August 15, 2011 – We have some very exciting news to share with all of you! After keeping our lips sealed for three months, and practically bursting at the seams with excitement, we are finally able to tell you that Quilted Threads will be one of the 11 quilt shops across the US featured in the 2011 spring issue of Better Homes and Gardens Quilt Sampler magazine!
It is an incredible honor to be considered one of the “top” quilting resources in the country, and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to you, our faithful friends, for helping to make this possible. Not only has your committed support enabled us to mature into the quilt shop we have become, but your encouragement along this journey to explore new paths and to take chances has given us the confidence to embrace this opportunity with excitement and anticipation.
We will have lots to say about this event in the coming months – from news about the release of the magazine to information about our quilt which will be featured in the Quilted Threads article. (We’ll give you a hint…. It’s made of taupes!) Stay tuned to be part of the celebration.
BH&G sent along a press release to be shared with local resources, and we’re including the article, below, for you to read. Thank you all, again, for your support and friendship!
The press release reads:
Local Quilt Shop Featured in
Better Homes and Gardens® Quilt Sampler® Magazine
DES MOINES, IA – Quilted Threads, a quilt shop in Henniker, NH, has been chosen as one of the 11 featured shops across the United States for the Spring 2011 issue of Quilt Sampler® magazine, published by Better Homes and Gardens.
Quilt Sampler, published twice a year, has been profiling North America’s top quilt shops for the past 14 years. Quilt shops submit a detailed application on their history, business promotions, charitable work, teaching schedules and design philosophies. A panel of quilt experts led by Jennifer Keltner, group editor of American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine, narrows down the applications to 10 featured shops for each issue. The team also selects a shop to revisit that was featured in a past issue of Quilt Sampler. The names of the selected shops are kept secret and unveiled at either the spring or fall International Quilt Market.
Competition to be included in Quilt Sampler is keen. Nearly 3,000 quilt shops are eligible to apply for this year’s honor. Quilted Threads and the other 10 shops chosen were photographed and interviewed by a team from Quilt Sampler, and a multi-page profile of the shop will appear in the issue, which will be available on newsstands on May 10, 2011. Employees of each quilt shop also design an original quilt for the magazine, and the full-sized pattern for the quilt appears in the issue of Quilt Sampler.
Quilt Sampler has proven to be a huge success, and early, out-of-print issues are collector’s items. Chosen shops are inundated with visitors and requests for the shop’s quilt patterns and fabrics. Quilters are known to try and visit all the shops in each issue, getting the signature of each shop owner in their copy of the issue.
The art of quilting has changed dramatically since the days of quilting bees in church basements, with quilting enjoying a major renaissance across the country. A Comprehensive Study of the Quilting Marketplace, released in 2003 by American Patchwork & Quiltingmagazine, reports that the U.S. quilting market is comprised of 11 million households. The total value of the U.S. quilting industry has grown to an annual expenditure of $2.7 billion. Further research shows that readers of American Patchwork & Quilting spend an average of $1,121 per year on quilting supplies and complete nearly 10 projects per year. This group is overwhelmingly female, well-educated, affluent, and have been quilting for almost twelve years.
The other 10 shops featured in the Spring 2011 Quilt Sampler include: Friends and Co. Quilt Shop in Cody, WY; The Wild Rose Quilt Shop & Retreat in Orting, WA; Gathering Friends Quilt Shop in Bird Island, MN; Hearts to Holly Quilt and Gift Shop in Charlevoix, MI; Yellow Creek Quilt Designs in Pearl City, IL; Quilt Mercantile in Celeste, TX; Karen Gray Design in Winston-Salem, NC; Tennessee Quilts in Jonesborough, TN; Quilt Passions in Kailua-Kona, HI and Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove, CA.