Buzzing around the industry with Gina Halladay

Meet Gina: a crafty quilter, designer, writer & longarm quilter

Gina Halladay is a crafty girl. She has the need to create. She quilts, she knits, she embroiders, and she has great skills with a hot glue gun. She can handle a chop saw, belt sander, band saw and most power tools. She can even install a sprinkler system. She likes glitter. She can wallpaper, design t-shirts for a high school rock band and conduct an interview with a mayor. You can find her organizing a school fundraiser and ordering groceries online. She gives blood. Pretty much, she is a “do-er.”

But mostly, Gina likes to quilt. She likes to design them and loves to sew them. Fabric keeps Gina busy.

It was Gina’s sister that got her hooked on quilting.

“I spent a few days with her in Missouri one summer and she insisted that I make a quilt,” Gina recalled. “I did. I hated how it looked when it was done. I picked all the wrong colors and used cheap fabric, but I loved the process!”

When Gina returned home she went to a few quilt shops and checked out their books and patterns. She took a few classes, and then she discovered the “primitive” look of quilting.

“I fell in love with the folksy screwywampus piecing with homespun fabrics,” she said. “And I knew if I sewed with homespuns I would not have to worry about a right and a wrong side of the fabric. Plus, I just loved the tea-dyed, old look of the primitive quilts.”

So Gina’s love of this new craft was her springboard into the industry. She started working at Cozy Cottage Fabrics in Brea, CA, teaching classes and taking care of customers as well as activities in the shop. This was a great step for Gina, but she was itching for an even deeper involvement with the industry. That is what led her to the creation of Quilters Buzz, an online column at www.quiltersbuzz.com.

“I’ve always been curious about all things and people,” said Gina. “I like to ask questions and figure things out. That, I suppose, is what led me to take a journalism class in high school. I enjoy writing so I applied to college and was accepted to Brigham Young University. I received a small scholarship for my writing talent.”

Gina officially graduated with a degree in communications/journalism and “unofficially” graduated in disco dancing. (It’s true – she was living the college life in the early 80s and actually met her husband beneath a disco ball at a dance club. But that’s another story…)

Being curious and friendly has opened many doors for Gina. She has become an online quilting authority with her column (blog) over the course of the last two years. (She recently hit the one million mark for page views. Yes, it’s that popular!)

“Most blogs are written more like a personal journal. I formatted mine to be more like an online magazine column about quilting,” said Gina. “My tagline is: www.QuiltersBuzz.com is the place for quilters to check out new fabric lines, read about some of the top designers in the industry and check out the newest and greatest gadgets, gizmos, and patterns.”

Gina enjoys seeing and exploring what is new and exciting in quilting and she likes to interview interesting people such as textile artists, pattern designers, and representatives from fabric and notions companies. Writing in a lively and down-to-earth style, Gina seeks to inspire a younger generation of quilters as well as seasoned quilters.

“I also invite others (such as designers Amy Butler and Denyse Schmidt) to guest write and tell about the happenings at their design studios,” Gina added. “I post sneak peeks of fabric lines before they hit the shops, and I talk about new gadgets and products available for quilters.”

A cool thing about Gina’s blog is that she can receive photos of a new fabric line at 10 a.m. and can publish it at 10:30 a.m. the same day! It takes most magazines at least six weeks before they can print it. Plus, her readers can make comments and give feedback about the articles that she posts -- all that information (good or bad) makes an impact in the quilting industry.

“My regular readers include the department heads of fabric and notions companies and their marketing departments, famous and not-so-famous designers, and quilt makers, but most of my readers are a younger generation of computer savvy ladies who love fabric, quilting and see the value in handmade goods,” Gina said.

When first attending Quilt Market as a writer, Gina passed out her business cards and told people to check out her column so she could build readership. Now people know who she is and they send her stuff to review and write about. Early on, she earned “the credibility seal of approval” she needed to be a successful blogger when she did an interview with Amy Butler.

