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A long time ago in a land far, far away, the original Q Heart costume and hat shop was founded at the Sterling Renaissance Festival in New York.  

 

The next year, 1979, the Queen of Hearts also set up shop at the original Maryland Renaissance Festival (MDRF) in Columbia, MD.  Moving to Crownsville with the rest of MDRF in 1985, Queen of Hearts has stood across from the White Hart Tavern ever since.  The original owner, Toni Lamberti, designed and created over the years a wide variety of hats, dresses and other clothing, and built the booth and hat cart you can visit in Crownsville today.  

 

Longtime employee Blade Doeller purchased the business in 2003 when it became Q Heart II.  In 2006, she hired Tara Holste as a seamstress and shop employee. Tara worked for the second iteration of Q Heart for 16 years, learning the ins and outs of the business.  She grew up attending MDRF and started sewing about the same time she learned to walk, so sewing costumes for Q Heart II was a natural fit that combined two of her passions. 

 

Over the many seasons of the festival, the booth has been passed down from queen to queen and now blossoms anew under the new leadership of Tara Holste, who takes reign under the title Q Heart III. Owning a shop at the Maryland Renaissance Festival has been a lifelong dream, and Tara feels privileged to carry on creating the Q Heart signature brand of unique, easy-to-wear, comfortable Renaissance-style clothing with a modern twist.