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The Pickett Fence a Top 10 Shop in BH&G Quilt Sampler mag

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The Pickett Fence Owner Louanne Davis (center) and a few of her employees, Joan Tayek and Wendy Smethurst, hold up the sign they received for being selected as a Top 10 Shop by Quilt Sampler magazine. (Photo by Correne Martin)

By Correne Martin

The Pickett Fence quilt shop has made it to the Super Bowl of the quilting world, and they publicly celebrated last weekend.

The 21-year-old downtown Prairie du Chien store is featured in the spring/summer edition of Better Homes and Gardens’ Quilt Sampler magazine, as one of the Top 10 Shops from coast to coast.

“There are about 3,000 shops who try for this and they only feature 10 in each edition,” said Owner Louanne Davis. 

Quilt Sampler only publishes two magazines per year, with 10 of the country’s finest shops receiving a multiple-page spread inside. To be recognized, Davis said, quilt shops must submit an application, along with pictures and a written expression of why they should be one of the illustrious few taking center stage.

“We applied for the fall/winter magazine of 2018 and had to submit our materials about a year out,” she explained. 

Though the local quilting hot spot and candy shop wasn’t chosen, editors must have taken note because Davis was told The Pickett Fence’s application was carried over and placed “on top” of the pile for consideration among other spring/summer 2019 submissions.

Upon selection, Better Homes and Gardens, which is based in Des Moines, called last August to relay the news. They requested two projects be submitted, each with two different color options. The Pickett Fence decided upon two quilts and, Davis said, everybody in the shop had a hand in creating them. 

Then, the magazine picked the one they wanted to highlight in the issue, which is a large lap-size (60x84) mixed methods quilt top that incorporates paper piecing, applique and regular piecing. It is eggplant, blues and teals in color.

“I think they liked it because it was the more difficult one,” she claimed.

In September, a magazine crew spent two days at the shop for a photo shoot. They ended up with a spread of bright and inviting photos—inside the shop and from downtown PdC—to accompany a short, enchanting article about The Pickett Fence, for which Davis did a phone interview with a writer from Texas.

Included in the layout is the pattern needed to create the exact mixed methods quilt made by the local staff. Also, information is provided for those interested in obtaining a fabric kit from the store. 

“Because of the way this is made, they will have fabrics left over so we made some bonus projects from that,” Davis said. “Anyone who gets a kit can make those as well.”

To celebrate this exciting national recognition and promotion, The Pickett Fence hosted an open house Friday and Saturday, May 10 and 11. The general public joined the staff and regular customers as the magazine and business spotlight were revealed for the first time locally. The mixed methods quilt was displayed in a number of sizes and fabrics.

Through the end of the month, the community can also take advantage of joining The Pickett Fence Free Fabric Club, which is available through May. Buy $300 worth of gift certificates at one time and receive one yard of fabric free each month for 12 months.

Of course, people can stop by and purchase a copy of the Quilt Sampler magazine at the local quilt shop. The honor of being a Top 10 Shop is “sew” exciting for The Pickett Fence, they are happy to share their joy with the community.

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