InterQuilten – One Woman’s Dream

When you’re in vacation mode and going at a slower pace, it’s interesting to talk to small business owners and ask them about their business, how they got started, etc. People often have fascinating stories if you ask questions and listen.

My wife’s sewing hobby has recently expanded into quilting, so we’ve been visiting quilt shops lately. While in a quilt shop in Interlochen, Michigan near the famous Interlochen Center for the Arts, I talked with owner Tawni Young and learned she quit her high stress corporate job (human relations director) to pursue her dream.

InterQuilten opened in 2009 between Duck Lake and Green Lake and quickly outgrew its space. When the current Swiss-style building became available for rent, Tawni Young packed up and moved across the road (see pictures).

Creating Art from Fabric Scraps

Every seamstress has her stash of fabric for future sewing projects; quilters take it a step further and save even scraps. After all, you can make a quilt from little girl dress scraps for your daughter when she’s all grown up or from T shirts of your grandson’s favorite sports teams.

Tawni Young’s scrap bin serves as raw material for her unique impressionist art. She starts with a photo of a local landscape and arranges tiny fabric scraps on a background, usually from Batik (dyed rather than printed) fabric. There’s no shortage of beauty since the Interlochen area is quite scenic and only a half hour from the spectacular Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Using different weights and colors of rayon thread to machine stitch over the small fabric scraps, Tawni’s finished wall hangings are as beautiful as the natural beauty that inspired them.

An Eye for Color

Artists understand color. Tawni explained that cool colors like gray tend to recede from the eye, while orange and other warm colors come forward. Blending the different colors of fabric for the artwork is like blending paint.

Combining your Passion with Earning your Bread

Young has been able to combine her art hobby with her business. There are tradeoffs. While she makes less money than at her corporate job and has the added responsibility of meeting payroll for her employees, Tawni has no regrets and says the rewards are well worth it. 

When business is slow (not often in the summer), she can work on the wall hangings. Like many specialty stores in northern Michigan, the internet is a growing part of her business and helps in the winter when not many customers are around.

If you had a favorite picture you wanted to turn into a wall hanging, she would probably be interested. You can visit her website or send the picture by email.

A Family Affair

Like many small businesses, InterQuilten involves family members. Nancy Ingersoll, Tawni’s mom, enjoys helping in the store. Nancy’s birdhouses, made from different size stones, are sold in the shop along with the quilting fabric and other sewing supplies (see pictures).

Quilting is Becoming More Popular

It’s interesting that what was once a way to save money (time is money and money is time) can be an expensive hobby. It still requires a lot of time, but it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money if you’re creative.

Some ladies, instead of buying new fabric for a quilting project, pick up scraps at the “free” table at quilting retreats. You can also buy old T-shirts at garage sales and cut them up for quilts.

Of course, the huge time invested in making a quilt may make it worthwhile to buy nicer fabrics that won’t fade. Quilters, like other seamstresses, appreciate the texture and denser thread count of the high quality cotton fabrics used for quilting.

How can Small Specialty Stores Survive?

I wondered how small specialty yarn and soap shops can locate in the smallest towns. Some towns have a restaurant, post office, and a quilt shop but not even a gas station. One shop is even located on a farm. The owner, Sue Riffle, converted part of her farmhouse into a quilt shop, so she doesn’t have to rent a store in town.

Like most stores nowadays she has a website. She also advertises in The Country Register, available free at Michigan quilting stores, and the national book, the Quilter’s Travel Companion.

This is also a second career for Mrs. Riffle and her husband. She loves her job and the people she meets. “I’ve been doing it for fourteen years, and every day is a happy day.”

Stores Work Together

Many quilt shops cooperate with “shop hops.” The Amazing Quilt Race, October 13-20, is a northern Michigan six-shop hop, including InterQuilten.

For a “hunting license” fee of $3, quilters can get 15% off purchases at each of nine participating stores during the Great Quilt Hunt November 9 & 10.  

Some quilters collect quilt stores, asking the owners to sign their book, much like getting a youth hostel book stamped at each hostel.

CNC-Style Machines Appeal to Engineers

Long arm quilting sewing machines, such as the one at a Michigan quilt shop (see picture), work from a computer file similar to a computer-numeric-controlled machine. Before the computer age, quilters steered these $35,000 machines with two hands like a manual jigsaw, stitching the layers together in a freehand pattern.

Few people make enough quilts to justify buying one of these long arms, but the beautiful patterns and even stitches make hiring it done at a quilt shop worthwhile.   

Food for Thought

Why is such a time consuming hobby popular in our fast-paced world? Just go to a quilting retreat, where women are encouraging each other and sharing ideas. Maybe people long for a slower pace and more face-to-face interaction.  

Why else would women do scrapbooking together instead of just putting family pictures in an album at home? Or men go backcountry camping, hunting, or bicycle touring?

Conclusion

Meeting Tawni Young, a woman who is pursuing her passion, was inspiring. Doing your homework carefully before jumping into a new career is important, but why do something you’re not fulfilled in when you could follow your dream?