When my daughter started kindergarten I went around to area quilt shops to see if I could sew displays for them. I hit three before I found one that said yes. I was thrilled! Little did I know how that venture would snowball.
A few months into this venture I was making a charity quilt and messed up on my math. In my attempt to fix the mistake I created a whole new quilt. I showed this to Ruth Ann, the owner of the shop and she said, “Make that into a pattern and we will sell it.”
So I did. A few more months of sewing for her and I had designed a few more patterns. My neighbor, heard what I was doing. She owned a wholesale fabric and quilting business that is now a little company you may of heard of, Riley Blake. She was having a vendor’s mall and asked me to bring my patterns to see how I would do.
I continued to sew for Ruth Ann until she retired and her daughter, Joani, took over the business. She wanted me to sew in the shop. I preferred to sew at home and bring in the quilts when I was done so we parted ways.
Fast forward to today, Joani recently closed her store. All these beautiful tops she donated to Quilty Hugs. I just need to find tops and get busy quilting. Thanks Joani and Ruth Ann for a wonderful start and a beautiful ending.
What a fun read, Emily. Those donations are fabulous too.
Wow! You are like a quilting superhero and that was your back story! Love that your samples are getting homes!
Sad a quilt store had to close, but glad the quilts are going to a good cause.
How wonderful, loved your story!
Hi Em, what a great start to a career in quilting and design. Thanks for sharing.
What a wonderful story Em! Seems like a 'paying if forward' type of thing is coming full circle back to you! 🙂
An interesting story.