While my sis and I were both home economics education majors in college and learned to sew (clothing) at our mother’s sewing machine (Singer Touch ‘n Sew) before we went to home ec class in 9th grade, we didn’t grow up in the textile or quilting industry or have any relatives who were quilters.

Mom said that she started a Double Wedding Ring quilt when she had 5 small children. She ended up giving it away as a UFO. That was all well before I knew anything at all about quilting.

So, when Rachael decided to start selling fabric, her learning curve was steep. By that time I had already been quilting for about 10 years. She had been in the coupon business - but was ready to transition to something different. Thankfully she’s a quick study, and learned many things pronto. Once she opened the store up to customers and we began to have more on line orders, there were some recurring themes that she noticed.

Then, every time I am back, I learn things. Sometimes they are things I may have missed in my quilting life due to the fact that what I’ve learned, I’ve learned from books or on line - more blogs than video, more Facebook groups than You Tube. Sometimes they are things I already knew but had forgotten.

So…what have we learned? I queried my sis about this. A couple of these were her responses. The rest are mine.

1. To not be afraid to go outside of her own comfort zone - especially related to style

   All of us tend to have a personal “style”. Making the same types of quilts all the time may be repetitive. Using the same colors or color schemes might be comfy for you, but you will never know if you like something else unless you try it! I’ve seen some quilt shops and it is obvious what types of fabrics the owners liked because that’s pretty much all they carried. I was in one shop in AZ and they loved modern. I was desperate to buy something just to support them, but there wasn’t anything I liked enough to pay retail. So, I kept looking and finally found a pattern I could buy! (I try to buy SOMETHING at every quilt shop I go into!) - that’s me talking about traveling - Becky

2. That there are all sorts of color combinations that look amazing!

   There have been times that the ladies will be cutting an order and they lay the fabrics down side by side or in a pile and they are amazed at how nice they look together - often some sort of combination that isn’t your normal - classic color combos. This has helped expand their repertoires without actually sewing! They are learning to appreciate those color combinations that they didn’t really ever consider before.

3. That many quilters have no confidence in their ability to pick/coordinate colors.

   I am not sure how this happened. I doubt most quilters have difficulty in getting dressed in the morning or have to have someone else tell them which top to wear with which pair of pants or skirt. They manage to look nice when going out in public. That involves matching colors. But somehow, when it comes to choosing fabrics to go with each other, they have no confidence. This has actually surprised me, personally, as I never really figured that color matching was a problem for women. I’m not sure of the solution—maybe more lessons in color for quilters. Maybe we need to stop buying precuts that are color coordinated and force ourselves to practice doing matching using our own eyeballs.

4. That quilting is a social activity.

   Last week we had several quilters seem like they were having an informal meeting just outside our backing area. It was cute. I had no idea that so many quilters just love to sit and gab about what they are doing, then it morphs into their lives, their kids’ lives, their cats, etc. It’s very social - and yet the very act of quilting is quite singular.

5. That it seems that most quilters give MOST of their quilts away.

   We have not asked quilters that come into the store, but it appears that over well over half of the quilters we meet and talk with are making a quilt for someone else - either a child, a grandchild, a charity, QOV, a neighbor, a teacher, a pastor, a friend, a wedding gift, a graduation or retirement gift, etc. There are times I wonder if anyone is making ANYTHING for herself/himself.

And there you are. The first five things our customers have taught US! My sis and I will talk some more and maybe we can come up with some more.

We appreciate you all.

Have a great day - wherever you are reading this!

Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store!