D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
March
2009
Favorite Aunt
Aunt Judy's Attic is the destination for quilting, crafting and gifting. Plus Bullard block on the block, Alltel still alive, something fishy, bye-bye to another Blockbuster and more business news.
Even if you had an Aunt Judy, her attic was nothing like this one! Walk into Aunt Judy's Attic, the fabric, quilting, craft and gift store on Hwy. 180 in Silver City, and be enveloped by the cozy scent of home and sentimental reminders of the best things about families.
 |
Judy Billings, owner of "Aunt
Judy's Attic," the store that bears her name and houses her passion
for quilting and crafts. (Photo by Donna Clayton) |
Folk-art-style gifts of all sorts honor the family connection. "Dad: My father, my hero, my best friend," says a rugged wooden sign, suitable for hanging in Dad's study. "A mother means a lifetime of love," says another, a gift any mom would be proud to post in a special place. Numerous odes to grandparents appear in the forms of signs, tapestries and figurines.
Bedecked in a bright red apron and beaming a warm smile, owner Judy Billings is the quintessential, well, Aunt Judy. Even the start of her business had something to do with families, she says.
"My sister advised me," she explains. "I'd been a veterinary technician for 10 years and I needed a change. I looked at all the businesses that were for sale around the area, looking for something I already knew so I would be good at it, to have a good shot at being successful.
"My sister said, 'No, do your own thing, from the ground up.' So I thought about the things I loved best, the kinds of things I'd really just love being around all day, and this is what I came up with!" she says, a sweep of her arms taking in the huge, airy store, chock-a-block full of the colors, textures and scents of crafting items and fragrant candles.
Billings says the independence of working for herself is an especially rich reward of owning her own business, which just celebrated its first anniversary.
"I also just love putting it together," she says. "I love looking through the catalogs. Just stocking the store is a joy; that's a creative endeavor in itself!
"I like keeping it to a country theme," she adds, indicating the whole front of the store, particularly rich in cowboy- and ranch-themed gifts. Laying in the store's voluminous stock of vibrantly colored fabrics, silky threads and quaint notions for quilting and sewing, as well as scrapbooking and crafting supplies, presents a delicious challenge. "I could go crazy," she says with a humorous shake of her head.
Billings' colorful, homey mix also is bringing together an ad hoc family of another sort — crafting sisters, you might say. On this cold, clear winter morning, a small group of ladies is convening in the cozy back room where classes are taught here.
"Oh, these are my crazy card ladies," Billings says with a laugh. "This is the regular Tuesday group." Billings teaches a few of the classes herself, and also brings in a slate of local specialists for a broad range of workshops offered at the store.
She points out a listing of current, ongoing and upcoming classes at Aunt Judy's Attic: decorative painting, cake decorating, four different kinds of quilting classes, card making, decorative wreaths, plaques, embroidery and more. Her classes are "nice and full," she says, with many participants returning for "class after class, and newcomers coming on all the time."
Most of the card classes cost $7-$8 a session, including all basic materials to create four cards, and go for a series of weeks. Participants can buy additional items to make more cards. "And we often do," says one grandmotherly lady with a bright smile and twinkling eyes. The others gathering around the table laugh and nod in agreement.
"It's a sickness," Billings says with a conspiratorial laugh. "But there are worse things to be addicted to, right?"
Billings says that crafting and quilting supplies are consistent good sellers. "People craft all year," she says with a big smile. "We quilters and crafters just never stop. It's what we do!"
The store stocks a huge inventory of scrapbook-making items: papers, stamps and stickers, stencils and every doodad imaginable. For quilters and sewers, there are bolts of cloth, border trims, threads, buttons and add-ons.
Billings says that she is a self-taught quilter, but recently discovered she may have had a genetic predisposition toward the fabric arts. She indicates a quilt hanging at the back of the store in the fabric and notions area.
