The brown-and-tan brick building that sits at the corner of Loveland-Madeira Road and West Loveland Ave has seen its share of changing with the times. First, it was a post office. Then, a video store—back before movies stopped living inside VHS and DVDs. Today, it’s home to the Quilter’s Studio of Loveland, affectionately known as QSL.
The mail and movies that used to reside there have been replaced by prismatic new occupants—nearly 5,000 bolts of brightly colored fabrics, lined up in endless harlequin rows.
“So, these are our batiks,” says QSL’s business manager Shelby Breed-Preshaw, as she pulls out a bolt of intensely colored, tie-dye-looking fabric.
“Every part is different,” Shelby explains as she holds out the cloth. “And you can’t exactly recreate it. This is kind of our niche. We’re like 90 percent batiks, which is not at all common.”
In fact, to many, quilting itself isn’t all that common. It’s something our grandmothers or great-grandmothers did … a lost art tucked away in an attic or shelved in a linen closet.
Not so at QSL, where quilting has found a home that draws a steady stream of customers to buy fabric, take classes, or rent time on one of their oversized long arm machines in The Workshop. Shelby manages QSL, The Workshop, and The Retreat—essentially an Airbnb for quilters—with her mother, Karen Breed, who founded QSL in 2010.
So saying, the mother and daughter expect to see thousands (yes, thousands) of quilters pass through their doors as part of the annual All Ohio Shop Hop™ this August and September. Organized by Great Sewing Adventures™, Ohio’s own Shop Hop is part of 18 other “Hops” taking place this summer into fall, from Arizona all the way up to New England.
Shop Hops are the equivalent of a concert tour for quilters, with the added chance of winning some serious prizes. To qualify for prize entries, quilters first need to pick up a copy of the All Ohio Shop Hop Magazine, which is available at any participating quilting store in the state. The magazine includes a shopping “passport” ... as people visit the different shops, they collect stamps to fill in their passport. The more stamps they collect, the more prizes they have a chance to win. Among the event-wide grand prizes are a bernette 38 computerized sewing machine and a Handi Quilter Moxie XL long arm machine, as well as several others thanks to a number of sponsors.
As part of the Shop Hop, QSL will be handing out a “fat quarter” of their famous purple batik fabric to every visitor. For the uninitiated, a fat quarter isn’t an extra-thick silver coin. It’s a specific cut of fabric—a quarter yard that’s about twice as wide as the typical quarter yard cut. They’ll also have snacks, and the special fabric that was made especially for this year’s Shop Hop. But that’s probably not the main reason why so many come out for this unique event.
Just like concert tours have Swifties, Phishheads and the Beyhive, the Shop Hop offers quilting fans the chance to come together and celebrate their community—which is no small thing. Currently, according to a recent survey, there are about 11 million quilters in the U.S., with quilting-related sales in the billions. When she started out, Karen didn’t realize how many were out there.
“When I opened the shop, there were those who viewed it as a dying art,” she says.
However, technology has revolutionized the way quilts are made, from being sewn completely by hand to incorporating rotary cutting for fabric shapes, plus long arm machines and quilting software for applying the quilt top, batting and backing.
Karen says she was drawn to quilting because it was a hobby that brought together both her love of creativity and precision.
“I love color,” she explains. “I think of the fabric in the shop as one big box of crayons. Each one will be just the right color and pattern for someone’s special project.”
Inside that tan-and-brown corner building, Karen and Shelby have put the hands of time to work ... creating a home where the past and present are stitched together to become the bright and vibrant quilting community that QSL is today.
QuiltersStudioOfLoveland.com | 535 W. Loveland Ave, Loveland | 513.683.3666