Wetzlerâs own past experience once centered on alterations, but recently the stash of piecework for quilts has been pulled out and her basement transformed into a snug little quilting shop. It was natural, then, to take the leap into buying her latest sewing machine, a computer-guided longarm quilting machine with a 14-foot table. Unsure what to do when CoreSource announced its closing in the spring of 2007, Wetzler felt a readiness for change and her thoughts quickly turned to quilting. With that machine, Wetzler can pick one of countless designs to embroider onto a quilt, easily change its size and spacing, sew perfect circles, intricate patterns and corner designs and even make different motifs in each square of a quilt. Kimball Avenue Quilting quietly started as Wetzler familiarized herself with the machine through a few of her own projects, some work for the local quilt guild and making mission quilts for Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, where she attends.

Michael Marsh won the quilt in a drawing at the Lighthouse Thrift Store on Dec. Arndt “got to thinking about the economy,” he said, and decided to donate the quilt to the store, where he also is a patron. With no sewing experience at all, Arndt began quilting when his grandmother died and his parents, Dorothy and Marvin Sr. Arndt began using his grandmother’s fabric and quilt pieces to make patterns of his own design, and then he sewed them on a machine he bought at a discount store. In the spring, Arndt has promised to donate another quilt to the Lighthouse Thrift Store.

Antique quilts from northern Ohio, including one made in Clyde, are still on display in the special exhibit at the Rutherford B. Hartman was amazed to find a quilt made in 1860 by Sarah Jane Hartman Hibbard from Fitchville. Karen later checked into possible ancestry, and learned that Sarah Jane was not related to her husband, Bernard Hartman, however, Karen’s mother’s sister married Leo Hartman, who was a nephew of Sarah Jane Hartman Hibbard. The all day event includes a morning Sign/Sale/Swap for authors and attendees, a lunch with the authors at Our Town’s Brewin’, and an author panel discussion in the library meeting room in the afternoon.

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