JACKSONVILLE —
Anita Johnston wants more quilters learning the craft in her store. The owner of All Those Quilts in Bullard, Johnston said growing the quilting community is a goal of hers.
Johnston, a retired Jacksonville Independent School District educator, said her shop on U. S. Highway 69 opened in November, 2009.
“I’ve been into long-arm quilting for a couple years and I wanted a place to teach and gather people for quilting,” she said. “My passion is for growing the quilting community and I can only do that be recruiting people.”
There’s a group which comes to All Those Quilts every so often to learn, to train and to socialize. Johnston said each one of them - and not all are women - has a specialty or a favored area of quilting.
For now, Johnston offers a beginning sampler class designed to teach beginners about the mathematics of quilting.
“We start with tracing geometric designs,” she said. “It is a very math-based technique.”
The class is offered from 12:30-3 p.m. on Mondays and from 6-8:30 p.m. Thursday. Saturday classes are from 10 a.m. to noon.
“It’s all the techniques to piece a quilt together,” she said. Classes are $5 each plus fabric, which she requires to be purchased at her store.
This is, she said, not a drawback in the least. Johnston added places like Walmart sell a lot of inferior fabric, but all of hers is higher quality fabric at low prices.
“Anyone can be here and afford to quilt,” she said.
Bonnie Miles, a quilter from Jacksonville, said she learned of the group through a friend at her church.
“I had seen it on the highway going to Tyler and one day I just stopped right in,” Miles said. “I love the peace quilting gives me and I love the finished project.”
Johnston said her group has quilted for soldiers in the past and now quilts for a camp for children with kidney disease.
“We always try to search for projects,” she said.
Her group is made up of quilters from other groups; standard practice for the world of quilting. Johnston said in many cases a group will grow and grow until it runs out of space and has several members branch off to start a new group.
Phyllis Breiding, a Rusk quilter, said she enjoys the companionship quilting brings.
“It’s like one big family here,” Breiding said. “Everyone pitches in and helps each other.”
Johnston said she had her heart set on a quilting shop in October, 2009, and went looking for a good spot. She found the building in Bullard and discovered it used to house a small church.
“It was less expensive than any other place per square foot,” she added.
She chose the place because she preferred the ambiance of the shop compared to the atmosphere provided in a home, not to mention the space boost.
Everyone young and old is encouraged to grab a needle and head to All Those Quilts, Johnston added. Anyone can learn; all it takes is that first step.
Local News
Related Photos
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Quilters at All Those Quilts show off a large, new piece. All Those Quilts is a Bullard shop and popular meeting spot for avid and fledgling quilters. Progress photo by Nathan Straus
Discussion
All Those Quilters
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