The Sampler
551 W. 78th St.
Chanhassen, MN 55317
952-934-5307
http://www.the-sampler.com/
sampler@the-sampler.com
Open 7 days a week.
M-W-Fr-Sat 10-5pm
T-Th – 10-8pm
Sun 12-4pm
WE WANT TO KNOW:
Do you have any advice for someone who wants to start quilting who never has before?
I usually warn customers that it may be addicting!
What beginning quilting question do you get quite often? What do you tell them?
I usually tell a customer to pick out a fabric that they love and then we will choose other fabrics that will blend with that. A lot of times you also have to explain some the terminology of basic words. We realize that the language and quilting terms are strange to them.
Do you help your customers plan a design to finish their UFO’s? What’s your favorite trick?
We absolutely can plan a layout or help with fabrics that will complement the fabrics they have used. If they want a big quilt, sometimes planning a design where the squares are put on point with make it look bigger without a lot of borders.
What’s your favorite part of the day at work?
Our favorite time of the day is when we are the busiest which happens to be around 11am-3pm
What’s your next quilting purchase going to be and why? My personal next quilting purchase will probably be a box of every kind of sewing machine needles so that I will always have what I need when working at home. I change needles after every project.
If you teach, what is your favorite class to teach?
I personally don’t teach as I know that I am not a good teacher. But in the store, we are always trying to bring in classes that many customers cannot find any place else. Our store have evolved into a more”artsy” type store so are teaching dying, fabric manipulation, utilizing the decorative stitches on our machines and what ever we find new on the market. We have a vast resource for classes in our area.
If you have taken quilting classes, who was your favorite teacher and what was the class on?
I took a class on learning the tips of doing freehand feather quilting. The teacher was a folk art painter and converted the learning trechniques for that into doing feather quilting.
What’s the best part about working all day in a quilt shop?
The best part of working all day in a quilt shop for me as an owner is my very creative and upbeat staff and seeing how happy they make our customers feel. You can tell that they really enjoy being work and the customers can feel it.
