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American Quilt Retailer is presenting Meet Me in St. Louis–an event designed to connect quilt shop owners with designers. Prior to Market, we’ll be introducing you to the eight designers featured in the AQR booth (#2507) at International Quilt Market in St. Louis. The complete schedule is included in the April 2017 issue of American Quilt Retailer (shipped to subscribers on April 24). Today we introduce you to Eye of the Beholder.

Our world is fast-paced, impersonal and alienating, but Eye of the Beholder Quilt Design is here to slow it down and make it personal.  As a professional dancer and teacher, Margaret Brewster Willingham trained dancers and choreographed dances for 40 years. Today she proffer these gifts and abilities as she teaches quilters and choreographes quilts.

She has been inspired to create reverse applique and applique patterns that echo the functional beauty of Victorian Era architecture. Personally her goal is to dot the world with gratuitous beauty and loving elegance, and help others to find their creative voice while gaining skills to make beautiful things.  Behind her in all of this is God, the ultimate creator of all beauty.

Develop community and camaraderie in your shop while exploring the quilting possibilities of reverse applique.  Her Trace, Baste, Snip & Stitch method is fun and easy.  It’s not your Grandmother’s way.  Plus, they have a machine process, too.

Your customers will enjoy adding a touch of elegance to their lives with her machine or hand take-along projects when they gather to stitch. They will participate in the creative, emergent journey of a design being lovingly revealed in their hands, get connected, learn from each other, and slow down the pace of their world, if just for a little while.

Follow Margaret on Facebook and Instagram.

American Quilt Retailer is presenting Meet Me in St. Louis–an event designed to connect quilt shop owners with designers. Prior to Market, we’ll be introducing you to the eight designers featured in the AQR booth (#2507) at International Quilt Market in St. Louis. The complete schedule is included in the April 2017 issue of American Quilt Retailer (shipped to subscribers on April 24). Today we introduce you to Granny’s Legacy Patterns.

This mother/daughter duo has a passion for textiles. Between appliqué and quilting, not a day goes by that Kim and Katie don’t find themselves stitching on something.  Granny, our company namesake, was our grandmother who instilled in both of us this love for creating with our hands.  It is to Granny’s honor that we do what we do!

You’ll find Katie and Kim in the AQR booth (#2507) on Saturday, May 20 at 10 am. They will be demonstrating how you can expand your existing wool business or get started selling wool in your shop.

Follow Granny’s Legacy Quilts on Facebook or Instagram.

American Quilt Retailer is presenting Meet Me in St. Louis–an event designed to connect quilt shop owners with designers. Prior to Market, we’ll be introducing you to the eight designers featured in the AQR booth (#2507) at International Quilt Market in St. Louis. The complete schedule is included in the April 2017 issue of American Quilt Retailer (shipped to subscribers on April 24). Today we introduce you to New Leaf Stitches.

From book author & quilt instructor to pattern & notion developer, Kari Carr’s passion for quilting is obvious.  Some of the most well-written patterns have come from New Leaf Stitches, along with her patented, innovative notion, Clearly Perfect Angles.  Her latest venture is as a fabric designer for Hoffman California Fabrics.  Carr is a 2016 Aurifil Designer and also a Creative Grids Ruler designer. Her patterns, books and notions can be found in quilt stores around the world.  Her work can also be found in many leading quilt magazines including covers in the US and France.

Carr is pleased to have been a host on PBS television’s Love of Quilting, nominated as “Best Teacher/Instructor”, “Best Quilt Book Author” and is proud to be a BERNINA Ambassador.

Carr has created an easy, efficient and accurate method to square-up half-square triangles.  Simply align the seam of an unpressed half-square triangle with dashed lines and with easy strokes, trim all four sides.  The unique edge slots allow for trimming of the dog ears at the same time.  No need to rotate fabric to realign.

Other uses for her trimmer include: square-up hour glass blocks, strip piecing of half-square triangles, strip-tube method of block construction and fussy cutting.

