To gain inspiration, I went to every website I could and read the "about" sections. Each one was different and fairly informative...but I couldn't get a feel for the people that created those fabulous shops. Is that important? I think so.
Quilting is a unique art. So unique, in fact that I think the way a store feels to you is imperative. When you walk into a shop or enter a website, does it seem "just the facts ma'am." or does the love and passion the shop creator feels for the art of quilting come through. On that note...Let's get to know one another...
The Quilting Cottage started out as a small department in the corner of Rochester Drug and Variety. Established in 1987 by my husbands mother and stepfather. My husband (What did he say he was to be referred as? Let me see...Oh, yes. "The highly supportive and loving spouse." what a guy!) He took over the Pharmacy in 1994. I joined the business in December 1996. Together we analyzed, changed and GREW! What started out as a small town drug store with a small fabric section quickly became a full-fledged quilt shop with a pharmacy in a small corner of it.
So here we are today, my highly loving and supportive spouse and I. He is quite thrilled to be in his small corner and letting me "run the empire." Actually, he hasn't a clue how to quilt but is plumb happpy I do. On the other side of the coin, I'm not a pharmacist. He is. Convenient how it all works out.
I grew up in a quilting family in Alaska with four sisters. quilting, sewing and Crochet were always around. I was completely unaware that this was not something all families knew. I can't tell you how many times someone would look at me and say "you know how to sew?" I really thought it was because I didn't look the part. (you see, I've always had a bit of a wild streak about me.) I think one of the most defining moments for me that it was the sewing and not specifically me doing said sewing was when I was at a friends house and she said she lost a button on a shirt. My suggestion that she sew it back on was met with a combination of laughter and shock. The laughter was for the fact that I suggest she do it and the shock that I did it for her.
Quilting, for me, is not something I can give an absolute date of beginning. I remember being fairly young and able to look at the fabric and see the completed project in my head. That is something I still do today. Back then the designs were much more simple and somewhere around ten, I started my first quilt. It took what seemed a long time to complete, but in the end I learned some very important things. Patience, the creative process and most important...how to focus my mind.
Since that first quilt I have gone on to do many things with my life. Today my days are filled to the brim and overflowing with enough things to do that my palm pilot groans from exhaustion. But through it all, I know that whenever I want to re-center and re-focus my life in general. It's only as far as my machine and the next quilt...
Welcome to my website and I hope you get to visit my shop.
May Quilting Bring you the peace, joy, passion and love it has brought me.
Diana Tavis
The Quilting Cottage
7505-C 183rd Ave
Rochester, WA 98579
(360) 273-5522
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