DEAR DIARY: A Day in the Life of Havana Knight, String & Story Mascot & Shop Dog
Thursday, 7:30 a.m.: I can hear Mom and Dad stirring in the next room — any minute now, Mom is going to come get me for our morning walk. It’s a shop day, so after our walk, we’ll go hang out at String & Story on Main. That’s my favorite!
8:30 a.m.: Walk — check. Breakfast — check. Mom’s putting that weird stuff on her face now … oh! She’s putting on her outdoor feet! Shop time!! Mom started String & Story online six years ago, focusing on digital education, especially free motion quilting. Last spring, she opened String & Story on Main — the quilt shop companion to the online classes — in our little town of Duluth, Georgia. String & Story on Main hosts classes and events plus has modern fabrics like Paintbrush Studio solids, Aurifil threads, modern patterns and other notions.
9 a.m.: I know I’m here every week, but it feels so special every time Mom unlocks the door to the shop. She always unclips my leash right before she opens the door, and I love running in and sniffing around to make sure everything is just the way we left it. She turns on the lights, and it’s like our very own little quilty stage is lit for the weekend. We get to create a fun, welcoming place for the Quilting Rockstars to come in and shop, chat, learn and unwind. It’s almost show time!
9:30 a.m.: Darcy’s here! Darcy is Mom’s right-hand woman. She’s an amazing sewist, quilter and encouraging human. Mom and Darcy are buzzing around getting machines ready — there must be a class today.
Mom teaches something she calls free motion quilting. By the sound of it, it’s something that makes a lot of quilters nervous because they think it’s really hard. Mom loves classes because she loves to see her students learn something new and grow in confidence. I love classes because I get more attention!
11 a.m.: Class has been going for about an hour now — five amazing ROCKSTARS here to love me … I mean, learn FMQ! I’m bored of laying on my bed, though; I think I’ll just jump into Mom’s lap and onto her table to spice things up!
Noon: OK, I have to admit, these students are pretty dang good at this free motion quilting thing. It’s fun listening to Mom teach them and listening to them encourage each other during class.
1 p.m.: As much as I love all the pets I’ve been getting, now that class is over, it’s WALKIE TIME! We’re going to walk up the town green to Maple Street so Mom can get a coffee. I get to wait outside and greet people coming in for lunch. I know that Mom will only be gone for a minute, but I love to look as pitiful as possible to get pets! Once we get back to the shop, Mom and Darcy will buzz around cleaning up from class and filling online orders. I’m going to take a nap in that great afternoon sunbeam by the door … unless another dog comes by — then I’m going to bark my head off!
3:30 p.m.: The BEST Rockstar just came in. We were already spreading quilt blocks and tops on the floor for me to test (obviously). Then, Rockstar Alicia brought a quilt top for me, too! What a treat. She always gives me great pets, too!
5 p.m.: Closing time! What a fun day: a class, quilt testing and now a quick run to the post office, then home for dinner and snuggles! Tomorrow, we do it all again — I have the best job!
DEAR DIARY: A Day in the Life of Havana Knight, String & Story Mascot & Shop Dog
Thursday, 7:30 a.m.: I can hear Mom and Dad stirring in the next room — any minute now, Mom is going to come get me for our morning walk. It’s a shop day, so after our walk, we’ll go hang out at String & Story on Main. That’s my favorite!
8:30 a.m.: Walk — check. Breakfast — check. Mom’s putting that weird stuff on her face now … oh! She’s putting on her outdoor feet! Shop time!! Mom started String & Story online six years ago, focusing on digital education, especially free motion quilting. Last spring, she opened String & Story on Main — the quilt shop companion to the online classes — in our little town of Duluth, Georgia. String & Story on Main hosts classes and events plus has modern fabrics like Paintbrush Studio solids, Aurifil threads, modern patterns and other notions.
9 a.m.: I know I’m here every week, but it feels so special every time Mom unlocks the door to the shop. She always unclips my leash right before she opens the door, and I love running in and sniffing around to make sure everything is just the way we left it. She turns on the lights, and it’s like our very own little quilty stage is lit for the weekend. We get to create a fun, welcoming place for the Quilting Rockstars to come in and shop, chat, learn and unwind. It’s almost show time!
9:30 a.m.: Darcy’s here! Darcy is Mom’s right-hand woman. She’s an amazing sewist, quilter and encouraging human. Mom and Darcy are buzzing around getting machines ready — there must be a class today.
Mom teaches something she calls free motion quilting. By the sound of it, it’s something that makes a lot of quilters nervous because they think it’s really hard. Mom loves classes because she loves to see her students learn something new and grow in confidence. I love classes because I get more attention!
11 a.m.: Class has been going for about an hour now — five amazing ROCKSTARS here to love me … I mean, learn FMQ! I’m bored of laying on my bed, though; I think I’ll just jump into Mom’s lap and onto her table to spice things up!
Noon: OK, I have to admit, these students are pretty dang good at this free motion quilting thing. It’s fun listening to Mom teach them and listening to them encourage each other during class.
1 p.m.: As much as I love all the pets I’ve been getting, now that class is over, it’s WALKIE TIME! We’re going to walk up the town green to Maple Street so Mom can get a coffee. I get to wait outside and greet people coming in for lunch. I know that Mom will only be gone for a minute, but I love to look as pitiful as possible to get pets! Once we get back to the shop, Mom and Darcy will buzz around cleaning up from class and filling online orders. I’m going to take a nap in that great afternoon sunbeam by the door … unless another dog comes by — then I’m going to bark my head off!
3:30 p.m.: The BEST Rockstar just came in. We were already spreading quilt blocks and tops on the floor for me to test (obviously). Then, Rockstar Alicia brought a quilt top for me, too! What a treat. She always gives me great pets, too!
5 p.m.: Closing time! What a fun day: a class, quilt testing and now a quick run to the post office, then home for dinner and snuggles! Tomorrow, we do it all again — I have the best job!
