The real reason for the trip

The real reason for my choice of direction for Saturday's outing. What other reason is needed for a fabric junkie? None - absolutely none.

That reason !!!!!!!!


Magical Threads
315 Church Street
Dahlonega, GA 30533
706-867-8918 phone
706-867-9253 fax
http://www.magicalthreads.com/



Quilters heaven - literally mountains of fat quarters. Acres of fabric bolts. Scores of samples. An overwhelming smorgasborg of supplies. Charm packs. Itty Bittys. ( a personal favorite)

What is an Itty Bitty? A tiny little piece of a fat quarter. Perfect for stash building. Rolled up and bundled with those tiny hair elastics. They keep these in baskets around and I could literally spend hours looking at just those.



This quilt was easily my favorite. Like looking through a window grill onto the garden.

Magical Threads is in an old house with those rambling rooms that I love anyway. Little tucked away corners. Every turn will bring a new gasp of excitement. I was absolutely overwhelmed by all of the selections. Upstairs there's more. And then a building out back with yarn (I did not venture in there - too dangerous)


The samples are abundant. Well constructed. Beautifully displayed. This is a detail of a vest with a woven ribbon effect. Absolutely stunning - sorry for the blur - I was excited. The books and patterns and magazines abundant.

Everything is abundant.



This caught my eye because I am trying to decide what to start for a new baby in the church. This may just be the pattern and I bought some adorable floral fabric to use. Looks like just a floral until you study it, and discover the tiny little birds and bunnies.

Their website is well designed too. With patterns and fabrics and notions. The samples for their free online patterns are displayed in the shop as well.

Lastly - the real reason this shop is successful. If every employee treats customers the way I was treated - this shop will be forever successful. Amy greeted me in that Southern Hospitality style. Warmly. Made me feel welcome. Gave me an idea of the layout of the shop. Asked if I needed help. Understood that I needed time to just drool. She was efficient and friendly and knowledgeable. Made me feel as if I could be the one customer who made her day. (I later saw her make every other customer feel just that special) Amy is just as big an assest to this shop as the inventory and the ideas.

About the fabrics - I asked about internet orders. They will take them, but back to Amy's making me feel important - she suggested a phone call instead. That personal service is the key. They will take a phone order and credit card information and ship it to you.



I will definitely go back to this shop - will go out of my way to shop with these people. Some points I want to make about the things this shop does right.

1. Beautiful setting - made me feel like they were interested in my business before I ever set foot inside. (Mr Atkinson enjoyed the front porch as well)
2. Friendly, courteous, not pushy greeting.
3. Knowledgeable staff. - by all means shop owners -take the time to train your staff - it's that important.
4. Inventory.
5. Samples - patterns - kits - well thought out displays.
6. Willingness to make the customer feel welcome and special.
7. The extra touches. (Like the itty bitty bits) Surprises. These do not have to be expensive items. Another of my favorites was the little bean bags they had sitting on every cutting table.
8. Keep it fresh - rearrange things - add new - sometimes a new display will sudden be just the new hot item, even though it has been in the shop for a long time.

As I left this wonderful shop, I was thinking about why I will drive 75 miles to shop there again. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fabric selections (stunning and varied) - IT HAD EVERYTHING TO DO WITH HOW I WAS TREATED FROM THE MOMENT I ENTERED THIS SHOP.

So ladies if you are in the area - stop by - it will be well worth your while. If you do - tell Amy I said hello

Have a wonderful day.