Shoptalk: Clients click, pros sew
Q: When was your business started?
A: We incorporated in 2005.
Q: Tell me about your business.
A: We are an online quilt-making business that offers our customers access to an Internet tool called Quilting Studio that helps them design custom quilts that are then handmade by professional quilters.
Q: How does that work?
A: Potential customers go to our website, select a quilt pattern and then choose from hundreds of fabric swatch colors and prints to design their own quilt. Customers click and drag the fabric swatches where they want them on their (virtual) quilt blocks and then organize the blocks to form a pattern or design that they like. There is also a special page that allows you to adjust your computer to make sure the swatch colors are more accurate. A save feature in the program allows customers to save their work and come back to it later or create many different style and color choices to compare styles. You can create as many color combinations as you like. The sky is the limit. One customer did 60 variations. The software is easy to use and begins with a tutorial about the anatomy of a quilt, including recommendations on how to select the best contrasting colors.
