Sylvia Hall standing next to her work.
From jack pine savage to missionary, wife, mother, teacher, and now quilt shop/ window treatment owner, Sylvia Hall Galbraith has led an interesting life.
It’s old news to some, but while Sylvia bought Heavy Duty Sewing last July 2019, from Anna Latz, she is still busily transforming the workspace located above Great Gifts, making it into a shop of her own.
It’s a friendly space with a friendly owner.
Today she calls the business 47° North Heavy- Duty Window Treatments & Quilt Shop. The shop is on the second floor of the Clearview building in downtown Lutsen where Sylvia’s colorful quilts hang on the store’s walls. There is even a quilt depicting Anna, from the Disney movie Frozen.
The shop is open, light and airy.
It wasn’t an easy decision to return home after being away for more than 20 years. “My husband, Steven, and I spent a lot of time in prayer before we decided to make a move,” she said.
The couple had been living near Alexandria, Minnesota, where Sylvia worked as a teacher, and Steven worked in the computer field. Today Steven works out of the couple’s Lutsen home on computer related projects.
Why move back home? She was asked.
“Anna was in the process of retiring from her business at Heavy Duty Sewing. I purchased the Window Treatment portion from her in July 2019. She began mentoring me in the window treatment business in June and is still available to me when I have questions or need her assistance.
“The transition included moving her machines and other parts of the business, such as the upholstery side, out of the current space.
“I started working with the window treatments in June and began ordering materials for the quilt shop about September.
“So far, things have gone well. As for the window treatments, it has been a bit slow over the winter season, which Anna said usually happens. I have been having more calls lately, which is wonderful.
“For the quilt shop, I have had many people stop in to see how it is coming, and they are excited to have a quilt shop back in the county. There have been a few Canadians that stop as well.
As time has passed, Sylvia has been adding more materials and items to her store.
“I am getting more and more stock in weekly. It is like any store; I want to have the newest fabric and styles, so I haven’t ordered much of the previous year’s supply. I am ordering fabric now that will be available this summer for next winter, and I am excited to get it out to everyone.” Growing up in Lutsen
Sylvia grew up in Lutsen and graduated from Cook County High School in 1979. Like many Cook County teenagers, she was a busy kid.
“I worked quite a few jobs during high school as well as after I graduated. Some of the places I worked were, Solbakken, Lutsen Resort, Isak Hanson and Sons, Cliff Dweller Restaurant, Cascade Restaurant, to name a few.”
“I did log (hence, she was jack pine savage) with my dad for a few years before I decided to further my education. I received a certificate in Biblical Studies from Lutheran Bible Institute that was located in Issaquah, Washington.”
“In 1986, I traveled to Cambridge, Ontario, Canada and attended Youth With A Mission, YWAM, which took me to Honduras, in Central America for three months.”
“I had planned on continuing in missions, but God had other plans. I met my future husband at the YWAM base in Cambridge, but left to go back to Lutsen. We were married in February 1988 and one month later, moved to New Zealand, his home country. We lived there for two and a half years. While I was there, I assessed tax returns in Auckland, New Zealand, and our first son was born in Auckland. We decided to move back to Minnesota, and we were planning on going back to YWAM, but yet again, God had different plans for us.”
“We stayed in Lutsen for about six years and had another son. During that time, I took care of the boys and had a small daycare. After that, we moved to the Alexandria area for Steve’s work. I started working as a Title One Aid in the elementary school that our boys attended, and I also drove school bus for the school.
“I was encouraged to go back to college and get a teaching degree from the teachers I worked with, so I went back to school at the University of Minnesota Morris and received my Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education.”
“After I had my degree, I worked at New Testament Christian School in Alexandria. I started with kindergarten, moved up to K-2, and then finished my time there working with grades 7 – 9. I accepted a job from the Alexandria Area Adult Basic Education Consortium as a teacher for adults. I then took the position of manager for the consortium, which I held for seven years. I left that job to start my new adventure with the quilt shop and window treatments.”
One of the projects Sylvia did with her father, Jim Hall, was to build a log house for her out of wood they had harvested.
The home sits in a row of houses owned by her parents, and siblings in Lutsen on the family property. The Halls are a hardworking, friendly, close-knit family. Moving forward
Today, of course, she is focused on her business. Sylvia has always loved to sew, and she still has the first sewing machine she purchased at age 16.
If you were ever in Heavy Duty Sewing when Anna owned it, the large workroom has changed a lot.
“Anna had her business in the same space for 30 plus years. It was not finished. The walls were sheet rocked but not taped or painted. There were portions of the ceiling where the floor joists were exposed. Jeff (Jeff Latz owns the Clearview building and is married to Anna) covered that portion with a pine ceiling, which looks great, and new lights and flooring were added. This has been the most significant change in the shop area of the old Heavy Duty Sewing to start the quilting part of my business.”
“With the window treatments, the shades and blinds are sourced out through the Hunter Douglas, Graber, and some other companies to make the blinds and shades. What I do is to go into the homes, rental units, and other places to measure sizes, order the window treatments, and I then go back and install them once I receive them from the company.” Quilting
“I have a long-arm quilting machine up in the loft of the shop where I can quilt tops for people as well as doing my own. Ten ladies, including myself, own the machine, and they have graciously allowed me to use it as people ask to have quilts quilted. Eventually, I would like to get a computer to allow me to program patterns to put on the quilts. As of now, it is all hand-driven.”
“I also plan to have classes here, or depending on the size of the group, find a larger space; that can be something of a fun task with area quilters. I am planning a two-day class this spring, teaching how to make the quilt called, “One Block Wonder.” I have a sample of that pattern in a quilt created by Anna, which is hanging in the shop.”
“I am in the planning stages of this class, and Anna has offered to lead the class. I would also like to start a program like “Quilts of Valor.” This is where quilts are made and distributed to our men and women that have served our country in the military divisions. I am thankful to them for giving so much to me, my freedom,” Sylvia said. Is there any future to grow online?
“Yes, it is a business that could grow online, especially as I get a specialty area up and running with some of the local artists to put their artwork onto fabric. This is something I am really excited about, and I have found a fabric company that will print fabric for us and with hopes that by this coming summer, we will have their artwork printed on fabric for people to purchase.”
If you want to learn more about 47° North Heavy-Duty Window Treatments & Quilt Shop, her business can be found on Facebook. If you have any questions, you can also call Sylvia at 218-663-7669.
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