A special honor!

Nancy and I are excited to share some wonderful news! 
 We have been named the 2013 Quilters of the Year by the  Minnesota Quilters Organization.  This is really a special honor--sort of like getting an academy award within the Minnesota quilting community.  Quilters of the Year are chosen by a vote of  members, which makes this award really special.  Minnesota Quilters is a non-profit statewide organization made up of quilters and quilt lovers.   Its mission is to honor the past, celebrate the present and nurture the future of quilting.  We will be honored at the Minnesota Quilt Show in Duluth in June with  a special display of our quilts and will be looking forward to chatting with show-goers.  Do you think we should still wear our New Year's tiara and feathers?

  We have been blessed to have been in a business that has been something we have loved, a business where we could be creative and enjoy the creativity of others.  We have been blessed to be part of a community of creative, caring friends.  We have been blessed to be able to work with family and with great staff.  We have been blessed to be able to share our knowledge and learn from others.   Who could wish for more?

Now just a little history!

Nancy and Gladys opened Glad Creations in 1976.  That was the bicentennial year when quilting had a resurgence of interest.  Glad, our mother, had a thriving purse-making business in her home.  Nancy was right out of college with a degree in Economics and a new love of quilting.  They combined the 2 interests and opened the shop in a former corner grocery store in South Minneapolis.  We are still in that same location after 36 years!   For the 1^st couple years, Nancy ran the shop and Glad continued working from home, making her purses.  We sold her purses in the shop.  When Glad sold her purse business, she began working in the shop along with Nancy.   I started working there in 1980 and have truly enjoyed being part of this business.
 

Nancy and I have been designing our line of Glad Creations patterns for the last 17 years, since 1995.  We now have  80 different patterns that are sold in shops all over the country.  As many of you know, our line of patterns have some common elements.  They are bed size or lap size scrap style quilts using many different prints.  They have a lot of piecing and many different units, but that is what I think makes them unique.  We pride ourselves on having such complete instructions, that even a quilting novice can be successful.  If you would like to see our line of patterns, go to our website at www.gladcreationsquilts.com.  You can see the whole line of patterns.

We have seen many changes in the quilting industry throughout the 36 years we have been in business  and I think these changes have really made our industry grow.   We have loved to embrace the new ideas, but also respect and teach traditional quilting methods.

We want to thank the members of Minnesota Quilters who gave us this honor.  We are looking forward to the Quilt Show in June. You can find out more information about the Minnesota Quilters 35th Annual Quilt Show & Conference on their website.   It's always a magnificent show.  Hope to see you there!

Susan