Sewing in the time of COVID-19 – Week 37
We are an industry of small businesses, mom-and-pop independent retailers, and multi-generation suppliers. Over the past several weeks our industry has lost a few more of the elders and founders of the industry…the latest being Peter Kantor of Northcott. I met Peter when I visited the Northcott headquarters in Toronto, on a trip where we were a sponsor (and I was a speaker) at Quilt Canada. His loss this week is a reminder that those who came in on the ground floor of our industry…are getting older. Well gosh, we are all getting older!….but we now see 3rd and even 4th generation family members stepping in at many companies, and it is a reminder that we are in a very special industry. We send our condolences out to Northcott, and Peter’s family, and all of you who have lost loved ones during this challenging year.
As you probably know, Paul and I started eQuilter in the basement of our house in January 1999. In March 1999 I went to my very first Quilt Market, in Providence Rhode Island. My very first booth that I visited (and first order that I wrote) was with Northcott, and we continue to have a very close relationship with the company after all these years.
I left the garment industry and my 7th Avenue corporate job in the late 80s, searching for a different way to make a living as a creative person, that wouldn’t kill my soul and suck the life out of me. After a few years running my bookstore and jewelry store in the East Village (next to Life Cafe, during the “Rent” years) I moved to Colorado in 1990 to be near family. A few years later I met Paul, and a few years later we started eQuilter. When I found the quilting industry, I knew I had found my home. We feel so fortunate to be a part of this family-oriented industry that has sustained us and our employees through this challenging year. We hope that in some small way, we have helped to support you also.
We have joined with the Colorado Quilt Council (CQC) and the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum (RMQM) in an effort to collect and distribute quilts to the 300 families who lost their homes in our terrible wildfires last month. We have donation bins at the front door to drop off donated quilts. Please call us or email if you have questions.
Re our ‘Curbside’ Retail Pickup –
Only available if you bring a *working* cell phone to call us when you arrive, then we will place your package just outside the front door. Thank you for respecting our efforts to keep everyone here safe, i.e. no face-to-face contact at the door for drop-off or pickup.
with Hope for the Future,
Luana and Paul
