Here are some things I do:
Cheerleader - we love it when customers bring in their quilts to show us. However there is a curious behavior among quilters - when someone compliments a quilt we have made, we tend to to point out its flaws. "That seam doesn't match," we might say, or, "I cut off my points when I put that border on."
Can you imagine men doing this, when they talk about their woodworking? "Oh," a guy might say. "Look at the scratch on the back side of that bookshelf. And see here, my dovetail joint isn't very dovetailed. No dove could fly with that tail!"
I find myself doing this all the time, even when I am on the lookout for it and am determined not to do it. I don't know if quilters put our work down because we are women or if it's something else. Many women feel it's immodest or worse to accept accolades. I think for me, at least, it's a lack of confidence. How can I claim my work is good, or even agree when someone else thinks it is, when I know about all the mistakes I made?
Still, there was a time when women had more confidence in their quilting. I own a couple of antique quilts, in which a deliberate mistake was made, because "Only God creates perfection." This attitude has always seemed a bit arrogant to me, because it assumes that without the deliberate error, the quilt would be perfect. I don't have to worry about that!
When it comes to other people's work, I prefer to see the best in it. I am a cheerleader, hoping to raise the quilter's enthusiasm for her work and for the craft of quilting. I am never being phony, if you come in the store and I talk about all the things I love about your quilt. There is always much to love, more, perhaps, than you know.
Confessor - Tying into the above job is this one. Some people, when they point out their mistakes, do it in a hushed tone, as if afraid that saying it too loudly would mean the whole world might learn of their sin. There is no reason to be ashamed of a mistake. The only way to learn anything, to become better at it, is to push ourselves to try new things. And trying new things means learning new skills. Learning involves practice. Practice, by definition, means taking something that is not perfect and working to make it better. Every quilt you make means the next one you make will be better. My job in the store is to give everyone permission to try something new, or do something old in a new way. Or to keep doing one thing until you have learned all you can from it. You don't need forgiveness or penance for making a mistake. You just need to accept that a handmade item, even if made on a sewing machine, will show something of the person who made it.
And besides, a mistake made once might be an ooops, but made twice it is a design element. Right?
Design Assistant -This is one of my favourite jobs - helping people select fabrics for a project. Choosing the right colours and textures can be a lengthy and intimidating process, especially early in a quilter's career. It requires the ability to visualize what bolts of fabric will look like together once they are cut up and sewn together. A few people have an inborn ability to do this, but for most of us, it comes with experience
The challenge for those of us working in the store is to help customers select the colours they like, and not the ones we like. My tendency when choosing for my own projects is to go for bright colours and high contrast. I've learned a lot from the customers, though. Sometimes they select colours I would never have thought of using together, but they look fabulous. This situation is never good for my bank account, as I usually have to get some fabrics in those colours to try out myself!
Helping people find what they like means being a good listener and observing body language, useful skills in all areas of life.
One of the true pleasure of working in a quilt store has been meeting the many and varied quilters, and getting to know then through their quilts. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this!
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