Shop Story: The Quilt Corner (Morton, Illinois)

Karen Bailey never imagined that she’d own a quilt store, but when, in the mid-80s, she took quilting lessons through a local shop, the idea was quick to follow. Within four years she’d purchased the quilt section of the shop and then years later, she took over the entire place, replacing fashion fabrics with quilting fabrics and renaming it as The Quilt Corner.

Since then Bailey has run the store with the assistance of her store manager and ten employees, spending more time out of the shop than in it. She relies heavily on their abilities and knowledge; most her employees have been with her for years, several for more than a decade. Bailey lives fifty miles from the store, which makes daily visits difficult. Instead she spends her time working on business issues and sewing quilt samples for the store.

At any point, Bailey says you’ll find at least a hundred and sometimes two hundred samples hanging in her store. She makes sure that every sample has kits to go with it, too. This makes it easy for anyone to come into the store, find a quilt they really love and make the exact same one for themselves. Their number of quilt samples, along with the knowledgeable and helpful staff make The Quilt Corner a great place for sewists in the Morton , Illinois-area.