying fabric and she asked about our plans. We told her about the hand-bag empire and the big move to France.
Then it was her turn to smile and say "Oh."
Amy commented on how busy the shop was and Maia admitted that it was too busy for just one person to handle and that she had been considering hiring some part-time help.
"Neither one of you two need a job, do you?" Maid asked, jokingly.
"I do!" I said, completely serious. Well, I was hired on the spot and the rest, as they say, is history. I started work that same week and was given a set of keys. 12 years later, I still have those keys, but there have been a lot of changes. When Maia was ready to hand over the reins, my Mother and I bought Alewives Fabrics and I now live right next door. I've met most of my friends here and I even met my husband Oliver here, when he came in to buy flag material for the ice-fishing traps that he makes. I've often wondered about how different my life would be if I hadn't wandered in here with Amy that day, but I don't think about it too much because I truly believe I am living a charmed life and doing exactly what it is that I am supposed to be doing.
Amy and I are still friends, though I haven't seen her for a long time. I did run into her dad a few years ago...
"You still at Alewives?" he asked.
"Yup," I told him.
"Don't you own that place yet?" he asked. He always did like to tease me.
"Actually," I said, brightly, "I do."
And then it was his turn to smile and say "Oh!"
For today's giveaway, Alewives Fabrics is generously offering the following to ONE winner:
~ One "Tea With the Queen" Fat Quarter Collection!
We are excited to be debuting a new fat quarter collection for Soulemama's readers, called "Tea With the Queen." While the weather here in Midcoast Maine is just plain old disheartening, we wanted to assemble a collection that was super-colorful and a teensy, weensy bit over the top: a "color attack" to counteract the muddy, icy mess outside our windows (and maybe, just maybe, we are a little bit smitten with the idea of a royal wedding coming up!). "Tea with the Queen" contains 20 different fat quarters with prints from Amy Butler, Bari J. Ackerman, Liberty of London, Kaffe Fassett and more!
In addition, Alewives Fabrics is pleased to announce that we are making our "Soulemama" discount permanent! From now on, any orders that use the promotional code "Soulemama" at checkout will receive 10% off their entire order, excluding shipping. And of course, this discount applies to customers who visit our shop in person! Please mention "Soulemama" at the counter when you are checking out, and we will discount your purchase by 10%.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Thank you to Alewives Fabrics!
To enter, please leave a comment in today's post (one entry per person, please). Comments will close on Sunday by 12pm EST. Winners will be chosen by Random Number Generator and announced here in this post on Sunday.
Comments closed! The winner is...
So pretty!!!!
Posted by: mamaunplugged
