Heather Rokeh and Michelle Salfer, co-owners of Graceful Marilyn Quilt Shoppe, are sisters that grew up on a farm south of Wood Lake, MN. We can’t remember a time where we didn’t have crafting and sewing of some sort as part of our lives. This all started with our mom Marilyn Schmidt. She has always done some sort of craft and is an amazing seamstress and quilter that has been playing with fabric
and crafts since she was a child. She once told us that she is a “maker” and isn’t happy unless she is creating something. We both remember sitting on her sewing counter as children just watching her create her masterpieces. She would give us scraps of fabric from her vast fabric stash and tell us to go be creative. By age 7 or so we were making Barbie doll clothes and other things like a quiet book for church, stuffed animals and eventually clothes, purses, and quilts. She encourages both of us to be creative and get out of our sewing and crafting comfort zone. With all the crafting and sewing we have done over the years, we have always joked and dreamed about starting our own quilt shop. Well, here we are jumping in! Graceful has a few meanings for us. Grace is Heather’s daughter and Michelle's Goddaughter. She has grown up with sewing and can be found in her mom’s sewing studio most of the time. She loves watching YouTube crafting videos and likes to make her own creations. She is also an entrepreneur and has started her own business sewing and selling dog bandanas, quilts and now hand crafting jewelry. Second, graceful is the style we both tend to gravitate toward. We both love clean design but also love to add a vintage flare to what we do. We hope you see that reflected in the product we carry. Finally, grace is a word that we should all have in our vocabulary. As quilters and makers, mistakes will be made, but by giving ourselves grace, we can turn mistakes into opportunities for learning and creativity.
