Tales Of A Fourth Generation Textile Executive: It Is Nice To Hit The Road Once & Awhile

I was invited to speak at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Quilt Guild on February 15, 2016 (The mug below was my present from the guild for speaking. Isn’t it sweet?). So I flew in to the cute little airport in Chattanooga, Tennessee that Monday morning bright and early. Before the big speaking event, I was scheduled to visit one quilt shop with the local sales rep, Veronica Hofman-Ortega, who covers Tennessee and other surrounding states.

First up was Bernina Sew N Quilt Studio at 5950 Shallowford Road. I had the great opportunity to meet husband and wife owners Melissa and Bill Klingensmith. This shop was not a typical quilt shop in that their focus was really more on machines, wide backs and some pre-cut fabrics. Bill was very proud to give me a tour of a new space that they were expanding into next door. He was doing all the work himself which was very impressive especially to someone who is no Handy Manny [If you didn’t know, Handy Manny is the carpenter in a cartoon with his namesake (see below). The things I learn from my kids.] It is really nice to see shops that are expanding as that typically implies that business is good. So that was a good sign. Good luck with the expansion!

Overall, we had a nice first visit at Bernina Sew N Quilt. We spent a lot of time reviewing all of the Studioe 108″ backs as well as the precuts. After we were done, I roamed around and enjoyed the projects on the walls and had the opportunity to chat with some customers and staff. One flannel rag quilt particularly caught my attention that I wanted to share with you below.

After Bernina Sew N Quilt, Veronica and I headed over for linner (lunch/dinner) at around 4. We went to this cute Italian joint and each of us indulged in some large pasta portions. We hung around there for a little bit stalling and just chatting about fabric and stuff like that. I eventually headed over to the Valleybrook Presbyterian Church at 6001 Hixson Pike in Hixson, Tennessee. It was raining really badly that night so I started off a little moist which is definitely not an ideal way to start off a speaking engagement. By the way, I forgot to mention that it was President’s day and the guild did a cute play on President’s day in the invite to the guild. They were playing off the idea that it was President’s Day and the President of Studioe & The Blank Quilting Corp. (me) was coming in to town. Very clever Choo Choo Guilders!

So now let’s get to the fun part and please note that the fun part had nothing to do with me as I was just the side show. To get the evening going, the guild members did show and tell for me which was truly inspiring. It was so impressive to see such beautiful projects made with fabric. Without further ado, please check this out. I am only showing pictures because those are worth 1000 words and I did not take any notes of who made what and how. So this is courtesy of the 30 or so Choo Choo Quilt Guild members that I had the pleasure of spending President’s day with. Please keep in mind that I am neither a quilter or the best photographer, so sorry for that in advance. I do hope that I don’t do a disservice to these awesome projects.

This was a neat one with lights flashing.

veronica's quilt using peppered cottons
This was Veronica’s quilt using Peppered Cottons. Is she talented or what?

This was such a fun show and tell for me. As for my speaking engagement, I talked about whatever the members wanted to hear about, but after viewing all these great images, what I said doesn’t really matter anymore.

Thanks to the Choo Choo Quilt Guild. Next week, I will continue with the rest of the details of my travels through the South and some more eye candy for your viewing pleasure.

Until Then,
Studioe Scott