"I just got that. It was made by my great-grandmother, probably in the 1920s or '30s," she says. "My grandmother taught me to sew and I used to make things for my nieces for years. Then they got to the point where they grew out of that and I got into quilting. I thought it would be a neat, expressive medium.
"I didn't know there were quilters in my family, and then this showed up," she says with a warm smile, pointing to the quilt that was brought in as a gift from a relative. "It feels like such a neat link to family, like a circle, or something coming back around."
Gift items — of which the store also has a wide range — are particularly strong at the holidays, of course. Billings points out a number of products produced locally, including lotions and soaps from Udder Delight in Glenwood and Old Friends candles made right here in Silver City.
Candles seem to be a specialty at Aunt Judy's Attic. The store also has scented soybean candles and carries the Woodwick and Salt City brands. There are "bean pod" candles, again made from clean-burning, earth-friendly soybeans, available in solid ready-to-burn form or in "beads," which can be custom-blended in burners or with wicks.
"Oh, they're amazing!" Billings says of the scented beads. "We put together chocolate, graham cracker and whipped cream and burned them together. So we essentially made s'mores," she says, referencing the campfire treat familiar to every Girl Scout, Boy Scout and camper on the face of the planet. She rolls her eyes at the memory. "It was heavenly!"
Deanna Eby, one of Billings' two employees, chimes in. "It's like aromatherapy all day, working here," she says. "My kids came in one day and smelled the place and said, 'Now we know why you come home in such a good mood every day, Mom!'"
Walking up and down the colorful aisles of Aunt Judy's Attic reveals a veritable crazy-quilt of gift items, both seasonal and appropriate for everyday giving — birthdays, new babies, anniversaries, you name it. There are brightly colored, child-pleasing stuffed animals, mugs and picture frames celebrating family, the Willow Tree line of elegant and whimsical carved angels, dolls, jewelry and family-themed figurines from playful to sentimental.
Gift-worthy art and decorative items abound — celebrating life on the ranch, the Old West and more. Humorous pigs, cows and sheep are depicted in playful folk-art pieces. There are colorful old-timey promotional pieces, like posters from long ago, pitching flour, livestock, tractors and other items of use on "the old homestead."
And, blending the line between crafting and gifting, some items are ready to purchase or stand as inspiration for those nimble with needle and thread. A baby's bib with an "I love grandma"-type message stands out. It's a family-oriented gift, at once celebrating the love of grandma and welcoming a new little one to the family — maybe even the next generation of quilters and crafters!
Aunt Judy's Attic, 1950 Hwy. 180 E., near the intersection with Memory Lane. Call or stop in for class schedule. 388-1620.
Wheels Still Turning
The Tour must go on! The Tour of the Gila 2009 bike race will go on as planned, race director Jack Brennan has announced. Early last month, word went out that the annual Silver City event would be cancelled, due to the lack of a major sponsor. But local, regional and national sponsors and racers stepped up to ensure that the race, scheduled for April 29 to May 3, will make its 23rd ride. While fundraising goals have not been met, the race is moving forward. Brennan says prize money has been reduced to cut costs, a measure supported by numerous racers he says have assured him that the race is more important to them than the purses. The prize list will be reduced by 15 percent for all categories, while the search for a title sponsor continues. Such large-spiritedness and enthusiasm from the racers convinced Brennan that the race will be able to come up with the rest of the funds needed. 538-5793, racemistress@tourofthegila.com, www.tourofthegila.com
Bullard Bonanza
Carol Thompson of Century 21 Thompson Realty in Silver City checked in to mention that a sizable piece of commercial and residential real estate in downtown Silver City is up for sale. The prime property spreads from 804 to 810 N. Bullard St., near the intersection with College, and currently houses Silver Shoe & Boot Repair, The Curiosity Shop and a space shared by Five Star Tattoo and a music business. The four commercial units and two apartments are listed in the MLS for $340,000. 202-2043, (800) 358-0021 or 538-0021.