Checker Newsletter

We are just having too much fun planning this Open House so we decided to expand on the success of last year and expand our selection of presentations on Sunday.  Checker wants to give you the skills you need to be a successful business!  This event is all about education.

Presentations on Sunday, August 22, 2010

9:00 – 11:00

Gail Wadley

Gail Wadley has been teaching computer-assisted quilt design since 2000, and Electric Quilt since version 4. She has taught classes at quilt shops and guilds throughout central Ohio and at the National Quilting Association show. An avid photographer, she has been the NQA magazine photographer since 2006.

In “real life” Gail is an athletic trainer at The Ohio State University, coordinating educational programs at the OSU Sports Medicine Center. She has been a quilter for 15 years and was intrigued to find a way to combine quiltmaking and technology.

Class Description

This class will offer a thorough review of the new features of EQ7, including drag & drop capabilities, eyedropper tool functions, use of new blocks, fabrics and layouts, block and quilt serendipity, tracing and emphasizing the new photo options – editing, applying special effects, printing and importing photos into quilt layouts. Students will follow along and work through lessons on each topic; experience with EQ6 is a pre-requisite for this class

11:15 – 12:15

Karen Montgomery

Karen Montgomery is owner of The Quilt Company, a full service quilt store located in Allison Park, PA.  Karen also designs fabric for Timeless Treasures and publishes a line of books and patterns under The Quilt Company name.  You may also know Karen from her lectures and Schoolhouse presentations at International Quilt Market as well as her column “Savvy Buying” which appears in the FabShop News.

Class Description:

Event Planning For Profit! – Learn to create large and small in-store events that will excite your customers and increase your cash flow.  Create customer loyalty with educational events and customer appreciation programs that will make you stand out from the norm.  Increase your public image with charity functions that add to your bottom line.  Learn to create a long term plan and follow through with an evaluation schedule.  Handouts included.

1:00 – 2:00

Sue Hausmann

Sue Hausmann is an Independent Consultant in the sewing and quilting industry. She retired from her position as Executive Vice President of Consumer Motivation for a major sewing machine manufacturer in 2009. For 26 years, she worked closely with the Education, Sales, and Training Groups to coordinate products, programs, classes, training, activities, and events that keep consumers sewing – and therefore buying – and keep stores selling!

Her previous 40+ years of retail and wholesale experience in the sewing and quilting industry have been devoted to changing the image of sewing with a focus on edutainment and eduselling opportunities.

Hausmann produced the America Sews and America Quilts Creatively Public Television series from 1991-2009. Her mission: Keeping the World Sewing (and buying)!

Class Description:

Customers are the Key! How to get them, keep them and sell them. Consumers have loads of places to spend their time and their money. Learn to increase your store traffic, reach new people and keep them happy and buying. Make your store a GREAT store with unique profit centers and entertaining classes. Sell more with consumer fellowship opportunities and traffic builder demos. Make your customers and your employees “feel good”, happy and “special” so they become Ambassadors for your business.

2:15 – 3:45

Eleanor Burns

Eleanor Burns introduced her first self-published Quilt in a Day Log Cabin book over 30 years ago and began a quilt making revolution.  Her technique combined rotary cutting and chain piecing so that a quilt could be made in a day – and the quilting industry has never been the same.  Since then, Eleanor has written over 100 books and has expanded her expertise into every area of quilting.  She has developed a signature line of patterns and rulers as well as fabric for Benartex.

But, Eleanor is best known for her lively television show and entertaining performances at shows across the country.  She continues to inspire quilters around the world with her kind words of encouragement and serves as a role model for other designers.

Class Description:

Eleanor Burns – “On Eleanor’s Farm” based on her book “Quilt Blocks on American Barns.” Join our favorite farmer’s daughter, Eleanor Burns, as she pays tribute to rural America’s Barn Quilt Blocks. This is a fun and entertaining lecture that will leave you laughing with every inspirational quilt. Learn a variety of new techniques such as Flying Geese, Appliqué, half square triangles, and strip piecing.

To register for classes, please contact Janis Plomaritis at 419-893-3636, ext. 624 or e-mail her at jplomaritis@checkerdist.com.