About the Store
Picture outing at the beach May, 1012: Back: Mary Beth McCormack, Christen Salach, MaryAnn Contir, Barbara Whitfield. Front: Andrea Anderson, Jean Werling, Sarah Chin, Fran Kertesz
Fran's Staff
Fran Kertesz - Fran has been involved in sewing as a business since 1977. Before that she was a Home Economics teacher and earned a Master’s degree in Child development. Sewing has always been her passion and she has a diverse background including: alterations, piece work, custom sewing and she has been involved in sewing machine repair and sales since 1990. Fran and her family moved to Wilmington in 1996 when she opened Sewing Circle. The store has since grown and Fran continues to strive to offer the best product and service to her customers.
Andrea Anderson - Has been living in Wilmington for 14 years with her husband and two kids. Andrea has enjoyed the art of quilting for 16 years, has been sewing since she was in high school, and has been a staff member of Fran’s for many years. Andrea likes to create challenging pieced quilts, play with color, and come up with her own original quilt designs, and in her spare time she prefers to play tennis, go to her daughter’s sporting events, and sew. Andrea teaches many of the quilting classes that we offer at the Sewing Circle and she also teaches other projects that she thinks others would enjoy.
Barbara Whitfield - Barbara has lived in Wilmington for 25 years and has been working at Fran’s for over 8 years. She has been sewing a total of 50 years, got started by sewing doll clothes at an early age. Barbara mostly loves to make fashion clothing, bags, and quilts. She also likes to teach fun quick projects here at the store. When Barbara isn’t working at the store she likes to be outside in her garden or be in her sewing room working on new techniques.
Mary Ann Contri has been living in Carolina Beach for 10 years. She loves quilting and sewing for her granddaughters. She has been quilting for 20 years and sewing since she was in high school. She enjoys teaching others to quilt. In her spare time, Mary Ann loves to cook, walk on the beach and be with her granddaughters.
Jean Werling – Jean is originally from Michigan, but moved to Wilmington from California about a year and a half ago to be closer to family. Jean enjoys sewing garments, bags, and other small craft items. She is also a beginning quilter, inspired daily by the wonderful fabrics we have in the store. Jean teaches some of our garment classes at the store and participates in the local ASG group that meets at Fran’s once a month. When not working, Jean loves to go bike riding or walking at the beach and could spend all day in her sewing room at home.
Mary Beth McCormack has just recently moved here from Oswego, New York. She retired from the Oswego City School District. Previously she worked in quilt shops in upstate NY and truly loves to work with quilting , hand embroidery and embellishing with ribbons and beads. One of her pieces was awarded into the Quilting Arts Calendar . She is a recent addition to the staff and we look forward to her bringing her new creative ideas to our shop. Currently she is loving her new home near the water. She enjoys walking, going to the beach, scrapbooking, and gardening.
Christen Salach recently moved to Wilmington from Michigan. Previously, she has worked as a substance abuse counselor, bartender, and pet sitter. Christen has pursued some basic sewing classes in Detroit, and as a recent addition to the staff is eager to expand her knowledge of fashion, and quilting as she hleps in all the aspects of the store. She is enjoying the warm weather, and wants to learn to surf.
