Foothills Crafts raising funds for scholarship program

“I had lived here for a really long time and had seen the store and had really never been in, and then I got into crafting and stuff and came in,” Williams said. “One of the ladies working at the time encouraged me to bring my stuff in and it qualified, so I joined 2018.”

Made up of about 50 exhibiting members, the CCCA members pay $50 a year to sell their handmade crafts at the store, but they must first be approved by the nonprofit’s Standard’s Committee.

“So a crafter would come in, they would bring in three samples of their work for each category they are hoping to join and fill out the application,” Williams said. “Different categories have different qualifications.”

The samples are then evaluated by the Standard’s Committee, which will judge the items and determine if they can be sold at Foothills Crafts.

As a nonprofit organization, a portion of each sale goes back to the association.

“We have our items in here for sale and then the store gets a commission of each sale, so all the profits that the store gets goes towards going back into classes or our scholarship fund,” Williams said.

Last May, the Coffee County Crafters Association awarded its first $500 scholarship to a graduating senior.

“We are hoping to be able to increase that or give out two last year,” Williams said.

Williams said the scholarship is based on academics and an essay submitted by the student. Applications are judged by the nonprofit’s board.

“The applicant does have to be majoring in the arts, visual or performing, when they go to college,” Williams said.

Foothills Crafts is staffed by an entirely volunteer crew made up of members of the crafter’s association.

Debbie Hooper is one of those members that spends a few days each month working at the craft store.

Hooper said quilting is her craft of choice, and she has been doing it for about 30 years.

“I enjoy the entire process,” she said. “I love the piecing, and I have a longarm, so I really love that part, the finishing… the quilting part.”

Hooper said after three decades of quilting for loved ones, everyone’s house is full of quilts, but she didn’t want to stop quilting. She was then encouraged by a friend to check out the Coffee County Crafters Association.

“She said you need to go by there and check them out, they may be a source for you to sell your quilts,” she said. “I made them for years for the family, the parents were like ‘stop, these kids have enough’.”

Hooper said it is hard to say how much time it takes to make a quilt, because each one can be so different from the last.

“It is really hard to say because it depends on the difficulty of the piecing,” Hooper said. “It can take one week to three or four weeks, it just depends.”

Hooper said she enjoys working in the store, and the friendship she has developed with Williams.

“I love meeting the people and I have especially love working with her,” Hooper said. “Not only did she train me, but she and I became good friends.”

Williams said any local artisans and crafters interested in joining the Coffee County Crafters Association and selling the work at Foothills Crafts can call the store at 931-728-9236 or stop by the store in person.