Pick us! Pick us!

Pick us! Pick us!

We are puffed up with pride and so honored to have our shop chosen as a Top Ten Quilt Shop by Better Homes and Gardens Quilt Sampler Magazine.  It has been an exciting journey so far and I am sure you will be able to hear the signs of relief in our neighborhood as the small group of people who have known our secret since August can finally let it out! I received a phone call early one morning in August from the editor of the magazine informing us that the shop had been chosen for inclusion in the spring/summer issue. I am embarrassed to say that I was busy trying to catch up on paperwork before the shop opened when she called and identified herself as being with the magazine ( I thought she wanted to sell me an ad) so put her off and I did not call her back until mid-afternoon.

Our journey became sort of roller coasterish in very short order! I completed an interview with the magazine's story writer in early September, we prepared the shop for the magazine photo shoot which took place early in mid September and our finished quilt and pattern was due at the magazine in early November. Thanks for your patience with cords and cameras and with our lame explanations to all of you who happened to wander in the shop the couple of days that the photo crew was here!

I chose the wonderful Spring Umbrellas collection by Masha D'yans from Clothworks as inspiration for the quilt and they were kind enough to air freight some fabric in from the collection in time for the magazine deadline, as the collection was not actually released in the shops until the end of November. Terry Tamaki did a great job of quilting even under the pressure of knowing her quilting was going to be featured in a national publication and under some pretty tight time constraints. She is awesome! I am not sure which one of us was more relieved to have the quilt done and in the mail!

Now we wait.......we wait until March, when I get to see a proof of the magazine article and find out which pictures they chose for the magazine.  And, while we wait, we will be sharing the stories on the blog of the dozens of folks who are responsible for making sure that Quilted Strait always has smiling faces, friendly greetings, shipped packages, up to date websites, wonderful classes, great kits, eye-popping samples and a beautiful garden!  You will find out what I already know - they are all amazing!