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From the October 29, 2004 print edition Quilt maker sews up her niche in business
Since 1989, Barbara Harris has been making a living telling stories not on paper, but on quilts. Harris, owner of Grandby's Quilts, has put her passion into making quilts. Each one, she says, has a story to tell. Quilts, she says, are more than something to keep you warm. Instead, they are memories woven together. "My goal is to complete a client's quilt product with precision, thoughtfulness for the client's wishes and have respect for the cloth, especially if it's a garment worn by a beloved member of the family," Harris says. "I try to infuse a touch of love in these pieces, to create an heirloom that they, their family and their family's family will treasure for hundreds of years." Harris could never be accused of having idle hands.
She has owned an office supply store and a furniture store. And she has performed vocally in little theater. When Harris isn't sewing quilts, she works part-time as a radio announcer for Texas Public Radio. That Harris is now sewing quilts for a living comes as a surprise even to her. It wasn't until Christmas day in 1989 that Harris started quilting after her husband gave her her first quilting machine. As she stitched each piece, though, she began to realize the importance of the history that is found in quilts. She remembered her grandmothers' quilts and the significance of each panel. After making her first quilt, she was amazed at how beautiful a machine-stitched quilt could look, so she purchased a long-arm machine which is used specifically for quilting. She began sewing quilts for families and friends, but word of her quilt-making skills began to spread. Soon, she was taking orders and creating quilts from fabric pieces and materials that had been passed down to clients from their ancestors. "I didn't open up the business to be in business and make lots of money," she says. "I was just helping make quilts for ladies who didn't know how to make quilts." Stitch in time Grandby's Quilts carries a fine line of quality, ready-made quilts and a small selection of antique quilts. The business specializes in machine quilting, whether it be a new quilt or antique quilt. And the shop does custom stitched monograms, including names and dates, as well as many distinctive embroidery sew-outs of patterns. Harris carries out the work with the help of her daughter, Michele Searcy, who manages the office, and serves as the "monogramming pro" in Harris' words. A customer who wants Harris to design a quilt can expect to pay about $20 an hour as Harris consults with the client on the myriad of details to be included and worked into the quilt. Finished quilts begin in the $50 range and can go higher than $520, depending on what the customer wants. Harris says that every project she approaches is a challenge. "It's a challenge to please the customer because they don't know what the final product is going to look like until I hand it to them," she says. Word of her work continues to spread. One of her quilts, measuring 8 feet by 18 feet, hangs in the hallway of an elementary school in Bulverde. She also has been featured on the local television program, "San Antonio Living," where her memory and photo quilts were displayed. Customers say they choose Harris because of her integrity. "Barbara displays professionalism, dedication to quality, and she's a woman of her word," says Lori Elmer, who has been a customer of Grandby's Quilts since 1998. That's what Harris loves to hear. "I have to put my heart into every project," she says. "I want my customers to be able to say that they don't want to get their quilts made anywhere else." Weaving memories
Weaving her heart and talents into something tangible and tactile is what keeps Harris motivated. "Have you ever watched a glass blower take a rod of glass, and with fire and mouth, create the most beautiful and delicate glass pieces?" Harris asks. "When I work with cloth and have to create something from nothing, it's mesmerizing to watch a paper drawing go to bits of cloth, or sometimes rags, to a work of art. It mesmerizes me to see the process of each seam slowly create a piece of art." Elmer is sold on Harris. "She takes the time to find out the background of the quilt, who it's for, what it's for," Elmer says. "She knows that it's a part of somebody and she puts something special into it." Even though Harris has experienced success with her quilt shop, she is striving for more. She hopes to one day relocate her shop, which is near an industrial area off Bitters and Wetmore roads, to a more populated area with better frontage. "I'm never satisfied," she says. "Every area of the business could be improved on. If the business isn't trying to top itself, it will be non-existent in time. It's like giving birth to a child. You have to tend to it, love it. Your business is your baby. You have to be committed to it." Harris says she does what she does because she loves it. It's a piece of advice she gives to new entrepreneurs. "Time is precious," she says. "If you don't have your heart in what you do, try something else. When you're an artist, your product has to have heart or it's not a good product." That heart and soul are woven into every quilt that Harris sells. "I love creating something that I know is going to outlast me," Harris says. "Everybody wants to be remembered somehow. If my signature is left behind on a quilt, people won't remember me, but they will remember what I did with my hands." © 2004 American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved. Click here to see actual shot of first page of article. |
