Page 42 - The Digital Cloth holiday issue
P. 42

This secret scintillating & stunning shop in Coramba, a short drive west
        of  Coffs Harbour needs to be on everyone’s list to visit!
        Meet Lisa Petersen, owner and quilter extraordinaire …
        Lisa - tell us a bit about yourself.                                                 Sharing


        Have you always lived in Coffs Harbour?
        No, I haven’t. I was born in Coffs Harbour and moved abroad at the age
        a lovely environment to bring up children in. Family reasons also - my  the
        of  23, first to the UK and then to Canada. I stayed abroad for quite a
        few years. I had my children – Isla is now 15 and Reynold is now 12 – in
        England and then I moved back here when I was 38, as Coffs Harbour is


        parents were getting elderly - plus it was nice to be somewhere sunny
        and warm.

        What made you become interested in fabric and sewing?                                Secret
        I’ve always sewn, since I was a little girl. I had a sewing machine even
        before I went to school. I had an old singer sewing machine – not a
        treadle – it was very modern for back then with a foot pedal. I had all
        my Mum’s bags of  scraps – Mum was a great sewer – and I have always
        made my own clothes.


        How did you learn so much about quilting?
        I became involved with quilting when I was living in Canada and there
        was a store around the corner from me, and I was looking for another
        interest so I signed up for a beginner’s quilt class just to see how it went.
        From then I did lots and lots of  courses in Canada and in the UK and
        learnt a lot from the many different teachers I’ve had over the years. I
        also learnt by trial and error, especially once I knew the classic basics of
        accuracy and knew where I could push the boundaries and try something
        different.

        What is the secret to running your business successfully?
        Creating a welcoming happy place and teaching great classes with great
        students. I try to always have good customer service and have an in-depth
        knowledge base of  my products and quilting in general. Also, I have a lot
        of  fabric as “you can’t sell it if  you haven’t got it” – and I want it to be a
        worthwhile drive to come out to Coramba and visit the shop.


        Coramba is a lovely day out destination – we have a husband babysitter
        at the pub – lots of  ladies come out with their husbands and after they
        spend time in the shop, they have lunch at the pub. There is a wonderful
        coffee shop which does great cakes and light food plus next-door to
        Nesting Needles is an equestrian shop which has lots of  bric-a-brac items
        and beautiful baby and children’s clothing. As well, we have an art gallery
        here which offers lessons for children as well as adults, with lots of
        activities on weekends. And of  course, we have the Coramba markets on
        the fourth Sunday of  every month.
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