Photo by Charity Maness/Fall River County Herald Star

Liz Daugherty matched fabrics from Nuts and Bolts to her panel to create her one of a kind equine themed Villa Rosa quilt top.

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By Charity Maness

HOT SPRINGS– The fourth Saturday of every month from 9 am to 2 pm novice to advanced quilters meet at Nuts and Bolts Fabric in Edgemont to enjoy a day of quilting Villa Rosa designs, friendship and food.

“The best part is the food,” laughed Judy Hanzlick of Mule Creek Junction. 

Hanzlick is the instructor for the class, but readily admits the terms ‘instructor’ and ‘class’ are a bit too rigid for the monthly get together.

“Originally I would choose a design and have the quilters choose their fabrics,” explained Hanzlick, “but with multiple Villa Rosa binders filled with hundreds of postcard patterns it was too confining for some. So now there is no set pattern to use and I try to answer any questions they have for the pattern they choose.”

“Some of the patterns are easy, and some are not,” said Sue Jacobs of Argyle who has been attending for one year and enjoys Hanzlick’s guidance, as well as guidance from the group.

“It’s nice when they give me 2 or 3 choices and then I pick one,” said Jacobs. 

“I began coming in 2021,” said Liz Daugherty of Edgemont, “and I needed all the help I could. These girls were here for me.”

While many have private fabric stashes at home they all admit that to be able to match their fabric from home with the vast array of fabrics at Nuts and Bolts makes the quilting process so much easier and more fun.

“Being here in the store really makes coordinating fabrics so easy,” said Joyce Buxbaum of Argyle.

With all the guidance and fabric at their fingertips, the group all admit they have strayed from the pattern at times making it larger, smaller, or changing the overall look.

Buxbaum chose to create the Melissa Milligan Villa Rosa quilt, yet modified it with sashing in between each triangle block to create a larger quilt.

The quilters take a break mid club meeting to snack on food items that each member has brought for the day’s festivities. 

“There is always plenty of food,” said Hanzlick.

Which is a good thing, because the class has been known to go well into the evening as time flies when you are having fun.

“We quilt, we eat, we laugh and we have show and tell,” explained Kathleen Kowalski of Argyle. “It’s fun to see what everyone has made during the month. What we start here we take home and make it happen,” she laughed.

While the love of quilting varies from quilter to quilter some enjoying playing with colors, others enjoying the creative process, they all agree that the most difficult is maintaining a ¼” seam.

“Sewing in a straight line is challenging,” laughed Daugherty, “but a consistent ¼” seam is the most difficult.”

Nuts and Bolts has been offering a plethora of fabrics and notions for 17 years and has been offering classes since its inception adding Villa Rosa classes two years ago. To help promote quilting owner Earleene Kellogg offers an enticing deal to quilters taking classes at Nuts and Bolts; a 20% discount on all class supplies as well as long arm quilting.

For more information on all that Nuts and Bolts offers visit nutsandboltsfabric.com or call 605-662-5758.