By Lindsay Conner

Late last summer, Linda Glover celebrated the grand opening of her quilt shop, Shakin' the Tree Fabric Boutique! The quaint shop serves her customers in the village of Homer, located in central New York state close to Syracuse. “This is a very community-focused village, and I am located in the downtown area with a village green, an arts center, and historic homes,” Linda explains. In addition to offering quality fabric-by-the-yard and Aurifil thread, they also carry notions like bag hardware, patterns, batting, and cork.

Linda’s dog Ruthie the Sheepadoodle stops by to mingle with visitors of all ages who come in to shop, take classes, or attend open sewing hours. Ruthie is a hypoallergenic and non-shedding popular and frequent visitor to the shop. “I even have an older gentleman who comes every Thursday to walk her,” Linda adds. Among its weekly specials, Shakin’ the Tree offers 10 percent off on Wednesdays for “Experienced Fabric Enthusiast Day” to shoppers 62 and older. They also have a popular customer loyalty program.

Aside from sharing her love of fabric, Linda has always desired for her business to truly serve her community. She designed her shop to include opportunities for everybody—especially at-risk, marginalized, and underprivileged youth. “There is a fireplace and chairs for people who want to just sit and relax, and the shop has a small play area for children,” Linda says. For older children ages 11 to 18, Shakin’ the Tree is in the process of creating some free or low-cost events. “Youth need engagement in the form of purposeful activities, but many cannot afford sports and other hobbies or activities due to the cost. This is a safe place for teenagers who stop in after school during the week just to visit!” There is a jigsaw puzzle set up on a table for anyone who wants to add a piece, a fireplace and reading area, and a chess or checkers board to encourage guests to come and sit for a while.

Being a community-minded neighbor is important to Linda, whose storefront is located on a block with all women-owned businesses. “Our shop accepts donations of linens and blankets for the local domestic violence shelter,” she says. “We also open our doors to anyone who needs Wi-Fi for family court virtual appearances—primarily victims of domestic violence.” The shop also sponsors non-profit or educational events and fundraisers. In this safe space for community members to gather, Linda also hopes to foster a creative environment by displaying unique goods for sale that are provided by local artisans. “One month we sold vanilla extract starter kits, for instance. We also displayed a quilt-inspired sculpture by a local artist in the shop.”

Upon retirement from her previous career, Linda was looking for something more creative to do. “I spent my adult life being on call and available to others 24 hours a day,” she says. “It was time for someone younger to do that job! I hadn’t sewn since junior high, but the pandemic, by necessity, put me back in touch with sewing. Sewing masks led to getting interested in other projects, primarily bags and purses. I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend all day looking at awesome fabric?”

Most of Linda’s customers are quilters of varying skill levels, but a lot of them are beginners with no experience, looking to pick up a new hobby. In fact, she puts a sidewalk sign in front of the shop to announce upcoming events and emphasize when they are geared toward new sewists! “In June we are starting a monthly ‘Simple Sew’ class specifically developed for beginners or inexperienced sewists. Each class will introduce a project that can be completed in less than 1 to 1½ hours like lanyards, dog collars, easy totes, or simple quilt blocks.”

Especially with youth, Linda always takes the time to demonstrate a technique when she is able, such as sewing a keychain wristlet. Recently, when a child took an interest in learning this project, Linda grabbed some scrap fabric, showed her how to do it, and I sent her home all the supplies to make another one. “I like to take advantage of every opportunity to give a ‘nudge’ to that future sewer.” This has come into play with her work with homeschooled children who enjoy sewing as part of 4H and also providing small group classes to domestic violence victims in transitional housing, and a group of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For anyone interested, there is open sewing every Tuesday!

Linda is a not a quilter herself, but has found it allows her to relate with other non-quilters that enter the shop. “When the newbies come into the store it is common for them to be very apologetic and say ‘I’m not a quilter.’ I can bond with them by saying ‘Neither am I!’” This summer, she is also introducing Quilt Block of the Month and a monthly “GAGA Day” which stands for give advice, get advice. “This is a social opportunity where participants can bring a project they are working on and give or get feedback from others.” She offers some quilting classes on site as well as referrals to services or items the store does not provide such as sewing machine repair, long arm quilting, upholstery, mending, or alterations.

Linda’s customers engage with the Shakin’ the Tree’s Facebook group and Facebook page which are both are very active. “I post pics of every bolt of fabric that comes into the store and I intermix a lot of humor into the posts,” Linda says. But social media posts aside, nothing can replace the face-to-face interaction with guests of the store.

“Social interaction has declined over the years, due in part to the pandemic, but also technology, social media, online shopping, and more. I believe we undervalue the benefits of that personal exchange of communication,” Linda explains. “My shop is purposely set up to invite people to have conversations. My cutting and checkout area is comprised of two long butcher block tables with stools around them. My background is in advocacy and crisis counseling. It is amazing the number of people who will disclose trauma or life stresses (victims of crime, caring for aging parents) when given an opportunity. When someone says, ‘It’s been a rough week,’ that’s an opening for me to provide emotional support and sometimes that ends up being an hour-long conversation. I don’t seek to provide counseling but at the same time sometimes people just need the gift of time and empathy.”

Shakin’ the Tree is looking forward to partnering with another local quilt shop, A Kaleidoscope of Quilts, this summer to host a community quilt show during their community’s annual “Homer Days” event. Instead of looking at other fabric stores as competitors, Linda has found them to be a valuable resource. “Some have taken my business cards and distributed them at various quilting events they attend,” Linda says. “Word of mouth among quilters travels fast! Six months after opening the shop, I had a customer from Maryland who heard about the store.” In fact, due to their good-natured encouragement, Linda has started sewing her first quilt!

Shakin’ the Tree
23 S. Main St, Suite 1
Homer, NY 13077
(419) 575-2526
shakinthetree.us