ENTERPRISE — It’s not your granny’s quilt anymore, and LaAnnette “Frannie” Scantlin is doing her best to make it that way.

Retreat experienceOpening shop this past fall, Scantlin offers a “quilt retreat experience,” where quilters can come to her business, The Thread Nest, for a relaxing few days and unwind while they learn and create a quilt of their own.

“I chose that name because I wanted a place where you could unwind and unthread and relax,” she said. “In the sewing world, when you get a thread nest, it usually means that you have to stop and undo everything and rethread your machine and start over. It’s a way to say, ‘Come and relax, unwind, rethread,’ and that’s The Thread Nest.”

The facility is available to all and accessible to people with disabilities, Scantlin said.

“A quilt retreat is much like a vacation rental where you can come and spend the night, but it has a studio and accommodations for quilters, sewers or crafters,” she said. “There is a classroom and there is anything and everything that a person would need to go on a quilt retreat.”

At The Thread Nest, quilters can take classes, create a quilt and socialize with other quilters.

“I’m different than a quilt store,” she said. “I don’t sell fabric. What I sell is the quilt retreat experience; what I sell is personal lessons; what I sell is long-arm services and services that support the quilt shop.”

Supports other shop

Scantlin said her business isn’t intended to compete with Prairie Creek Quilts, another quilt shop in town which offers many of the same services. However, Prairie Creek doesn’t do the retreat experience and Scantlin doesn’t offer fabric or notions — the small objects or accessories quilters need.

She said she supports the other shop by bringing in customers who are interested in having a quilt shop nearby that sells what she doesn’t.

Both shops have long-arm quilting machines offering their services. Long-arm services come into play, for example, when a quilter makes a quilt top: it needs to be attached to the back of the quilt with the 12-foot-long machine, sewing the back to the front with batting in between.

Not your granny’s quilt

Scantlin said she is making an effort to dispel the notion that quilting is something older women do.

“Quilting has always been thought of as something an older generation does or has done, but it’s been my experience — I belong to a quilt club in Walla Walla, Washington — and I’ve got a retreat with younger women who are interested in modern quilting,” she said. “Quilting is thought of as ‘granny squares,’ and it’s no longer ‘granny squares.’ There’s wonderful rulers and modern fabrics that appeal to the younger generation. It’s become appealing to a broader spectrum of people because of the modern fabrics and the modern patterns. I’m trying to reintroduce to the younger folks and even offer classes for young children — boys and girls — it doesn’t matter. It’s not your grandmother’s quilt anymore.”

New to the areaScantlin, who owns an adult foster home in Milton-Freewater, moved from there almost two years ago. She said she moved to Joseph because of the aviation program at Joseph Charter School, which her 17-year-old son attends as a junior.

“I have a son who wants to be a pilot,” she said. “I wanted a good school to give him a head start. I had vacationed here on a quilt retreat years ago and loved the area so much I thought this would be a good place for me to retire.”

She has four other children who are grown and on their own.

Classes offered

Not only is the retreat experience available at The Thread Nest, Scantlin teaches classes for those who either experience the retreat or locals who wish to attend. Her 30 years quilting, in addition to taking sewing classes over the years and participation in a variety of quilting guilds, make her qualified to teach, she said.

Her hours both for the business and classes vary, given the variety of hours quilters have available. When she plans a class, she’ll post it on her Facebook page listing the possible days, times and patterns she will have available.

She suggests making an appointment, either by phone, her Facebook page or website.

“My days and hours are variable, due to the fact that many people work and not everyone has 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to be able to come in and learn,” she said.

But what it comes down to is making quilts.

“If you want my services, you bring your top and back and I’ll put it together for you,” she said.

What: Quilt studio and retreat

Who: LaAnnette “Frannie” Scantlin (CHECK SPELLING)

Where: 301 N. Holmes St.

Phone: 509-629-1450

Email: beesorberries@gmail.com

Hours: By appointment

Online: Facebook and www.TheThreadNest.com