EQ8 teacher Marguerite Shrader recently shared with us how Material Mart in Midland, Michigan uses EQ8 in their store. It’s quite innovative and we wanted to share it with you! Marguerite writes:
“We want to let you know how we, as a local quilt store that also sells EQ8, are making it easier for our customers to design quilts with the fabrics we carry. About 2 years ago, we started selling EQ8 after one of our customers agreed to teach classes and support the product. We have a series of 7 classes developed so far, and they have been a big hit with the EQ8 user community in the area.”
“Our latest endeavor has been to develop an EQ8 Fabric Library of the fabric inventory we have in the store, so that when our users design a quilt in EQ8, they can design with fabrics they know we have in stock.”
“When they bring in the yardage chart, there is enough information in the printout that we can find their fabrics of choice. There are currently 2700 fabrics in this library. The EQ8 Library is distributed on a flash drive with installation and use instructions and is updated monthly to add and delete fabrics based on our inventory. The library is searchable by color by choosing Material Mart Fabric Inventory in the search. It is also searchable by notecard using the keyword system we developed, which is included in the instructions. We rolled out this library in our latest class, and the response was unanimous – all the students wanted a copy!”

Material Mart adds keywords to the Notecard for each fabric that make it easy to search their inventory.
Marguerite goes on to say, “The development of the Material Mart EQ8 Fabric Library started as a joke in the Fabric Management class last summer. As I thought about it later, I decided it would be a good way to tie the shop’s support of EQ8 and their extensive fabric inventory together… While we have to keep class sizes small right now, the response from the students present was overwhelming excitement at getting this inventory. Now that the initial library has been built, the monthly work to keep it up to date is fairly small.”
She also has a great way to approach teaching EQ8!
“I have a Hub and Spokes method of structuring the class. The Hub is EQ8 Basics, which is usually a 5-hour class covering everything the student needs to get started. The Hub class is a prerequisite to any of the Spoke classes. The Spoke classes are 3-hour classes which are more focused on one topic (Advanced EasyDraw, PolyDraw, Managing Fabrics, Advanced Layouts, Foundation Piecing, Applique). I am still developing classes as students make requests. Once a student has taken the EQ8 Basics class, they can jump into any of the Spoke classes.”
Thanks for sharing your EQ8 story with us, Marguerite! To find out more about Material Mart, you can visit their website, or stop by the shop:
Material Mart
Quilt Shop
86 Ashman Circle
Midland, MI 48640
Is your quilt shop using EQ8 in a new or interesting way? Tell us your story! Email customerservice@electricquilt.com.
04-14-2021
11:10 am
What a wonderful store. Having the shop’s fabric inventory in EQ8 would certainly help me design a quilt in EQ8 with the knowledge I could easily find all the fabric I needed in one stop shopping. And the structure of their EQ8 class offerings sound perfect.
04-14-2021
11:24 am
Thank you so much for sharing this story with us! The next time I am in Michigan I will be happy to search out Material Mart. They sound like the provide excellent customer service and I would be happy to support them. I think their EQ8 classes sound fabulous. ~smile~ Roseanne
04-14-2021
11:36 am
This is excellent!! As I use EQ all the time to audition fabric combos I often thought about this – how great it would be if shops would offer something like this – genius!!
04-14-2021
11:49 am
What a great idea
04-14-2021
12:11 pm
That is simply brilliant. What a great way for the shop to promote themselves and help their customers at the same time.
04-14-2021
12:36 pm
This is just brilliant ❤️❤️
04-14-2021
12:37 pm
I use the same principle with my personal inventory in “my favorites”.
04-14-2021
1:07 pm
What an excellent idea love it
All stores should do this
Missouri star quilting and keepsake quilting are you aware of this new concept to support you customers ??
04-14-2021
1:48 pm
What a fabulous promotion – win win win!!!
04-14-2021
3:11 pm
Will Material Mart make this available on their website, making it easier for people to see how those fabrics would look in a quilt before buying them online?
04-15-2021
9:47 am
Thanks for you response. We are working on making the inventory available through our website. We will let you know when we have the details.
04-17-2021
6:45 pm
Material Mart will have their fabric library for sale on their website starting Monday, April 19th. Thanks for inquiring.
04-14-2021
5:59 pm
I absolutely love both the inventory and the classes. Once we can travel, I would like to attend one/more of the classes. If you want to certify teachers using your curriculum, I would sign up!
04-14-2021
8:35 pm
I really like this idea. As another person said, Missouri Star Quilt are you listening? I’m going to bring this idea to my regional shop. (Don’t have a local here in Wyoming).
04-14-2021
11:33 pm
It would be wonderful if they would make this available online to shop for fabrics. I don’t have any local quilt stores. All of my fabric is purchased online. I use EQ8 to create quilts and audition fabrics to purchase. This would be very helpful!
04-17-2021
6:47 pm
Material Mart will have this available for sale on their website starting April 19th. It’s a great way to support their online customers.
04-16-2021
10:32 am
Very creative way to support users of EQ8. Wish I lived closer.
04-17-2021
6:48 pm
For those who don’t live in the area, the Material Mart EQ8 Fabric library will be for sale on their website starting Monday, April 19th.
04-16-2021
1:10 pm
That’s some incredible customer service!
05-01-2021
10:44 am
This is wonderful! I live in the Lansing, MI area, so a bit more than an hour away. I’m so happy to know about this!
05-04-2021
3:39 am
I am so impressed by your shop and this wonderful way of working with EQ8 and the gorgeous fabrics you stock! Really makes for a complete package.
10-26-2021
6:52 pm
Hello! Thanks for such a wonderful and informative article. Online fabric shopping would be fantastic if they could do this. There are no quilt shops in my area. I buy all of my fabric on the internet.
10-19-2023
2:49 am
It’s wonderful to see how Material Mart in Midland, Michigan is embracing innovation to benefit their customers. By incorporating EQ8 into their store and offering classes, they’re not only selling a product but also empowering their customers to design quilts with the fabrics they provide. This customer-focused approach is a great example of how businesses can go the extra mile to enhance the quilting community’s experience. Kudos to Material Mart for their forward-thinking approach!