
Threads of Success – For quilt /sewing entrepreneurs at Fall Quilt Market
Years ago, when I started out in the quilt industry, I was HUNGRY for information on how to make it in this business. I was a successful executive at a specialty retail niche distributor. I taught retailers how to be better retailers. I thought I was positioned well to do well in the sewing industry.

Well, I was, but there was a very steep learning curve in this sewing world. Most people held on to the info they learned, but there was one place I got good information and kept coming back to: Quilt Market. Not only walking the show floor, but I was very pleasantly surprised to see a track of education in the form of seminars.
Now, mind you, many of these classes were geared towards quilt brick and mortar retailers. However, if I have a knack, it’s for seeing BETWEEN the lines and the info and learning how it can apply to me. But truly, I always wished that Quilts Inc., the folks that run Market, would do something for the other side of the entrepreneurs in the quilt industry. Namely, the folks like me.
I have been lucky to be in a position to be able to teach the seminars I always wished were available to me at Market. I pitch them every time and hope to make it on the schedule. But a couple of years ago, I was honest with Quilts Inc, and plainly told them how I wish there was more for the other side of the quilt industry, the people who are coming up as pattern designers, fabric designers, teachers, writers, tool makers, and other types of entrepreneurs outside of retail. Retail, both online and brick and mortar, have the seminars. What could they offer for the rest of us?
That’s what makes me soooo happy about Quilts Inc.’s Threads of Success. It’s a track of education, for those who are serious about their business in the quilt industry. And I’m happy to have had a very tiny small part in helping it off the ground. I’m even teaching at it.

If you are thinking about being in the quilt industry as a pattern designer, fabric designer, tool maker, teacher, writer, or any other kind of entrepreneur (even retail) then you need to checkout Threads of Success. It’s the EXACT education I wished I had when I was starting out. There’s an incredible opportunity to network with folks who are in the industry and learn from their expertise. There are four tracks of learning, but you can take whatever classes suit your business best. Plus, there are additional general interest classes on legal and finance topics that affect every business.

If you are a creative business, think about this kind of opportunity as an investment in your business. The kind of networking and individual classes offered are high value, and it’s worth it to spend 3 days with this kind of intense focus on your business. Take a look at the names in the classes list: Alex Anderson, Charlotte Angotti, Ricky Brooks, Ebony Love, Tula Pink… These are industry powerhouses…
So, please, entrepreneurs…. take a look at the classes, and if you sign up, be sure to tell them that I sent you!