Stop by AQR Booth #2507 at 2 pm on Friday, May 19 to see Kari demonstrate this ruler in person and learn more about her new fabric collection with Hoffman.

Follow New Leaf Stitches on Facebook and Instagram @newleafstitches.

American Quilt Retailer is presenting Meet Me in St. Louis–an event designed to connect quilt shop owners with designers. Over the next few weeks we’ll be introducing you to the eight designers featured in the AQR booth (#2507) at International Quilt Market in St. Louis. The complete schedule is included in the April 2017 issue of American Quilt Retailer (shipping to subscribers on April 24). Today we introduce you to During Quiet Time.

Improv paper piecing sounds like such an oxymoron doesn’t it? Designer Amy Friend has developed a unique way to combine the modern improv aesthetic and the technical design of paper pieced blocks. This technique takes full advantage of the design possibilities that paper piecing provides and, because it’s done using a foundation, permits you to repeat an improv design. The result is a fresh, modern quilt layout with interesting shapes and organic feel.

When you visit the AQR booth #2507 on Friday, May 19 at 4 pm, Amy will be sharing this technique from my book Improv Paper Piecing: A Modern Approach to Quilt Design along with my spring pattern collection.  Learn her technique and share it with your customers!  Amy suggests promoting her book alongside specialty foundation papers, light tables, size 90 sewing machine needles, 50 weight thread, flat head Clover pins, and even EQ7 software.

She has also  developed a fabric collection for Benartex LLC, called Improv, that features a minimal palette with an understated, modern feel.  These fabrics work really well, along with solids, for Amy’s design methods.  They will be shipped in June 2017.  This technique has been embraced by novice and advanced paper piecers alike; and by both traditional and modern quilters.

Learn more about Amy on her website: www.duringquiettime.com,  Instagram @duringquiettime, and Facebook .

See previously featured designer The Whole Country Caboodle here.

American Quilt Retailer is presenting Meet Me in St. Louis–an event designed to connect quilt shop owners with designers. Over the next few weeks we’ll be introducing you to the eight designers featured in the AQR booth (#2507) at International Quilt Market in St. Louis. The complete schedule is included in the April 2017 issue of American Quilt Retailer (shipping to subscribers on April 24). Today we introduce you to The Whole Country Caboodle.

The Whole Country Caboodle specializes in fusible appliqué and their own fabric lines that coordinate with their patterns.  Leanne Anderson is known for her whimsical characters that are sure to put a smile on your face.  Leanne, and her daughter Kaytlyn, create colorful fabric collections for Henry Glass Fabrics.  Each collection tells a story or is somehow meant to inspire those who use it.

Shops love the fused precut appliqués they produce as they serve as quick easy projects and provide great “Make and Take” classes.  “Scatter Love throughout the Year” pattern is a wonderful project to do as a Block of the Month Class and they love working with shops to create the best product possible for their customers.

Trunk Shows are also available. Leanne prefers working with each shop individually; allowing them to put together the Trunk Show that suits their needs.

If you’re looking for a get-a-way that will provide rest, relaxation and ridiculous fun, check out the “Sow in Peace” quilting retreat.  The retreat is nestled at the end of a dead end drive and your front yard is the beautiful Cedar Lake.  Workspace is set up in Leanne’s studio where you can sew and play 24/7. Check out all that is available through The Whole Country Caboodle and consider a trip to Sow in Peace today!

Contact Leanne and Kaytlyn on Facebook and Instagram.

Come meet Leanne and Kaytlyn in the AQR booth #2507 on Saturday, May 20 at 4 p.m.

American Quilt Retailer printed the wrong manufacturer of Pete the Cat fabrics in our February 2017 issue. We strive hard each and every day to avoid these mistakes and regret any confusion with this wrong information. Please enjoy this more detailed explanation of the Pete the Cat collection:

He’s here!!!   Marcus Fabrics is thrilled to present our newest licensed character, PETE THE CAT, under the Studio 37 division.   He’s undoubtedly the world’s coolest, most laid-back feline!  Created by artist James Dean over 13 years ago, Pete is loved by an international legion of fans for his mellow attitude, groovy style and his countless activities and interests!