Gina explained, “Amy instantly understood my concept for QuiltersBuzz and I will be forever grateful for her support and friendship. She agreed to become a regular guest writer, giving my readers insight to how she designs, her inspiration and the happenings at her studio. On one of her posts, some of my readers questioned her rules restricting the use of her fabric for certain commercial purposes. Amy graciously responded to their questions and a great dialog between writer and reader began. Over the course of a few weeks, the dialog of questions and answers continued. Amy revisited her policies and she revised them. She wrote an article and I posted it on QuiltersBuzz. I am convinced that a blog format can be a powerful place to create an interactive environment where two or more parties can voice opinions, interact with others, and solve or discuss issues, problems, likes and dislikes. It is a place to build a community.”

Gina’s blog and many others can be a valuable resource for you, the sewing/quilting shop owner. You can send an e-mail to your customers, telling them about a new fabric line that just came in. Then, you can reference a blog and say, ”If you want to read more about this fabric line, click here.”

“In addition to a Web site, I think it is important for shops to host a blog,” Gina noted. “Creating a blog is as simple as writing in a Word program and pasting it into your blog format. A shop blog can be the perfect ‘show and tell’ for customers. You can post about new products that come in, openings for classes, and showcase customer quilts and projects.”

In addition, to QuiltersBuzz, Gina has a quilt pattern design company called Threaded Pear Studio. (www.threadedpear.com) She and her business partner Stephanie Goudzwaard design a series of quilting patterns called “Afternoon Delights, Quilts You Can Make In An Afternoon Or Two.” They currently have 23 different patterns.

“We both used to work at a quilt shop and we taught beginning quilting classes,” said Gina. “We really saw the need for quilt patterns that beginners could actually complete in a day or two. We felt it was empowering for a new quilter to go home from a quilting class with a nearly finished -- if not finished -- quilt top. Our patterns, however, have had a great cross-over for the seasoned quilter.”

Stephanie and Gina began a longarm quilting business on a Gammill Statler Stitcher (a computerized quilting machine) at the same time they started their pattern design studio. It was the ultimate in “multi-tasking” -- doing “hands free” longarming on the Statler at the same time as designing, cutting and sewing up their pattern samples.

“We quilted 300 quilts our first year and created our first 11 patterns,” said Gina. “We hope to be designing fabric soon.”

Recently, Gina became a dealer for the Gammill quilting machines at Cranberry Quiltworks. (www.CranberryQuiltworks.com). She and Stephanie moved their Threaded Pear Design Studio to the showroom/studio of Cranberry Quiltworks located in Yorba Linda, CA.

(They say it works because both companies are “fruits.”)

“Being exposed to the creative talents of longarmers is just another aspect of the quilting industry that truly amazes me,” commented Gina. “Daily, I learn new things and am working on developing my own longarm skills, computerized and not!”

It is evident Gina loves this industry.

She said, “I am never at a loss for things to write about. I could write all day, every day and still not get it all out. I see quilt patterns in my sleep and have a pad of paper beside my bed at all times for those 3 a.m. brainstorms. I really do not sleep much because my mind spins with ideas!”

Gina’s biggest supporters are her family members. She is thankful for her husband Hal (He owns a business blog publishing company, www.KnowMoreMedia.com.) and their four kids who have all learned to adjust to a sometimes crazy lifestyle.

“They all now know when I refer to ‘market,’ I mean ‘Quilt Market’ and not the grocery store!” Gina joked. “They have all had to stuff hundreds of patterns, load and unload quilting machines and a truckload of batting, cook their own dinner, and dig through piles of laundry to find the various parts of their sports uniforms. They put up with me, conducting interviews during halftimes of soccer or football games and staying up to all hours of the night writing or designing.”

What is Gina’s next big step for the future? She wants to put in a washer and dryer at the shop, stating, “I know it does not sound like much of a career move, but I think it could be a sanity saver for my family!”

Through life’s experiences, Gina has met wonderful people who have inspired her -- to be a better person, to strive to make the world a better place, and to always use her talents to be that “crafty” gal the quilting industry is growing to love!

Reprinted from SQE Professional, February 2008