A Common Thread

Quilting is a popular activity for Boomers in the Illinois Valley

By Shannon Serpette

Sharon Read is a relative newcomer to quilting. Unlike some women she knows who have been quilting for decades, she only began five or six years ago.

“I’ve been sewing for a lot longer than I’ve been quilting,” Read said, adding that she started sewing 45 years ago. “I’ve crafted my whole life. That’s what got me into sewing.”

She waited decades before making the jump to quilting, though, because it was a bit intimidating.

“I never thought I could do it,” she said. “There is a lot more cutting and measurements, a lot of math.”

To her, quilting was about perfectionism, and she wasn’t sure she could live up to that. Still, the appeal of quilting was too much to resist.

“I really wanted to learn how to make quilts,” she said.

She found a class in Princeton and started with a baby blanket. That was enough to get her hooked, and she joined the Marshall-Putnam Quilters Guild soon after. The group, which meets once a month, was a good fit for Read, who lives in rural Henry. It put her in touch with people who knew the answer to any question she had.

“I thought, I don’t have enough knowledge on this,” she said. “I feel like I can learn more when I actually see it done.”

Quilters, Read said, are wonderful about wanting to help people who are new to the hobby. Finding someone you can turn to when you need advice can be invaluable.

“It’s nice to have a mentor,” she said. “Your mentor will have your back.”

She met her mentor, Ida Boyle of McNabb, through the quilters guild she joined.

“We get together a lot,” she said.

Quilting can be enjoyed on a solo basis or with a friend, and it can also provide a way to fit some community service in as well. Many quilting guilds have community service projects for their members to work on.

While there is a seemingly never-ending list of wished-for items many quilters would like to purchase someday, one item a new quilter absolutely must have is a good machine that can sew straight and zigzag stitches, Read said.

Over time, Read said, you’ll need more space for all your items, such as your quilter’s stash. A quilter’s stash is a stockpile of fabrics that quilters save for a future project. They can be fabrics bought

See QUILT on page 10

PHOTO BY SHANNON SERPETTE One of the projects Sharon Read of Henry is working on right now is this Quilt of Valor. These quilts are made for service members or veterans to thank them for their service.

PHOTO BY SHANNON SERPETTE Sharon Read of rural Henry has a space all to herself to work on her quilts and other projects. She turned a room in her house into a sewing room and has lots of natural light from the windows.

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solely for the intention of using on a project someday, or they can be scraps from a prior project. Every quilter has a stash and struggles to find room for it.

But those scraps come in handy – and you never know when you’ll find the perfect use for a fabric you bought years ago.

“You really do have to have an imagination,” Read said.

Read loves making quilts for family members and has made one for each of her grandchildren. She puts labels on the items she makes so future generations will always know where the piece came from.

“A quilt should always have a label on it,” Read said.

Although it’s often recommended by quilting guilds, Nancy Griffin of Magnolia, who has been quilting since the 1990s, doesn’t put labels on the items she makes.

“When I was in the guild in Lisle, they always emphasized putting labels on things,” she said, adding that it’s not something she’s ever felt the need to do.

Griffin, who formerly resided in the Lisle area, first became interested in quilting when she lived next to a quilt shop there. She went into the shop one day and became interested in the hobby.

“It’s just fun for me to do,” she said.

She didn’t have any relatives who quilted, so she joined a quilting guild in the Lisle area to get to know other people who shared her

Sharon Read and her grandson, Kevin Helle, display the Olympic-themed quilt she made him.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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PHOTO BY SHANNON SERPETTE Sharon Read sewed for decades before she began quilting. She recommends putting a label on your projects, whether they are quilts or another sewed item such as this memory bear she made out of the clothes of a deceased loved one.

“It’s just fun for me to do.”

Nancy Griffin of Magnolia

Nancy Griffin of Magnolia shows off a few of the quilts she’s made.

Sew Informational

Tips to Get You Started with Quilting

Thinking about joining the ranks of the quilters in the Illinois Valley? Other local quilters have shared their knowledge to give tips to save beginners some time and frustration. “Measure twice, cut once,” Sharon Read, a Henry resident, said. That will help you ensure you are never off on your measurements and end up with a piece of fabric that won’t work. “Start with one project,” Nancy Griffin of Magnolia said. Even if you have a lot of ideas, it’s best to work on only one at a time as a beginner. “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Lisa Furleigh, owner of Quilting in the Valley, a store that has locations in LaSalle, Peoria, Champaign, Rockford, and Moline, said. “Give yourself a break. Enjoy what you’re doing.” Don’t sweat the imperfections. “In my eyes, nothing I do is perfect,” Read said. But other people who look at the quilt won’t notice the tiny mistakes you do. Get a rotary cutter if you can. “It’s better than using the scissors,” Griffin said. Get over the fear of messing your quilt up, Read said. “You can always adapt it,” she said. Embrace tapping into your creative side. “It’s a way to express yourself,” Furleigh said. Find some space to dedicate to your hobby. “It’s nice to have a designated sewing area,” Read said. Give yourself some natural light if you can while working on your quilting. “It’s easier to see things,” Read said, adding that you get a better feel for the true colors of the fabrics and thread in natural light.

PHOTO BY SHANNON SERPETTE This is the quilt Nancy Griffin of Magnolia is currently working on.

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enthusiasm for the hobby.

“I haven’t joined anything down around here yet,” she said.

Griffin urges beginners to be prepared to devote some time to quilting, especially if they want to do much hand quilting. If you need to cut corners to make quilting work for your schedule, that’s fine, she said.

“I would like to do hand quilting on some of them, but it takes too long to do it,” Griffin said.

HOW TO GET STARTED

If you’ve decided to try to learn how to quilt, Lisa Furleigh, who owns a quilting store in LaSalle called Quilting in the Valley, recommends taking a class rather than trying to learn from a friend, by watching videos, or reading books.

That’s how Furleigh learned to quilt when she first started sometime around 1981.

“There are so many different ways to do things,” she said, but added that a beginners’ quilting class will give a person the information they need to get started.

Quilting in the Valley had been offering classes, but they were temporarily put on hold because of the pandemic. Furleigh said she anticipates starting them back up in the middle of 2021 for those who have received their Covid vaccine.

In the meantime, quilters can check out Quilting in the Valley’s YouTube videos which are regularly uploaded and are a fun mix of tips, tutorials, and conversation. Beginners are also welcome to stop by the store, talk to the staff, and browse merchandise to get an idea of what they might need to get started.

“We have 8,000 square feet. We have about 10,000 bolts of fabric,” Furleigh said.

PHOTO BY SHANNON SERPETTE Another one of Sharon Read’s projects was this quilted bag.