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For good measure, visit 8 stops on Charming Quilt Shop Tour
By LINDA M. LINONIS
CHAMPION
“This isn’t your grandma’s quilting,” said Dottie Bettiker, owner of Just Quilt It and promoter of the Charming Quilt Shop Tour.
Quilting has evolved from the traditional “quilt on a bed” to a host of quilted items such as purses, totes, table runners, wall hangings, children’s clothing, pillows, fabric art and more. Specialized sewing machines and other tools, patterns and materials in a rainbow of colors and designs have evolved to make the craft more engaging.
Bettiker, a retired registered nurse, said her shop will mark its fifth anniversary next spring.
“I‘ve been a quilter for 30 years,” she said. “This was my dream, and we made it happen,” she said of owning a shop with her husband, John.
Bettiker took a quilting class in the 1980s, and she’s made hundreds of quilts.
Quilt-shop tours aren’t new. In fact, there’s a national quilt- shop tour in 36 states called Row by Row Experience. There was no Valley quilt shop tour and Bettiker talked with other quilt shop owners about sponsoring one. She, Kori Turner-Goodhart of Olive Grace Studios in Fowler Township and Cindy Oravecz of Quilter’s Fancy in Cortland are coordinators.
This is the fourth year for the event. “We know each other because we’re in similar businesses,” Bettiker said. “So, we met and thought this was a common thing we could do together.”
Bettiker said the tours have “been received well” by the quilting community. “The first year, we had about 300 customers who bought passports,” she said. “This year we anticipate 400 plus.”
She explained customers buy passports for $3 and must have them stamped at each of the eight quilt shops on the tour, which begins Thursday and concludes Aug. 30. “It’s about 200 miles round trip to go to all the shops,” Bettiker said. Seven shops are in Ohio and one in Pennsylvania. Bettiker said shop owners will meet after Labor Day and draw the prizes.
“It’s a cool event,” Turner-Goodhart said. “It gets people out and about.”
Customers have incentives to complete the tour with prizes and “freebies” that will be distributed. Those who complete the tour will receive a pewter charm, fabric squares, pattern and finishing directions and packet of coupons. In addition, there’s the fellowship of mingling with those who share a common interest. “
It’s a fun way to get people into sewing,” said Oravecz, who has written four books on quilting.
Though there are still are some who do hand quilting, most use specialized sewing machines with quilting and fancy stitches. “It’s a multi-billion-dollar business in the United States,” she said. “There are many quilt shows and venues.”
The creativity of quilting is appealing, Bettiker said. There are quilting patterns to suit any interest. She described her generation as “hard-core quilters” and noted many grandmothers involve their grandchildren in the activity. Just Quilt It sponsored a four-day kids’ quilting camp for 8- to 13-year-olds.
Bettiker said pinterest (www.pinterest.com) is a site where people can share ideas for projects. It’s huge with people in their 20s and 30s, she said.
In preceding generations, making a quilt took weeks or months. With modern tools, Bettiker said, “there’s instant gratification.” That also has contributed to the resurgence of quilting. “It’s much easier to accomplish,” she said.
Quilters can take many routes of expression in their work. “What’s popular changes daily,” Bettiker said. The one constant is the predominant use of 100-percent cotton materials.
“Quilting makes you feel good ... you’ve accomplished something,” Bettiker said.
Karen Miles, who works with Bettiker, said, “It’s a stress-reliever.” A saying among quilters is that “quilting is cheap therapy.”