The Demise of “Minnesota Fabrics”

This blog is supposed to be about my quilting – not me directly; but I have to give a tiny bit of background.  I now know that I have Asperger’s and it guides a lot of who I am: 

·         I’m artistic and creative, but I’m rigid.  I do not do free hand, but I do very methodical things with a flair to them

·         I misread social cues

·         I MUST be doing something, anything, artistic each day, or I get a little unsettled

·         Many more things…..

When I was in High School, I was very unhappy.  I was unpopular, in Foster Care and didn’t understand my life.  I felt very lost and unwanted.  When I transferred out of a private school and into a public school, I was put into a sewing class.  I had always done needlework, but fabric opened up my life and probably kept me sane for those tumultuous years.

Minnesota Fabrics was a store that I could get to on a bus.  Every so often, I had a little bit of money and I went there.  I bought patterns, and fabric, trims and buttons, and put things together.  I bought embroidery transfers and did the most elaborate designs on shirts for my boyfriend (aka my Square Dance partner).

The store was my lifeline.  It kept me sane.  With a few dollars, I could buy a piece of fabric and disappear into a world where I was successful.  The thread did not mock me, buttons did not hurt my feelings and pattern pieces showed me a path way to positive self esteem.  Home Ec was my only solid A because it was the only class that gave anything back to me.  Besides the Pythagorean Theorem (which I use for calculations in quilts), lessons learned in that class are the only vivid memories I have from a very bad two years.  I jonesed over Vogue patterns, not drugs and had fantasies of elaborate gowns with high priced silks.

Sometime between High School and 2002 (when I made my first real quilt), Minnesota Fabrics changed their name to Hancock Fabrics.  (Note:  Hancock’s of Paducah is a separate store).  In the 2001 – 2002 time frame, my oldest daughter Ana decided she wanted to start quilting.  I was already sewing a lot, and had traded my Viking from 1984 in on a nicer Viking, but hadn’t yet gotten the quilting bug myself.  We bought her a few things and signed her up for a class.  Then, one day, when we were in the same Hancock (nee Minnesota Fabrics) store that I visited in High School, we saw a sign up for a beautiful “Block of the Month” quilt class.  We both signed up and attended. 

I have searched for photos online of the original design of the block of the month but cannot find it.  If I do find it, I will add it in.  Meanwhile, let me tell you a little about it.  The pattern was twelve months of stars - a different star design for each month.  It used two different greens, a coral/pink and a tan in each block (some months omitted one or two fabrics, but that was the basic scheme).  Then, it was supposed to have a floral border that accentuated those colors.  The below picture shows three of the twelve blocks (the lower left is not one of them).

I changed a few things in mine.  I did not like the coral, I rearranged the blocks/setting and I didn't use the border fabric (although I do still have it in my stash.  Here is a picture of my finished quilt.

Execution of the Class (aka How it Helped Me)

I could go into many stories of the next twelve months at this point  - those all may become separate blog posts – but for now, I’ll simply tell you that that monthly class began my prolific quilt production and connected me with a group of women that are now my regular quilt group.  Once again, the store was a lifeline to me.  Due largely to the personality traits that stem from Asperger’s, I have a hard time making friends.  Because we shared a common hobby, I was accepted into a group of women and have spent a lot of time over the years with them.

Quilting has seen me through some hard times by giving me a self satisfaction in creating beautiful items.  I have won some contests, taught some classes, and best of all – been asked for my advice and regarded as a source of knowledge.  It’s not perfect; there are ups and downs in the group, but it has been a great comfort over the years.  There have been a couple of times that I’ve walked out of a sewing session with some of the women I met there and felt as if I’d just been in a successful, all day therapy session!

Going Downhill

Alas, things were not meant to last.  The woman running the class had a parting of the ways with the store and we all went with her and took the group elsewhere.  Ana also worked in the store for a short time and there were many issues that contributed to a poor situation.  When the group left the store, it was obvious that it had a very negative impact on the stores sales.  60-70 women on a Saturday morning, pumped up from a quilting class and a demonstration of new items can really add up to a lot of purchases!

Over the last 6-7 years, I have visited that store randomly.  My main impetus for visits over the years has been their collection of novelty and specialty fabrics.  It’s always seemed that they carry things other stores do not.  In the past, their fabric collections felt like quality goods.  Additionally, my quilt group meets a few blocks from the store for “mini-retreats” and “sewing Saturdays”; running over there for the missing item usually equated to $20-50 worth of other things.

Today was one of those days.  I was at the sewing mini-retreat and decided that I needed some backing fabric. 

I was very disappointed…..

The quilting section was less than half the size it was on my last visit (maybe six months ago) and there were very few fabrics that I enjoyed touching.  (Yep, I have the Aspie need to feel things!).  They had a value priced cotton broadcloth that I compare to tissue paper and a poly/cotton broadcloth blend that already appeared to be pilling like cheap sheets.

Customer service and equipment

I selected a couple of fabrics that were acceptable and went to the cutting counter…. And waited…  Then, a clerk without an ounce of personality cut my fabric with a utility scissors.  Now, I don’t expect rotary tools or a gingher’s for $3 and $4 a yard fabrics, but the scissors looked more like the one I use in my kitchen.  She could not get the Telzon (sp?) to work and had to grudgingly hand write a slip for me. 

Next stop – register.  Again, no one in sight.  Finally, the woman who had been talking to the clerk cutting my fabric came from the counter to the register.  Play this out:  there are two of you manning the store.  A customer gets her fabric cut and leaves the cutting counter.  Where do you think she’s going?  To pay maybe?  So why wouldn’t you leave your conversation at the cutting counter and go to the register if you are the one of two staff in the store and the other staff is cutting someone else’s fabric?  Boggles the mind….

Moving on.  I have a preferred customer card.  I was holding it out in my hand, the clerk looks right at me and says “do you have a preferred customer card?”.  They were also having troubles with that computer and she can’t get the register to find my card… which fails to deliver “points” or whatever else the card gets for me.  I’m not too worried though – I don’t think I’ll have a chance to earn enough points or anything before the store closes.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

I think it is only a matter of months before the store closes.  It’s pretty bad.  There used to be projects on the floor, samples and panels and other things on the walls, and it was always nicely decorated.  That went away shortly after my group broke off.  Now, it’s a fabric/craft stock room with bad floors and blank walls.  In past years, I’ve always appreciated that there’s a bathroom there.  As someone who’s been there while pregnant, with small children, etc., the bathroom has been appreciated.  Also in past years, I remember it being clean, with some wall decorations and on a par with my own at home.  Now, it’s basically the same as a gas station bathroom.

The bathroom may seem a small point, but quilters (and other types of fabric-aholics) – shop preferred places largely on ambiance.  If I walk in, and you greet me and ask about my projects, I WILL spend more.  Extra points to knowing my name or remembering something I came in the previous week/month for.  Faye, if you read this – add 108” quilt backs and a line of decent quality/price solids and I’ll be in more.  I’ve never much cared for batiks but I have started doing things with them because you and your employees greet me by name….

Conclusion

Where will I go for my next life crisis?  Or have I grown enough to stand all on my own?  My self esteem and social life have centered loosely around that store for over 30 years now.  Despite only visiting it sporadically for many of those years – it’s always been there for me.  I exclusively buy Gingher’s scissors and that’s where they were introduced to me.  I’d never heard of ultra suede before that store.  Fabric and lace for my wedding dress came from there.  I could go on and on, but the simple point is that that store gave me purpose several times in my life and I will miss what it’s stood for in my life.