Holmes County gathering kept visitors in stitches
This trio of shoppers had fun perusing the aisles at Helping Hands Quilt Shop in Berlin during the 2025 Quilt ‘n Cuisine Gathering Stitches event Thursday and Friday, April 10-11.
If someone fancies the hobby of quilting, Holmes County was the place to be during a recent event that served as an alluring invitation to trek throughout Amish Country for a day or two.
The 2025 Quilt ‘n Cuisine Gathering Stitches event, Thursday and Friday, April 10-11, had locals and visitors alike crowding into six area quilt stores to celebrate a unique event that had everyone in stitches — literally.
The event was actually two smaller events stitched together to create one larger phenomenon, and did it ever have a major impact in bringing people to Holmes County during a slower tourism time.
Janice Hochstetler of Helping Hands Quilt Shop said the event was the perfect opportunity to gather some friends and have a grand time.
“It’s a perfect event to get out of the winter doldrums,” Hochstetler said. “To get out with like-minded friends, do some shopping and have a great time.”
She said this actually began with Quilt ‘n Cuisine, a shop hop around the county that took place in the spring. Gathering Stitches was a separate fall entity that was its own unique event, but the All-Ohio Shop Hop was created in the fall, so the area businesses decided to simply combine the two events into one larger one.
“In combining the two, we were able to wrap everything into one and make it an even more enjoyable one-day event that has kept people coming back year after year,” Hochstetler said.
The six different quilt stores stitched together for this event included Carlisle Fabric & Quilts in Sugarcreek, Helping Hands Quilt Shop in Berlin, Miller’s Dry Goods in Charm, Chestnut Ridge Sewing in Walnut Creek, Lone Star Quilt Shop in Mt. Hope and Plaid Sheep in Berlin.
While many would consider these six businesses competitors, each recognized the value in creating an event that would bring people to the area as a whole, knowing full well that participants would certainly visit each of the six businesses.
“Even though we are all quilt shops and offer some similar things, each of us is unique and offers a variety of things that provide a well-rounded opportunity for quilting shoppers,” Hochstetler said.
Not only did participants receive a 20% off coupon for a one-time purchase during the event at each participating store, but each business also added some sweetness into the equation by offering each visitor a sweet treat like muffins, cookies and other assorted goodies, including a recipe.
That only made it more enticing for visitors to want to come to Holmes County for a day, and the businesses understand that the value of bringing people to the area under one larger umbrella only benefits everyone, including businesses not even associated with the event.
Joanne Hubbard, who teaches at Chestnut Ridge Sewing, said the uniqueness of this event is second to none and continues to serve as an opportunity for friends to get together to visit shops in which they are very familiar.
She said that not only are there some great savings, but shoppers could also gain valuable insight into some new quilting ideas.
“It’s fun because it all can be done in one day, and people know they are going to get a treat and a gift, and it’s a whole lot of fun,” Hubbard said.
She added that they, like many of the six businesses, were offering some fun and educational seminars to go with the event.
It is obviously working because she said they have seen familiar faces returning year after year.
“It’s fun to see them coming back year after year,” Hubbard said. “People will come in and show us pictures or quilts they’ve been working on. That’s what makes it really fun for us, because building those relationships is a lot of the joy.”
Rachelle Gautier, who has taken over Miller’s Dry Goods for her mother Naomi Miller, who passed away recently, said she can remember when she was a young girl, sitting in the store watching as crowds flocked in to share the excitement of the event.
Later, she worked in the website portion of the store and thus was in the upstairs office, oblivious to the hubbub below.
With this being her first year of being front and center in the organized chaos, she was surprised at how many people were coming in as part of the event.
“I just can’t believe this,” Gautier said. “I guess I never remembered it being this wild and busy. I actually have a picture of myself as a little Amish girl sitting on the counter holding a pair of scissors. This has been a real eye-opener for me, but it’s been fantastic.”
She also said it is really neat to see all of the shops working together to create such a wonderful event.
If the smiles, chatter and joy taking place among the shoppers were an indication, the 2025 Quilt ‘n Cuisine Gathering Stitches event was well worth the price of admission for those who participated, as well as the six quilting businesses who put it all together.