Marilyn finds relaxing respites farther south, at places that include Homestead Cabin Retreat near Hillpoint, a big and earthy log home with loft and other bedrooms, a fireplace, wide porch and rocking chairs. Racine, Lafayette and Green counties are among the most recent Wisconsin participants in a nationwide barn quilts project, which celebrates agricultural roots, rural architecture and respect for quilting as an art form. Walworth County has just begun barn quilt project discussions, and more than one dozen states participate in this project that began in Ohio in 2001 and has been described as the National Clothesline of Quilts. Worktables are large enough to accommodate all who make their way to Homestead Cabin Retreat, Hillpoint, and this type of work space is typical at retreats for craft enthusiasts.

Wrapping up in a quilt made from these fragments is like receiving a hug from a certain time in someone’s life — high school, college, or a season on a close-knit soccer team — or from a loved one who has passed away. When her mother died in a car accident in early 2000, she made her first two memory quilts — one for herself, one for her twin sister — out of her mother’s T-shirts. Now, each of the Trammell children — Chad, now 24 and a dental student at the University of Washington; 18-year-old Melissa, a freshman at Pepperdine University; and 23-year-old Megan Brown, a Yakima teacher — have at least two quilts each. Most people — relatives, entire soccer teams, a mother whose 5-year-old died after injuries from a fall, an aunt whose nephew died in a trucking accident — have just one.

On a recent Tuesday morning Marilyn Van Grouw, Phyllis Borzotta and Ida Van Dalen stitched away in the 2,000-square-foot quilting class space downstairs at Acme, as they have for decades. Thousands of people have learned to quilt in that space under the tutelage of Janet Grimal and Alyce Van Der Stad, co-owners of Acme, huge fans of Bernina sewing machines (the only sold at the 3,000-square-foot retail space upstairs), world travelers on the quilt circuit from Boston to Hong Kong and endless quilt innovators. There is a blue vest made of yo yos, little rosettes made by gathering circles of fabric; a cotton scenic appliqué quilt featuring moose and even antique quilts that date to the turn of the 20th century. Beginners start learning at Acme classes with strip-piecing by hand or machine while a variety of specialty classes focus either on technique or particular items, such as tote bags, table runners, baby to king-size quilts and wearables. The staff helps non-quilters buy kits for the sewing friends on their holidays lists from a wall of notions that includes threads, scissors, needles, straight pins, tracing wheels, snaps, hook and eye closures, elastics, cover buttons, erasable quilting pencils, rotary cutters and much more. From left, Joan Rizzi, Peggy DeIntinis, and Janet Grimal stand ready to help customers at Acme County Fabrics in Pequannock, a store that offers supplies for and lessons on quilting.

Holiday shopping season is getting off to a good start for the artists and crafts people who make handmade items and for shops that cater to crafters. On Friday, the Tinman is opening its fourth annual handmade ornament show, which will include works by Dina Fernandez, Nan Drye, Alice Nelson, Steve Adams, Pat Boyd, Bill Hagy and Ken Frybarger. Get schedules and scores for football , volleyball , slowpitch softball, girls and boys soccer and cross country . Check out bracket results , read stories and browse photos .

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