DIY enthusiasts will want to immerse themselves in Pete’s colorful style by decorating a room or sewing up fun fashions, toys and more… The panel is designed to create a quilted bedtime book, an easy cheater quilt, or other great projects.  The cotton prints and flannels launch at an exciting time in the Pete the Cat merchandising mix, and they’re the perfect complement to Pete’s growing product line:

• New BOOKS are introduced by HarperCollins multiple times per year, and some of them include music! New fans and readers continue to discover Pete with each series, and the addition of DIY quilts and other fabric projects is a natural fit.  It’s no wonder Pete is loved by parents, teachers and librarians as much as the kids.

• Other current PRODUCTS include soft dolls, socks, backpacks and totes, figurines and ornaments, puppets, craft projects and more.

• Watch for the new animated TV SERIES, scheduled for Fall 2017/2018!

PETE by the Numbers:

***  25 Million + hits on YouTube

***  36 Book Titles to date

***  Published in 14 Languages

***  15 Million Books sold in 6 years

Pete the Cat joins the Marcus lineup of contemporary licensed characters under the Studio 37 umbrella including Grumpy Cat™ and The Rainbow Fish™.  View all of the collections at www.Studio37Fabrics.com

©1999, 2010 James Dean by arrangement with MerryMakers, Inc.

Pete the Cat® US Reg. #3820216, #4903976

Independent Shop Owners: As your day comes to a close or as you sit down tonight, take a few minutes and review your Small Business Saturday. Ask yourself some questions:

• Did my efforts to promote Small Business Saturday turn into increased traffic in the store? Increased sales? (Do you keep records to compare year-by-year? If not, you should.)
• What in particular about today’s promotions or events do you think worked the best? What didn’t work?
• When we do Small Business Saturday next year, we need to ________?

By spending a little time today you’ll be better prepared for next year!  And, if you have any comments you’d like to share with other shop owners, add them below. We’d love to hear from you.

Quilt Market gives shop owners the opportunity to learn from a variety of instructors. The line-up of classes might give you ideas for new techniques to teach in the store or ways to create displays or longterm planning for your store. AQR wants to help you expand your knowledge. We’ll be presenting three Schoolhouse events, as well as, several of our contributors will be teaching classes. I recently asked Georganne Bender of Kizer and Bender to share with me what classes they are teaching and what you can expect. Here’s her response:

We are doing three programs at Quilt Market this fall; and all three are designed to help retailers thrill their customers, drive their competition crazy, and put more money in their pockets!

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING FOR RETAILERS is a must for every attendee at Quilt Market. Keeping up with the changes to social medias is almost a full time job! We don’t just talk about what’s important in social networking, we show you how to do it, along with strategies to help you build a strong fan following. We’ll cover Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. Attendees will leave this seminar armed with practical, real-world social media techniques they can use right away.

In DIGITAL IN DIAPERS: TARGETING THE MILLENNIALS & GENERATION Z we’ll share strategies to help you understand these two “new” generations, their personalities, the events that shaped them, things that motivate them, and most importantly, what’s required to connect with them in person and online. Millennials and Zeds are so different than Baby Boomers and Generations Z – they will require us to learn to do business on their terms. It’s important information every retailer needs to know.

One of the things many retailers neglect is the “lake front property”, the important selling areas of their sales floor. We’re not just retail strategists, we’re professional store planners. Our presentation, WHAT REALLY HAPPENS ON YOUR SALES FLOOR: HOW TO OPTIMIZE THE SHOPPER’S JOURNEY is the next best thing to bringing us to your store. We take you from the parking lot to the back door and every space in between. We’ll share how to set your sales floor to sell – and what retailer doesn’t want their product to sell itself?

Thanks for that information Georganne. We hope everyone visits Quilts Inc and signs up for both Schoolhouse and other classes today!