I was thrilled to be invited to lead The Old Country Store's staff through making a ByAnnie's Stash and Dash Foldover Organizer for the store's annual Christmas party today.
Staff members were treated to a day of sewing, morning pastries, lunch at The Kling House Restaurant, followed by luscious desserts in the afternoon.
It's been such a privilege to teach at this premier quilt shop over this past year, but being asked to participate in their staff party was quite an honor. I was a bit stressed - every year they treat their employees to a really special event. Last year they took them to see the Kaffe exhibit in Doylestown, so I was feeling the self-induced pressure to make sure this was a wonderful day for each one of them!
I love interacting with the staff, but of course, they are busy working the store and caring for customers when I am teaching my classes, so we have little opportunity to stitch and chat and learn together. Spending the day with them was such a treat!
The Old Country Store is the most amazing quilt shop.... Dean and Jan Mast do a fabulous job at running a successful shop while at the same time creating an environment where their employees thrive. They have a dedicated and loyal staff who love working together, and as a result, create a wonderful atmosphere for customers. It's no wonder that customers come from all over and give the shop rave reviews. And, it's no wonder that they were recently selected as one of the 10 featured shops across the United States for the Spring/Summer 2017 issue of Quilt Sampler magazine, published by Better Homes and Gardens - they definitely deserve this award!
So, it was an amazing day for me to see how these ladies worked together to finish their projects. What a caring, competent group!
Jan selected the Stash and Dash organizer for the project.
She had each staff member select their fabrics, then she cut and prepped each kit for them in advance so that the day would go as smoothly as possible and so that each employee could go home with a finished project. She even printed up special "Merry Christmas from The Old Country Store" labels for them to stitch inside their organizer - so special! (I didn't think to get a photo!)
They each indeed went home with a finished organizer!
I'm looking forward to teaching this class again in the spring!
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