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Baby Lock retailer chosen as featured shop in Quilt Sampler

Store Owner Creates Artistic Retreat

Baby Lock is proud to announce that Yellow Bird Art, a Baby Lock sewing machine dealer in Lansing, IA, was chosen as one of 10 featured quilt shops among hundreds of applicants for the fall issue of Quilt Sampler magazine, published by Better Homes and Gardens.

The fall issue of Quilt Sampler will be available on newsstands on September 11, 2007, and will feature a multi-page profile of Yellow Bird Art, as well as nine other quilt shops throughout North America. The magazine prints only two issues per year and will also feature a quilt designed specifically by the employees of Yellow Bird Art, as well as the full-sized pattern for the quilt. A panel of experts, including Heidi Kaisand, executive editor of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine, narrows down quilt shop applications to 10 featured shops for each issue.

Yellow Bird Art, opened by owner Amy Fuehrer in October of 2005, offers quilting notions, fabrics and sewing classes, and exclusively sells Baby Lock sewing machines. According to Fuehrer, the shop submitted an application to Quilt Sampler in 2006 that included information on the shop’s history, business promotions, charitable work, teaching schedules and design philosophies.

Only 1,500 square feet, Yellow Bird Art is located on Main Street in Lansing, IA, a small town on the Mississippi River. Fuehrer says that the shop’s fabric selection -- extensive Asian fabrics, less traditional colors and patterns -- makes it unique. The shop has carried Baby Lock sewing machines for the past year -- Fuehrer tried a Baby Lock machine, loved it, and now sells Baby Lock exclusively. “I don’t want to sell anything I don’t believe in,” she said.

“We know Baby Lock dealers are creative, innovative business people, but this honor confirms it,” said Kristy Humes, senior vice president of marketing, Baby Lock. “Even more than that, shops like Yellow Bird Art are involved in their communities, in touch with the needs of their customers, and constantly thinking about ways to improve their business. We’re very proud of Yellow Bird Art.”

For more information on Yellow Bird Art, visit www.yellowbirdart.com or call 1-563-538-4350.

For more information about becoming a Baby Lock retailer, visit www.babylock.com, or call 1-800-298-8813.

Reprinted from SQE Professional, August 2007