Sew What If They Don’t Quilt? How We Train for Success

The Hiring Struggle is Real

Shift Your Mindset: It’s Not Just About Fabric Know-How

Of course, it's helpful if someone knows their way around a fat quarter bundle—but it’s not everything. In fact, we’ve seen incredible team members who started with zero quilting experience. What made them successful?

Things like:

• 👋 Strong communication and customer service skills
• 🎓 Willingness to learn
• 🔎 Attention to detail
• ☀️ A positive, can-do mindset

These qualities often matter more than quilting experience—and they’re a lot harder to teach.

How We Train (and Retain) 

We’ve built our training in Strideretail, the backend system we use to manage our website. Within Strideretail, we utilize the eLearning module to create custom training paths for each position in our shop.

Here’s how it works:

• Each role is broken down into specific tasks and skills
• We create individual training courses for those tasks
• Each course includes videos, written instructions, and you can even add quizzes to make sure the training sticks

The result? A clear, consistent system that makes training smoother for everyone—whether they’ve quilted for years or don’t know a walking foot from a presser foot.

Why Our Approach Works

When people know exactly what’s expected of them (and feel supported), they’re more confident, more productive, and more likely to stay. That’s why we’ve seen great retention—even from folks who had no prior industry experience.

Here’s what makes our system different:

• 📋 Clear expectations from day one: Every position is broken down into manageable tasks so no one feels overwhelmed.
• 🖥️ Video-based training: Staff can watch and rewatch training content at their own pace—great for visual learners and hands-on roles.
• ✅ Knowledge checks and quizzes: These help reinforce the most important information, making sure employees really understand what they’re learning.
• 🧠 Refresher-friendly: If someone forgets how to do something (it happens!), they don’t have to ask or guess. They can revisit the course anytime to get back on track.

In short, our eLearning module inside Stride isn’t just a one-time onboarding tool—it’s a living, breathing training system that supports your team long after their first week.

We’re not just hiring quilters. We’re building confident, capable team members—and we’re giving them the tools to grow and succeed.

Encouragement for Shop Owners

If you’re feeling stuck in your hiring process, consider this:

The perfect quilter-employee might not exist—but the perfect team member can be trained.

Don’t let a lack of fabric knowledge stop you from hiring someone who could be a great fit in every other way. With the right training tools (like our eLearning approach in Stride), you’ll have everything you need to turn a “non-quilty” candidate into an irreplaceable asset.