Sharon Schamber, shown with the <em>Spirit of Mother Earth</em>, also won the International Quilt Festival's top award in 2005. Two years ago, Sharon Schamber began to do the same with her quilt, Spirit of Mother Earth . The effort paid off this week, when Schamber again won The Handi Quilter Best of Show Award at the International Quilt Festival. Sacred geometry speaks to the notion that certain shapes, patterns and numbers, when repeated multiple times, hold divine significance and bring balance. Thirty-thousand yards of lightweight silk thread, tightly stitched across the cotton fabric, give the quilt a sheen and make it soft to the touch. Beginning with pencil and paper, Schamber sketches a quilt in small sections.

Vivian Walker, owner of Shiketa’s Comfort and Joy Quilts, finishes a Christmas quilt at her home office on Tuesday. The pieces make up a quilt Walker is sewing for a woman in New Jersey who recently lost her husband. The woman found Walker’s business, Shiketa’s Comfort and Joy Quilts, online and shipped her husband’s old clothes and photos to Beaumont. Walker started Shiketa’s Comfort and Joy Quilts in memory of her daughter, Shiketa, who passed away six years ago. Inside her home, pieces she’s made hang on the walls, including a Christmas quilt, a traditional piece quilt and a portrait quilt of her grandson, Darren.

Vivian Walker, owner of Shiketa’s Comfort and Joy Quilts, finishes a Christmas quilt at her home office on Tuesday. The woman found Walker’s business, Shiketa’s Comfort and Joy Quilts, online and shipped her husband’s old clothes and photos to Beaumont. Walker started Shiketa’s Comfort and Joy Quilts in memory of her daughter, Shiketa, who passed away six years ago. Inside her home, pieces she’s made hang on the walls, including a Christmas quilt, a traditional piece quilt and a portrait quilt of her grandson, Darren.

Tags: quilting machine, comfort, quilting patterns, comments, keepsake quilting, machine quilting

After the couple made another career move to Iowa, Ashbach began selling life insurance and doing funeral pre-planning after she obtained her proper licensure. While she continued her graphic arts work for the Press-News, Ashbach began working part-time at Debbies, a fabric and gift store, in Osage. After customers describe the type of quilt they want, Ashbach will spend anywhere from several hours to over a week on the large quilting machine preparing a quilt that meets their desires. Ashbach came up with the name “The Quiltmaker’s Nest because her business and the quilting machine are located in a loft area of the store.