The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Sisters say quilting easy, fun
How do you make a quilt? Sisters Lorraine Howerton, 57, and Carol Salerno, 69, say it’s easy to learn, and are happy to share.
When they were young, their mother, Lois Noble, taught them how to quilt in their family home in Wampsville, and the two have been quilting for longer than they can remember.
They have advice to pass along from their mother.
“She would always tell us to ‘measure twice and cut once,’ ” remembers Salerno. “She would also say ‘don’t throw it together.’”
The sisters agree that a good quilt takes time and patience.
“I think quilting is a dying art,” Howerton said, noting many people have an apprehension to begin the craft. “It doesn’t seem like there are many young people doing it, and it really is so easy.”
To demonstrate her point, she unfolds a taupe and red quilt on the table at her home in Nelson, Howerton pointed out the simplicity in the seemingly intricate star design in each block of the quilt.
“It’s all geometric shapes, really,” she said, “If you sew two triangles together in a certain way, you get a square.”
She advises beginners to, “Start simple” and work up to harder things.
“You’ll be more excited as you keep moving on to new things and learning more,” Salerno said.
“There is always a project, always a demand,” Howerton said. “You don’t need a fancy sewing machine to quilt. Any basic straight-stitch machine will do just fine.”
Quilting can keep a person busy, the sisters say. There are always friends to quilt with or shows to attend.
Most recently, Threadbares, a local quilt group both sisters are involved with, held a quilting retreat in Ogdensburg.
“You can quilt for four days straight and you don’t even realize time has passed,” Salerno said.
The Threadbares group meet from September through June on the first Tuesday of every month from 7-9 p.m. at St. Helena’s Church in Sherrill. With 65 members, the group makes quilts for institutionalized veterans, kidney donors and even babies in intensive care units at area hospitals.
The veterans’ quilts go over big at the Oxford Home near Norwich, Howerton said. When one gets a quilt as a gift, the joy expressed on his face is priceless. She often gets thank-you notes from the veterans and their families.
Carol is also president of the Canastota Canal Town Quilters, a group of 14 women (and sometimes a man or two) who meet the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 10 a.m. at the Canastota American Legion.
“We are a small group so we’re very informal. You learn something new every month. This month at our meeting we are dyeing fabric,” Salerno says.
Salerno said quilters should always photograph what they make, for archival purposes as well as “when you get rich and famous, they could be worth something,” she said with a smile.
“Come to a group. We’ll get you quilting,” Salerno said. What is life like as a quilter? With a laugh, Salerno said, “We brake for fabric stores... any store.”
The sisters agree that the thicker the fabric, the longer the quilt will last.
“Quilters always have threads all over them,” said Howerton.
To which Salerno added, “And sometimes we have needles on the floor.”