Quilting B & More in Charlottetown is our regional winner for Prince Edward Island, Canada!
A love of quilting has been passed down in this shop owner’s family. Read on to learn more!
Please tell us your store’s story.
Suzanne Lane is a wife, mother of 6, and grandmother of 6. She loves music and has played piano since she was a child.
She also loves sewing, quilting, knitting, cross stitch and more. Her grandmothers were quilters and her mother loved to sew garments for her and her siblings when they were young children.
Two of her four daughters have developed a love of quilting and both have worked with Suzanne in her shop. Suzanne loves to see the creations her customers make with the supplies they purchase at QBM.
The store has been in business since 1992. A friend of Suzanne’s (Karen Beauregard) started the business in a small shop in downtown Charlottetown. Karen wanted to provide good quality products for the quilters of Prince Edward Island. She moved the store in 1998 to a larger spot still within downtown Charlottetown.
Suzanne became a partner with Karen in 2007/2008 and became sole owner of QBM in 2009. Suzanne has moved the store twice to accommodate the expanding inventory. The store houses over 2,500 bolts of fabric, threads, books, patterns (sewing and quilting), batting, wide backing, wool, floss and pearl cotton, monks cloth, BERNINA, Brother, Singer, Husqvarna Viking, and PFAFF sewing machines.
For those who have not seen your store, please describe it.
The store encompasses 3,000 square feet. The retail area is an open concept layout, with slat wall on both side walls.
The Bernina Q24 longarm lies to the right, immediately inside the front door. The classroom, about 700 square feet, is located behind the retail area in a separate room.
There is another small room off of the classroom for a sewing machine service area.
We are located at 61 Capital Drive, a throughway into the city of Charlottetown. Our shop is a more traditional style quilt store, however my daughters are having a more modern influence on the products on the sales floor.
Please tell us about your staff.
My daughter, Christine MacDonald, is my social media gal. She amazes me at the creativity she comes up with in her posts. Her love for working with all kinds of fabrics excites me for the future of my store.
Catherine Winter is a longtime employee and has soooo much experience in every fiber art known. She has an answer for every question people throw at her.
Joyce Doyle has been with Quilting B & More for 30 years. She is a home economist by training and has taught classes for Quilting B & More to present day. She also worked on the sales floor for over 20 years, which she retired from and focused on just teaching classes. She is an impeccable teacher with immense patience.
Please tell us about any upcoming special events at your store.
We have a new class list starting in January and our Open House for this class list will be January 6th. This is a chance to see class samples and register for the upcoming classes this winter.
In closing
When asked about the impact of the LQS Contest on the store, Quilting B & More said:
It has brought people to know that we carry ByAnnie products which a lot didn’t seem to realize. We have also offered a lot of classes using ByAnnie patterns.
I live over an hour from this store. I brought my machine in for service and was told it needed a part. A few weeks later I called to see if it was ready and was told to come the next week to get it as the tech was working then. I asked if they had received the part and was told Suzanne would call me to confirm. She did not. I called the next day, same. I called 2 more times without Suzanne calling me back. Finally I reached Suzanne herself who confirmed that the part had been received and the machine would be ready as predicted.
I drove the hour to retrieve my machine only to be met by Suzanne telling me that they hadn’t been able to repair the machine because they did not have the part. I left with my machine and will never return.
The worst thing was the complete lack of apology, care or accountability. I had made such effort to avoid a trip to Charlottetown and they could not possibly have cared less. They didn’t say a word to me OR follow up with me the next day. They had my number. Absolutely the worst customer service and follow through I’ve experienced.
Luckily there is a wonderful quilt store near me with lovely staff. I’ll drive my machine to Halifax if I need to.
I love this store, I have shopped and done classes with them. Catherine is a gem and I often rely upon her expertise, Suzanne is more than accommodating by answering my many questions and helping solve my dilemmas . Suzanne is kind and generous with her time and expertise, as is Catherine, they always go the extra mile to assist in finding just the right fit for fabric, accessories and notions that help make your quilting/sewing life easier. It is my go to for all things
I’ve gone to this quilt store for many years. I started when it was downtown Charlottetown….classes and fabric. Suzanne an all staff are always helpful and friendly. I’ve taken many quilt lessons from Joyce. She has the “patience of Job!.” A top notch quilting instructor. I have learned to make a lot of quilting patterns from her.
Congratulations, Suzanne!
The Quilting B and More has been my go to place for all my quilting needs. Suzanne is one of the most caring shop owners I have ever met….she was relentless in helping me find a particular quilt pattern, which was no easy task and she never gave up on the quest! I have also had the opportunity to enjoy her long-arm and other quilting classes over the past few years. If you have any questions for Suzanne or her staff they are there to help in a blink!
Congratulations to Suzanne and staff! A lot of my customers shop in her store.
It is a lovely quilt store!