|
Home About Us How to Find Us Appearances •••••••••••••••••• Newsletter Receive Newsletter Exclusively On-line! Our Friends •••••••••••••••••• Show & Tell Photo of the Month Staff Contact Us  |
About UsHello! I'm Diane Pelto, the owner of Timeless Treasures Quilt Shop in McGregor, MN. My husband Bill and I have been married for 26 years. Bill is the manager of Peat Inc., in McGregor and Cromwell, and in the winter he spends his time logging. Bill and I have a small farm where we raise beef. In our ‘spare’ time we also grow a large garden, canning and freezing its rewards. While we were never able to have children, God has blessed us with 14 nieces and nephews, and God also gave me the wonderful world of Quilting.
I started quilting 19 years ago when I made a baby quilt for my niece Jill. Jill is now in her second year of college, and she still has that quilt! Anyway, since then I've been hooked on quilting. In October of 2002 a dream became a reality when I opened Timeless Treasures. What an experience it has been. I’ve met the best people and made many lifetime friendships. It all begain in July of 2002, when I was in the hospital for a week. It was a scary time for me because doctors had a hard time diagnosing the problem, a kidney abscess. After I returned home, Bill and I were talking and he thought I should leave my factory job of nearly ten years and open up a quilt shop. Life has been a whirlwind ever since! Finding a location for our shop was easy, we talked to friends of ours who had an empty house in downtown McGregor. They made a few improvements and that little blue house soon became home to Timeless Treasures Quilt Shop of McGregor. Our shop was small, we opened the doors with only 260 bolts of fabric, but it made a quaint, home-style quilt shop. Thanks to the awesome support of my quilting family, we were a beehive of activity and soon found ourselves busting at the seams. I was in that first shop for a happy five years when we had a perfect opportunity to move. Another friend of ours had bought some land in McGregor and was willing to build me a shop to fit. As much as I loved that little old house, I love my new shop even more. We’re now in a better location along a main highway and the building is awesome. We’re much larger (and now all on one floor!) with an open design that gives visitors freedom to wander amidst our displays. From our modest beginnings, we now have over 2000 bolts of fabric on display. With our new building, we now have space for small classes. Besides classes, we offer a variety of clubs, shop hops (including Quilt MN), quilting retreats, our very own quilt show and we now feature tours for quilters. The second Saturday in February has become home to our annual quilt show. ‘Quilts Across the Stage’ takes place in the beautiful, new auditorium at McGregor High School. We got started just because I wanted to start doing something unique with our 4H kids. Having them carry the quilts across the stage one-by-one seemed like a good idea...and it sure has worked! In our first year, 2003, we spotlighted 58 quilts. We’ve grown every year, and we hope to feature more than 300 quilts in 2010. In 2009, the 12 quilts receiving the most votes from those attending the show traveled to Oregon to be featured in a special exhibit at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. Titled ‘To Sisters by Stage’, it was so awesome to see our local quilts out there with so many other amazing works of art. The chance to visit Sisters and see our quilts on display provided the raw material for the first of our quilting tours. Dubbed ‘Summertime Treasures’, our tours feature friends, fun and fabulous experiences united by a common thread...the enjoyment found in quilting. This shop is truly a dream come true for me. I love working with people and I love quilting. Every day I am amazed at how blessed I am. I have a wonderful life with a great husband. Add in my incredible family, an amazing clan of quilters and friends along with a job I love, what more could a person wish for? |
|