Laura and David started this directory after several years of traveling around the country and always searching for quilting shops. 

Laura’s had an interest in Sewing and Quilting for decades.  As a pre-teen, Laura learned sewing basics from her mom on Mom’s old (1959) Sears sewing machine, and she took a sewing class in 6th grade where she made an apron.  When she was 12, she sewed her Can Can Girl costume for her middle school’s production of Oklahoma! 

Shortly after we were married in 1987, Laura was using that same Sears machine while I was trying to take a nap.  I heard words coming from the kitchen that a lady just doesn’t use!  It was Laura trying to get that old knee-operated machine to cooperate. 

Well, I could take a hint!  Soon after that I got her a new basic White machine (for $100!) that served her for years.  During this time Laura mostly mended and made shirts and curtains and such, although she always had an interest in learning how to quilt.

Laura decided to give quilting a try and pieced together a twin-sized Windmill top from fabric scraps.  Using an old blanket as batting and an old bedsheet as backing, she finished it by tying it.  And a lifelong obsession was born!

In 2013, we moved to Poland but we had to leave that old faithful White sewing machine behind.  Fortunately, though, a friend in Poland didn’t have space for her Necchi sewing machine and loaned it to Laura. 

Then came trying to find fabric in a country that really doesn’t understand the concept of hobbies.  We did find one fabric store in Krakow and when we made trips back to the states, visits to fabric stores were a top priority.

So Laura started quilting again using my worn-out shirts, bedsheets and curtains bought at secondhand stores, and whatever new fabrics she could find.

The quilting really ramped up during Covid-19 when we began to live the life of a cat (because of the shelter-in-place orders, we stayed in our communist-era apartment and looked at the world through the window).   I think she finished eight different quilts during those couple of years.  She not only pieced them but freehand machine-quilted them on that Necchi Machine.

We returned to the States in 2021, and Laura’s continued making quilts.  Some of her recent favorites have been a Disappearing Nine Patch and an appliqued Pine Tree, but she continues to enjoy her hobby with new patterns and challenges.

There’s always a new quilt in the works!