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John Carswell / Daily Unoin
Main St. Quilt Co. Looking Forward to Grand Opening
Kate Laskowski was busy on Monday, getting ready for the grand opening of the Main Street Quilt Company, May 23 at the former location of The Gathering Place, at 200E Main St.
The business is owned by Kate and her husband Walter Laskowski. Originally from Wisconsin, they moved here from Utah in August of 2006 when Walter left Kimberly Clark and went to work for International Paper in Shelbyville.
Since purchasing the building from the former owners, Tomas and Nancy Cuellar, Laskowski has made several changes to suit her business.
"We took down the suspended ceiling and fluorescent light fixtures to expose the beautiful stamped tin ceiling. We put in ceiling fans and wide plank flooring for a country rustic look. We took out a lot of the display cases and painted all the walls to make the place a brighter look," she said.
Laskowski got started in quilting by buying a book. "I read this book about a lot of women quilters and that was all she wrote. I took classes too when we lived in Utah and they were extremely helpful. I have entered and won contests before but now I don't have time to make my own quilts. I will be teaching classes and hopefully help others get a head start on their quilting. I have already had several people express an interest."
Laskowski said that her inspiration for a quilting store come out of frustration. "I was working on a quilt and needed a certain color of thread. I wound up driving 50 miles just to get it! I thought to myself, 'There out to be a place near here that sells items for quilters.' So that is why I started the Main St. Quilt Company."
Over the past few weeks, the Laskowski's have been hard at work, making repairs and adding inventory. "We have a lot of sewing notions, bolts of fabric, scissors, rotary cutting tools, patterns, books and fabric, batting, rulers and mats, and lots of thread.
"We also have a 'long arm' quilting machine. It is like a sewing machine except it is really big and instead of the fabric moving under the machine, the machine moves over the fabric. A quilt is placed in a frame and the machine stitches as it moves over it," explained Laskowski.
Her personal tastes in quilting lean toward the traditional, but she added, "Some of the new patterns are kind of fun too, with the bright colors and bright prints. I like the reproduction fabrics that are similar to those used during the Civil War. The colors are more muted and have that antique look. I also use a lot of appliques in my work."
Laskowski said that there are 2.2 million quilters in America and a large number are here in Central Illinois.
The Main Street Quilt Company will officially open on Wednesday, May 21, two days before the Grand Opening on Friday. The shop will be open Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The shop will offer a few finished quilts for sale but Laskowski said the main purpose of the business is "To provide the inspiration for making quilts."
Kate and Walter hope that having a shop in Shelbyville will serve the needs of area quilters. "With as many quilters and sewers as we have around here, there ought to be somewhere where you can go and get a good spool of thread."
For more information call the store at 774-3484. Laskowski is currenly working on getting her websiter up and running at www.mainstreetquiltcompany.com
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